Chitzen Itza

Running on no sleep.............Eeek!

Since there are so many travel agencies in town that do day trips to Chitzen Itza, I thought it would be easier to sign up for one of those rather than to do it on my own. It cost me about $45, a lot considering that I´ve been spending less than $30-day (Although, I was really happy to hear that most people on teh same bus paid about $100 for the same tour). A shuttle picked me up from my hotel at 7AM and took me to a big bus where all the tourists from the big resorts met up. What was incredibly annoying was that after all the organization, we didn´t end up leaving until 9 AM.

The site at Chitzen Itza is absolutly amazing. The annoyance is that it is packed with tourists. When you arrive, there are about 30 buses in the parking lot and the place is mobbed with tour groups. Additionally, there are vendors everywhere approaching you and trying to sell you things. The highlight of the site is the main pyramid which is in the center of the site. It is actually a calendar, telling you what day of the year it is depending on which step of the pyramid the sun hits.

Another big highlight was the ball courts, where players played in order for the honor of being sacrificed. The loser had to hold the winner´s head! I met an American couple who were on their honeymoon and 2 guys from NY on my tour.

After leaving the site, we went to visit a cenote (sink hole). It seems as though the sinkhole is about 10 stories deep, and you are allowed to swim in the water at the bottom. This would have been an exellent idea had I not forgotten to bring my swimming trunks.

Of course, the best part of the cheesy day tours is that you get buffet lunches. At about 3PM (waay after hunger set in) we went to an all you can eat buffet with traditional Mexican dancing. I have to say that although it was completely fake and for tourists, I still enjoyed it.

Back to Cancun, unfortunately most of the people from my tour had left. However, 2 British girls had stayed behind, and we got dinner in the local part of town. I paid about $1.50 for a great dinner!

A bit of shopping, before I finally turned in....almost 40 hours without sleep.