CHICHEN ITZA AND PLAYA DEL CARMEN

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Yet another bus journey landed us at Piste the small town on the outskirts of Chichen Itza. We got there about 4pm and needed to find somewhere to stay for the night. Chichen Itza can be travelled to from other destinations in Mexico in a day but the tours all arrive at around 10am-11am so the point of staying overnight was to avoid the crtouds and get there for opening at 8am. There were a few hotels next to the bus station and the town was realtively small so we checked into one that was clean and okay. It even had a pool which we both agreed would probably have been very welcoming back in the 1960´s!! We took a wonder around the town settling at a local restaurant. We found ourselves enjoying a cold beverage whilst watching Steve Irwins crocdile files. We have seen no footage since we visited the zoo back in March so that brought back lots of nice memories that can be easily forgotten. Chicken Fajitas scoffed and we returned to the hotel for an early night.

Waking early the next morning and checking out we jumped a taxi to the ruins, we arrived there about 7.30am. Not a soul in sight apart from a few people cleaning the carpark. A guy directed us to the ticket office where we proceeded to stand in the non existent queue for the next 30 minutes. We were joined by an american guy and the three of us waited to be let in. On the dot 8am we got our tickets and were the first intot he ruins. After a few minutes walk through some trees the area opens out into a huge plaza and stood directly in front of you is the main temple that is on all the ruins information. The sunlight picks up on the various different stages and levels within the temple and to be here with only one other person was more than we could have expected. Chichen Itza has to be one of the most frequented maya cities, easily accessible for the regular 2 week tourists it boasts some wonderful and different architecture. We wondereed around the base of the temple taking various photos and enjoying the peace. The sunshine was warm but yet to become overpowering and it was really relaxing. We wondered off the main square and into some of the ruins further into the woods (not really jungle as we had seen it). Set at teh back is the living complex which quite unusually has remains of many columns from the buildings this is the only maya city where we have seen structures created by columns. Very much like the old roman architecture and there are stood proud in their hundreds. Scattering a large area alot of them are actually in very good order. We did however agree that a certain amount of refurbishment had taken place. This had been carried out very tastefully and in some respects we questioned once again whether it was right or wrong to interfere with the history. Our general concensus has become that as long as it adds to the structures and is in keeping with the original architecture then it has to be of benefit to see the structures in their relative original state. The good thing about the ruins though is that they have avoided adding in the paint that would have originally been on the buildings so it does not look tacky at all. A far cry from what the Chinese have done to the forbidden city. Following the paths round we found ourselves at a strange shaped building, reading the information boards we discovered that the building was actually the steam room. Not bad eh when the maya´s could take themselves off for a bit of a bathe and cleanse over 2000 years ago. Apparently it was used before religious rituals for purification of the body.

Walking further round we found other temples (none of which you can climb at Chichen Itza) well thats is what we throught anyway but as we returned to walk back through the main plaza we saw people climbing the main temple. Only two tourists and a guide so we wonder now whether you can only climb with a guide which we did not have as they were quite expensive. No matter because even though the temple is very impressive the temples at Tikal are much higher and therefore we did not feel we had missed out. Crossing the plaza we found ourselves entering what would have been the ball court. These games areas are present in all maya cities and it is well ducomented that the loser of such games would sometimes be sacrificed. The court at Chichen Itza is the biggest we have seen at all the maya citites and it still has some of the carvings along the walls in tact which are quite astounding. It is pretty obvious that some restoration has taken place but it does look very good and to be able to experience the sheer true size of the area relly is quite something. We wondered around here for a while and came across a rather large Iguana as we were leaving the area. Has to be the biggest we have seen yet and he sat quite happily as we took photos. The final place to visit was the waterpool. This too was used in religious rituals and offering of various precious stones and human remains were made here to the various gods of the time. We pretty much figured that if they put human remains in here then it could not have been used as aback up water supply, this is unusual as there is no river close by like in other anchient ruins we have seen. When we arrived we were both surpised at how deep the water hole was if I remember rightly it was about 22 metres to the bottom. It almost looks like it has been quarried out as you look at the rings of various rock types down the side. The water however is a very thick green colour and has little appeal as you look down the huge wall to its depths. Most of the area is fenced off here so we did not reside to long as there was little else to see. Chichen Itza is the only place in all the cities we have visited where sellers are actually allowed in the grounds. There were various stalls being set up was we wondered around the ruins. Everywhere else we have been including Machu Picchu have nothing not even water on sale inside. Tikal is the only place where toilets and drinks have been sold but no crafts or artefacts. However, we got little hassle (probably because we were early) and as with everywhere else we have been we are unable to buy anything anyway. After a couple of hours we had pretty much seen everything and had enjoyed ourselves even more because of how quiet it was. We took the 15 minute walk back to town to get some breakfast and avoid the now very hot sun.

Finding a little local cafe we had a long and leisurely breakfast with steaming mugs of rather good tea which is quite hard to come by. After that we went off to use the internet and that soon ticks the hours by. At 2.30pm we boarded our bus to Playa Del Carmen. Another 4 hour journey that actually ended up taking us back through Tulum on the way, little bit of deja vu there. Tim had booked us an apartment in Playa even though it was a little out of budget. On the way we encountered our first Mexican rain but had the pleasure of being in the dry on the bus. We arrived into Playa about 6pm and the streets were very wet, the rain must have been travelling down the coast. It was cooler though so we decided to walk to our hostel. It was only 10 minutes around the corner and as the girl showed us our room I felt instantly at home. A nice little kitchen with a large settee, a table and chairs, two large dounle beds and a very pretty ensuite. We had 4 nights booked here and both of us were pleased that we had such a nice room to play house in. It is quite funny how much you do actually miss haveing your own space. Everytime we have a room with kitchen facilities we find ourselves opting to cook and eat in. That first night was pretty late though so we took a leisurely stroll along the main prom by the beach and settled at a restaurant where the food was very good. We have found the mexican food quite disappointing what we get at home is the same but different if that makes sense. Chicken fajitas come in a variety of forms some with peppers some without. It is less spicy than we had hoped and the quality has been lower as well. However, Playa is quite a big tourist destination, not to Cancun standards but bigger and plusher than Tulum. Lots of shops, restaurants and bars line the main area. The choices are good but it is more expensive because of it so the following day Tim took himself off to find the local walmart. Arriving back with all manor of goodies we enjoyed cooking for ourselves over the next few days. Playa is very pleasant with pedestrianised streets and lots of shops to wonder around. As we have not purchased any soveniers on the trip we decided to treat ourselves to a couple of keepsakes while we were hear. more on them when we get home! Our few days passed quickly and as the sun was very very hot we opted quite alot of the time to stay off the beach and enjoy our air conditioned room. We have come to realise that we are very much looking forward to coming home and that 'playing house' can be lots of fun. Just to sit on a settee and relax together watching telly. Okay so we dont want to make this the centre of our life when we get home but a little of everything keeps the balance good. We left Playa for Cancun airport mid afternoon for our flight to Las Vegas and the beginning of the final continent of our long and mind blowing journey........

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Photos

The main plaza
nobody in sight!!!

Huge lizard
in case you were not sure what this is!!

The police car
Tim loved this!!

Making house
shame we only had one proper chair, hey ho!!