Chichen Itza

Between Merida and Cancun lies Chichen Itza which is by far the busiest of all the archaeological sites in Mexico. When we arrived the queue to enter the site was at least 100 people long. We were a bit bad and pushed in near the front – all the people queuing were from coach parties so we didn’t feel too bad.

Chichen Itza was established around 300 AD and peaked in the years between 925 and 1200 AD.  The centrepiece of the site is El Castillo which is a 25m high pyramid whose design is heavily based in the Mayan calendar and at the equinoxes an undulating shadow links the head and tails of a carved serpent.

The rest of the site has a number of important buildings which are unique in the Mayan world such as El Caracol with its circular, domed tower.

We arrived at Chichen Itza just after lunch and the temperature was melting hot but this hadn’t deterred the crowds.

We were definitely less impressed with Chicken Itza than with Uxmal.

You can’t stay at Chichen Itza as it is guarded by the police at night however in the small town of Piste which is 2km down the road there are two options. We chose the Starlight Inn which has a grassed courtyard which was very private and has lots of space. There was a cold shower and a toilet. Supposedly there were electric hook-ups although we didn’t get these to work but you could run a cord to the bathroom which also has a power outlet.

The little town of Piste has a number of small restaurants and we visited one for a dinner of Tacos. The nice thing about Mexico is that Tourist destinations do not necessarily mean everything is really expensive.