Mayan Ruins in Mexico

anonymouscuban

My wife and I spent a week in Cancun decompressing after our busy week in Cuba. After 3 days of sitting around the resort doing nothing, we began to get a little stir crazy so we rented a car and drove out to Chichen Itza, or "Chicken Pizza" as we began calling it.

It was about 175km from our resort. The drive was pretty easy, nice open toll road and easy to follow signs all the way over. We left early to beat the convoy of tourists buses and the heat and to get descent light. We made it there by about 8:45 and a little over 2 hours to see the entire park. By that time, it was blazing hot and the buses began to arrive.

The ruins were simply amazing. I've seen them in pictures, but until you're there, it is really hard to appreciate that true wonder of how enormous the city was and how such a primitive people could have built it.

The Main Pyramid is huge. Up until a couple of years ago, you were allowed to walk up the stairs. It is now close off.







You can see some of the erosion and damage. Probably due mostly to weathering but I have to imaging millions of tourists walking all over it must have contributed as well:



They are still excavated parts of the main pyramid that are buried:



Here again you can see where some of the block veneer has is completely gone. I could not tell if they are repair it or it's simply worn pretty evenly:



There are numerous smaller structures around the perimeter of the main pyramid. You can get closer to these to make out all the detail in the stone carvings:









Here is a look at another large structure off towards the back of the main pyramid. It has a expanse of rows of columns. I am not really sure what the building was used for and why all the columns but it was quite amazing:

CWSkopec

Sweet shots, Cuban!!

I remember visiting "Chicken Pizza" with my dad quite a few years ago... could be close to 20 years ago now (damn... suddenly I feel old...)

Despite nearly 2 decades since I visited, a few things have remained in my mind...

|1| Those stairs on the main pyramid are KILLER!! All my youthful exuberence and energy was spent by the time I made it to the top. It doesn't help that they're not the standard, easy to walk stairs we're used to these days.

|2| If I remember right, the area with all the columns, was a training area for their warriors. Never having been a warrior myself (other than video games) I really shouldn't speculate, but I imaging that training/fighting among those columns prepared the warriors for fighting among the corridors of other cities.

|3| Are you still able to go up the stairs of the structure behind the column area? Unless I'm confusing Chichen Itza with another Mayan site, there was an alter up there that was used for human sacrifices to the gods. It was even built so that the blood would drain into and fertilize gardens along the outer base of the structure. (Creepy for sure, but resourceful and I probably only remember it because of the "creepy-factor")

Great shots of a place I visited as a kid and need to get back to now that I can appreciate it more fully!

anonymouscuban

After Chicken Pizza, we decided it was still early and we were not too tired so we ventured out to Tulum to see the ruins there. From Chicken Pizza to Tulum is was about 140km. Again, another pretty easy drive.

The Ruins in Tulum were much smaller but not any less breathtaking. They're set right on a bluff overlooking the ocean. There were a bit more people since it was later and boy was it hot. So hot that we could only tolerate a little over an hour before we decided it was too hot and called it a day. However, in that time we were able to see 95% of the site.



The ruins here are less restored then those in Chicken Pizza. They also resembled more of a small neighborhood than a large city like Chichen Itza. There are a lot of small structures that dot the area:







The greenery and turqoise ocean made for such a great backdrop to the stark stone of the structures:







There are tons of iguanas sun bathing all around the ruins. This guy startled my wife when he scurry right across the path in front of her:



The nice thing about visiting the Ruins in Tulum is that once you're done viewing them, you can take a nice cool dip and sun bathe on the beautiful beach down below:

Qarik

Brings back memories..when I went you could go up the pyrmaid and then you you could so inside as well..it was actually a pyramid inside a pyrmaid and there was sacred red jaguar on top of the inner pyramid.

Also see the base stairs? See teh ginat serpent head carved in stone? one day a year year the sun aligns itself so that a clear shadow appears that exmulsate the serpents body in zig zag fasion up the pyramid. I didn't see that live though.

Crossbarphoto

Love the pictures! I am so impressed with these Mayan ruins. I have been to Tulum several times now. It is a wonderful place.

RuiMLopes

Brings back memories....I was there back in 2004 when climbing the steps of the big pyramid was still allowed...
Unfortunately, I went there before my "photo disease " took place in my mind and therefore, I had not a real camera with me (just an old Canon S30 P&S).
Your images are somehow uncommon and different from the usual touristic stuff. Thanks for sharing it.

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D300, D200 coupled with some fine Nikon glass<o:p></o:p>
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Joie

Thanks for sharing the photos!