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grimtrigger86 t1_j7153fk wrote

Reply to comment by diagnosedwolf in Mexican Tourist Whacked with Stick, Heckled after Illegally Climbing Sacred Mayan Pyramid. by ThePinkTeenager

It's not that sacred. They used to let people up until 2008.

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FreeholdDemesne t1_j71c7dk wrote

I remember climbing it, along with everyone else there, in 1996. Was amazing, though it's incredibly steep and difficult to come down. Back then they even had a chain bolted into the middle of the steps for descending.

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AJ_Mexico t1_j71kzb8 wrote

Yeah, I climbed up there c. 1987. It was cool and unsafe. But, in Mexico, the cars didn't have seat belts or safety glass, the boats didn't have life preservers -- everything was unsafe. There was a chain just kind of lying on the steps for descent. Descending was scary. There was a guy descending by sliding his butt down one step at a time while holding on to that chain for dear life.

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nidedin t1_j73k6e6 wrote

yeah, well I actually climbed up there in 1634. way less tourists back then, but still steep as hell.

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[deleted] t1_j71dztr wrote

[deleted]

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tedfundy t1_j74nwiz wrote

I climbed coba and cried on the descent. There’s was a rope I hung on to. Took me a while to get down.

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SuDragon2k3 t1_j72az8x wrote

They recently shut down Uluru (Ayers Rock) to climbers because it's a sacred site. It took that long for the local tribe to convince people that they had some say in the matter.

That, and it killed a few tourists each year. Because tourists can be real stupid.

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Welpmart t1_j72zyeq wrote

But those ruins are pretty delicate, and I think that's the real thing.

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cstmoore t1_j73lo7v wrote

True. I climbed it. (Actually, I walked right up like climbing a mall's stationary escalator. Easy, NBD. Then I turned around and saw the steps from the top. I looked around and took a bunch of pictures. Then I eventually got my nerves together and descended by scooting down on my butt… one step at a time.) I even bought the CD of pictures the guide took of me there.

So, yeah, not so sacred, but I do see how people could get hurt.

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