Uxmal

Uxmal, however, was love at first sight. It was quiet--a few other tourists and no vendors. It’s also just beautiful-lots of lush vegetation making you feel like you wandered into the jungle and discovered the pyramids all by yourself. You can climb on several of the structures, giving you a better taste of the views, feel and smells that the former residents experienced. We had time to explore by ourselves, and sat and gazed for a while in the golden late afternoon sun, and imagined Mayans coming and going and performing their rites.

The experience wasn't exactly marred, but was not maximised, by our guide, who gave our tour in both Spanish and English. Sample:
Guide in Spanish: 10 minute screed plus extended Q and A in front of a building.
Guide in English: “We are speaking of the mayans, who lived here.”
(Possible slight exaggeration alert).

Later that evening we came back for the sound and light show. The trouble with knowing a language only slightly is that most of one's knowledge is completely useless. Of the spoken part, I understood bits like "the colour yellow..." "The men have..." and "...because..." So I can't tell you what it was about.

Well, ok, it was obviously a dramatization of ancient life there, with people chanting to Chaac, and praying for rain, and explaining the meaning of the colours in and around the temple (according to our guide, they represent life, and black represents death). There were translator headphones available, but our guide omitted to mention that beforehand. But honestly, I'm fine with only the gist. I dislike translator headphones on the whole, and the experience felt a little more real for being a little more mysterious to me. There was music, and a sonic rainstorm, and the lights were pretty spectacular, and I can understand lightning in any language. It was a beautiful ending to our trip.