Mexico RV Trip 2012 - un viaje mas grande -Day 15, January 11, El Tajin–Casitas, Costa Esmeralda

Today was overcast as we toured the ruins of El Tajin, “The City of the Thunder God.” El Tajin was an important economic and cultural city as it was on what was a commerce route from the Gulf of Mexico to the interior. We paid an extra $300 pesos (about $22) in addition to the $114 peso admission for an English-speaking guide, Eusebio, to give us an hour long tour.

Eusebio explained they have discovered 168 buildings, but only 58 have been excavated because of the expense. There are 41 buildings and 17 ball courts. One of the interesting things about this site is the progression of development noted by the “niches.”  El Tajin was developed between 300 and 1200. The style of niches change at 300AD, 500AD, and 800AD, becoming more defined and precise over time.

This is the main temple at El Tajin. It is 36 meters, has 7 levels, and no doors. There are 365 niches. The “pushcos,” (not sure how it is REALLY spelled!) or upper class members of the society, were allowed to climb to the top of the temple to worship and make sacrifices. They didn’t need doors because the ceremonies took place on the top level of the temples. A new level of the temple was built every 52 years, a number that they believed was sacred.

This building was actually more important that the temples. It is one of the buildings that marked the solstice. There are four of them, representing north, south, east, and west. It was important for noting the changing of the seasons and when to plant crops. 

This is one of the later buildings at El Tajin – notice how square and precise the niches are!

The tradition of the ball game was reserved for the upper class. The “winner” of the game was then sacrificed to the gods. It was considered a privilege to be the winner because you were “chosen”.In addition to being a guide at the ruins of El Tajin, Eusebio, is the flute and drummer for a group of Papantla fliers that performs just outside the archeological site. We only watched for a while because we didn’t want to pay another fee!

After our tour of El Tajin, we drove 47 miles east to Costa Esmeralda, along the Bay of Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico. We are FINALLY on the ocean, but it has been cloudy all day. We stopped at several campgrounds, but it is definitely off season for this area and many are not open or are in very poor condition.

We finally decided to stay at Casitas del Tajin. They wanted $150 pesos, but we negotiated down to $120. When we tried the electric, it wouldn’t work – the voltage was too high, so they dropped the price to $105 pesos (about $7.50 US). The water pressure is terrible – we have been trying to fill our water tank for over 5 hours and now we are hoping it will be halfway full by morning! It is very pretty and we can hear the ocean. We had our choice of spaces since we are the ONLY ones here!

We unloaded the scooter and took laundry into town and it will be washed and dried for us in the morning.

GPS 20.27062°N, 96.81279°W