Day 132: The Mayan Ruins of Chichén Itzá

Visiting the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá was our activity for the day on Saturday. The ride was around 1.5 hours from Mérida and we arrived at the site while it was still morning. Entry tickets cost 242 pesos (~16.42 CAD) per person, which was more than what we paid at Teotihuacán, but understandably, as we saw far more foreigners here.

Chichén Itzá is a large city built by the Mayans around 800-900 AD and exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, indicating the likelihood of the city having the most diverse population in the Mayan world. The name of the city means “at the mouth of the well of Itza” and a possible translation for Itza is “enchanter of the water.” So mystical.

The large pyramid that dominates the center of the archaeological site is the El Castillo or the Temple of Kukulcan. Including the temple at the top, the pyramid is 30 meters high with the base at 55.3 meters across. The pyramid has 365 stairs that we did not get to climb because it, along with the rest of the ruins at the site, is fenced off to the public. You can look, but no touching. Good motto for life if you ask me.

We did take our drone in the hope of capturing some incredible aerial video footage, but there were giant signs prohibiting drones and in English so we couldn’t even play the “dumb foreigner” card. We did get some footage from the ground so keep an eye on our YouTube channel. Side note: our resident musician is a bit busy at the moment, but as soon as he has the time, we will have more videos coming for your viewing pleasure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After walking through the site and passing all the vendors selling the same things for same price of “one American dollar,” we had some delicious chicken burritos for lunch at one of the restaurants at the site and headed back to Mérida.