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Published: February 15th 2009
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The new port for me while on the Fantasy is Progreso, Mexico. And the thing to see while in this port is the Mayan site of Chichen Itza. It was my one travel/sightseeing goal for this port of call during my time here on the Fantasy. And it worked out perfectly because this week a crew tour was offered to go there! Erica too signed up for the tour; she’d been before but it was when she was really young on a family vacation.
The night before was formal night, which means disco night. And normally, I wouldn’t go out late when I’ve got such an early tour the next morning. But, it’s my last cruise here, so last disco, so I couldn’t not go . . . Which meant though that I turned off my alarm rather than hitting snooze and I only woke up when Erica came to my cabin! However, we made it off the ship and onto the bus. It was a two hour drive there, so a nice nap was in order!
Chichen Itza (not chicken pizza, as our guide said) is quite an incredible site. I’ve been to a few Mayan sites before
and they’re all impressive. What I was amazed by here was how well preserved the carvings are. They’re everywhere and there’s so much to see. Very cool.
Erica and I found ourselves daydreaming during the tour. Our guide was very well-informed, but not at all engaging. So we ended up abandoning the official tour in favour of just exploring on our own. Some highlights . . .
The central main pyramid itself is an impressive structure. So huge! And steps all the way to the top. It’d be a long walk up. One I would have loved to do, but you’re not allowed to climb the buildings here.
We visited the stadium area. Here, the Mayan people played a sport, that to me reminds me of basketball. There are stone hoops high on the walls at the two ends of the playing area. And teams needed to get the balls through the hoops. However, the game was also much like rugby or football in that it was very physical with lots of tackling. And lives rode on the outcome of the games. The captain of the winning team would be beheaded at the end of the game.
Yet they wanted to win. It was a great honour to be sacrificed for this. On some of the walls around the playing area are carvings showing men who were beheaded and the executioners. Then on another structure nearby, are carvings of lots and lots of heads - to represent all of the people who were sacrificed. And apparently, inside this structure is where they put all of the heads. When archeologists first dug that spot, they found skulls inside.
The site is HUGE. Many times I thought we’d seen it all, but then we’d turn a corner or walk down a tree lined path and find more buildings. It was a brief visit for how much there is to see there.
There are tons of vendors all around the site. I didn’t bring much money with me - good thing! - cause there were lots of temptations. I did give in to buy a gorgeous silver necklace though.
And then there was lots of photo fun. I always love taking fun photos; it’s like a game. So we did that all around the site. But Erica had one specific photo request before we even got there:
a photo of us jumping in front of the main pyramid. Her parents took one of her and her brother doing that on their family vacation about 15 years ago. So we needed to do the 2009 version. And it turned out so great! Favourite picture I’ve gotten in a long time.
Seeing as we had another two hour bus ride to get back to the ship, the actual time at Chichen Itza seemed quite short. But we went, we saw. And now I’m down to my last 2 days on the Fantasy. Tomorrow’s Cozumel. But we’ve been having such crummy weather the last few weeks, I’ve usually spent Cozumel huddled in my sweatshirt at various bars or restaurants with internet. Likely the plan for tomorrow as well. However, I’m sure there will be plenty of shipboard fun to be had!
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swills82
Sarah Willett
Mayan Ruins
I've been to Tulum (Mexico), Copan (Honduras), and Tikal (Guatemala), but never to Chichen Itza. It looks gorgeous! Lucky you! Great photos.