Mérida Segunda Semana - Part Five (Chichen Itza)

Sunday was another excursion, this time to Chichén Itzá. Very similar to the other ruins we visited but the city was clearly so much bigger. I was thrilled to see one of the wonders of the world, but appreciated the opportunity to climb the ruins at Uxmal. The castle at Chichén Itzá no longer permits anyone to climb because there has been such an increase in visits to the site and the steps are potentially dangerous.

 

When opened, the tomb above in the Platform of Venus held the remains of several young boys - not the virgin female sacrifices of legend.

   High Priest's Temple - a smaller version of El Castillo

A closer look at one of the masks of the rain god Chaac that guards the High Priests' Temple.  You can see the eye, mouth, nose, and ear.

El Caracol (above, meaning 'snail') was named for the central spiral turret - and is also known as The Observatory.

La Iglesia de las Monjas (the church of the nunnery) has 4 sacred animal built into its sides to represent the most valued virtues.

 

 

 

From left to right is the crab, snail, armadillo, and turtle.

 

 

El Templeo de los Guerreros

 

The site is also home to the Great Ball Court, the largest known of its kind. The rules and purpose surrounding the game are still largely unknown, just like many facts of the Mayan culture, because only 3 original texts remained after the Spanish conquest of the Yucatán. But it is clear from existing carvings that someone, probably the members of one of the teams, was killed at the end of the game. And it is mostly speculated that it was the winners who were killed because it was meant as a sacrifice to the gods and you would want to give the gods the best. However, that brings up 2 questions; first: would some players try to throw the game? Because even though it was an honor to be sacrificed to the gods, some people would probably want to live. And the other: did this contribute at all to the fall of the city since they only had losers left to defend them?

Wildlife at Chichén Itzá

Day Spa outside El Caracol and an ancient Mayan hot tub (right) - you can see the canal - where water entered - as well as the stairs - where a person entered.

An example of the angular Mayan arch

 

After Chichén Itzá, we swam at Ik kil, a much more "civilized" cenote (there are lockers to store your belongings, towels for rent, and constructed stairs) and hit up another restaurant buffet.

I´m not going to lie, I love a buffet but México is a poor country and waste is severely frowned upon so it´s really tricky to get just the right amount of food in that setting. We had tamales waiting at home for us again, though, so I actually tried to avoid filling up!  I do love second lunch.