Anniversary in Mexico, Part 2

Josh and I wanted to see some more Mayan ruins while we were in Mexico for our Anniversary trip, so we made plans to visit Chichen Itza. On Day 4 of our vacation, we took the day-long excursion to the ancient ruins, and it was SO worth it! We were picked up at our resort that morning, and then we rode a bus for a couple of hours to Chichen Itza. 

Another beautiful day in paradise!

It was incredibly busy, packed with tour buses and vendors and visitors. Our tour guide took us around the site, and shared insightful information with us about the buildings and the Mayan people. He spoke like 5 different languages (including English, Spanish, and Mayan), which was so impressive! We learned a lot and enjoyed walking around, taking photos of all the beautiful ancient ruins. 

A ruined portion of the Nunnery structure

Original Temple of the Nunnery

The Nunnery East Chamber

The Church

The Church is a Temple dedicated to the God of Rain

El Caracol "The Snail"

The Snail has an observatory with doors and windows
aligned to astronomical events

The Ossuary has 9 stepped blocks and a staircase on each side.

On the upper foundation of the Ossuary, 8 interlocked
snakes decorate the edge of the structure with
2 snake columns at the entrance to the temple.

Temple of the Warriors

The Temple of the Warriors is flanked
by rows of carved columns depicting warriors. 

Group of a Thousand Columns

El Castillo AKA Temple of Kukulcan (a feathered serpent),
is one of the 7 Wonders of the World

Excavations over a decade ago exposed
foundations of other Mayan structures.

The building was so impressive to see in person.
Sadly, people are no longer allowed to climb up its steps.

Each of the 4 sides of El Castillo has 91 steps, plus the
one-step platform at the top brings the total steps
on the building to 365, the number of days in a year.

El Castillo is the tallest structure on site, measuring nearly 79 feet. 
If you stand close to the stairway and clap, the echo sounds like a bird.

During the spring and fall equinox, the sun casts a shadow on
the balustrades and it looks like a descending serpent. 

Platform of the Skulls

Over 500 skulls are on its walls

The Great Ball Court

The entrance has two large columns carved with feathered serpents.

Panels sculpted with battle scenes were at
the base of the walls in the Great Ball Court.  

After we finished touring the ruins, our tour bus took us to a nearby cenote next. The cenote was breathtakingly beautiful but was SO jam-packed with people. I kept bumping into people in the water and the lifejacket kept slipping up on me, so we didn't swim for very long. 

After we left the cenote, our next stop was to a Mayan restaurant with dancers entertaining us during the meal, and then to a little Mayan shopping village nearby. 

The final stop of the tour bus was to an outdoor market at a park in a small town across from a church. We had a good time roaming around looking at all the handmade products from the local vendors. 

We rode a couple hours on the return bus trip and got back to our resort just before the sun set. That night, the resort's evening entertainment was dancers performing by the pool. It had been a long, but very enjoyable, day for us!