Chichen Itza is maybe one of the busiest archeological sites in Mexico, so we knew we wanted to get there early. We found a great little spot for the night camped in the parking lot of a small hotel and restaurant a few kilometres from the site. Hotel Delores Alba had two nice swimming pools.  We were able to camp next to a large palapa beside this cool pool.  It had a natural floor that consisted of sand and limestone that was lit up at night with lights that cycled through different colours.

Daytime picture.

Night time picture!  Our truck is parked the other side of the palapa in the background.

There were a lot of young backpackers staying at the hotel, so the room prices must be good, and the manager that we spoke to when we arrived had a great attitude, everything was “No problem”.  We were even allowed to tie up Piper close to the restaurant entrance when we returned for lunch the next day.

But back to the ruins.  We got there early but still had to stand in line for 10 minutes or so to get our entrance tickets.  But like the big ski hills at home, many of these sites are large enough to absorb a lot of people, so once we got inside it didn’t seem too crowded, at least initially.

El Castillo

Each of the four sides of El Castillo has 91 steps. Add those together, plus one for the landing on top, and you get 365, the number of days in the year.

On the spring and autumn equinoxes a shadow of a serpent wiggles down the staircase on one side of the pyramid. Here is a sculpture at the base of the stairs of the feathered serpent.

Temple of the warrior and part of the Group of One Thousand Columns.

Huge ziricote tree on the site.

The Sacred Cenote.  Jacques Cousteau explored this in the early 1970’s and items found included those made of gold, carved jade, obsidian and cloth as well as the skeletons of many men and children. It is believed that sacrifices were made here in times of drought.

The huge ball court at Chichen Itza.

Bas relief carving at the Great Ball Court.

El Caracol (The snail), named for the round staircase inside the dome. It is thought to be an observatory to track the movement of Venus.

What is Mexico without a few iguana pictures….this guy slid into the space between the bricks by his front right paw right after I took the picture.

Iguana on the wall of El Carocal.

By the time we left Chichen Itza, it was becoming really quite crowded.  We had thought we would visit a well know cenote close to Chichen Itza, but decided that it would likely be very crowded, so instead, we headed for the coast and some more beaches.