From there we had about a 1-2 mile hike through streams in the jungle. Along the way we saw a rubber tree, and a tree infested with termites. The termites are high in protein and a good survival resource if ever caught in the woods alone. We got to taste them and they taste remarkably, amazingly, like carrots...with a hint of mint.
In the jungle:
From the jungle we got to swim into the cave system. The water was rather cold, though not terrible. Inside the cave we had to negotiate extremely small and confined passage ways in water that was chest deep if not deeper. I began to find out that I am a bit claustrophobic.
The cave was amazing and full of crystal made mostly of calcium, but some copper and iron also. The full effect of the cave was to make you feel the magic and pulse of life again. Seeing walls covered in calcium really brought home what an amazing miracle life is. How every element comes together to create every different type and form of life on the earth.
Inside the cave were many Mayan artifacts. Mostly pots, but also some stones for grinding corn. Due to lack of rain and therefore lack of crops and food the Mayan civilization began to go into decline. Only elite leaders were allowed into the caves where they mutilated and bleed themselves. The elite Mayans in the cave would burn whatever blood they collected, hoping the dark smoke would form dark rain clouds and please the gods. However, as none of this worked, the elites soon turned to sacrificing themselves, leaving behind bones and skulls in the caves:
The national geographic shot:
All this brought home an important message: Any civilization or person which can afford it, will adopt strange and illogical traditions in the hopes that it will make their life richer and better. Kind of like us with the U.S. congress...or something.
The effect of seeing such history does lead to interesting questions though, i.e.: What traditions do I have that are just as misguided and useless, what can I do that will actually look as if it made a difference in 900 years, and if there is nothing, then what is all the point of this effort?
At the guest house where I stay are people who can make enough money in 4-5 months to afford spending the rest of the time traveling. Generally drained and apathetic types, these guys tend to be long stay residents of the town, they potter about town, meet the locals, and perhaps jot down vague impressions for a later day novel. Thus it is that they are slowly whiling away life in a $10/night guest house and doing whatever to fill days...and yet, I can't say it is that much worse than anyone who spends 40 hours a week going to any job just to pay the bills. What is the net cost, what is the net effect on a soul? Is it not also some kind of strange hypnosis by which time can pass and one can stay seemingly unconscious?
I don't want to sound cynical here. I think there are plenty of people that have found work that satisfies and excites them so they are truly productive to the fullest each day. However, I also feel there are plenty more who are just on a treadmill, afraid to take a crack at whatever their passion is in life, and in this case, it doesn't make much difference if you are hanging out in a small Central American town or an office cubical. Like the Mayans who made a sacrifice to burn their blood, taking a job for some "necessity" an easy way out. The idea being that self-sacrifice is always justified and must lead to some greater good. The result is the postponement of the need to take a serious look at ones own life and see where or what exactly is the responsible and sensible thing to do with it.
This has come home to me recently because I will be heading back soon and I am looking forward to it. I am genuinely excited to try be an entrepreneur, to start and work new and different jobs where I can test my current skills and learn new ones. Most people I meet seem to want to keep traveling forever, the alternative of home is a dull and painful one. In this case, I feel a sharp contrast. As good as all the adventure of this trip has been, I am ready, even excited to get back, and to get started.
I think there is a lot that has been learned about the world we live in, and a lot more which can be learned. I feel like there is some duty for everyone to fill in which they increase the learning and knowledge of the world. As they progress consciously and actively, they create a new form and identity. An identity of complexity that cannot be broken apart or studied, one without origin or end.
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"Whatever his antecedents, he was something wholly other than their sum, nor was there system by which to divide him back into his origins for he would not go. Whoever would seek out his history through what unraveling of loins and ledgerbooks must stand at last darkened and dumb at the shore of a void without terminus or origin and whatever science he might bring to bear upon the dusty primal matter blowing down out of the millennia will discover no trace of ultimate atavistic egg by which to reckon his commencing."Cormack McCarthy - Blood Meridian
"The man who believes that the secrets of this world are forever hidden lives in mystery and fear. Superstition will drag him down. The rain will erode the deeds of his life. But that man who sets himself the task of singling out the thread of order from the tapestry will by the decision alone have taken charge of the world and it is only by such taking charge that he will effect a way to dictate the terms of his own fate." Cormack McCarthy - Blood Meridian
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