16th – 18th October, 2023

 

So I finally made it to Chichen Itza.

Which, I guess is a surprise to no one, but believe it or not this was something that I had been looking forward to and dreading in equal measure. When you are backpacking around Latin America you hear horror stories about this place. Many people even advise you to not go and suggest other, less-visited Mayan ruins. Well – as I am sure you are all aware – those were all on my list too. I am doing my best to see all the Mayan ruins that I can.

And I hate to say it, but I have to be honest; Chichen Itza is worth the hype. I even think that some of the things that people have said about it are a bit of an injustice. Some claimed that Uxmal – which I covered in my last blog – is just as impressive as Chichen Itza, and don’t get me wrong, Uxmal is a wonderful place that more people should visit it, but it is not Chichen Itza. Those people are fooling themselves. Some places are popular for a reason, and Chichen Itza is one of them.

The iconic Pyramid of Kukulcán is just breathtaking. Not only for its size but for its shape and how well-preserved it is. It is not just a great feat of engineering but a work of art, and it has many features that – at first glance – one might miss if they are unaware. Such as that the steps on each of the four sides number ninety-one, and there is a final one at the top where they meet; a total that equals three hundred and sixty-five, a number whose significance is obvious. The Mayans’ knowledge of astronomy, earthy cycles, and mathematics was very ahead of its time.

One of the most impressive features of this pyramid’s design is the phenomenon that happens twice a year at the equinoxes; when the rising sun hits the corners of the pyramid in such a way that it casts a shadow upon the sides of the steps to simulate a snake slithering down the pyramid. I visited at the wrong time of the year for that, but here is a picture of it I lifted online.

And yes, when you visit Chichen Itza there will be a lot of people there, many of whom appear to have come mostly to pull duck faces for their Instagram selfies or orchestrate all kinds of poses of themselves with the pyramid in the background. I even did a bit of this myself (partly out of irony). The thing to remember, however, is that a lot of them will be coming from fancy resorts close to Cancun, which is a couple of hours away. I arrived early and the place was reasonably quiet for the first hour or so.

Also, the good news is that many of the duck-face-selfie crowd do not stray too far away from the main pyramid anyway, and the tour groups seem to be catered towards people who are not interested in seeing the entirety of the site either. Chichen Itza is a big place. It took me over four hours to explore all of it, and many of the further-out sections were reasonably quiet.

The architecture here is unique to the Mayan world. So much so that there is currently a debate going on between Mesoamerican historians over whether Chichen Itza should be considered its own separate culture category. There is a lot of Toltec influence, including within the design of the Pyramid of Kukulcán itself, and historical records that indicate that a Toltec dynasty may have conquered the city in the tenth century.

Compared to the other Mayan ruins I have explored over the past few months, the thing that stood out to me about Chichen Itza is how warlike its energy is. This is perhaps not surprising as this place was Athens of the Mayan world and a big player in the complex political structure between the cities during the Classical period. It dominated much of Mesoamerica and was constantly fighting with the likes of Tikal and Copan over boundaries of influence.

One of the most interesting parts of the complex is the Temple of Warriors. Archaeologists have revealed that this building most likely began its life as a place to worship Chac Mool – an important deity here – but as it expanded over the years it became surrounded by hundreds of pillars. Many of which – if you look closely – still have the figures of noble warriors carved upon them. Some of them have intact glyphs too, which have been deciphered. They mostly state each of their lineages, titles, and military achievements.

There is also the Platform of Skulls, which is covered in carvings of its namesake. It is believed that the bodies and bones of those defeated in battle were once placed here, both as a trophy to their might and as a warning to their enemies.

The ball court is something that stands out here too. I thought I had grown bored of ball courts in Mesoamerica – as I have yet to visit a city without one – but this one dwarfs all of the others.

There are two large platforms along the sides where viewers would watch the games, and one of them is also home to the Temple of the Jaguars. Unfortunately, people are not allowed to climb any of the monuments at Chichen Itza anymore – something that I understand as it receives far too many visitors for such a thing to be viable – but there are murals inside that depict battle scenes.

Something that you can see from the ground, however, is the large and impressive carvings across the sides. Not all of them survived the passing of time but the sections that remain are very impressive. One of them depicts the captain of the winning team beheading one of the defeated players.

Another place I thought I would mention is the area to the south of the complex. This is home to some of the oldest parts of Chichen Itza, including El Caracol; an astronomical observatory.

As well as some temples that are a bit smaller but have some very impressive Puuc-style stonework.

Now that I have covered everything that I loved about Chichen Itza, I am going to have a little moan about something that bothered me about this place. Those of you who read my last blog concerning my visit to Uxmal might remember that I was a bit miffed about the price, and this place came with a similar surcharge, only even higher.

And, it’s not merely the price that bothered me but more the breakdown of this cost. If you read this carefully you will see that it says that the total of 614 pesos is made of the sum of two costs, 524 and 90. Well, the 90 pesos is all that is going to INAH – the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, who own and maintain the site – whilst the rest is all just an extra tax that the local government have slapped on.

You may also notice that this charge is considerably less for national residents, too. I know I make quite a lot of tongue-in-cheek references to Gringo Tax on this blog but, in this case, it is not a social thing; it is an actual institutionalised tax that is targeted at gringos. Now, don’t get me wrong; I understand that most gringos are privileged people from richer countries. I know that the floods of tourists visiting this area incur costs and roads need to be maintained, etc, but we also bring money to the area and uplift the economy by doing so. I personally don’t mind paying a bit of gringo tax when the people imposing it are not taking the piss but there is a line and this definitely crosses it for me. If you are not familiar with Mexican currency, run it through a currency converter so you can understand how insanely high this ‘tax’ is.

