Tulum Day 3: Chichen Itza

The internet went out at our hotel for the last couple days we were there so I didn't get the chance to post any more pictures so get ready because here come the rest! 

Day three of our week in Tulum was by far the busiest.  A tour bus picked us up at our hotel and took us to Chichen Itza.  It was a two hour drive and Octavio & I were the last to claim our seats in the very full van.  Octavio lucked out and got the front seat with plenty of room.  I, on the other hand, was squeezed into the very back corner of the van sharing a bench with a German family.  Luckily they were very friendly so that made the ride more bearable!  After touring the ruins we had lunch at a buffet restaurant.  The food left much to be desired and I actually ended up getting sick later that night.  And here I thought I was being smart by avoiding any of the meat that looked sketchy and sticking to things I thought wouldn't go bad like rice and pasta but nope, no luck.  So day four of the vacation involved a stop at the doctors and pharmacy!  After lunch we stopped off at a Cenote for a quick swim which was nice because we were all hot and sweaty after walking around Chichen Itza in the blazing hot sun!  Then we came home and promptly fell asleep.

iTour was one of the pick up spots for the Chichen Itza tour.

Our quiet hotel turned into a mini UN with people from all over and so many different languages being spoken!

the entrance to Chichen Itza, busy busy.

Trying to find the right tour group in the mass of people

Start of the tour.

Lots & lots of vendors.

Mayan ruins.

Our guide was from Jalisco & spoke Spanish & English.  Impressive but even more impressive was the Mayan guide I overheard speaking in English telling a woman about how she mainly spoke Mayan in her home and Spanish in the streets.  THEN she quickly switched to German to say something to another tourist. 

Where they did sacrifices.  Our guide said if you walked up those stairs chances were you weren't coming back down.

the Ball court.  Instead of wars they played juego de pelota to settle disputes.  And then just killed the losing team instead of fighting a war and killing so many more + innocent people.

More ball court.

The little box where the important military people would sit.  Or as it looks to me, the very first press box.

A bigger view of the ball court.  For all my K-State fans out there...this ball court would be quite literally 'the Octagon of Doom' seeing as if you lose, you get beheaded!

Octavio smiling for the cameras.  He toted around our many bottles of water & gatorade in his backpack so we could make it through the very hot day!

Our great guide showing us murals of the losing army getting beheaded.  Lovely really.

Complete with blood shooting out of the head and everything.  Those mayans spared no details in their murals.

the super small, super high ring the Mayans had to get their heavy rubber ball through. 

Another place where VIPS sat during the games.

another view of the main pyramid.

impressive corners considering they didn't have any metal to work with, only other stone.

Getting more information from our guide. 

more murals.  basically a bunch of skulls. 

Everyone trying to find a patch of shade from one of the very scarce trees.

The pyramid is now closed to people going up it.  Our guide told us it was because there was too much graffiti on the inside...really people?  But after climbing the pyramid the day before in Coba I think I got my fill of tiny, uneven stairs and heights! 

In front of some sort of military building.

Some of you (Mom, Dad, & Zeke mainly) might recognize this part of Chichen Itza from Idiot Abroad.  I didn't get to wander through them like Carl Pilkington did though. 

Vendors upon vendors trying to sell their souvenirs.  They kept telling me they were very cheap, almost free for you! Little did they know the little pink, freckled girl was living unemployed in Mexico so pesos had much more value to me than the other tourists! And people kept asking Octavio if he spoke Spanish which also amused me.

Octavio enjoying the ruins.

Octavio in front of the pyramid.

Both of us in front of the pyramid.

The crowd making their way out of Chichen Itza. 

At lunch.  They danced with glasses of beer balanced on their heads.

Dancing & spinning without spilling a drop!

 

 

Walking into the cenote.

Birds eye view of the cenote

The very slippery stairs down to the cenote.

Walking down through the cave to the cenote.

A big crowd but it was worth it.  It was so pretty & so refreshing!

Our guide at Chichen Itza told us this particular cenote was the depth of two and a half of the main pyramid in Chichen Itza.

If you weren't a strong swimmer you definitely needed a life jacket!  My arms got so tired from treading water and there was no place to hold on to.

Hanging vines and roots.

Waiting in line to jump.  Octavio thought I was crazy so instead of joining me he decided to take pictures.

And the leap!

Water up the nose but it was so fun & worth it!

Look at that line!  It was beautiful but it would have been better without the crowd.

 

We stopped at the colonial city of Valladolid

Taking a break on a bench in the town square park.

Center of the town.

Little stores & restaurants.

A courtyard

Courtyard where they sold lots of local art.

Town square

City park

Fountain in the middle of the park in the middle of the town.

Inside the church.

The church.

It was built with stones from a mayan building.

More shots of the town.

Our cute little hotel, iTour Mexico.

decorations in our hotel.

they had all kinds of fun signs and paintings at our hotel.