Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is the face of Mexican tourism.  It is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico with over a million visitors every year.  Because it's such an important site I thought it'd be good to to focus on it alone instead of mixing with my last post for this Mexico trip, which is on Cancun.

El Castillo, the Temple of Kukulkan

We left Merida early at 5 am so that we can be one of the first in line to get into Chichen Itza (CI).  This is not only a smart move but weather-wise it makes a lot of sense.  Keep in mind that this is July and we are in a tropical region by the ocean.  The temperature will probably reach about 90F and the humidity will be about 80%.  It's relatively cooler in the morning and the smaller crowd makes it easier to take pictures.  We arrived at the entrance just before 8 am and were the one of the first 5 in line.  Our guide, Diego, met us at the entrance.  He explained later that most Mexicans from the area have Mayan blood in them.  He has been a guide for about 10 years and speaks fluent English.

It is impossible for me to repeat what Diego explained in two hours.  There are too many details and sometimes I stole away to take pictures.  If you are interested to learn more about the Mayan history and CI, you should get a book on it or for a summary, click on the Wikipedia link at the beginning of this post.  One thing I remember Diego saying is that a lot of what he said are hypotheses because there were no records of who lived at CI and what happened there.  It was said that there were 24 books on Mayan history written by the Mayans but they were burned by a Spanish missionary, except for 4 that are now in various museums in the world.  (I know I am not factually correct here but I hope to find more details later.)

Skull Platform

Venus Platform in the Great Plaza

One of the small statues

More excavation found a different level

El Caracol, Observatory

Temple of the Warriors

The Sacred Cenote (a sinkhole with fresh water)

More engravings from the Skull Platform

Grand Ball Court, with the stone ring at left of center

More engravings

Temple of Warriors

After an hour at the site you start to see a constant flow of tourists.  By the time we left at about 11 am, the entrance to the site was like a zoo.  Tourists come from all over the world and you can hear different languages spoken.  Those who did not hire a guide have to guess what each structure mean.  Each guide costs about 1,000 pesos or about US$55.  If you are in a group, I think it's worth it.  As we leave, big tourist buses from Cancun, about 2-3 hours away, start arriving.

Until 10 years ago, tourists were allowed to climb El Castillo, the main temple.  For safety reasons and fear of vandalism, visitors are not allowed to climb the steps anymore.  Again, I suggest you click on the Wikipedia link above to read more about the history of Chichen Itza and the Mayans.  If you have a chance to go to Yucatan, I strong suggest you visit the site in person.