In my previous post I talked about Aluxes and an episode occurred in Cancun. But now I am going to tell you about what happened to me. I moved to the Mayan Riviera for a short period. My main objective was to complete the Mayan Route, which is a tour you can make, and it is amazing. You get to visit a lot of Mayan communities and Archaeological sites across Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. I have never seen such an amazing cultural sites blended with paradisiac beaches. This all sounds very enticing, however you should never take locals' warnings too lightly, and this is where the haunting began.
I was traveling with 2 friends (Delia and Steve) and we completed the Mayan Route. I fell in love with the vibe and of course the beauty of the Mexican beaches, so I decided to stay for a while. I rented a room to stay 6 months and travel through the Mayan sites again, but this time, I would have my own schedule. I had met some amazing guides and friends in Mexico, so I was all set to start my travels and somehow "investigation". One of the two friends that completed the Mayan Route, stayed with me for almost two months (Steve), the other one left as soon as we finished our tour, but always kept track of our travels.
I was staying at Playa del Carmen, which is a middle point between the Mayan Riviera and Cancun. I started by traveling to nearby sites, one of my favorite spots to stop for lunch and a swim was Akumal, plus I had a couple of friends there that worked as tourist guides and it served as a gathering point to talk. My first trip was to Uxmal, which is considered the biggest mayan city, this Archaeological site is quite impressive, and to get there you have to drive through a very narrow path between cornfields. Steve came with me and two other friends we made during our stay in Playa del Carmen, one of them had been living in the Mayan Riviera for almost 5 years and was familiarized with the sites and a few interesting facts (Eduardo) and Johanna was traveling by Mexico, and decided just like me to stay for a while.
Uxmal has a night light show, which is really nice, and it relates the story of the Archaeological site. We arrived to Uxmal around noon and stayed until the night show. As we were heading back to Merida, the main city of the Yucatan Peninsula, we went across the same narrow path through the cornfields. I was looking out the car window and the stars looked amazing. I had never in my entire life seen such a clear sky, full of stars and hints of the milky way. All this is possible, as there are no highway lights, there is nothing at all. We decided to stop and watch the sky, this are the things that take your breath away and make you wonder.
We were enjoying the view and the feeling of peace and stillness of the place. This cornfields are in the middle of nowhere, believe me. We were all silent, you could only hear the deep breaths everyone took from time to time, until we heard noises coming from the cornfields. It sounded like something was moving towards us. I payed little attention, I thought it was the air going through. After another 3 or 5 minutes the sound was louder and multiplied. Now I could hear as if 5 or 6 animals were walking through the cornfields towards us. I looked at the others, my friend Steve was sitting still with his eyes closed, Johanna was staring at the sky, but Eduardo, was staring at the cornfields as well. I approached him and asked if he could hear the same as I did, he didn't answer, but rather we rushed towards Steve and got him of the floor, then he said we should get in the car NOW. We all ran to the car, closed the doors and we drove as fast as the car could go.
We got to Merida, to the small guest house we were staying and relaxed. I asked Eduardo if the thinks it was a dangerous animal walking towards us and he said in a low voice "I don't think it was an animal, just... let it go, we are fine now, so off to bed and we'll tour the rest tomorrow" and went to bed. I went to bed as well. Next morning we headed back to Playa del Carmen and never spoke of that again. We remained friends with Eudardo and Johanna. We would often lunch or dine together and we traveled together as well.
I must say that almost a week after that night at the cornfields, strange things started to happen to me; I attributed some of the things to my clumsiness and forgetfulness, however there were a couple of things that had no explanation, rather that someone broke in. Let me explain. Sometimes i could find my things out of place, but again, I am not a very organized person and most of the time I am rushing and doing clumsy things. Once I found my keys in one of my running shoes, other time I found a cup in my underwear drawer, books under my bed, nothing major but still weird. Other times things were not as friendly, like once I went into my bedroom and found my bathroom mirror in tiny pieces all over the floor, or one day when I came back from grocery shopping, I found lotion spread all over my bed and the empty bottle in the shower. These were not daily happenings, but it was getting annoying. When I found the mirror broken, I thought maybe it fell and broke, but there was certainly no explanation for the lotion incident.
One evening while dining with Eduardo and Johanna, I mentioned that I felt someone was breaking into my bedroom and playing with my things. Johanna looked at Eduardo and said "please tell her, tell her now". Eduardo hesitated for a couple of minutes, and then said the following "I am not crazy, I am not making things up to scare you and you can turn around and leave if you want to, but I think that night at the cornfields near Uxmal, we were followed by the Aluxes, we are also experiencing weird things at home as well"
I had heard of the legend of the Aluxes before, I know what they are, but to be honest I am very skeptic about this things, I don't believe in goblins of fairies, I however was not going to make fun of my friend, who had been amazing and welcoming to me. So I asked why he thought we were followed by Aluxes and what did this mean. He said that Aluxes live in the cornfields and they guard them as part of their territory, people are allowed to crop corn only if they respect and offer a house to the Aluxes, if the Aluxes accept, they will protect those crops from predators or anyone who doesn't belong. That night we invaded their territory, to them we were strangers and so they followed us, this is what they do. So my next question was, how to get rid of them. And he said we had to make food offerings and leave them outside our door for them to find, once they forgive our invasion they will stop. he told me he experienced more or less the same things I had, missing things, moving things, broken things, but he mentioned one thing I had not experience, it was voices and nightmares. He said they left a small plate of fruit and the next day it was gone. Then I thought maybe an animal ate the fruit, no big deal. Anyway, I went home that night and straight to bed.
