10 day in Mexico - Day 7 Chichen Itza, Yucatan Peninsula

Day 7 - We are going to Chichen Itza, one of the new 7 wonders of the world. Now can i checked another wonder of the world off my list. So far I've been to the Colosseum in Rome, The great Pyramid of Giza in Cairo(ancient wonders of the world) and now Chichen Itza in Yucatan Peninsula. Hopefully i will be able to visit all 7 wonders of the world!

woke up early morning and we had a nice heavy breakfast (got some bananas saved up for later) at our hotel before we head to the Tulum ADObus station for our 9:05am bus to Chichen Itza.

Price to Chichen Itza is $238pesos and $180pesos for the return trip total $418pesos/ pax for round trip ($20USD). It's quite pricey but it's a 2.5 hours bus ride one way

There is only 1 return trip from Chichen Itza which is the 4:30pm(local time) which is also the closing time for Chichen Itza. * there is time different between Tulum and Chichen Itza. Tulum is 1 hour ahead of Chichen Itza

Best to buy the bus ticket in advance as they ran out fast, because the bus starts from Playa del Carmen - Tulum - Valladolid - Chichen Itza

a brief stop at Valladolid (20 minutes)

finally after what seem like a long bus ride we have arrived. 

Parking fee is $30pesos (for car) ($1.50USD)

our ride

by the time we reached it was already 11:10am local time(-1 hour from Tulum time) it's packed with tour buses and cars. Immediately we took a taxi to a cenote nearby, Cenote Ik Kil (it's very popular as it's just 7 minutes drive away from Chichen itza) Taxi cost $150 pesos (it include an hour wait and return trip back to Chichen Itza) ($7.40USD) which wasn't that bad.

Entrance fee to Cenote Ik Kil is $80pesos/ pax ($4.00USD) and locker is $30pesos ($1.50). There is also life jacket for rent but i'm not sure how much because i didn't get one. The changing room is clean and big. We start from 11:30am and was done at 12:30pm. 1 hour is enough for cenote Ik Kil.

Going to cenote ik kil first is nice as it was not too crowded. Usually the tour buses visit Chichen Itza first and cenote ik kil later in the afternoon. 

i was so excited to be there...our first cenote (natural sink hole) experience and it was memorable.

climbing down the tunnel steps was so cool

it's just simple gorgeous here

the water was just perfect (for the hot weather in Yucatan), cool but not too freezing cold.

There is a rope across the cenote, so there is something to hold on which was great since we didn't rent a life jacket

we even jumped off the platform twice (i was terrified although it's not that high for some people but to me it's damn high)... and i had to do it twice because the first time was not recorded (i know! things we do for social media)

the water is 40 meters deep while its diameter is 60 meters. The waters of Ik Kil were considered sacred by the Mayan who used the site as a location to performed human sacrifice to their rain god, Chaac. Archaeologists have found bones, jewelries in the deep waters of this cenote.

i bet now they will find watches. As i was going to jump off the platform, i was told to hold on to my watch while i jump. And of cause i didn't (i didn't do it on purpose but my hand automatically spread like a chicken wing when i'm scared) but luckily it didn't get lost in the cenote

swimming in the cenote was so relaxing and it's just so beautiful the surrounding. I might have tasted some of the water....ugh!

we were blessed with good weather

one last look before we head back to Chichen Itza

by the time we're backed to Chichen Itza it was almost 12:30pm(local time) and we have 4 hours! Plenty of time to explore the ruins

Chichen Itza! Entrance fee is $254pesos/ pax ($12.50USD) the price
the price includes the general entrance ($184pesos) + entrance to the museum ($70pesos) (i wasn't aware there was a museum, apparently it's just near the entrance)

shopping!

Map of Chichen Itza. It's a big ruin

the Mayan name Chichen Itza means "At the mouth of the well of the Itza".  'Itza' is the name of an ethnic-lineage group that gained political and economic dominance of the northern peninsula

Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya Cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities

 the star of Chichen Itza, El Castillo or Temple of Kukulkan

dominated the center of the archaeological site

the perfect side of the temple

 One can come earlier(8am) to skip the crowd to get your perfect shot. i had mine just Photoshop out all the tourist :)

It's so hot here thank god we went to cenote first for a nice cool dip to refresh from the long bus ride

there is a jaguar throne inside of the Kukulkan temple

a Maya feathered serpent deity sculpture (similar to the Aztec Quetzalcoatl, at Teotihuacan)  at the base of  one of the stairways of Temple Kukulkan

the not so perfect side of the temple but it think it gives character to it

and it's less crowded.....yes i didn't Photoshop this :P

few years back people are allowed to climb up the Temple of Kukulkan but

unfortunately since 2006 when a woman died after tumbling down on her descent, the Temple is offlimit for climbing

tip: one can always visit Coba(not very far away from Chichen Itza) to climb up Mayan's tallest temple in Yucatan, Nohuch Mul (means great mound)

Climbing the pyramid is tricky as it's steep and uneven and only a rope to hold on.

