Chichen Itza

We visited Chichen Itza today, one of the grand Mayan ruins in Yucatan.

Built from 600-1000 CE, The Maya name Chich'en Itza means "At the mouth of the well of the Itza."

The ruins are criss crossed by ancient roads known as Scabeob.

Standing on an ancient Mayan road.

Perhaps the most famous of the large ruins is the "El Castillo"or the Temple of Kukulcan step Pyramid.

El Castillo at night, lit up for a sound and light show.

Cory writes:  We got to Chichen-Itza with just enough time to shower, change and head to the ruins for a light and sound show after dark. The lights were cool and based on the gasps from the Spanish speaking members of the audience, I'm sure the narration was good, but currently my Spanish is about as good as my Russian... which is terrible.

I managed to pick out one in every 20 words. Even though the voices were dynamic and sounded exciting, the story only kept my interest for a few minutes. I spent the other 42 minutes checking for cute girls in the crowd. Sadly I found none

El Castillo during the day.  Note the new archeological work in the foreground.

On the Spring and Autumn equinox, at the rising and setting of the sun, the corner of the structure casts a shadow in the shape of a plumed serpent - Kukulcan, or Quetzalcoatl - along the west side of the north staircase. On these two annual occasions, the shadows from the corner tiers slither down the northern side of the pyramid with the sun's movement to the serpent's head at the base.


Archaeologists have identified several courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame in Chichén, but the Great Ball Court about 150 metres (490 ft) to the north-west of the Castillo is by far the most impressive. It is the largest ball court in ancient Mesoamerica. It measures 166 by 68 metres (545 × 223 ft). The imposing walls are 12 metres (39 ft) high, and in the center, high up on each of the long walls, are rings carved with intertwining serpents.

Ball court walls.  In the middle, if you call out, it echo's loudly off the opposite wall.  

Carvings at the base of the rock wall in the Ball Court.

Update on Neal and Troy by Cory:


Neal and Troy are still in Guadalajara battling with Neal's bike which still isn't running right after it's saltwater drowning.

The latest issue, obviously not related to the water, is from the "Do Hickey" spring (a technical KLR term apparently) broke and bit of metal were floating around in the motor. The mechanic fished all the spring bits out and ordered another one from the US but to save Neal some money, he opted for the slow shipping option. The fast shipping was 2 day service and the slow was 4 or 5 days....price difference...$1.50 US  They managed to find a spring from something else that would work so they didn't have to sit and wait over the weekend for parts.

They went to leave and Neal got a nasty flat on the rear tire. Whatever caused the puncture, made a mess of the tube (multiple holes). They looked all over but couldn't find a tube the right size so they patched the tire and the tube as best they could and hope to be leaving Guadalajara on Sunday. At some point in Central America we'll meet up again. Neal's had to wrench on the bike the last 15 days in a row, ouch.