The Lithuanian visited one of the worst places in the world: it seems that I got into a horror movie

“Concentrate and pray a lot, get ready for this trip,” warns a young wooden boat, which Mexicans call trachinera, Captain Ivan. He is one of those men who organizes daily tourist trips to one of the most brutal and mystical places in Mexico: the Isla de las Marionetas. The Island of the Dolls). “Most of them are young people who are looking for adrenaline and remember the horror films of the island’s history,” says the captain of the ship. And he adds that devoted travelers, who do not want cruel views of the Puppet Island, but simply pray for the souls associated with the history of that place, sometimes sail in this unusual direction. Ivan even has some sentences ready and is happy to share them with his clients. However, the sentences are in Spanish and the nice captain of their translation was not ready.

When I heard about this area, I thought that we would travel to some distant place in the jungle, far from civilization. But we didn’t even leave the Mexican capital, it turns out that the island is on the outskirts of one of the largest cities in the world. On a day when the streets are clogged with unclear rules for cars, mopeds, bicycles, and anything that moves on wheels, the ride takes at least an hour and a half. But from the bustling and crowded center of Mexico, you enter a completely different environment. Xochimilco is a remote and quite dangerous area where foreigners are not advised to walk the streets without the company of a local. Although there is nothing to walk through, the area is primarily residential houses, small shops, and other necessary institutions. They all come here for one place: a small marina where wooden boats are moored trachineros.

Chochimilk stands out more from the rest of Mexico because there are water channels in this area, just like in Venice. And those canals are filled with artificial islands created by the ancient Aztecs as floating gardens. Historical sources state that the islands originally had a very specific function, growing food for the ancient city of Tenochtitlán. Today, most of the islands are similar to our gardens or villages. They are home to families and grow vegetables, fruits, and many animals. Some of the smartest islanders on the shores have set up bars and shops for tourists who regularly navigate these canals.

Tourists arriving at Chočimilko marina are chased by individual boat captains. In their hands they hold a laminated promotional brochure with photographs of various islands with brief descriptions of what can be seen on them. In fact, the options are quite similar, only the names are different. It stands out as the only Isla Títere, which is undoubtedly the most famous not only in Mexico but also far beyond. An interesting detail that revealed to me trachineros Captain Ivan. He says that seeing mystical places is mostly carried by foreigners, and local families try to escape from them, although they also tend to fly through these channels.

When we resist the shore and go to the water to the mystique The Island of the Dolls, Ivan himself spoke potter. I asked him to film how he does it, but the captain refused. According to him, prayer is a very private human affair, so public display is disrespectful. Whispering silent words to God, he concludes the prayer by kissing the small cross in his wallet. I asked the captain if there could be any inconvenience or disaster if we swam there. Instead of responding directly, he muttered something in Spanish. Then he tried to ask me in English if I believed in spirits. And he added that everything depends only on them, because the puppet island has a very strong dead energy.

The island’s horrible history began 71 years ago, in the 1950s, when Julián Santana Barrera, a local farmer who was living at the time, saw the body of a girl drowned on the shore. From that day on, he began to tell everyone that his soul had begun to haunt the island. The inhabitants of the other islands did not believe at first, many even began to call the man crazy. But Julian Santana didn’t care about the opinions of others, the man was doing what seemed best to him at the time. The man decided that the dragonfly’s wandering soul needed to calm down somehow, so he connected several dolls on his island. And that, according to history, was effective.

Feeling that it was possible to interact with the dead girl through dolls, the farmer embarked on a new mission in his life, a wandering soul, and promised himself that he would collect dolls for the rest of his life and hang them throughout. the island. . Since the man did not have much money, he collected spent dolls, often even very badly affected by children’s games. Julian walked through the district house and asked people to hand him the old dolls, and he also went to the garbage cans. The most important thing was to bring at least one doll, a teddy bear or a rubber duck to the island every day.

So much has come up on the toy island that word has spread throughout Mexico. However, it was immediately clear that this place was not for children. People were shocked that a farmer was snagging a pretty hideous looking doll in his house. With crooked arms and legs, torn hair, no eyes, dogs in every way, scratched and chewed. “A puppet cemetery has turned up in Mexico,” local press reported at the time. Soon several languages ​​spread. Many have dismissed the host of the island as if it were not on their minds. But whether Julián Santana Barrera was crazy or not is a topic that has been debated a lot until now.

The farmer, who died of a heart attack in 2001, said that the souls of many children flow to the island at night and play with the dolls he has collected. Separated from the mischievous souls, there are even a variety of not very welcoming sounds. More people from the Chočimilko waterways claim to have heard them. My holy faith is mine trachineros a captain whose uncle and aunt also witnessed the sounds, so according to the captain, they still dream of nightmares.

Journalists visiting major US newspapers published articles around the world that wrote that there is a horrible island in Mexico with the souls of dead children. The Travel Channel, ABC News and NBC Television came to film for influential newspapers. The media attention was so great that in the 1990s, curious travelers began to flow to the island. And it continues to this day. Although, as Captain Ivan says, many do not even understand the importance of this place and want to intimidate each other. As I understand it, both Ivan and his colleagues hurt a bit.

I land on Puppet Island, the feeling really doesn’t come. Looks like someone here just shot a horror movie and left all the decorations behind. I can’t imagine if children’s souls can really enjoy old, threadbare dolls snagged on bushes, trees, thatch fences, and the like. Worse still is that some lie gutted. Heads, legs, arms and other parts were thrown. I do not know if for comfort or for what some parts of the dolls were used to decorate the local plants of the island. For example, a clown wig is worn on a cactus. The head of one doll is placed on top of the other.

Currently the island is inhabited and cared for by relatives of farmer Julián. From tourists, they collect voluntary donations to oversee the island. Lately no new dolls have been hung and old ones are not manipulated. Maybe souls don’t like all kinds of robots, transformers, and barbies in princess dresses, or maybe they just don’t want to spend. And rather, he keeps that money to grow fruits and vegetables.

As they left the island, Captain Ivan silently prayed to himself right under their noses. And they advised me to do so. “Nightmares can be dreamed for a few days, but then they pass,” he warned.

I look like Puppet Island, I filmed it and showed it on my show “Journey’s Travels,” in season three of season two.