Mayan ‘apocalypse’ countdown begins

Dec 22, 2011 |

Mexico City

A Mayan priest takes part in a ceremony. — AP

Only 52 weeks and a day are left before December 21, 2012, when some believe the Maya predicted the end of the world.
Unlike enthusiasts of other doomsday theories who suggest putting together survival kits, south-eastern Mexico, the heart of Maya territory, plans a yearlong celebration. Mexico’s tourism agency expects to draw 52 million visitors by next year only to the regions of Chiapas, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Campeche. All of Mexico usually lures about 22 million foreigners in a year.
It’s selling the date, the Winter Solstice in the coming year, as a time of renewal. Many archeologists argue that the 2012 reference on a 1,300-year-old stone tablet only marks the end of a cycle in the Mayan calendar.

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