Cancun to Valladolid ….. and a day trip to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza

November 12, 2023

We woke up to a beautiful morning with temperatures of 26C and sunny, clear skies. We had gone to bed anticipating a full night’s rest ….however, as we lay down the fun started with some decent Mexican music, loud but not overly so, coming from the Guandalo Roofbar down the street.  Not bad but then the techno went berserk, to the point the whole AIRBNB seemed to be pulsating from DEEP Bass …by 04:00  the “music” started to moderate. Earplugs were child’s play for the thumping beat…so you can imagine how well we slept.

After breakfast the DIDI  taxi called by the host arrived and as we drove by the bar at 09:30 the last of the revelers were stumbling about clutching bottles of whiskey and tequila…good riddance to them!!! Another lesson learned > Do not rent a place near a bar !!!

Today we are headed to Valladolid 156 kilometers or 2 hours away.

Our first bus trip in Mexico was via ADO (a major Mexican bus company). The ADO  station  was modern and efficient with snack bars, CLEAN bathrooms, and an airy waiting area:

Our bus left on time, the seats were quite comfortable, the WIFI  worked and I managed to get an hour of sleep > the scenery though was rather monotonous. We arrived in Valladolid the third-largest city ( 300,000 population) in the Yucatan Peninsula on schedule, a little after 14:00. The Casa San Roque is our home for the next 3 nights and a 9-minute walk from the station …simple check-in but we needed to wait till 15:00 to get into our room. That’s ok, we were a bit hungry and thirsty so we settled on a resto Los Portales, by the Parque Principal or Zocalo (Main Square) a pretty square with a fountain in the center.

A bit of a walkabout of this rather pleasant town before heading out for a pizza…shocker was they did not have a liquor license, oh well we were pretty tired and tomorrow will hopefully be an exciting day… a decent day of walking with 13,514 steps.

November 13, 2023

A great night’s sleep, a full breakfast, and by 08:10 we are at the collectivo stand which will get us to Chichen Itza…

A  collectivo is a quite clever way of moving people around Mexico’s vast labyrinth of roads and highways in an economical and efficient manner. It is a classic example of supply & demand while optimizing resources. Vehicles are matched to demand and they seldom leave unless full. In our case, the requisite 12 people showed up within about 15 minutes and we were off for Chichen Itza which is about 45 kilometers from Valladolid. The cost was 160 MXN (13 CAD) a taxi would have cost about 550 MXN (43 CAD) and would have been a lot less environmentally friendly.

It is a bit cramped inside but the ride is smooth, air-con works and we are dropped off at the entrance and advised where to pick up our collectivo for our return.

We are not the first nor the one thousandth here….this is a hugely popular attraction. After a short wait in line, we have our tickets  1228 MXN (97CAD ), and voila we can now work our way through the vendors selling various “handicrafts” before entering the main event. The weather is mildly cloudy and hot at 30C and probably much more in the sun…..we have hats, sunscreen, and water > so good to go!

Chichen Itza is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. If you are wondering, the other six are: 

• Colosseum, Rome.
• Petra, Jordan.
• Taj Mahal, Agra, India.
• Cristo Redentor, Brazil
• Machu Picchu, Peru
• Great Wall of China.

It’s one of the most visited archaeological sites in the country, partially due to its proximity to Cancun and the hordes of tourists there. The site is huge, covering 3.2 square kilometers (2 square miles), and is home to several temples, including the towering Temple of Kukulcan, a sacred cenote, and even a huge Mayan ball court! 

At its peak around the year 600 AD, Chichen Itza was among the largest cities in the Mayan world. It had roads, temples, markets, homes, and around 30,000 people. The city itself fell into ruin sometime around the 12th Century, and there are many theories about what happened, including that the Mayan elite was overthrown in a civil war. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th Century, this area was a ghost town that had been overtaken by the jungle.  

It wasn’t until the 1800s and today that Chichen Itza has been slowly excavated and restored. Even now, discoveries are still happening – including a smaller pyramid inside the Temple of Kukulcan that scientists found in 2016. 

