Top 12 Destination Countries

It may be getting close to time to consider destination cities.
However, below I'll list the top 12 destination countries.
Top choice is #1:

1. Uruguay: 27
2. Ecuador: 24
3. Argentina: 17
4. India: 16
5. Malaysia: 16
6. Panama: 16
7. Colombia 15
8. Brazil 13
9. Thailand 12
10. Honduras 11
11. Iceland 11
12. Ireland 11

Destination Research Results

Well, my to choices are slowly changing.

There are lots of things to look at. For example, Ireland is one of the freest countries on earth according to people who care. Most find complete free health care there. There is a high level of first world infrastructure there. And added to all these benefits, the Irish are there.
Still Ireland has earned only a seven on my rating scale so far.
Uruguay and Ecuador are tied for first place with a rating of 17
Panama and India are tied a 2nd with ratings of 13
Malaysia and Argentina are tide for 3rd at 12
Honduras is 4th with 10

Visit Destinations

I am tentivily eliminateing a number of destinations. I won't mention the ones I am eliminating, but I will start keeping track of my top ten contenders for places worth a longer visit. The top ten contenders of the day are:
#1. Ecuador
#2 Uruguay
#3 India
#4. Argentina
#5. Honduras
#6. Turkey
#7. Colombia
#9. Malaysia
#10. Nicaragua

I hope to write a few words about Ecuador and what has attracted me to it in the near future.

Tayasal

Consider that Spanish made the first European contact with the Maya in 1511 AD when one of the Spanish explorer Valdivia's ships was wrecked off the east coast of of the Yucatan Peninsula during an expedition from Panama to Santo Domingo. Two survivors of that shipwreck began a penetration of a Mayan culture still free from contact with 'the West.' The names of those survivors were Jeronimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero. Guerrero integrated into the Maya culture and later fought on their side against the conquerors. Aguilar, a lay brother forced into slavery by his captors, joined Hernan Cortez at Cozumel in 1519.
The Peninsula of Yucatan was discovered for the 'western world' by Francisco Hernzadez de Cordoba in 1517. Systematic collection of data on the culture of the Maya until the arrival of Fray Diego de Landa in 1549. Although Land had Mayas killed, destroyed cultural remains and burned codices, he also gathered a great deal of data on the Maya. In 1566 he returned ti Spain, and wrote Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan, perhaps the most important document we have in Maya culture.

The territory occupied my the Maya include what is now the Mexican states of Yucatan, Campeche, Tabasco, Quintana Roo, and the eastern half of Chiapas. As well as the greater part of Guatamala, excepting a strip along the Pacific Coast, the western section of Honduras, and a small portion of Belize.
Territory of the Maya may be divided into three geographical zones: the southern highlands characterized by the Cordillera of Central America with peaks over 13,000 feet and containing the beautiful lakes of Amitlan, Atitlan, and Isabel; the central lowland characterized by savanna and jungle with a river system mostly merging to fir the River Usmacinta. On an island in a lake in the central lowlands stood a stronghold of the Maya called Tayasal; the northern zone mostly covered by thorn bush and containing the famous cenotes.
Mayas constructed bottle-shaped cisterns called chultunes.
The Mayan languages are usually divided into ten main groups.
The Maya had close, early contact with the Zoque.