Are you afraid to climb a pyramid?
I didn’t think I was, but I would soon find out. At the end of March 1998, while reading a travel magazine, I saw tickets to Cancun for a low price. It was too good to pass up!
I asked my husband, Tony, if I could go because I would need him to watch our son, Luke, while I was away. I knew Tony wouldn’t want to go, so he said I could go if I took my sister with me. My sister is five years younger than me, but she thought it was a fantastic idea. We booked our tickets for June and couldn’t wait to go.
The day finally came when my sister and I got to leave for Cancun. When we got there, we booked three excursions and went out on a boat for the evening. We both ended up with diarrhea because we drank our drinks with ice. We recovered quickly and were better by the next day.
Jungle tour on a jet ski.
The following day we went on a Jet Ski jungle tour. My sister probably still has the finger marks in her hips from where I held on to her for dear life. I was very nervous about going so fast.
Then we did some shopping. I bought Tony a classy marble chess set, which I was sure he would love. Tony always liked to play chess with me, but I lost every time because I couldn’t understand all the rules.
Will I die climbing a pyramid in Mexico?
The next day my sister and I headed to Chichen Itza on a bus trip to see the Mayan ruins. At one point, a few men stopped the bus and got on brandishing their guns. My sister got scared! One of the men walked down the aisle and pointed a machine gun at each person as he walked by. I didn’t know what they were looking for, and I didn’t know enough to be scared.
I am a very optimistic and trusting person. That was stupid on my part. I didn’t have any common sense or street smarts, which probably was for the best in this situation anyway. What good would it do for us both to be scared? I guess the bus driver paid them off because they soon left the bus, and we were on our way.
Are you afraid to climb a pyramid?
Once we arrived at Chichen Itza, we hurried to the giant pyramid, El Castillo. My sister asked if I was going to climb it. I said yes. I am terrified of heights, but I didn’t think twice. We took our video camera with us and started climbing the steep steps.
We got a little way up, and my sister looked down and said that it was a long way down. I glanced back and then looked up at her. I said that maybe I shouldn’t be doing this, but we kept going.
When we got to the top, I was so excited! We walked further from the edge and looked around. Then, I think she said something about how steep it was. That’s when I looked down. I freaked out and started crying! I said there was no way I was going back down, and I told her she could just let me die there. She realized that this was a dire situation, and she calmly told me that I had to go back down.
I make my will on a video.
I made her turn on the recorder and tape me while giving my last will on video because I was SURE that I was going to die while climbing down. After she taped it, she tried to calm me down. Then she said that we were going down.
She couldn’t get me over to the edge since I refused to budge. She knew we were on a tight schedule. If we didn’t make it back to the bus on time, they would leave without us. She also knew that men like those who got on the bus with machine guns were probably everywhere.
My sister asked me what my biggest fear was. I told her that I was afraid of heights! Every time I got anywhere near the edge, I would get so dizzy looking down. I was sure I would fall! By that point, my smeared makeup was running down my face, so she told me to sit down and said that she would be back in a minute.
She finally came back with a man we did not know and told me she had a plan and asked me if I trusted her. I told her I did. She said she would go down first and that she would be in my line of sight at all times, and I would not have to look down. I didn’t think that was possible and told her so. But she reminded me that I said I trusted her.
A stranger becomes my lifeline.
She told me to hold the stranger’s hand. He was going to back me over to the edge where she would be waiting for me on the steps. I was to keep looking ahead and never look down. After I got in position, I grabbed the chain, which was laced through each step, and he let go. At the same time, my sister told me to look at her hand, which she strategically positioned right next to my knees.
She told me to follow her hand and never look at anything else. She started backing down one step at a time, and as she did, so did I, never losing sight of her hand. At one point, I thought we were almost to the bottom. I looked down and panicked and had to stop to control the spinning that started. After I calmed myself down again, we continued until we reached the bottom.
I found out later that she seriously did not think she would get me off the pyramid. She thought they were going to have to call a helicopter to airlift me. She did it, though. I was safe on the ground, and I was so proud of her. I don’t think anyone else, including Tony, could have talked me down from there. She is my rock and always will be, even though she is my baby sister.
A visit to a swimming hole.
On the way back to the resort, we stopped at a beautiful swimming hole. We had to climb down a lot of steps because the swimming hole was underground. The limestone walls were wet from moisture, the water was a crystal-clear turquoise color, and vines were hanging throughout. It was very relaxing after my near-death experience at the pyramid.
We head home from Mexico.
The flight home seemed to take forever since I was very excited to see my baby boy. Luke was excited to see me; I was away for more than five days. We had a wonderful reunion, and I got lots of hugs.
I forgot about God on this trip.
I know God was with me on this trip because I could see him in the beauty surrounding me. He was even with me when I was climbing the pyramid. If I would’ve turned to him when I needed him, he would’ve shown me his presence. I’m sure he was watching over my sister and me on the bus when the men pointed machine guns at us. God would’ve comforted me on top of the pyramid if I would’ve asked him to help me, but I didn’t. I tried to handle everything on my own.
What a beautiful story about conquering your fear of heights. You did it! Slowly, one step at a time.