selfie time

In the mid-1930s, an excavation of Temple of Kukulkan a staircase under the north side of the pyramid was discovered. By digging from the top, another temple was found buried below the current one

thank god for trees

Columns of the Temple of the Thousand Warriors

according to it's architectural characteristics this plaza could be a civic religious function

more columns 

more souvenirs 

Temple de los Guerreros (Temple of the Warriors)

the temple complex consists of a large stepped pyramid fronted and flanked by rows of carved columns depicting warriors

what remains of the carved warriors, still beautiful though

every columns has different design

at the top of the Temple of the Warriors, there is a statue of Chacmool(in the middle in front on top of the steps)

Chacmools were often associated with sacrificial stones or thrones. The sculpture depicting a reclining figure with a it's head facing 90 degrees from the front, supporting itself on its elbows and supporting a bowl upon its stomach. These figures possibly symbolized slain warriors carrying offerings to the gods; the bowl upon chest was used to hold sacrificial offerings, like food, tobacco, feathers and incense

view from far

beside the Temple of the Warriors stood a smaller pyramid, the Temple of Large Tables

The platform of Venus, with glyphs associated with the planet Venus; this platform is probable used for ceremonial purposes 

more shopping

tip: to get a good bargain, shop when it's almost close. You can get 2 small statues for like $20pesos ($1USD). Also why would you want to carry around heavy souvenir while you explore the ruin, right?

their traditional Mexican dress....really pretty

it is said there are 4 visible cenotes in Chichen Itza, that could have provided plentiful water whole year round at Chichen Itza, making it attractive for settlement.

However i only seen one which is famous one, Cenote Sagrado (or Sacred cenote)

during the Mayan civilization, these cenotes was a place of pilgrimage for ancient Maya people and used to sacrificed objects ( like gold, jade, pottery and incense) and also human as a form of worship to the Maya rain god Chaac during time of drought. A study of human remains taken from this cenote found that they had wounds consistent with human(skeletons of mostly children and men) sacrifice

statue of Chacmool

Tzompantli or Skull Platform

skulls were impaled vertically rather than horizontally as at Tenochtitlan

The  great ball court

the great ball court is really big compare to the one we saw in Coba much much bigger and the rings are higher too. This ball court is the largest, best preserved and by far the most impressive in ancient Mesoamerica

the parallel platform flanking the main playing area are each 95m long. The walls stand 8m high.

battle with the Maya feathered serpent

hiding under the shade.

at the end of the Great ball court is the North temple (or the Temple of the Bearded Man) and at the south end is another, much bigger temple but in ruins

the great ball court, where the game of Pok-A-Tok was played.

the game is played by 2 teams of 7 athletes or between 2 players and the objective of the game is to get a ball through a narrow stone ring placed of the court wall.

According to Mayan beliefs, their deities enjoyed watching and admired the victors. So at the end of the game, the winner or the winning captain was honored by being beheaded. His reward was an immediate place in Tamoanchan (Mayan heaven). This sacrificial ceremony was common at Chichen Itza 

geez all that hard work just to get beheaded

And the players were only allowed to used their body, elbows, knees and thighs to pass the ball

built into the east wall are the Temples of the Jaguar

The Upper Temple of the Jaguar overlooks the ball court has an entrance guarded by 2 large columns carved familiar feathered serpent motif. Inside there is a large mural, much destroyed, which depicts a battle scene

 yeah i see some jaguars

love this panorama :) with the great ball court and Temple of Kukulkan in the background

the back or the lower Temple of the Jaguar, is another Jaguar throne, similar to the one in the inner temple of Kukulkan(it's red in color)

u played it wrong dude, NO feet :p

and our visit has come to and end, we really enjoyed exploring the ruins

a customary selfie before i say bye bye bye

how i wish i can erase all those tourist from the background...hehehe
oh well can't always have it my way

By 4pm we were done! time to head to the bus stop and wait for our 4:30pm bus. Many was unaware of the time difference and was here since 3:00pm.
The bus came right on time at 4:30pm(local time) By the time we reached Tulum it was already 8pm (local time, +1 hour Chichen Itza).

We bought our bus ticket for the next day back to Cancun central at 12pm. Price $170Pesos/ pax ($8.40USD) for the next day. Price is different for Cancun airport and Cancun central, the bus ticket to Airport is much more expensive at about $252pesos. pax ($12.40USD)

we were starving, only had some granola bar, banana and biscuits for lunch, . Dinner(no photo as we were so damn hungry) we had pizza(i know) and a chicken taco. Head back to out hotel, showered and call it a day. I was exhausted.

We really had a great time today at Cenote Ik Kil and also Chichen Itza. It really was a nice combo! definitely a highlight of my trip to Mexico. I'm definitely addicted to cenote, just wish i had more time to visit other beautiful cenotes

Next day we are checking out and back to Cancun but before that we will be visiting Tulum ruin which isn't very far (or so i thought) from our hotel and we had until 11pm checked out and our 12pm bus to Cancun central

~ hasta mañana ~