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While in Mexico two weeks ago, we had the opportunity to have a “learning day” and go to Chichen Itza, which was fantastic! Growing up, regardless of where we were at, my parents tried to take us somewhere unique that included some learning, and I wanted to do the same for my group! Chichen Itza today is the ruins of huge Mayan City (I believe it was one of the biggest and most powerful cities), and was absolutely amazing to walk around.
We were picked up in Cancun by our tour guide, and took a 2 hour bus ride to the ruins. He gave us a bit of a history lesson on the way, and even taught us some Mayan words. He had a cooler filled with ice cold water bottles, which was also fantastic as he told us it was nearly 100 degrees in the ruins!
We got there and started our walk through the ruins, as he told us about the various trees and ruins around the area. There are iguanas that run around the whole area (and in Cancun as well), and they aren’t nervous with humans being around since the humans feed them. As our group of 20 was standing taking pictures of it, it charged towards us, and it was funny to watch everyone run screaming. Our tour guide laughed pretty hard, and made sure to point out every one he saw for the rest of the tour.
The first large structure we saw was Osario, which is similar to the main structure that you might recognize, but is much smaller.
As we popped out from the woods, we saw the main structure, El Castillo, which is a 98 foot tall pyramid-like structure. It was incredibly impressive, and we spent a good amount of time talking about the structure and taking pictures.
tattoo and Chichen Itza
After spending awhile there, we went over to the Great Ball Court, where the tour guide explained the ball game that was played there, and had us play a few rounds to get a good idea of what it was like. He truly made the ruins come to life, and paying the extra for a guide was well worth it.
We continued to walk around the ruins before heading to lunch, which was very needed. As I said, it was 100 degrees and we hadn’t been in shade for quite some time, so sitting down was great. The had dancers as entertainment for our lunch, and then we had a chance to sit around at the pool for awhile as well.
This little peacock was sitting right behind me in the pool area, which made me a little nervous. I don’t love birds on the loose in general, but it sure was pretty.
This is obviously a super short summary of the hours I spent in the ruins, and I wish I could share more. The day was REALLY fun and informative, and I would say that taking a day trip to Chichen Itza if you’re anywhere in the area (like I said- it’s 2 hours from Cancun) is well worth it!
Now it’s your turn to share! Do you enjoy exploring ruins? What’s one of your favorite archeological site that you’ve been to?
I would love exploring a place like this.
I could’ve spent so many more hours there! It was great 🙂
I went to Chichen Itza the last time I was in Mexico. I remember that it was REALLY hot and I went through like 10 bottles of water. Was it hot when you were there? The ruins are so unique and I loved learning about the history of the area. Glad you enjoyed your trip!
It was close to 100 degrees. I went through about 30 ounces of water in the first two hours- it was crazy! At least the tour guide gave us fair warning while we were on our way, and he brought extra bottles of water for all of us. The ruins are absolutely amazing!