Uxmal, Ancient Maya City, Mexico - August 9, 2023

[Martin Hash]

When I originally planned to visit the ancient Maya sites, I planned on describing what I saw as I integrated it into my new book at the time, “Sacrificio.” However, when COVID, etc. intervened, I ended up abandoning the live visit plan, and instead researched the history and architecture of the various abandoned cities online. In the book. Eventually, we were able to make the trip but I didn’t know how closely my imagination matched the reality; in some cases I was disappointed. The final lethal confrontation in the story occurs in Uxmal, where we going; that’s why I experienced a little apprehension when we entered the site. Gladly, after walking through the partially restored city, it was a relief to see that the gun battle I had envisioned indeed fit the reality of the surviving structures. The tops of the pyramids were within line-of-sight of each other, and the tourist aspect for the narrative fit too. One minor difference was that the paws of the Jaguar throne carved out of solid rock, faced to the side, not to the front. Even better, we camped nearby.