Erin and Christina in front of the El Castillo
at Chichen Itza
Christina in front of the Observatory at Chichen Itza
This Monday, we flew from Mexico City to Cancun in order to visit Mayan Country. Despite the temptation to visit Senor Frogs (kidding!), we headed directly to the site of the biggest Mayan ruins in Mexico: Chichen Itza.
Chichen Itza (a Mayan name for at the Mouth of the Well) is not only the birth place of chewing gum (Chiclets, anyone?) but is an amazing display of Mayan culture. The Mayans, who traveled up to the Yucatan Peninsula from Guatemala, settled here and built amazing temples, an observatory, multiple homes and palaces, as well as an enormous handball court.
We drove over two hours to get here in a cramped van and it was well worth it. The ruins here are top notch, both in quality and quantity. We took the tour in Spanish, and learned all about the Mayans' outlook on everything from daily life to spirituality (turns out 2012 is just a big hoax, phew!) The grounds are enormous and it took us over four hours to see everything. What was most impressive was the technology and mathematics the Mayans commanded. Several temples were built to display complex shadows on Solstice days, and the observatory displays the Mayans' advanced knowledge of astronomy.
After the tour of Chichen Itza, we visited the local cenote, a natural fresh water cave and went swimming. This is literally a hole in the ground (about 50 feet deep or more) that has filled up with fresh water. The Mayans used to throw sacrifices (both human and inanimate) into these caverns (although hopefully not this one!) Swimming was super refreshing, and Erin even worked up the nerve to jump off a high platform, plunging into the water. After a long and informative ride home (our driver took it upon himself to be our personal guide), we managed to fit in some ice cream before falling into a deep sleep.
Tomorrow we leave to see the ruins of Tulum and Coba.
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