Upon finalising the contract, we discovered that the rep had omitted to bring a GPS as requested, so he gave us a rather hair-raising ride back to the "office" in Cancun to collect one.
On the way, we discovered that the fuel gauge was reading empty, so Sean made the rep stop at a gas, oops, petrol station and fill 'er up. We were also concerned about the persistence of the "check oil" indicator light on the dash, but were assured it had been checked and that all was well.
Allrighty then!
Car rentals a la Mexican are quite the eye opener.
This is a view of the office carpark:
I'm glad we didn't request the white car or the Jeep.
GPS in tow - another useless piece of junk, I might add (what is it with me and GPS's on this trip?!) -we negotiated our way safely out of Cancun's mad traffic and heaved a collective sigh of relief once we were out on the open road heading west to Valladolid.
We came to the state border between Quintoa Roo and Yucatan State, at which point we had to pay a toll. Once over the border, we then encountered some official government tourist reps, who encouraged us to pre-book tickets for Chichen Itza. Given that we were concerned about the crowds, we agreed to a package that included secure parking and lunch. We graciously declined other frills on offer - we were sure this was yet another example of a commission-earning enterprise, even though it was legit.
Within an hour, we arrived at the site via the village of Piste, parked the car in the shade, and decided to have lunch before exploring the ruins. Lunch was a spectacular buffet held at the "Mayaland" resort, and featuring traditional dancing. Tradition dictates that you put a beer tray and bottle(s) on your head, perform a stamping, spinning dance, and hope the tray doesn't fall off your head:
Sated - and sunscreened, and bug-sprayed - it was time to hit one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Given that it was early afternoon, and that this site is the most popular of the ruins, we were afraid we'd run foul of scores of crowds, but it wasn't that bad. After a short walk along a dirt track, El Castillo rose before us in all its glory. We even managed to get the "money shot" with no pesky tourists in the frame:
This is a BIG pyramid. It's really hard to show the scale in photos, but here I am at the base. Sadly, you're no longer allowed to climb to the temple at the top.
The Mayans were clever cookies, because El Castillo is a calendar: each of the nine levels is divided in two by a staircase, making 18 terraces equating to the 18 20-day months of the Maya Vague Year. The 4 stairways each have 91 steps, which, with the top platform, equates to 365, the number of days in the year. On each facade are 52 flat panels, representing the 52 years in the Mayan calendar round.
Best of all, during spring and autumn equinoxes, light and shadow form a series of triangles on the side of the north staircase that mimic a serpent creeping up the pyramid. There are serpent heads at each of the pyramid's vertices, also.
You can also find some live iguanas decoring the pyramid:
After ogling El Castillo, we moved on to the Grupo de las Mil Columnas, or the Group of the Thousand Columns.
It was amazing to see carved stones scattered casually on the ground.
At each of the sites we visited, Sean and I kept trying to imagine what it must have been like to be the first person to discover the ruins. How teams of archeologists managed to uncover and reconstruct the structures is nothing short of incredible. You can see numbered stones on many of the pyramids, indicating how the stones were reassembled.
The only problem with Chichen Itza was trying to soak up the Mayan vibe without being constantly harrassed by hawkers. Strictly speaking, these informal stalls are not supposed to be on site, but there are hundreds lining the pathways and set up in any available open space. Vendors, including children, approach you with wares draped over their arms.
And the soliciting became nothing short of hilarious!
"Eh, amigos, I have best prices, and speak best English!"
Our favourite was the bloke who tried to get our attention with,
"Only one dollar for this rug!"
"Only one dollar? Yeah, right" *cyncial amusement*
"Si, senorita! One dollar!"
"One dollar. Total." *open scepticism*
"Si, one dollar!"
*switch to Spanish*
"Cuanto cuesta?" ("how much?")
"One dollar.....discount!!!! But best prices!"
*laugh - busted* "No gracias"
Back to admiring the ruins. This column had a beautifully preserved carving, but not sure if he's a warrier or a noble or what:
Sean loved El Castillo:
This is Cenote Sagrado. The Yucatan is dotted with limestone sinkholes, known as cenotes (pronounced "sen-oh-tays"). Most you can swim in (more on that later!)
You wouldn't want to swim in Cenote Sagrado. This is a sacred cenote where, so the story goes, female virgins were sacrified to the Mayan deities. Dredging expeditions have turned up hundreds of valuable artifacts and human bones. According to "Lonely Planet", it appears that all sorts of people, including children and old people, the diseased and the injured, the young and the vigourous, were forcibly obliged to take an eternal swim in Cenote Sagrado.
However, it's worth noting that when we did a walking tour in Merida later on, our guide said that many of the stories of Mayan human sacrifice may have been exaggerations on the part of the Spanish conquistadors, in an effort to make the Mayans look brutal and to tarnish the impression of their religion. Who knows?
Here is another temple, looking back to El Castillo.
Onward to the Gran Juego de Pelota - the ball court. This is the largest and most impressive Mayan ball court in Mexico. The Rod Laver Arena of ball courts, if you will.
The court is flanked by temples at either end, and is bounded by towering parallel walls with stone rings cemented high up.
This is the Templo del Barbado - the Temple of the Bearded Man at the northern end of the court.
According to the carvings around the court, the game may have changed over the years from a soccer-like game with a hard rubber ball, and no hands allowed, to a bat-and-ball game where the aim was to hit the ball through one of the stone hoops. You can see one of the rings to the left of Sean's head:
During the Toltec period, it may have been that the losing captain, and maybe his teammates, were sacrified. Talk about playing for your life! No pressure!
The reliefs along the stone walls of the court apparently include scenes of players being decapitated (we couldn't find them). The player turnover rate must have been high.
The acoustics of the court are great, with echoes, and you can hear people talking at the far end of the court, 135m away.
Here is the Templo de los Jaguares y Escudos - the Temple of the Jaguar - at the southern end of the court
Great views of El Castillo from the ball court:
Walking around the Temple of the Jaguar.
Here's the jaguar!
At the southern end of the site is El Caracol ("The Snail"), an observatory. The Mayans were incredible astronomers.
We encountered a very large iguana:
Finally, the Edificio de las Monjas - the Nunnery. Thought to have been a palace for Mayan royalty, the edifice resembled a European convent to the conquistadors, hence the name. The structure is 60m long, 30m wide, 20m high and beautifully decorated. Impressive.
More iguana! They're like Chichen Itza's custodians.
Another temple to the south of the Nunnery:
We spent close to 3 hours at the site. It's huge, and totally enthralling. We drank about 3 litres of water. It's hot. An Aussie pedigree helps with these conditions, however, and at least there are no flies - just the hawkers.
Heading back to the car via Mayaland Resort, we encountered a peacock. As you do.
So that was Chichen Itza. Again, I've given you the edited highlights, because I kind of went beserk and took something like 200 photos. I am a sad little person, but in my defence, it was totally amazing.
One ruin down, five to go!
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