We woke up early today as we had a big day of going to Chichén Itzá and then to our hotel. This was today’s itinerary as we booked a private tour, so we didn’t have to make a return to Cancun and to save some time:
It took over 2 hours including a pit stop and we arrived at the same time as several buses, so it was crowded and you could hear different languages. Our guide, Theresa, helped us through the crowds as she was very detail oriented in her explanations.
Chichén Itzá is considered one of the new wonders of the world and one of the largest Maya cities. Theresa said Teotihuacán which we visited near Mexico City, Tulum ruins, and Chichén Itzá were the three most important and well-known - Chichén Itzá is visited by several million a year. She also mentioned there are many ruins, even in the backyards of homes or haciendas, and families can choose to make ruins available to the public. So we learned about the nearby haciendas and the families that made this ruin particularly accessible.
She was also skilled in taking photos and I played with the new Apple Intelligence in removing tour groups and their umbrellas:
We learned about the importance of the serpents and saw many faces, heads, and warriors:
We visited the largest ball court where they couldn’t use their hands and tried to get the balls through these hoops. There are several theories on why they played these games - potentially to win and be sacrificed which was an honor and to also entertain the communities or as Theresa often referred to as peasants and the “John Smith’s” of Mayan society. Her phrases were pretty cute and funny including “what were they smoking?!”:
She had us take this fun panorama and Anne and I ran behind her in the ball court, so we can be on both sides:
She also positioned each of us like my mom here to look like we’re touching one of the hoops:
Here are perfectly lined up columns and an example of how the Mayans did not destroy, but rather built upon older structures, and building more platforms and levels:
An iguana which was living near an excavated site which was covered up by the archaeologists, but they showed a bit of the structures that were built upon:
Showing an un-restored side as we walked around the whole Mayan pyramid:
After seeing the main site, we walked over to the Observatory where we learned about how the priests tracked the sun, the Mayans developed their calendar, and were impressive in mathematics. There were not many people here (I didn’t have to erase them with Apple Intelligence) and Theresa insisted on a photo due to the opportunity of the lack of crowds - so I took an obligatory jumping photo:
A map of the archaeological zone:
After being greeted with cold towels by Emil and drinks back in the packed parking lot, we then drove around and through Valladolid which is apparently popular with expats and has colorful homes. Here, Theresa explains that homes have been “sliced like cakes” as they were divided by siblings who inherited the homes from their parents:
Another part of the trip was visiting a cenote, as there are many in the Yucatán peninsula. The Mayans apparently used them to collect water and make offerings. After changing, storing our belongings in lockers, and rinsing off, we descended down to Chukum cenote:
Anne and I jumped in, tried the zip line, and floated helped by our life jackets in the fresh water…
The water was so fresh and we saw lots of catfish:
Mama Kim enjoyed watching the families, us, and dipping her feet in. She didn’t want to be cold as she had recently recovered from pneumonia:
After drying off, we enjoyed a buffet lunch - we were surprised we weren’t hungrier considering it was around 4 pm. Then we returned to trusty Emil, and in about 90 minutes, had arrived at our hotel, the Conrad Tulum where we’ll be staying for 5 nights. Some are shocked that I’m doing a resort vacation for this long, but in redeeming points for 4 nights, the 5th night was free!
After unpacking and getting settled, we had reservations at the Mediterranean restaurant called Maratea. I forgot to take a photo of our salads or pizza, but we had warm breads and pita, my mom enjoyed a seafood pasta, and we had petit fours:
We walked around a little in the dark, but we can’t wait to explore the resort in the daytime!
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