That which can not be pronounced shall nevertheless be climbed.

Xunantunich. Now, say it with me.  choon-a-two-eech.  Again.  OK, now just give up and call it Tuna Sandwich.  Isn’t that easier?  You can thank our afternoon cab driver for that one.

Xunantunich is a site of ancient mayan ruins in western Belize dating back to around 600AD.  It is only about 9 miles from the Guatemalan border and an easy 20 minute ride from the lovely Parrot Nest Lodge that we are calling home for the next few days.  Of course, the part that comes after the taxi ride was anything but easy.  A bit of that was my fault, when I took the “oh why not?” approach when deciding whether or not to walk our way about a mile uphill to the ruins’ entrance.  My physical endurance is sadly lacking, especially in the Belizian heat.  Once at the entrance there was a little more of a hill to tackle before walking onto the grounds of the once great Plaza.  From there, we had a great view of El Castillo – the tallest, and grandest, of the ruins. 

Conquering El Castillo took about 20 minutes of climbing multiple stairways with stair heights varying from normal to about knee height, some of which were disturbingly skinny and perched out on the edge with nothing separating you from the ruins below.  In the end we reached the top – 130 feet high – with not only a spectacular view of the rest of the ruins below, but also of Central American countryside all around.  We were told we could see Guatemala (we waved), and later learned Honduras could also be viewed from the site (I’m a little more skeptical about that claim).  I took advantage of a small spot of shade, and sat down on the cool stone to rest up from the climb.  The climb down was a bit easier, and we took a few minutes to watch some monkeys playing in the trees. 

                        

This was the highlight of our first 24 hours in Belize, and was a teaser for what is to come in a few days – Tikal National Park in Guatemala.