Chichen Itza

On the road yesterday, first visiting Chichen Itza and then going onto Cancun (unfortunately). Chichen Itza is billed as one of the most spectacular Maya sites, we found it a little disappointing – especially as everything is closed and you are unable to walk up any of the structures. It was also a very humid and overcast day. The site is dominated by a giant stepped pyramid watched over by Chacmool, who reclines on a nearby structure. The balustrade of the giant pyramid is decorated by the plumed serpent with its open mouth at the base. The ‘Temple of the Warriors’ has the aforementioned Chacmool and in the plaza below, which has 300+ pillars. The ‘Observatory’ records the solstices and equinoxes, important for an agrarian society operating in an area which relied heavily on the rainy season – in fact the whole site is aligned with the sun so that on the spring and autumn equinoxes the sun casts a serpentine shadow on the side of the great pyramid. By the time we were leaving the hoards of day trippers from Cancun were beginning to arrive and overrun the site.
We continued our journey and the Antonio and Natalia brought us into Cancun through the 25 km Hotel Zone at the end where all the luxury hotels were, of course ours was at the other end and we say no more!