Chichen Itza and road to Tulum Thursday 17^th September

It was a two hour drive to the ruins at Chichen Itza, also easily called Chicken Pizza as a joke. These are well known ruins from the Mayan age. Most of the other ruins were originally covered with stucco and painted bright colours. The stone here was carved and many of the reliefs have survived.

 We were greeted at the entrance by a giant millipede.

We were some of the first tourists to enter. Many of the hawkers had not yet et up but as most of the hotels along the coast are two to three hours away it doesn’t get crowded until later. It hosts some two million visitors a year so it was great to get in early with our own guide and see it before it is flooded with tourists.

The Mayans knew a lot about architecture. The pelota court had some amazing acoustics whilst the main pyramid had an unusual acoustic quality. Clap your hands at the bottom of the steps and the echo is returned one second later as the exact sound that the revered quetzal bird makes.

 There are 91 steps on each side and the top platform makes 365, to match the number of days in the year. It is also perfectly aligned with the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.

 This building is unusual as it is round, used as an observatory and again aligned with the equinoxes.

Another picture of the entrance taken from the same place but this time the hawkers have set up their stalls ready to sell to the coach loads of tourists that were yet to arrive.

Just up the road we stopped at a cenote. The geology of the whole peninsular is made of limestone and the water erodes great holes and caves. The cenote is the local name given to these sink holes and this one we dived in to cool off. 

Next it was back on to the bus and a drive to Tulum over looking the Caribbean Sea, another ruin and camping for two nights.