Chichen Itza

No trip to the area is complete without a visit to the ruins off Chichen Itza, one of the 7 wonders of the new world.

We decided to take the first collectivo of the day, scheduled to leave around 7:00. I was amazed that we were pulling out with a full load in the van by 6:55. Eileen and I were in different rows in the van. I ended up sitting with a young couple from Amsterdam.

We arrived before the gates opened at 8:00 and were close to the front of the ticket line. The process was the same as at Ek Balaam -- you had to buy two tickets, one from the state government and one from the federal. And there were two tickets takers, a rep from each. I guess there is no trust between the levels of govt.

As the initial pictures show, it was rather foggy when we got there but the fog quickly burnt off. I think one of the things that amazed us as much as the building was all the vendors and the amount of set up they had to do. It appeared that every morning they had to set up their displays, including tables, tents, racks, etc from scratch. They were able to leave that stuff in the woods and just had to carry it up and assemble but they also had to bring in their merchandise and supplies. So many merchants, so much of the same stuff, not sure how they made any money. Lots of chants of "only a dollar".

We spent about 3 hours wondering the grounds following a self guided tour we had found online. No guide like we had at Ek Balaam. One of the most interesting things was seeing one of the ruined structures being rebuilt. They take what looks a lot like a pile of stones and turn it into what the building is supposed to have looked like originally.

Our take: we enjoyed Ek Balaam more than Chichen Itza. Ek Balaam was way less crowded, less commercialized, and you could climb on some of the structures.Read more