Travel: Chichen Itza

Oh my goodness, this place – Chichen Itza – is awesome. One of the 7 wonders of the world, it’s most definitely worth the visit.

Chichen Itza

First, get a guide and opt for the shorter version. It was 35 degrees out with minimal shade, so the 2 hour tour was more than enough. All in all we spent about 2.5-3 hours at the site.

Second, learn cool stuff. These steps are narrow forcing humans to walk up sideways so as to not face the Gods head on, nor turn their backs to them when descending the steps. Such a neat thing to learn.

The first stop on our tour was the field where they played the game. I’m still a little confused on what it was called, yet it was highly advanced and had a lot of rules. The goal, to win, obviously, but more than than, it was to pay respect to the Gods and get the ball in the centre circle along the side wall.

The neat part about the stadium is that even though the end-zones are hundreds of metres apart, you can still hear the person talking from one end to another. The technology is wild and so advanced for that time.

A place of worship.

So, fun little fact – only part of the site is restored. The whole back side of the main pyramid is showing wear. It’s beautiful and I love seeing all the layers of different material used.

This day was awesome. Full of so much knowledge – which is why the 2 hour tour was just perfect. If longer I’d go into information overload. The rich history, the little stories (we had a great guide), and the beautiful weather made it such a wonderful day. One I for sure won’t forget.

My favourite part? The steps. I think innovation like that, with a purpose and a meaning, is just so cool. Plus, it was one of the first things I learned on the site so it stuck.

Visit Chichen Itza if you ever get the chance – I’m so happy we did.