Also, another problem that I have with it is that I don’t think it is fair to the INAH or the locals. INAH undoubtedly have fewer people visiting these sites now because of the charges. And out of the people who do come, not all of them will look too closely and understand the nuisances of where the money is going. They are probably wondering why such a ginormous site that so many people visit each day doesn’t have a museum and only has one toilet block that is a bit run down and does not even have functioning seats or paper in the cubicles. It makes INAH look bad, and it puts them in an awkward position. If they eventually need to raise their prices for legitimate reasons they will feel much more self-conscious about doing so because of how much people are already paying.

I also suspect that the people who run tourism-related businesses in the area have found visitors less inclined to spend money than they used to be. I know that is the case for me. Many of the people who travel to Mexico are low-budget backpackers like myself. Usually, with a site as important as this one, I would be tempted to hire a guide – I did as such when I went to Tikal – but after the entry fee I paid it was just out of the question. I found myself having to tighten my purse strings in the days leading up to my visit and the ones that followed to keep within my broken budget. No eating out or beers for a while; just cooking my own meals in my hostel.

I had been planning to go to a place called Ek Balam the following day, but the night before I checked on their website and discovered that this place, too, has also had the same charge added. By that point, I was just done. I have paid this fee twice now – at Uxmal and Chichen Itza – and if I had paid it a third the total would have come up to over £75. Ek Balam receives few visitors as it is. It is just a small site that people only go to because they are either geeks like me or want to walk around some ruins that won’t be crowded. The Yucatan government are just being obnoxious at this point.

So, instead, I spent one last slow and quiet day in Valladolid; the place I had been basing myself since I left Merida. This is another one of Yucatan’s charming colonial towns, and it is one that I grew fond of. It receives just enough tourism to have good facilities but hasn’t seemed to have lost itself yet. I stayed at a Hostal La Candelaria which was by a little plaza where different groups of locals liked to come and practice their dance routines.

There are a few little attractions around the town, such as a cathedral and the Convento de San Bernardino de Sienna.

Besides those – as well as a couple of museums – Valladolid is a great place to just wander. I did this on my final day and I came across a market which I think was one of my favourites of this trip so far. Some of its sections were a little touristy – as many of the vendors specialised in souvenirs – but not overly so. I have never been one for trinkets or tatt, but one thing that did catch my attention was the stalls selling things such as local spices, honey and chilli sauces. None of the vendors tried to gringo tax me (or, if they did, it was such a small amount I didn’t mind). I am coming to the end of my trip now so it is time to start collecting some things to bring back with me.

I am of course gutted that I didn’t see Ek Balam, but the silver lining is that having this day free meant that I got a day to take it slow in Valladolid and do things like this. And, even better, some of my money went to local businesses instead of unreasonable charges.

Later that day, I also went to my first cenote.

If you haven’t heard this already; the Yucatan peninsula is full of these. I am not qualified to give you all a geology lesson but they were formed by a complex geological process initially triggered by the Chicxulub Impact that killed off the dinosaurs. The land here is very flat and there aren’t many rivers so these were the main water sources for the Mayan civilisation.

The water within was refreshingly cool, but not overly so, and there were also lots of fish so I took my snorkel with me. It was a great way to finish off my time in Valladolid. This cenote also has its own local myth attached to it which I will leave with you before signing off on this blog.

 

 

Before the arrival of the Spanish, there were two chiefdoms, the Cupules and the Cocomes, who were in dispute for control of Zací and its cenote.

On the vault of the cenote lived the X’men (healer and wise woman of the town). She was the leader of the Cocomes, an old and powerful woman who could communicate with the gods, the healer had a granddaughter named Zac-Nicte (white flower). On the other hand, the Halach-uinic (governor) was the one who governed the destiny of the city and dictated the laws, it belonged to the Cupules. He had a son named Hul-Kin (ray of sunshine).

Hul-Kin and Zac-Nite grew up and vied for control of Zací. However, as the years went by, a strong friendship emerged and later they fell in love, keeping it a secret, since their union would dishonor their respective families.

The Halach-uinic learned of his son’s relationship, whom he immediately sent to a town in southern Yucatán, agreeing to marry the regidor’s daughter. The news shattered Zac-Nite, who was pregnant. When her grandmother found out, she promised that she would ask the gods to bring the Hul-Kin back.

One night before the wedding Zac-Nite decided to tie a very heavy stone in his hair and threw himself into the cenote. Hul-Kin learned of the tragedy and returned to Zací In the midst of nostalgia and despair, he saw the water tomb of his beloved and without hesitation he threw himself to the bottom of the cenote.

The X’men witnessed that act of love, not without forgetting the mourning in which he was for his granddaughter. With tears in her eyes, she walked to the edge of the vault and threw a white Mayflower and said, “Zac-Nite, I have delivered. I brought the Hul-Kin and now he is with you forever.” After uttering these words, the sorceress cursed Zací’s cenote: every year, when the surface of the water turns a dark green colour, a person would drown in honour of the love of Zac-Nite and Hul-Kin.

 

For more photos from Chichen Itza and my time in Valladolid, click here.