I traveled through Tulum, Xel-Ha and Xpu-Ha, for a couple of days. Some of my things got stolen that day, I spent the day at Tulum and there is a beach access, so I left my things on the beach, with a small cooler I have, and went in for a swim. There were other people there, but they were in some kind of tour, It was mostly a senior group. When I went out to get my things, my cooler was there along with my watch and wallet, but my keys and sandals, were gone. It was weird as everything was inside a fabric beach bag, and my money was there. Why would someone take my keys and sandals. I had to buy sandals at the tourist shop, and went home to the lady who rented the room to me and asked for the keys.
After a few weeks I was tired of all this shenanigans, I was tired of finding my things broken or spilled over my things or missing. So in an act of desperation, I decided to leave the food offering outside my door. I left a small piece of cheese and half a banana. The next day, it was gone. There were no animal footprints, but I was skeptic still. Did the same thing for almost a week, there were still things moved around, but nothing broken or spilled. I ended up leaving food every night for almost a month. One day the owner came by to get the rent early in the morning, as I opened the door, I realized I had left the plate outside, I picked it up and smiled. Then she said something that shocked me; "He will forgive you eventually, you just have to be respectful, also, they like wine". She left and I stood there staring at the door like an idiot. This lady, the one that rented the room, was a German lady, who came to Mexico in the eighties and fell in love with the beach, she and her husband moved to Mexico and owned a few properties, which they rented to travelers like me.
That night I left a piece of chocolate cookie and a small cup of wine. I was testing this, I was still skeptical, but now it was a personal thing. The next day it was gone. I continued leaving food and beverages at night. never experienced missing things or moving things anymore. Everything was back to normal. After my 6 months there, it was time to go home, so I packed and was ready to leave the next day, my flight left at noon. I went out with some friend that nights and went back home early to sleep. As this was my last night, I felt sad and happy to go back home, I decided to leave a small plate of mandarins and crackers out the door, just as goodbye. The next morning I opened the door, and found something amazing. The food was gone, the empty plate was there, and so were my sandals and the keys I "lost" over two months ago. I packed the sandals and closed the door. I met the German lady downstairs to give her the keys and say goodbye. I gave her the "lost" keys and asked how did she knew I was offering food to an Aluxe; she said every tourist that stays, eventually goes through this as we are not familiarized with their rules, she had made food offerings several times until she learned form a Chaman the rules to coexist with them.
I traveled through Tulum, Xel-Ha and Xpu-Ha, for a couple of days. Some of my things got stolen that day, I spent the day at Tulum and there is a beach access, so I left my things on the beach, with a small cooler I have, and went in for a swim. There were other people there, but they were in some kind of tour, It was mostly a senior group. When I went out to get my things, my cooler was there along with my watch and wallet, but my keys and sandals, were gone. It was weird as everything was inside a fabric beach bag, and my money was there. Why would someone take my keys and sandals. I had to buy sandals at the tourist shop, and went home to the lady who rented the room to me and asked for the keys.
After a few weeks I was tired of all this shenanigans, I was tired of finding my things broken or spilled over my things or missing. So in an act of desperation, I decided to leave the food offering outside my door. I left a small piece of cheese and half a banana. The next day, it was gone. There were no animal footprints, but I was skeptic still. Did the same thing for almost a week, there were still things moved around, but nothing broken or spilled. I ended up leaving food every night for almost a month. One day the owner came by to get the rent early in the morning, as I opened the door, I realized I had left the plate outside, I picked it up and smiled. Then she said something that shocked me; "He will forgive you eventually, you just have to be respectful, also, they like wine". She left and I stood there staring at the door like an idiot. This lady, the one that rented the room, was a German lady, who came to Mexico in the eighties and fell in love with the beach, she and her husband moved to Mexico and owned a few properties, which they rented to travelers like me.
That night I left a piece of chocolate cookie and a small cup of wine. I was testing this, I was still skeptical, but now it was a personal thing. The next day it was gone. I continued leaving food and beverages at night. never experienced missing things or moving things anymore. Everything was back to normal. After my 6 months there, it was time to go home, so I packed and was ready to leave the next day, my flight left at noon. I went out with some friend that nights and went back home early to sleep. As this was my last night, I felt sad and happy to go back home, I decided to leave a small plate of mandarins and crackers out the door, just as goodbye. The next morning I opened the door, and found something amazing. The food was gone, the empty plate was there, and so were my sandals and the keys I "lost" over two months ago. I packed the sandals and closed the door. I met the German lady downstairs to give her the keys and say goodbye. I gave her the "lost" keys and asked how did she knew I was offering food to an Aluxe; she said every tourist that stays, eventually goes through this as we are not familiarized with their rules, she had made food offerings several times until she learned form a Chaman the rules to coexist with them.
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