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Transcription: [00:04:27]
{SPEAKER name="Jeanne Porterfield"}
Majesty, myths, and mystery still surround these awesome ruins that rise out of the silent jungle.

[00:04:34]
{SPEAKER name="Jeanne Porterfield"}
Should you decide to explore off on a jungle path, remember to watch out for snakes. Stone ones that is.

[00:04:43]
{SPEAKER name="Jeanne Porterfield"}
They had some rather bizarre customs. One of the least appealing to us was here at the sacred well, where Mayan maidens were hurled to their death to appease the rain god. That was certainly before Woman's Lib[eration].

[00:04:58]
{SPEAKER name="Jeanne Porterfield"}
These people had other odd habits too: When playing a ball game, the winning team killed the captain of the losers, then took all the spectators' clothes and jewelry. I think I'd have left at the half.

[00:05:11]
{SPEAKER name="Jeanne Porterfield"}
It took incredible ability to build these temples, and it appears to take incredible ability to climb them.
[[Crowd laughter]]

[00:05:23]
{SPEAKER name="Jeanne Porterfield"}
There's a rumor going around that they plan to establish a Weight Watchers Club up at the top.
[[Crowd laughter]]

[00:05:35]
{SPEAKER name="Jeanne Porterfield"}
The story of the Mayans who built this great empire remains locked within these silent stones. But in the surrounding countryside, their descendants still live.

[00:05:47]
{SPEAKER name="Jeanne Porterfield"}
In many ways, the Yucatan is like another Mexico, or even a country within a country. Before air travel, the roadless jungle land of the Yucatan peninsula was cut off from the rest of Mexico, so life in many of these more remote areas has been going on in very much the same way down through the centuries.

[00:06:10]
[PAUSE]
{SPEAKER name="Jeanne Porterfield"}
We had come here to find Gaspar Xiu, the direct descendant of the last ruling Mayan king, and finding him turned out to be quite an adventure for us.

[00:06:23]
{SPEAKER name="Jeanne Porterfield"}
We had jungles to go through, streams to cross, and even rivers to forge. From New York to Yucatan had been over a 5,000 mile drive, but this was the most memorable, and I might add, scary part of the whole trip.

Transcription Notes:
I believe this is Jeanne Porterfield. Reference Lisa's voice talking about Jeanne here: https://transcription.si.edu/transcribe/17455/17455-1 Can't find anything on any Mayan king that sounds like "Gaspar..." mandc: Not a king, but a descendant of a king: Don Gaspar Xiu )(pronounce "shu." http://www.mexicopremiere.com/pyramids-and-prophecies-–-a-closer-look-at-uxmal-and-other-mayan-mysteries/