Weather was good, even for off-season. Occasional tropical showers passed through but most days were hot and sunny. Food was terrific and was also the first time I ate fried cactus. Not deep fried just diced up and pan fried. Had a really delicious tangy taste once you bit into the pieces.
I stayed at a resort but took day trips out to different sites and places. First place I was off to was Chichen Itza. The actual setting of Chichen Itz was a 3 hour bus ride from where I was staying and the heat that day was reminiscent of Egypt in summer. Was only allowed into one section of Chichen Itza but did get to walk around and view many of the sites. One of the biggest changes is that the gov't now owns this site and no longer allows people to climb all over the monuments and buildings.
The Mayan empire came to prominence in the first few hundred years post AD. This is the main and primary Mayan pyramid named Temple of Kukulkan. There are 4 sides and each side has 91 steps = 364 and the top makes 365. The most remarkable feature is when you stand at the bottom of the steps and clap you can hear it echo. I stood beside a tour group and the guide had the entire group clap and the echo that came back from the top of this pyramid was astounding.
When this pyramid was excavated they found a small pyramid underneath it with another pyramid built over top of it with this pyramid built over top of all of it. 2012 ends this particular Mayan calendar cycle and if history was repeating itself there should have been another pyramid built over this one.
To compare and contrast with Egyptian pyramids the stones in this pyramid were not that large and behind the quarried rocks the Mayans filled up the space with loose rocks cemented together with a compound of limestone, egg shells - whatever they could get to stick 'em all together.
As the seasons changed and at different times of the year you can apparently see the shapes of snakes rising up from the ground. You can see it when it is pointed out by the Guides but I couldn't really get it in a photo.
On the outside of many of the building there were relief carvings like this:
Some were pretty hard to see but this one (I think) shows it the best. The guide indicated that these carvings were painted and coloured but now mostly it shows as faded grey rock.
This building is believed to be an observatory. At different times of the year the light and stars line up to create patterns.
All in all I was quite fascinated. Chichen Itza was remarkable. I've never read much about Mayan culture or even thought much about these pyramids but I believe they are now recognized as one of the 7 wonders of the world.
