Day Three

Blessed By a Shaman
Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico - When David announced that he had skin lice, we knew MayaQuest had begun.

	The shaman removes bad spirits from Dan and casts them away by appealing to different saints.

Today, we went looking for Don Gonzalez, a powerful local shaman. Maya Shamans are responsible for the community's spiritual and physical health. In return, they earn a few pesos and enormous respect.

When I asked him if he could bless our expedition, he said he would. When he finished, I asked him what he said. "I asked the gods to make sure your trip is a success," he replied. "That no snakes bite you, you all return to your homes safe, and you all have long lives."

He had given us a generous blessing. I would have been happy with just a simple blessing-say, something that gets rid of skin lice!

Pedals Up!

- Dan Buettner

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