A few years ago I travelled to Mexico to see the fabled Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. I stayed at the Hacienda Chichen, which is located only a few hundred metres from the main gate, so I could be on the grounds the first thing in the morning. It was a wise move. By doing so, I had several hours to explore the site virtually by myself, before the busloads of tourists began arriving from the surrounding towns and the Yucatan’s infamous humidity began to melt my brain. Chichen Itza was a magnificent place, beautiful, awe-inspiring and seemingly touched by magic in the drifting mist of the dawn.
Travel Quiz
Evidently a number of readers enjoyed my last travel quiz. Let’s see how this new collection goes over.
1. At which Mayan city do tourists gather during the spring and fall to watch a snake slide down a pyramid?
A. Palenque
B. Tikal
C. Uxmal
D. Chichen Itza
2. What is the only country whose national flag is not rectangular or square, but rather the shape of two stacked triangles?
A. Nepal
B. Cyprus
C. Saudi Arabia
D. Cambodia Continue reading
Panda Poop, Soviet Nostalgia and Decapitated Goats
The heavy weather is moving in, so let’s keep this latest instalment light. As a public service I am passing along some weird travel stories that have appeared in the news recently. There seems to be no shortage of them.
Crappy Keepsakes
Researchers at the world’s largest giant panda research centre in southwest China’s Sichuan Province have come up with a novel way to profit from panda dung: they make souvenirs out of it. The staff at the Chengdu centre has sculpted photo frames, bookmarks, fans and panda statues out of the 300 tons of excrement produced by 40 giant pandas each year. Continue reading
Rome Reborn
Tourists attempting to make sense of the jumble of decaying ruins in Rome once had to rely on guide books and their imagination. But this situation has changed with the creation of Rome Reborn, the world’s biggest computer simulation of an ancient city. Reproduced on satellite-guided handsets and 3-D orientation movies in a theatre near the Colosseum, the reconstruction allows visitors to navigate the Roman capital, circa 320 A.D. Using the complex software, tourists can navigate through the buildings and plazas of the Forum, fly over the Temple of Vesta, wander through the massive Basilica of Maxentius, and walk the arena floor of the Colosseum or drop below ground level to look at the elevator cages that hoisted the lions and tigers into the arena for battle. Smoke, grime, graffiti and street scenes involving 60,000 virtual characters add to the realism. Continue reading
