We were up bright and early to catch the bus to head to Chichén Itzá aka Chicken Pizza. We stopped in a little town along the way and they fed us lunch at a little restaurant. There was also entertainment while we ate.
Authentic horchata!
The table clothes were blankets
What a cute little couple
After a few hours we made it there. However, it was a lot smaller than I imagined
Ha ha! Just kidding. It was amazing!!
Temple of Kukulkan
El Castillo (the castle in Spanish)
Located in the center of the Great Plaza it stands 79 feet tall (but seems so much larger) with an additional 20 feet for the temple on top. The base of the pyramid is 181 feet on each side. Each of the four sides had 91 steps, one step for each day of the year, with the 365th day being represented by the platform on the top. It was dedicated to the feathered serpendt god Quetzalcoatl and it the most famous landmark of Chichén Itzá. It represents Snake Mountain which is a mystic place in Mayan folklore where creation first occured.
" The Maya were great mathematicians, inventing the concept of “zero” long
before western civilizations. They were also great astronomers, and El
Castillo is the perfect marriage of these two sciences. The temple
contains many references to the important Mayan calendar.
Each of El Castillo’s four sides has 91 steps which, when added
together and including the temple platform, equals the 365 days of the
solar year. Each of the nine terraces are divided in two, which makes
18, symbolizing the number of months in the Maya calendar. The terraces
contain a total of 52 panels, referring to the 52-year cycle when both
the solar and religious calendars converge.
On the corners, the staircases have railings with carved feathered
serpents, the open-jawed head at the foot and the rattle held high at
the top. During the spring and autumn equinoxes, at the
rising and setting of the sun, the corner of the pyramid casts a shadow
in the shape of a snake, representing the god Quetzalcoatl. As the sun
moves, the serpent slowly descends into the earth.
During restoration of El Castillo in the late 1920s and early 1930s, archaeologists discovered it had been built upon an earlier temple.
Researchers estimated that this construction dates to the 11th century
AD. Today a small doorway under the northern staircase leads to a small
stairway into a temple within the pyramid. In this inner temple a Chac
Mool statue and a jaguar throne were found."
I know these next two may seem the same, but look closer.
Look behind me (even with the backpack). Someone photo bombed us with their hat. We didn't even notice until we were home and looking at pictures.
The structure to the left in the back is the Temple of the Bearded man or the North Temple.
It has carvings on the inner walls. One of which is a man that has a carving under his chin that resembles facial hair, hence the name.
The serpents run the length of the court
The Great Ball Court and at the very end in the middle is the Temple of the Bearded Man
Really old stairs
The Lowe Temple of Jaguar. It is behind the ball court. The outer columns and inside walls are covered with carvings.
Temple of the Skulls
One of the most gruesome temples in Chichen. Some of the carvings show human sacrifice, eagles eating human hearts, and skeleton warriors with shields and arrows. The heads of the sacrificed victims were displayed here along with the players who lost the famous Mayan ball game.
Another iguana, they are everywhere!
The Cenote Sagrado (Sacred Cenote)
The Sacred Cenote was exclusively ceremonial. It is said that around 200 people including men, women and children were thrown into it alive as a sacrifice to the Gods in times of drought.
There have also been many artifacts including gold, jade, copper, turquoise, obsidian, incense, pottery, rubber and shells pulled out of here including the bones of the sacrificed.
Cody and I
Scott and Raini
Iguana
This man would not let you take his picture unless you paid him so we had to be sneaky about it. We stood in front of the cenote and pretended to be taking a selfie, but we were really taking his picture. Is that wrong? I would feel more guilty if they didn't make us pay for our toilet paper. No kidding. There was no toilet paper in the bathrooms. You had to buy it from the lady outside the door and she charge by the square!!
We really did take a selfie after taking the guys photo
Us again, just from the other side.
Chichen Itza was added as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World which I why I was so surprised at the amount of vendors inside. They lined every walkway and on the trail on the way to the sacred cenote they were on both sides. It was what I call "The Gauntlet of Vendors". Their stuff was beautiful and so fun to look at, but they were very pushy and everyone had something to say to you.
"Almost free"
"Only one dollar" (until you actually walked over to them and realized it was a bait and switch)
"Come take a look"
"Buy something nice for your mom"
"Good price, good price"
"Hey big spender, over here"
"Cheaper than Kmart"
We did buy a couple of things, but Cody didn't put up with their gimmicks and would just walk away. One of them actually chased him down and sold it to Cody at the price he wanted. Tip: Don't EVER pay what they are initially asking, always bargain with them. If they won't bargain with you keep walking because someone else will.
All those colors!!
Plataforma de Venus
The Platform of Venus
Photobombed yet again! I love it.
I'm eating "chicken pizza". Don't mind me I get goofy when I'm with Raini and on vacation having a great time.
The Temple of Warriors.
It was named after the surrounding carved columns depicting warriors. At the top of the stairway is Chac Mool, a statue of a reclining figure supporting itself of its elbows with a bowl/disk on its stomach
Temple of the Warriors with the Plaza of a Thousand Columns to the right
Plaza of a Thousand Columns.
There are about 200 of these and are thought to have been a support to an extensive roof system.
Taking my turn photo bombing
Ancient Tic Tac Toe!!
I spy my peeps!!
The El Caracol
Observatory
El Caracol means snail in Spanish and it is named after the winding staircase that rounds the interior of the central tower. From that tower the Mayan could view the sky above all the vegetation without any obstruction. It also seems to be carefully aligned with the motions of the planet Venus which had tremendous significance for the Maya. They considered Venus the sun's twin and a war god and Mayan leaders used the changing position of Venus to plan appropriate times for battles and raids.
The grand staircase on the front of the observatory is out of line with all the other buildings on site, but is an almost perfect match for Venus' most northerly position in the sky. Also, the northeast and southwest corners form a diagonal that aligns with both the summer solstice sunrise and the winter solstice sunset. Those Mayans were some pretty smart cookies!
The Nunnery
The Tomb of the High Priest / Osario Temple
It sits over top of a limestone cave that holds skeleton and offerings. It it about 30 feet high with stairways on each side. It resembles El Castillo, but is smaller having only 7 levels instead of 9.
Please excuse my excessive picture taking, but we were at one of the Seven Wonders of the World and will probably never go back!!
I kept falling behind the entire time because I was taking so many pictures. Cody said I need to let him know when I was doing it so he could wait for me, so then I started saying "I'm taking a picture" every time I took a picture. LOL. It completely backfired on him.
KISSING!!
Scott and Raini
Raini and I
I am so lucky! How many people get to say they have been to one of the seven wonders of the world with their two best friends?
The End
It was back on the bus for us and the ride home seemed to take so much longer than the ride there! We did get to see some more of the non-touristy part of Mexico and it makes me so grateful for what we have back home.
Raini got cold on the bus so she turned her shirt into a blanket. I caught her in the middle of a yawn.
After dinner we headed to the poolside for another great show. This particular one was "The Michael Jackson Show" and it was so good. If I didn't know that Michael Jackson was dead I would've sworn this guy was him (pre all the plastic surgery). It was so good and a lot of fun.
12.7.16
No comments:
Post a Comment