Chichen Itza

So where was I?

Ah yes, Wednesday…

After a night of hotel-walls-vibrating-non-sleep we got up bright and early for our tour of Chichen Itza. First order of business – find a coffee shop. The Boy needs his morning coffee. Especially at ten to seven. Ugh. Right out of the entrance to our hotel we saw a lady walking with coffee. The Boy immediately pounced and asked where she got it. She told us and we were on our way to Java Joe’s. At Java Joe’s coffee & croissants were in hand. Then it was over to OXXO (which I like to call Mexican hugs-n-kisses but it’s really more like a 7-Eleven) for a few more breakfast-y items and a Coca-Cola Light (my addiction). A couple of fruit-n-cereal bars, water & banana later we were off to the Gran Porto Real. That’s where our tour was leaving from.

Promptly at 7;15 our tour guide (whom we later learned was Juan Carlos) arrived and checked our tickets. We climbed in the van with 8 other eager (and sleepy) passengers to start our day. The Boy and I sat in the front of this van which was nice…I like being able to see out the front window and it gave us a little extra room for our bags. We were also right by the cooler filled with water and soft drinks.

We started by heading south to Tulum. This was odd to me as Chichen Itza is north – but mostly just west of Playa del Carmen. He explained to us that we were going this way because the other road was not very good. Ahem. Well, if the other road was not very good THANK GOD we weren’t on that one!! The road we took was frightening!! Well, the road to Tulum was fine…it’s a little weird because this Mexican autopista (I think it was an autopista…freeway…) has a lane and a half going each way…so if you want to pass you kinda have to go right out into the other lane…it’s weird and a bit nerve-wracking. The road through the jungle was far worse. Bumpy and NARROW. And we were flying!! And gravel. Ack. Coming up on big buses our semis (why the h*ll were semi’s driving on this road?!?!) was a bit scary.

We drove through a Mayan village which isn’t such a Mayan village any more. I can’t remember how many years ago – but within my lifetime the road that we were on was cut into the jungle. Before that this village was in the middle of no where! Women & children are everywhere selling their arts and crafts and tending to household duties. We saw a monkey chained up at one of the “stores.” Poor monkey. Apparently he has a pretty good life though and likes Doritos. J We did drive through a traditional Mayan village. The houses are amazing. They are huts! Made out of trees? (sticks?) from the jungle and with thatched roofs and dirt floors. It looks more like camping than real life and was very humbling and amazing to see. And they’re everywhere. We were told that if two houses were in one yard it usually meant that that was the son’s family and they didn’t go far from home to build their house. I guess not. In one little village we drove through, there were little boys sitting on the side of the road with their “souvenirs” for the tourists. As we drove by they flashed us a magazine that they were reading – naked pictures! I guess little boys are the same everywhere – even in the middle of the jungle.

Our first stop was at a “store” to shop for souvenirs and learn about the tequila plant (el Maguey). The tequila information was interesting but I passed on the free samples. Blech. And it was only 10:30 in the morning! The Boy had 2 samples….a good wake up call I guess. I found a table cloth that I absolutely loved – it was made from 50% maguey fiber and 50% cotton. Dyed the most beautiful bright colors with vegetable dies. It was $90 but I was supposed to barter. But I chickened out and didn’t. Now both Sweet Boy and I are KICKING ourselves for not getting it. It was gorgeous and would’ve been such a fun and lovely souvenir of our trip. Ack

Next up was Chichen Itza. It was awesome. The first part of our tour was guided past all the ruins. This was interesting and the Boy took lots of very beautiful pictures. I wish I had read up more on the site before visiting it as I love all the information and would’ve like to have known more. There was one hiccup – on the trail from the south to the north areas a bunch of people were stopped looking into the woods AT A SNAKE. Ack. I just kept going, kept talking to myself and scurried away. This girl don’t like snakes. L There were Mayans everywhere selling their wares…they’d say “one dollar, one dollar” and if you tried to buy something they’d then specify that it was really 5 dollars or one Mayan dollar. Sneaky. There was a little tiny boy selling embroidered hankies at the temple of the warriors for 2 pesos….but when The Boy tried to buy one, suddenly it was 10 pesos, or a dollar or more….

It was hot at Chichen Itza. We looked on weather.com when we got back and it stated that it was 99 degrees the day we were there!! That’s 12 degrees above the average high. It’s not supposed to be that warm until May!! Needless to say we were sweating our patooties off. We climbed the high pyramid – El Castillo or the Temple of Kucklakan. It was amazing. It is SO steep. Pictures do not do it justice. While climbing up the pyramid you can practically remain standing and put your hands out in front of you on the steps going up. Once you get up there, your heart kind of falls into your stomach as it is high up there and there is no railing or safety features to be found! You can walk around the top of the temple and see an amazing view of the surrounding jungle, and small town and of course of the other ruins. The way back down was the scariest part. I went down on my butt as the thought of my foot slipping and me tumbling into those climbing up sent shivers down my spine and turned my legs into rubber. Whew! Scary. Scary. Scary. No wonder they keep an ambulance in the woods behind the pyramid! But I’m so glad we did it. I could’ve used more time at the ruins to do more exploring and take more pictures but we had to meet up with our group…and I was beet red in the face from the heat. Ack.

Next stop was at a buffet restaurant for traditional Yucatek food. It was really good – beans, rice, quesadillas, pork cooked in banana leaves, spaghetti noodles (!) and other yumminess. There were dancers there as well. The restaurant was very colorful and unique. I learned later that that is the same restaurant my folks went to as well on their tour to Chichen Itza. It’s definitely a touring hotspot!

After lunch we stopped at a cenote. This cenote was not as spectacular as I would’ve liked it to be but it was still pretty cool. The water was crystal clear and so inviting (especially after being so hot!). We didn’t swim however because the thought of sitting all the way back to Playa in wet bathing suits was just not too appealing. I’m glad we got to see one though as they are the ‘signature’ geological feature of the Yucatan peninsula.

We stopped at a colonial city after that. Vallodid (I think?). None of us were too into it and would’ve rather just gone back to Playa! We got out, stretched our legs and photographed the church there. The interesting thing about the church is that it was built with stones from Mayan ruins.

Then the long trip back to Playa – I tried to snooze but it was scary thinking about hurtling towards cars on the “highway” and not too peaceful. We arrived back in Playa at about 6:30pm.

Then off to dinner…which is a story for next time….