Chichen Itza Recap

Since my brother left, I feel like I am a bit boring.  True, I do have the time to workout when I want, cook what I want, and enjoy the activities I want, but since he's left, I don't do many blog worthy things.  So I thought I would give a review of our travels to Chichen Itza.

We left early in the morning, and arrived before the big tour buses.  It was a beautiful, cloudy day, with a nice breeze, and no mosquitoes.  I let Patrick use my Cannon Rebel, so all the pictures you see are taken with my iPhone.

Chichen Itza is quite large, and during my first visit, I completely missed an entire section of the park.  Patrick informed me on how good of a tour guide he is.  He's also a cut throat negotiator too!

Columns at the Temple of a Thousand Warriors

 

Temple of a Thousand Warriors

 

My favorite!  El Castillo... The Castle

Venus Platform

 

Venus Platform- close up showing the drawings

 

Grand Ball Court

 

House of the Jaguar

 

Again, El Castillo de Kukulcán

 

A little information.  

 

Ossario

 

El Caracol, The observatory temple

 

El Caracol, the snail, receives its name from the curved shape of the stairs in the observatory.  The structure has an unusual place, but it thought to be in alignment with astrological events and specifically the path of Venus.

 

My sight seeing buddy

 

The Red House

 

The Red House

 

The front side of the complex de Las Monjas.

 

I love this building.  This my be my favorite picture because the beauty of the building is not lost, although the structure is crumbling with time.

 

 La Iglesia, the church

 

La Monjas, The Nunnery

  My younger brother posing in front of the observatory at El Caracol.

To get to Chichen Itza from Playa del Carmen, I drove North on 180 D towards Cancun.  You will take this for about 200 km, so make sure to fill up on gas before you leave.  Before you arrive in Cancun, you will see an exit towards Mérida.  Take the exit and continue on 180 D.  This highway has a cuota, which means you will need to pay to use it, about 200 pesos.  After about 90 km, you will arrive at the border of Quintana Roo and the Yucatán.  After the border continue another 105 km, and after the next toll booth, continue towards Pisté/Chichen Itza.  In Pisté, you can find a good and cheap place to eat.  From here, it is only a few more minutes to the ruin.  Keep right at the Y-crossing, and shortly, you will have arrived.

Remember, try to arrive early to give yourself plenty of time to explore the ruins before the large tour buses take over.  Enjoy!