April 2nd, 2023
Chichén Itzá
We woke up super early at 5:30am to catch a bus to Chichén Itzá, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. On our way there the tour guide taught us about the Mayan world and a few words in the language. Mayan is third most important languages in Mexico today.
It took about two hours to get there and we arrived around 9am. We did change time zones on the way which really confused me. I napped a bit and when I woke I thought only 20 minutes had passed when in reality, an hour and 20 minutes had past.
The tour guide was super animated and entertaining. However, he did repeat a lot of things and was a bit slow showing us around.
In the same area there were multiple ancient buildings including this arena. The game was played between two teams where they would use their bodies to knock a ball up and down.
There were small rings on either side of the arena where if you got the ball to touch it you got some points. If it went through, you won. You couldn’t use your hands or feet to play and the winning team was sacrificed. Which was an honor in the Mayan civilization.
These “snakes with feathers” were all over the buildings.
From the other side
Church
The observatory was in the older part of the park. It was used to observe Venus.
Next we drove about an hour to a consata. These are underground caves that were created by meteorites and filled up with rain water. To get down into it you could use the stairs or you could repel down. I choose to go towards the beginning so I could have more time in the water.
There was a photographer at the top and in the cave that took these photos. They didn’t allow any electronics for fear they would get lost and ruin the cave.
The water was very cold.
We had a Mayan Ceremony performed by an elder.
