We had a very nice al fresco breakfast and I persuaded one of the ladies serving to get me my, now customary, yemas fritas. Having picked up our bags we were quite early out to the parking area so we could see what birdlife was around. It was quite hazy all round so these photos are pretty rubbish.
I don't know who this nest belongs to - could be a Montezuma Oropendola.
I wondered what fabulously, exotic species this might be.
Whilst we were waiting for the bus, we asked Coco approximately what time we should reach our hotel in Cancun given that it was already 0900 and we were visiting both Chichén Itzá (which incidentally opened at 0800) and Tulum first. He did a quick calculation in his head (you could almost hear the cogs going round) and confidently declared around 1500 - hurrah, we're finally going to arrive in daylight hours and in good time for a swim!.
When I'd been told yesterday about the potential problem with my long lens I'd asked Arturo and he said it would be absolutely fine, he'd never known of a problem. Last night I scoured the Chichén Itzá website for information and the only equipment not allowed referred to tripod, video and drone. However, when we got to the entrance and our bags were opened for security checks I was told my lens was "professional" and I wasn't allowed to take it in and had to put it in a locker for which I would be charged. I argued for as long as I could and eventually gave up and went back to the bus to leave it there, but there was no sign of the driver. I couldn't hang around as the group were all waiting for me so I went back and simply walked straight past the waiting queue and through the barriers! A great result, although I didn't dare get it out of my back in case it got confiscated.
Chichén Itzá is probably the most famous Maya complex of all and is vast.
The main pyramid, known as El Castillo. I think I photographed it many times from all angles.
Credit to Encyclopaedia Britannia for the following info:
El Castillo is one of the most recognizable Mesoamerican pyramids. It was probably built by the Toltec-Maya between 1050 and 1300 AD when the rest of the Maya population was dwindling. It’s famous not only for the descent of Kukulcán - when the feathered serpent god alights from the heavens, blesses his worshipers on earth and then makes his way to Xibalba (the underworld) - but also for its relationship to the Maya calendar. Each of the pyramid’s four sides has a staircase of 91 steps, the total number of steps when combined with the temple at its summit equals 365—the number of days in the Maya solar year. The temple on top was used exclusively by priests who performed sacred rituals at a height that brought them closer to the gods in the sky.
Priests ascended one of the four staircases to reach the temple—the pyramid was never meant to be entered. In the 1930s, however, a group of excavators began exploring and discovered that another pyramid-temple was nestled within the larger pyramid. Further excavations revealed that it had nine platforms, a single stairway, and a temple containing human remains, a jade-studded jaguar throne, and a so-called Chac Mool (a type of Maya sculpture of an abstract male figure reclining and holding a bowl used as a receptacle for sacrifices). Researchers theorize that this pyramid was constructed sometime between 800 and 1000 AD. In the mid-2010s archaeologists using non-invasive imaging techniques discovered yet another pyramid buried within the two others. They theorize that it was probably built between 550 and 800 AD and may have had a single stairway and an altar.
El Castillo is not unusual for having not one but
two temple-pyramids inside of it—archaeologists have found earlier structures
within several Mesoamerican pyramids eg. excavations of the Pyramid of the
Sun in Teotihuacán, which was constructed by an unnamed ancient
culture near Mexico City around 100 AD, found that the pyramid had possibly
been built over three earlier structures. Scholars speculate that rulers often
constructed over existing buildings as a means of outdoing their predecessors. Interestingly, archaeologists working in the
1970s also found a system of caves and tunnels below the Pyramid of the Sun,
which connected to the city’s various underground rivers. The discovery
suggested a purposeful decision to build on that very spot.
Archaeologists made a similar discovery at Chichén
Itzá in the 2010s. Once again using non-invasive
imaging techniques, they found what they believe to be a cenote, or large
sinkhole, below the base of El Castillo. The depression is similar to Chichén Itzá’s
Cenote Sagrado (”Sacred Cenote”), located at the city’s northernmost end. Associated with the cult of the rain gods,
called Chacs, it was the site of regular offerings that included such precious
objects as jade, gold, and copper as well as humans. This cenote connects to
the numerous underground rivers and caves under Chichén Itzá’s limestone
bedrock, a geological formation called a karst. Such underground cavities were not only
sources of fresh water for the Maya but also, according to their beliefs, the
entrances to Xibalba, or the “place of fright.”
In 2018 a team of archaeologists began exploring
the underground water system beneath Chichén Itzá in an effort to find a
connection to the presumed cenote below El Castillo. If the archaeologists are successful in
proving the cenote’s existence, El
Castillo would then not only have served as a staircase that brought priests
closer to the gods of the heavens but also as a gateway to the demons of the
underworld. It would essentially be an axis mundi, the centre of the world,
uniting the earth with heaven and the underworld. El Castillo, thus, may have had a more significant
role in Maya religion than archaeologists and tourists have previously thought,
but such a claim requires further exploration.
The Temple of the Jaguars built on the east wall of the Ball Court, its mosaic of two jaguars advancing from different directions towards a round shield is repeated (maybe I should have photographed it!)
The Thousand Columns Group (although they've been counted and apparently there are only 200) would have been painted and apparently once supported a roof.
The Temple of Warriors
The Sacred Cenote where rituals were undertaken; offerings of gold, copper and various other substances were made along with skeletal remains, mainly of children and adult males.
This wall is part of the Tzompantli, a large platform with bas-relief decoration of skulls on 3 sides, the function of which was to exhibit the skulls of enemies and sacrificed prisoners.
The Ball Court which at 168m x 70m is the largest in all Mesoamerica
I nearly managed to get us both in this phone shot.
Now we're almost at the end of the trip, I rather wish that I'd done a bit of research on the various sites before we left England as I haven't been able to absorb most of what our guides have told us.
There are plenty of tat sellers around which isn't surprising as it's the most visited of all Maya ruins due to its proximity to Cancun, but generally they don't hassle and some are very friendly.
Cordia dodecandra
The visit was over remarkably quickly and by about 1100 we were heading back towards the bus when Scottish John and a couple of the others queried with Coco why we hadn't seen some areas, particularly the Observatory. He tried to convince them that it wasn't of interest, but they felt they wanted to see all there was and so the rest of us sat around waiting for them (quite happily as we felt they were entitled to see everything).