Chichén Itzá (not Chicken Pizza)

Chichén Itzá is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. It’s the biggest and most famous Mayan City and covers an area of over 25 square km (a lot of it is still to be excavated and is closed to the public). Mayan people settled there around 500 AD and for reasons not fully understood by historians, they completely vacated the place around 1200.

Its centrepiece, El Castillo, is its most famous structure. A large step-like pyramid type building reaching 30 m in height, with various features representing different aspects of the Calendar year (for example, 91 steps on each of its 4 sides side, plus the platform on top...adding up to 365 days of the year). When they excavated it, they discovered that the building itself, was built directly on top of an older pyramid (and that older one was also build directly on top of another even-older pyramid).

The Mayans must have been talking to their cousins in Newgrange because twice every year (on the spring and autumn equinoxes), when the sun goes down, the large steps cast shadows on the walls by the stairs creating a zig-zag pattern that looks like a snake. This is no coincidence as they’ve even sculpted a snake’s head onto the wall at the bottom, which completes the effect.

Thanks to our great guide, the whole place was actually very interesting learning about the rituals of the people....a big event on the ancient Mayan scene was a ball game, where the captain of the winning team (yes the winning team) would be sacrificed to the Gods....aswell, to show upper class from the lower classes, they used to tie plates tightly around the foreheads of the young children and leave it there throughout their growth to give their heads a long deformed shape.

We came back later that evening and were treated to an elaborate light show projected onto the large pyramid walls. It was all the more impressive because it was set against the backdrop of a full moon!

On the bus now to Cancun to catch our flight to Cuba tomorrow.