 

The Temple of Kukulcan  “feathered serpent” is the centrepiece of Chichen Itza. Aside from the sheer size (100 feet tall) and symmetry, it is a testament to how advanced this society was. There are seven tiers and four staircases that each have 91 steps – equaling 364 steps. Combined with the central step at the very top, there are 365 steps total, one for each day. There’s also an amazing natural sight around the spring and fall equinoxes when the sun reflects off the pyramid and casts shadows down the side, creating an illusion of a serpent crawling down the pyramid >>> that would have been a cool sight! Click to enlarge photos…

The Temple of the Warriors built around 1200 is a 40-foot high and 133-foot-wide structure, flanked on both sides by 200 round and square columns. The central temple shows bas-reliefs of warriors, eagles, and jaguars devouring human hearts! Representations of the god Tlalchitonatiuh and Chaac Mool can also be found in the carvings. The following photo is not mine but serves to provide some perspective on this part of the site:

Click on pics below to enlarge:

The Temple of the Warriors and the Thousand Columns Group likely had a civic-religious function and is one of the most impressive and important structures at Chichen Itza.

Another fascinating structure is The  Great Ball Court which measures a whopping 225 feet in width and 545 feet in length. To give perspective to North American football fans, the court is about two times the size of an NFL field with 26-foot high walls with stone rings or “hoops” about 20 feet from the ground, which were the goals.

It is an open-sky ballcourt with no coverings whatsoever. Moreover, it is also acoustically perfect. This means that a whisper from one end of the court travels clearly to the other end of the court, being heard by all players. It is so perfect that sound waves are barely ever affected by climatic conditions and wind direction. Regardless of whether it was night or day, nothing affected the acoustics of the ballcourt.

Each side of the court is embedded with a stone hoop or goal. There are various engravings on the walls and pillars surrounding the ballcourt, which give a darker meaning to what may seem like an innocent game of put-the-ball-through-the-hoop. The Mayans played with a very heavy ball made out of chicle ( extracted mainly from Mesoamerican trees, it is also used to make chewing gum). The ball weighed about 3 to 4 kg (6 t- 8 pounds), and they could only play using their hips, shoulders, knees, and elbows. The game could not be played using one’s feet, hands, or head.

The Venus Platform is known as the “Tomb of the Chac Mool”. On its reliefs is found at the center of the planets, a bird-serpent man who is considered a representation of Quetzacoatí-Kukulcan.

A few more of the many structures that you can visit….click images to enlarge:

The above is just a “teaser” since Chichen Itza is a very large and rich site, to be honest, after about 2.5 hours the sun and heat were starting to have an effect and although we very much enjoyed what we had seen, we felt it was time to head back to Valladolid and a siesta.

After a well-deserved Coke > and, as the 1990 slogan says, “you can’t beat the real thing”… it was only about a 10-minute wait for our collectivo before we were on our way back to Valladolid.

After a bit of a rest at our hotel, we decided to head down to the Convent of San Bernardino da Siena following what is considered one of the prettier streets in Valladolid, the Calzada de los Frailes, which has multi-coloured homes and businesses:

We wanted a light meal and came upon a vegetarian place, Le Kaat > a bit of an experiment as we are not so inclined but it was pleasant and relatively tasty….my ginger, lemon, and mint, drink was refreshing and allegedly healthy:

At the end of the street, we came upon the ex-convent of San Bernardino da Siena which has an important place in Valladolid’s history. It was commissioned by the Franciscan order in 1552, with construction completed in 1560. During the Caste War of 1847, it was taken over by the Spaniards and repurposed as a military base. Today, it serves as a museum where you can admire many pieces of art showcasing its rich history.

Well, that was a pretty full day and we felt pretty good as it had been a great day…looking for a dinner place we chanced on the Restaurante El Atrio del Mayab. As we went in it looked fairly modest but in the back was a lovely garden area complete with fountains, and old-school mood lighting. Waiters in uniforms, candles on the tables, and an interesting menu…having had lunch rather late we ordered somewhat on the light side with the waiter politely inquiring whether that was all we wanted… guacamole which was prepared at the tableside, very cool and super tasty; and Longaniza de Valladolid, which is a pork sausage typical of Yucatecan cuisine. Long and thin, this sausage is served roasted and seasoned with achiote, garlic, onion, vinegar, pepper, and cloves. It is accompanied by sour orange and chili sauce …click on the images to enlarge them…

All was going well until I felt something wet on my arm….then some more, and so came the end to our “romantic” evening, as we grabbed our food and drinks and ran to the interior of the resto as the rain poured down on the assembled diners….a rather anti-climatic end to a great day as we dodged gigantic puddles on the way back to the hotel….however, another day awaits tomorrow with another adventure!!

By the way, if you think touristing is a “walk in the park”, our “steps” total today was 21,182, as a physio once told me “motion is lotion”!!