Chichen Itza

Off early again to beat the busloads of tourists that drive almost 3 hours from Cancun to visit this site so at least it wasn’t crazy crowded when we walked through. Tracy was right, though. It’s not nearly the same kind of awesome as Uxmal. It is big. It is impressive. It does have the observatory that you don’t see elsewhere.
It does have the largest, best-preserved ball court. But the ball court was closed so we didn’t actually get to see it.
You do see columns here that we did not see at other sites. But the vendors are EVERYWHERE. And you can’t go into any structures. And you can’t climb any pyramids (which really broke my heart coz I was looking to take a run up another one).

It is interesting to see in the one photo the difference between the pyramid’s maintained/reconstructed staircase on the left (see the little wee man working there?) and the au natural one on the right.
 

We also did find a jaguar even if it was a carved one.  But what is he doing hanging out with that crazy, cuckoo for cocopuffs bird?


Finally we did stop at the cenote ikil (the natural freshwater pools deep in the post-meteor-crash cracks in the earth). Michael didn’t swim, but I felt obligated. Suffice it to say that the water was not as warm as my swimming pool in Anguilla, the fresh water is NOT particularly buoyant, and I’m not keen on bumping into fish every other stroke.

But now: been there, done that, check.