Photo Album: Chichen Itza Ruin & Cancun Photo Album
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We left in the morning just before sunrise, trying to get
into Chichen Itza before the tourist crowd.
And fortunately we did, as a result, we had an empty place to ourselves for the first couple of hours.
All the hawkers were just, quietly going about their setting up.
Chichen Itza was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Post Classic. And here is a detailed description by Wikipedia.
The presence of hawkers is not desirable for such a precious and prestigious UN World Heritage listed site, however, the government is apparently powerless to act. To clear them out, in absence of alternative employment opportunities, may cause more problems then it solves. So they are tolerated.
By now Gretchen was getting better, but her mother Marilyn
was fallen, and Sylvia the Canadian as well, it seems that this stomach bug was
spreading, but at least mine was on the mend.
Our guide was very knowledgeable, and we were able to see, arguably, the very first Basketball Court, with its vertical stone ring. We had a first glimpse of this, when we watched the Pakal show in San Cristabol a few nights ago.
Apparently, the winner was honoured with a
decapitation, so as to be able to return to eternal life....who would want to
win !! Not by my logic anyway !
As part of the preservation effort of this UNESCO World
Heritage site, no climbing is allowed, however, it was still very interesting to
learn all the interpretation of the engravings, the geometry in relation to
sound and musical effects and astronomy etc, of this ancient Mayan ruin.
There is also a sink hole full of dirty water on the side of
the site, which was supposed to have found many human remains, possibly a
sacrificial site.
And then the tourists turned up, in droves, I was able to count
just 9 groups surround a little area I was resting...noisy and bustling. After seeing the long queue at the entrance
ticket booth, We were lucky to have come just a couple of hours earlier.
And of course the hawkers stalls are now in full bloom...noise and sales.
And of course the hawkers stalls are now in full bloom...noise and sales.
The bus trip to Cancun was uneventful, and we got there in
the mid afternoon. After orientation, I
took a local bus, R1, to checkout the Hotal Zone of Cancun. With the limited time I have, that’s the only
thing I could do, before catching a flight out tomorrow.
Out of a long 10+ Km strip of hotels and resorts, all
catered for middle class International tourists, mainly Americans. It is not something I would see myself doing,
lazying in a resort like this for a few days, then fly home, never seeing the
Mexican side of Cancun.
It was quite difficult to figure out, as a non-hotel guest,
where to find the entrance to this 10 Km long beach front, as all the hotels
stand touching each other. I was lucky
to find a non-descript narrow lane next to the Hard Rock Hotel Resort, just by
chance.
Later I was trying to walk through one of the hotel to get back on the main road, the security stopped me. So it was a case of walking back to that entrance lane on soft sand all over again. This sort of things would not have happened in Australia, and I do not remember that being the case on the Gold Coast, a similar styled tourist area.
Later I was trying to walk through one of the hotel to get back on the main road, the security stopped me. So it was a case of walking back to that entrance lane on soft sand all over again. This sort of things would not have happened in Australia, and I do not remember that being the case on the Gold Coast, a similar styled tourist area.
We had a joyful dinner nearby the hotel, and a very nice Black Forrest cake for Rebecca’s (proper) Birthday, and a farewell dinner for me to leave the
group. All except two of us, are staying with the group, which would continue onto Antiqua, through Belize and Guantemala. A couple were also continuing further with Rebecca to Panama City.
And we bade farewell, exchanged our email addresses etc., and hoping to see each other again somewhere, sometime on our future journeys.
Next Post: Panama City and Panama Canal partial transit
INDEX to All Other Posts
And we bade farewell, exchanged our email addresses etc., and hoping to see each other again somewhere, sometime on our future journeys.
As this leg of the Latin America journey was being wrapped up, I was to leave the next day to Panama City. The distance traveled since arriving at Mexico City was 2582 Km.
The footprint of the trip so far is...
INDEX to All Other Posts
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