Uxmal to Chichen Itza

November 6, 2009
Uxmal to Chichen Itza

Well the drive today was easy. First to Merida on a Mexican three lane and then the half way Preferico around the city and then the autopista to Chichen Itza. The road was really well paved all the way and well signed so that I had no trouble at all finding my way. Someone told me that the roads as you got farther south in Mexico improved greatly and now I am beginning to believe them.
Chichen Itza is the most well known of the Mayan archeological sites outside of Mexico City and I think the most visited because Cancun is just a two hour drive away. The tour busses were here in force when we arrived at noon time and they are just now all leaving 4:00 pm (they are one hour later here than the times I will give you, I have not reset my watch to local time). About 7,000 people visit here a day during the tourist season, as compared to about 1,200 people all season in 1965.
The site is much larger than Uxmal, about 40-50 Km square but also much more commercial. There are vendors all over the place. They have done quite a jobe of keeping you off of any of the pyramids, in Uxmal you could climb up just about anywhere you wanted.
Here they have also excavated some of the insides of some of the pyramids and opened the rooms that were inside them. Tourists however, are not allowed into these areas.
They have several different areas:
1. The ball field which is quite well preserved and very large. Showing the rings for the goals and where the king sat at one end and the referees or judges at the other. The acoustics again are fantastic as you can hear a person speaking from one end to the other and it is at least 100 yards.
2. An observatory building: The Mayans were great astrologers and mathematicians and the building has 365 steps to represent the year. Their calendar was 20 months and 5 days. During the winter and summer equinox the side of the building casts the shadow of a snake onto a wall.
3. The Central Pyramid: This is quite large but you can not climb this one.
4. A burial pyramid which was quite large and flat on top and had skulls carved into the stones on the sides.
The hieroglyphics here seem better preserved and they did do human sacrifices here. The captain of the winning ball team was beheaded for example supposedly a great honor. Children and virgins were sometimes drowned. The carvings show birds holding human hearts in their claws.
Imagine if you will most of this whole area covered with limestone rocks. Later these square rocks were taken by the Spanish to build their churches and cathedrals and some be the later villagers for their homes when the Spanish conquered the region. Well tonight if the rain doesn’t come down we will see the light show on the pyramids. Then we must find a campsite for the night as we are not allowed to stay in this parking lot.