Hotel Chichen Itza Chichén Itzá

En el cuarto día, viaje a Chichen Itzá en carro. Chichen Itzá es famosa para el ruinas allí. Estas ruinas son de la Mayan gente también. Las ruinas fueron magnificas para ver. Luego, fui a Hacienda Chichen para comer y dormir. Lo fue un resort lujoso, pero fue caro también.

... been converted into
an art gallery displaying works about the local indigenous people of the area,
and it was free to get in, so that was cool.
Tomorrow we go to Itsa Chicken (I’ve renamed it from the slightly boring Chichen Itza) which
is the mother of all Mayan Ruins in Mexico. That should be good.

For the past three days we went to Progreso, a sea side town about half an hour from Merida.
We arrived on ...

... the echo sounds like a bird´s crow and the rattle of a snake, representing the two facets of the god Quetzalcoatl. And it turns out it´s true!

We also saw a tzompantli (forgive my spelling if any of these are wrong), which is a block covered with skull carvings where severed heads used to be put on display. The hall of the thousand columns is exactly as the name describes, with stone pillars standing guard ...

... alleen. Dat is dan weer het voordeel van te reizen in een gebied dat voor de buitenwereld blijkbaar één grote besmettelijke griepzone is... De sites van gisteren waren slechts een voorsmaakje van wat ons vandaag te wachten stond..nl een bezoek aan de Maya site Chichén Itza, één van de zeven nieuwe wereldwonderen . Chichén Itza was een maya-stad van grote betekenis.In het jaar 987 ...

... the trip out to Chichen Itza. Our guide Santos explained a bit of history on the area and also the Mayan culture.

First stop though was the obligatory tourist shop. Row and rows of jewellery, carvings, masks, rugs etc etc. I wasn't tempted by anything so just wandered aimlessly until we were ready to leave. Only 20 minutes around the corner the ruins awaited us and we were finally there. The first part you come to is the ...

... been ticked by seeing it from the outside, so we coughed up, got ourselves a guide book and toured around. Its a very magical place and its had to even imagine what it must have been like to stumble across it in the jungle all over grown. Also there were two more cenotes which I beleive takes our count to 6 now.... We stayed several hours taking too many pictures, buying a little tourist tat and generally marvelling at the size of it all ...

... a brief stop at a "Mayan co-operative market"(reminiscent of the carpet schools and Papyrus institutes in Cairo), we arrive at the ruins of Chichen Itza, along with half of the tourists in Mexico, or so it seems. Understandably, this place is going to be busy as it was recently named one of the new 7 wonders of the world, so everyone and their cousin wants to be able to check Chichen Itza off their list.

We endure a ...

... is underneath. There were many locals selling hand-carved items, young kids coming up to tourists trying to get them to buy things. It's interesting. Chichén Itzá is fairly touristy but I figure most things are touristy for a reason, it's worth it see at least once, and fun to experience. I always enjoy places that you can spend hours exploring and never get bored.

... the abridged version, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoa tl for more). The pyramid at Chichen Izta is often photographed. My photos aren't digital, so here's someone else's: It's a steep climb, but we did it anyway. Its was pretty darned hot too and as we wandered from the colonnades to the Ball Court, there was a definite ...

... couldn't get a response from either our bank or our credit cards – and neither could other people in line. So we brought Alan back, and he got through again. I tried immediately after – and made it. Thought I’d try again … but this time could not get through. But we had a little cash, and so went on to Chichen Itza.

It was hot and humid, but not terribly crowded. No vendors within the city, either. We ...