Chichen-Itza

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June 30th 2007

Published: June 30th 2007

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Temple El Castillo

The Temple of the Serpent in Chichen-Itza.

After having our free coffee and toast breakfast, we boarded the tour bus for Chichen-Itza. The trip took a bit more than 1 1/2 hours. We all bought our 95 Pesos entrance tickets and wristbands and again I paid for a video pass (35 Pesos this time). Our first stop was the Temple El Castillo. This is the temple where the stairs look like a serpent on each side during the vernal equinox. Very cool, even without the serpent shadows. The guide gave very good explanations (ours was in Spanish for Manoli, but they also provided an English guide) as we wandered thru the many well-restored buildings. Besides the numerous temples, they also had some ruling-class residences, a walkway of columns, a large cenote and the observatory. Again, we found a number of iguanas and actually got a photo or two of them this time. Unfortunately, the only buildings you can climb or enter are the observatory and one of the residences. After a brief shopping period, we reboarded the bus to go eat. We weren't sure what to expect for our 55 Pesos, so we were very pleasantly surprised. The Restaurant Hacienda Xaybeh D'Camapa served a nice buffet lunch

Ballcourt Carving

One of the principle carvings in the center of the ballcourt in Chichen-Itza.

with salads, refried beans, fish, chicken, pork and desserts. The only thing we paid extra for were drinks. While we ate, some of the waiters and waitresses danced, with bottles on their heads and even trays! All of this for 55 Pesos each ($5.50)! We found out from the guide that to pay seperately from the tour, it would cost 120 Pesos. This made the tour a very good deal, what with door-to-door transportation, a guide, and a great lunch. We returned to Merida around 5:30pm and pretty well chilled until 8pm when the weekly Noche Mexicana begins. Around 8pm we strolled over to the area for the fiesta. They had a number of booths selling handicrafts and food, along with a decent band performing. We ordered two different types of tamales from two different vendors. Manoli's was a lot better than mine! I think they cost all of 2 dollars each! Afterwards, we went to another part of town and strolled around looking at the handicrafts. I videotaped the guy making these cool pictures using spray paint, and ended up buying one...for $5 US. I grabbed a capuccino to go and we bought a couple pastries and headed back