We don’t know exactly what may start falling from the skies on December 21st if the Mayan Doomsday prophecy comes to pass. Flames? Asteroids? Aliens? Frogs? Alien frogs?
But we do know for certain what people in the ol’ Mayan homelands of the Yucutan peninsula believe is going to start raining from the skies: cold hard cash.
They know that people around the world are fascinated by these ancient predictions of Doom-in-our-time. And they know that many of them will be sufficiently intrigued they’ll be willing to part with their dollars, Euros and yen to get closer to the epicenter of this phenomenon. So, they are preparing a raft of special tours and programs centered around the December 21st roll-over of the Mesoamerican Long-count Calendar.
According to Moon Travel Guides (who snagged the awesome URL moon.com – nice!) “the date is significant enough that each country in the Mundo Maya is planning a yearlong uplifting of Maya culture, from government-sponsored celebrations to village homestays and grassroots eco-tourism.”
Take the country of Belize. At http://belizemaya2012.com you can find the numerous ways this usually-sleepy country is cashing in on its ancient heritage. For instance:
The Maya site of Caracol shall be the venue of four overnights of camping, music, presentation, and history to commemorate the ending of the 13 Baktun on December 21, 2012. The overnights shall take place on the following four dates to coincide with the annual solstices and equinoxes: March 20-21, June 20-21, September 21-22, December 20-21.
The tickets are priced at 150USD per person and include an evening meal, breakfast, a Maya fire ceremony, as well as a tour by Dr. Jaime Awe.
Go ahead. Just try to convince me that those ruins pictured above wouldn’t be the Awesomest Place in the World to be if the whole planet suddenly spins off into the sun on Dec. 21st.
At that Moon.com site, you can find a whole list of regional tours and packages for late 2012.
What I particular like is that many of these tours (much like similar tourist plans around purported Doomsday destination Bugarach, France) extend to the week after the 21st. It’s a great win-win for credulous end-times believers. If the old world snuffs out and a New Age dawns – awesome! And if not – sweet! I’ve still got another week in a tropical paradise before headin’ back to the desk job!
