The Pyramide Inn was pretty representative of Piste's architecture circa 1960. It also had a whole other section of the hotel that you can't see here (sadly) and massive restaurant that was just derelict. We got a massive double room that was great, if lurid purple and aqua green. Then we checked out the pool, nearly olympic size, but had just been refilled that day and still had leaves and aquatic life living in it. We were greated by a giant duck with broken wing that was happy to hang out with us and chat, so were the dozen or so stray cats the American owner had given a home to. Great if you like cats...they were all a bit broken in one way or another, Mexican style, but seemed to be well fed.
B-e-a-utiful!... 'Is that, like, original?'
The view from our room, complete with our own cat on the air-con unit. In the background is the remains of a bona-fide Mayan ruin.
LOL Cat: 'I is here blowing fleas into your rooms'.
Another hotel, not quite in the same range as ours, we had our breakfast here, five star buffet style, before we set of. What an amazing palm!
We took a taxi to the ruins, which wasn't far down the road from our hotel. We arrived early to avoid the crowds, but it was quite busy already. A nice man at the entrance said that we could borrow a wheelchair for free, so I legged it off to the office, where I had to leave my passport in return for the loan of a wheel chair. Hey, a bit of identity theft in return for a wheel chair, I was getting used to this!
Chichen Itza is Mayan in origin .It is bigger than Palenque and has eight ball courts in total. Chichen Itza is believed to have been abandoned in the 9th century, for reasons that are still unknown. In the 10th century it was reinhabited by the Mayans, but also invaded by the Toltecs who came from the the highlands north of Mexico city, Tula.
The Toltecs used and built on the Mayan buildings and the two cultures became intertwined. The Chac- Mool, Rain god and the Quetzacoatl, Toltec plumed serpent feature side by side. However the Toltecs were blood thirsty and have left sacrifical sites all over Chichen Itza. Human sacrifice is believed to have taken place in the main ball court to the unlucky losers of the game. There are carvings refering to this. In the 14th century Chichen Itza is believed to have been abandoned, the reason for this is unknown.
We managed quite nicely on the green with the wheelchair as we entered the site, wheeling Wij into the centre so we could get a good look at the area. Here is El Castillo, pyramid of Kukulcan. Built around 800AD by the Mayans, it is a calendar with a total of 365 steps. The temple is 25 meters high and by the time the Toltec's modified the structure to include a plumed serpent carved in the stairways and Toltec warriors carved into the doorway.
Apparently during the spring and and autumn equinoxes light falls between the stones at the top to form a pattern of triangles that represent the movement of the serpent. We gave this a miss because of the crowds.
Sorry Michael and Laura, we didn't climb it, because you no longer can... never mind the pegar.
Someone has helpfully numbered the steps. Inside the Toltec outer pyramid is the older Mayan pyramid that houses a Mayan red Jaguar throne with jade spots. We didn't get to see this.
In the background is Templo de los Guerreros - temple of the warriors. It is part of the Grupo de las columnas. The wheelchair still going strong, if a bit wonky. It looks like a nice day for it, actually it was very hot and dry.
Templo de los Guerreros.
Looking along the temple. Out of shot is the Templo de Chac-Mool to the left. Also in Grupo de las columnas was bano de vapor- the sweat house.
Behind the Grupo de las columnas...
was a wooded area, very arrid with lots of dry leaves on the ground, through which could be heard Iguanas charging about. This three were having a show down. Big Daddy won. It was here that the wheel chair couldn't quite cope with the terrain, one of the front wheels started to bend the wrong way. Wiji had to get out and peg it, to the amazement of other visitor...he can walk again!!
El Mercardo, with the largest of the pillars. The Toltecs, after the Mayans, had begun to build bigger structures. This was placed on top of a series of steps, on a raised platform. The wheel chair had had it by now, I had to push it on the back wheels, Wij had to peg it.
Chichen Itza is the most popular Mayan ruin to visit in the Yucatan peninsular, however it is the most restored, meaning 'psuedo ruins', sadly (lots of concrete). Some of the carvings are still visible and some, like these at El Mercardo, looked more genuine.
We just kept hearing the iguanas amoungs the leaves, they were everywhere and perfectly camouflaged in this environment.
An exibit Mayan house, a bit delapidated, but built in the same style as the ones in the villages that we passed through.
Carvings at El Mercardo.
Part of El Osario with the serpent heads on each side. El Osario - the Bone house is the high priests grave and is more Puuc in style than Toltec. We were a bit done in by this point, a tour guide offered to give Wij a lift on his scooter, LMHA. No thanks. He did take me off to see the cenote, and we looked down a very steep drop to a green pool.
El Osario in the background with the psuedo ruin remake of one of the four serpent columns that would have stood on the top of the temple.
El Caracol - the snail, called so by the Spaniards for its interior spiral staircase, is an observatory. The windows in the observatory's dome are aligned with certain stars on specific dates. From the dome the priests decreed the times for rituals, corn planting and harvests. It is, again, not Toltec but a mixture of architectural styles. There are Mayan Chac-Mool rain gods over four external doors. It did look very reconstructed, or at least B&Q power hosed!
Templo de los Tableros Esculpidos.
Part of the Nunnery la Inglesia, with elaborate carving covering the whole facade. This is one section of that.
Edificio de las Monjas - the Nunnery, named by the Spanards because of the labyrinth of rooms resembled a european convent. Archeologists believe that this was a Mayan palace. It is enormous. As a later addition it has a Toltec sacrifical stone in front of the building.
Templo de los Jaguares y Escudos - temple of the jaguars and shields, is built on top of the ball courts wall on the south side. Inside there is a faded painting of a battle. On the columns are carvings of rattlesnakes and jaguars at the top.
Gran juego de Pelota - The great ball court, the largest and most impressive in Mexico, 135 meters long with a temple at either end. The temple you can see is Templo del Barbado - temple of the bearded man, named after a carving inside. The acoustics, sadly, cause groups of people to clap dementedly. Lets get out of here before we kill them, was our agreed plan of action.
A huddle of Japanese tourists in front of the back of the Templo de los Jaguares Y Escudos. You can see the jaguar heads here. By 1pm it was very busy, and we had practically broken one of the front wheels off the wheelchair, so we left, making our way out of the site, throught the on coming crowds, the place was swamped...aaaaarrrgh!
A short taxi ride back to Piste, we went to El Carrousel, a traditional building with the roof made of palm leaves. Wij had chicken wrapped in banana leaves, a traditional Yucatecan dish. Here he is endorsing a mexican soft drink Toronja, Squirt. Nice.
Here I am after my suspect veggie soup, I think they took the chicken leg out of the sopa de lima. Thank you.
Waiting in a suitable place for an ice cream
The transport used by lots of Mexicans, this would have been far more ideal than the wheelchair! Is that asbestos on the roof?
We didn't enjoy Chichen Itza as much as Palenque because of the hoards of people, it was quite an odd little excursion all in all.
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