Cancun Day 6 - Chichen Itza

On Saturday, we woke up early and headed to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.  Tracie and I had visited Chichen Itza on our first trip in 2001 but it was over 100 degrees that day and all I remember was that it was humid, hot, and fairly miserable.  We were all very excited to visit these amazing ruins. 

Chichen Itza was built sometime between the 7th and 10th century.  We were amazed at the architecture and magnitude of the structures.  One of the most incredible things that I learned was that the main pyramid, "El Castillo" was constructed so that the stairs create an illusion of a snake on the fall and spring equinox. 

http://www.world-mysteries.com/chichen_kukulcan.htm

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza) had a great picture of the snake that appears on the spring and fall equinox:



We were also amazed by the great ball court.  This website gives a description of the game that was played in the great ball court: http://www.livescience.com/23262-chichen-itza.html

"The ancient players would have used a small rubber ball to play. It’s not known what the rules were but the players likely had to get it through the opposing team’s ring. Panels near the ball court depict skulls on racks and one depiction shows a person (possibly a player from the winning or losing team) being sacrificed, his blood turning into serpents as it leaves his body."

After the pyramids we made the 3 hour drive back to Playa del Carmen, stopping in Valladolid.  Tracie had an amazing Cochinita Pibil that was her favorite meal of the trip.  After getting temporarily stuck in a Christmas parade, we finally made it back to our hotel in Playa del Carmen.

 Driving into Chichen Itza