Blogs from Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico, North America

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North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Chichén Itzá March 5th 2023

The Yucatan is a special place. There are no rivers. Bedrock is limestone and all water is found underground. With erosion and time, sink holes are created and water is accessible from the surface. They are called cenotes. Depending on the age and the erosion process, cenote experience could be a very tight cave with a low ceiling, or the total opposite when age is cenote is greater. Cenote IK'Kil is impressive as it is wide, high, almost no ceiling so full of sunlight, full of descending plants and wildlife, (both in and out of the water). We booked a night there. Accommodations are nice little huts in middle of the forest. Very relaxing! A nice advantage if you sleep there, is in the evening when you have the cenote all for yourself and free of ... read more
Cenote
Oriole bird
Hut

North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Chichén Itzá March 1st 2023

We all have different points of interests and tastes in travels. Some prefer to see different cultures and meet people, others are foodies, others like architecture and others are more nature oriented. I am of the latter type. But with some attractions, interests might converge. Even If I prefer nature, I don't want to miss big impressive monuments. I wouldn't do a detour for door handles or balconies, but for very large structures, yes. :-) I have been to Mexico a couple of times, and have then visited a couple of archaeological sites: Teotihuacan , (huge and impressive), Palenque and Calakmul ,(mayan sites in middle of the tropical forest that make you feel like an explorator, especially Calakmul), Tulum, (not big but really beautiful because of the proximity of the turquoise Caribbean sea. Then there's Chichen ... read more
Carvings
One of the sacred cenote

North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Chichén Itzá February 19th 2021

Yucatán, Mexico 2009 IK KIL - Mayan Kings Bath... read more
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North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Chichén Itzá November 29th 2018

We had planned on getting the 7.15 or 7.30 bus to Chichen Itza today...buses run every hour from then. The sky is blue without a single cloud in sight...it will be hot so we need to be there ASAP. Ian tells me we have plenty of time - it is 7am, he is not dressed and we have to walk to the bus station and probably queue for tickets. OK, it will be the 7.30 then! We proceed to walk around the streets in circles. Seriously, the bus station is only two blocks away, how can we possibly get lost? The grid system here either makes life incredibly easy or incredibly difficult - today it is the latter! Google maps is equally befuddled - sending us in one direction and then changing its mind and sending ... read more
Chichen Itza - Tomb of the High Priest, with moon above
Chichen Itza - The Observatory
Chichen Itza - The Nunnery carved relief detail

North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Chichén Itzá June 12th 2018

In diesem Blogpost möchte ich euch zuallererst die Geschichte der Maya näher bringen die ich anhand der archäologischen Fundstätten in Chichén Itzá und Muyíl schon etwas kennengelernt habe. Danach folgen noch ein paar Schilderungen zu den Ausflügen nach Chichén Itzá, Muyíl, Sian Ka’an und Mérida. Und natürlich stelle ich euch mein neues Zuhause vor: Valladolid. DIE MAYA Diese präkolumbianische Kultur war so weit entwickelt, dass die Menschen hier sich noch heute auf ihre Lehren und Tugenden berufen, allem voran beim Essen, in der Permakultur und der Heilmedizin. Viele Mysterien aus deren Blütezeit sind bis heute nicht erforscht, es ist unter anderem nach wie vor ein Rätsel wie die Mayas riesige Städte erbaut haben und all ihre Pyramiden exakt nach den Himmelsrichtungen ausrichten konnten ohne jegliche technischen Hilfsmittel. Rund um 600 AD war die "klassische Zeit der ... read more
Valladolid, pueblo magico
Valladolid - der Hauptplatz mit der schönen Kirche
Mmmmhhh... Marquesitas

North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Chichén Itzá April 14th 2017

Today we decided to finally be true tourists. We rented a car for a day trip to Chichen Itza, Il Kil, Coba, and whatever we had time for in between. We opted for the rent-a-car because it seemed cheaper and we're not fans of going on group tours. Alamo showed up right to our hotel with the car, we quickly filled out the paperwork and went on our way. It was an easy drive with a direct route, however a little boring. You're driving through miles of tall grass, but I didn't care too much, just happy to be traveling in another country. When we arrived to Chichen Itza, the entrance was jammed up with buses and cars, so we reluctantly paid to park in a dirt lot close by. I suppose it was better than ... read more
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza ruins.

North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Chichén Itzá March 11th 2017

My first full day in the Yucatan actually took me to the state of Yucatan. That may sound weird, but Cancun is part of the Yucatan peninsula, whereas Yucatan is also a state in Mexico. Cancun is not in the state of Yucatan, but Quintana Roo. Geography lesson complete. On paper, my professional tours for today and tomorrow were a great idea - "exclusive early access" to Chichen Itza (where I was today) and Tulum (tomorrow). I practice, however, I may have overdone it. First off, they pick you up at your hotel at 5AM. Which means you have to be ready to go by then; or up by at least 4:30AM. I am not a morning person, but I normally have no problem getting up early if I need to. But this isn't early. It's ... read more
In front of the Castillo - some Aussie guys in the background getting ready for their own photo
Temple of the Warriors, with Chacmool at the top center
The ball court at Chichen Itza

North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Chichén Itzá January 2nd 2017

The planner I am, I purchased a nice deal of a pirate cruise in conjuncture with a Chichen Itza tour. Today is the Chichen Itza tour part of the package. However, unlike my original email claimed, I didn't get an email correspondence to plan for the company to pick us up. I did call the Pirate Shop company, Jolly Roger, to get the information before we left the States. Through the clerk's poor English and my little knowledge of Spanish, we managed to get a time of 7:15am at Plaza la Fiesta to get on the bus. With our fear of being wrong through miscommunication and the unknown of how easy to get a taxi, we left the apartment at 6:30. Two blocks from the apartment we caught a cab and made our way to Plaza ... read more
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North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Chichén Itzá November 14th 2016

Two busses, a waiting room, and another bus and a few hours later I found myself at one of the new seven wonders of the world; Chichen Itza. This is probably the most famous of ancient Mayan sites. It is a temple dedicated to Kukulkan. One story is that this dude was a Nordic sailor that washed ashore one day. He had seaweed in his hair and a big beard. So our guide pointed out that I look like him….damnit….i cant go anywhere without being compared to someone else. So strange for me! Oh, also we were at Chichen Itza for about 5 minutes before a lady came up and took my picture twice. :/ Anyways… This place is pretty neat and reminds me a lot of the other giant stone complexes around the world. All ... read more
the clouds were nice
face
me

North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Chichén Itzá August 30th 2016

Weiterreise nach Merida. Wir packen am Morgen unsere Sachen und entscheiden uns für Frühstück im Hotel. Der Kaffee ist ok, es gibt Papaya, Bananen, Melone sowie eine Auswahl einheimischen Gebäcks. Kein Top-Frühstück aber ok. Zwischenziel ist heute die Cenote Ik-Kil unweit von Chichen Itza. Wir kommen gegen 10Uhr und sind am frühen Morgen fast die einzigen Besucher. Die Cenote ist wirklich beeindruckend, ein kreisrundes Loch im felsigen Untergrund, überwuchert von Lianen, 17m tief. Über eine Treppe steigen wir hinunter, unten angekommen ist Aaron natürlich zuerst im kühlen Nass. Das Wasser hat eine Tiefe von fast 50m, Aaron stört das wenig, für Annett ist es ziemlich unheimlich. Das Wasser ist klar, Grund sieht man nicht, man weiß schließlich nicht was da unten so alles lebt. Nahe der Oberfläche leben zumindest nur schwarze Welse, die ihre Runden durch ... read more
Cenote Ik-Kil




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