We got an early start the morning we went to Chichen Itza because we wanted to avoid the crowds and we ended up being the first people there!! We even had to wait for them to open the gates to get in. It was a really good choice though because we got clear shots of one of the most famous temples in the Maya world...El Castillo. I don't think many people get the photo with no people in it..we were very lucky. The site itself was really big and spread out. It's hard to give an opinion on it as it is the most famous in Mexico and has previous connotations, but from an objective point of view it was impressive. The Castillo (castle) was really big, but i was disappointed that we couldn't climb it. We saw the temple of the columns next and that was cool, there were so many columns, it is hard to think of how long it would have taken to carve everything!! Then we walked down the causeway to the cenote (water hole). It was a little disappointing to be honest. I had these visions of a sacrificial well where the Maya threw all their worldly possessions into for the Gods, but the water was black, really empty, and you couldn't even get close to it. But still the stuff they found in there back when they were excavating was pretty cool. One thing that was impressive about the site was the ball court. It was the biggest that I have ever seen! And of course ive left my favourite until last...its called La Iglesia (church) and it was so ornately carved...i was really in awe.
We did Chichen on the way to the next destination which wa the capital of the Yucatan, called Merida. Along the route was another site called Izamal, which wasn't really your typical site, but a cluster of Maya buildings within the town. There was also a huge Colonial church in the center of the town which they build right smack bang on top of the Maya building. It was really interesting to see a mix of the cultures in this town.
Merida was quite a big city and we didn't really have a plan of where to stay...so I made one and the others thought it was quite funny. Firstly the plan is to find the plaza in the cente of the town. All towns have these central plazas and I thought that was a good place to start in looking for a place to stay. Secondly is to park the car, consult the guide book and look around for a hotel. I think this is the part that they found amusing...the straight out way that I said it must have been funny. Thirdly is to go to the hotel...and it's as simple as that! Now in every town we go in they joke about finding the plaza and looking for a hotel. So anyway we stayed in a hostel and it was quite nice. The next day we went to another site called Dzibilchaltun. When we got there Amy and Rob chose to bail and go to the shops, so it was only me, April, and Laura. The annoying thing about sites in the Yucatan is that you have to pay this extra fee to use the services, but the services are crap and useless so it feels like you are paying for nothing. The site itself was good, and once again we had it to ourselves. There arn't many buildings in these smaller sites, but they are still impressive and the carving and sculptures are cool.
We then left towards the next stop...a town called Ticul. I think the car choice was the best decision that we have made. There would be no way that we coud have seen all these sites without a car and taxis would have cost a fortune! Along the way we went to another site called Mayapan. This was really cool! There was a pyramid that was like El Castillo at Chichen Itza and this one you could climb. There was also a rounded building that was like the Caracol, but i don't think it was used as an observatory. The reconstruction was also really good and there were murals that were really impressive...the colours were so vivid! Each new site that I see becomes my new favourite and it is hard to choose every time! Ticul is a cute little tow; a lot more indigenous than any other we have seen in Mexico. Everyone rides around on there tricycles in the middle of the road...kind of makes it hard to drive.
The day after we arrived in Ticul, April, Laura and I went to visit some more sites...because we´d planned to see 4 sites in one day and they are considered smaller sites, Amy and Rob decided to bail again. They were all really close to each other, maybe about 7km between each on average. The first was Kabah and that was also the biggest. We saw some archaeologists working there and chatted to them for a while. They were doing restoration work on the main building. The next site was Sayil and this was also impressive. The main palace was really long and the carving was amazing. The funny thing about the architectural style of these buildings is thatit is all exactly the same. Usually you´d find sliht variations in the style at different sites, but here they are identical. The next site was called X´lapak and was the smallest of the 4. And the last was Labna, which was quite big also. The three of us had a really great day and we were having so much fun making nick-names for each other...April had a few, Apshnil, Apy, Apricot, just to name a few; Laura was coined Lah Lah; and I was given Catherwood after the adventurer/explorer of Central America and one of the authors of the title of this blog. It was a really fun day!!
