After spending days lazing around Playa Del Carmen it was time for a bit of culture, so we booked ourselves on other tour. Suckers for punishment? You could see the enthusiasm in our eyes as we dragged our asses out of bed and did a mad dash for coffee.
Chichen Itza is arguably one of the most famous Mayan Ruins in Mexico. And possibly the hottest. Our tour dropped us off for 2.5 hours…from midday to 2.30pm. At least there was more shade than Teotihuacan.
Built in the 9th century the city housed a giant pyramid whose main focus was to act as a calendar via the sun. The shadows cast by the pyramid at different times of the year told the Mayans when to plant crops and when to harvest them.
There are many other pyramids and buildings in the city including an observatory and church and a building with 1000 columns. All of this plus 1 million tourists
The acoustics in the city are incredible. Stand 24m in front of the staircase of the main pyramid and clap. The clapping reverberates off the pyramid and sounds like their native bird. And in the ball court – where people played ball games with a solid 1kg ball by hitting it through a 7m high circle with their hips – the acoustics were good enough for the king to sit at one end and merely talk to his subjects at the other end of the field.
Also on the cards for the day was swimming at giant sinkhole, 50m below the ground. It was freezing cold but exhilarating to jump into, even if everyone does stare at you.
Finally we stopped in at Valladolid a really cute town where people still speak the native Mayan language some of the women still wear traditional dress. Like most small Mexican town the streets are lined with flat topped buildings with some still maintaining traditional Mayan stone doorways. But no chocolate. Overtired and desperate for sugar we searched the town, but to no avail. Ridiculous!
