On our travels this year we’ve seen many wonderful things… most of which we’ve tried to show with photos on this webpage. Sorry – the photographs are always tantalising disappointments compared to the real things, but it’s the best we can do. Actually we have (completely unintentionally) managed to visit four sites that in a survey conducted a few years ago were voted the ‘New’ Seven Wonders of the World… the Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, and as of today, Chichen Itza. We even managed to see the ‘honorary’ ancient member on the list – the Pyramids at Giza last December! Not bad if we were trying to keep a tally, but in reality we only looked up the list of ‘New’ Wonders a few weeks ago!
Anyway, we’ve discussed all the others in detail in past blog entries – so what about Chichen Itza? Well, it’s nice, but I’ll get the bad news over first – it doesn’t compare to the other ‘Wonders’ we’ve visited. Worse still, it really doesn’t come close to being in the same league as the amazing Angkor Wat that somehow isn’t on the list yet remains by far the most impressive ancient structure we’ve ever seen. I think the real reason Chichen Itza is included is it’s proximity to the incredibly popular resort of Cancun… it is far easier to visit than any of the others Wonders we have visited, so more people come here… which equals more votes in a survey. This demonstrates how useless constructing ‘ranked lists’ can be – if you expect Chichen Itza to have the stunning location of Machu Picchu, the immense majesty of the Taj Mahal, the grandeur of the Great Wall, or the utterly massive solidness of the Egyptian Pyramids you’ll be disappointed. Which is really unfair – it’s still a truly lovely Maya site with a beautiful central pyramid-temple that’s definitely well worth visiting. It’s just that the label ‘Wonder’ and grand comparisons end up devaluing what is nonetheless a very impressive and extensive complex.
The site of Chichen Itza is arranged more or less in the shape of a cross, with the beautiful Kukulcan Pyramid squarely in the centre. As you enter the complex and walk down the first limb of the cross you pass first rows of souvenir vendors that line the whole site (and primarily target the tour groups from Cancun) to gradually see the pyramid emerge behind the trees ahead. Kukulcan is situated in the middle of a large grassy clearing in the dry-jungle, with surrounding temples, smaller pyramids, ball courts and other ruins all sited a fair distance away. It is an impressive structure – a beautifully preserved and carefully restored ‘stepped’ pyramid about 25 meters high, covered in pale white stone. Apparently the number of steps up each side, the flights of stairs, carvings, etc all represent different aspects of the Maya calendar – and best of all, at the spring and autumn equinoxes shadows playing on the sides of the pyramid mimic a serpent sliding up or down! Actually the spring equinox is in a few weeks time, so in the early afternoon sunshine we got a lop-sided impression of what the effect looks like – have a look at the photos below…
The other areas of the extensive complex are also fascinating. As in Uxmal and Palenque there were lots of temples, pyramids, stone staircases, sacrificial alters...We particularly liked a huge building on the far side of Kukulcan which consisted of hundreds and hundreds of pillars on a stone base stretching in various directions from a central temple structure with impressive staircases. Unfortunately the roof that the pillars previously supported crumbled centuries ago, but they remain impressive. We haven’t seen anything like this since ancient Egypt – it’s very different from the usual ruins in Latin America. Another curious feature is that many of the temples, pyramids and pillars scattered through the complex were very carefully carved to show complex patterns or basreliefs. Gary’s favourite was a wall which seemed to show a game of noughts and crosses (crosses cheated and added a few extra symbols though!), but I preferred a temple with walls constructed from hundreds of ornamented stone slabs – each slab had a very friendly-looking skull engraved on its surface! Apparently the heads of defeated tribe leaders were kept in this building in ancient times…
One drawback to visiting Chichen Itza is it’s proximity to Cancun. This unfortunately means that you will not get to explore the lovely ruins in solitude, but instead have to dodge lots and lots of huge tour groups. Really big ones – each with 30 to 40 people, mostly from the USA. Actually watching some groups them wander by in the distance as we sat in the shade of a tree near Kukulcan Pyramid we thought they looked like migrating herds of wildebeast! It is just as well the central plaza around Kukulcan is so large… it accommodates vast numbers of (mostly overweight) tourists remarkably well! Considering the site is so easy to reach independently it is a great shame that most people seem to opt for a package – hop on one of the nice comfortable first class buses instead for more freedom and to save a few pesos!
Anyway, we’ve discussed all the others in detail in past blog entries – so what about Chichen Itza? Well, it’s nice, but I’ll get the bad news over first – it doesn’t compare to the other ‘Wonders’ we’ve visited. Worse still, it really doesn’t come close to being in the same league as the amazing Angkor Wat that somehow isn’t on the list yet remains by far the most impressive ancient structure we’ve ever seen. I think the real reason Chichen Itza is included is it’s proximity to the incredibly popular resort of Cancun… it is far easier to visit than any of the others Wonders we have visited, so more people come here… which equals more votes in a survey. This demonstrates how useless constructing ‘ranked lists’ can be – if you expect Chichen Itza to have the stunning location of Machu Picchu, the immense majesty of the Taj Mahal, the grandeur of the Great Wall, or the utterly massive solidness of the Egyptian Pyramids you’ll be disappointed. Which is really unfair – it’s still a truly lovely Maya site with a beautiful central pyramid-temple that’s definitely well worth visiting. It’s just that the label ‘Wonder’ and grand comparisons end up devaluing what is nonetheless a very impressive and extensive complex.
The site of Chichen Itza is arranged more or less in the shape of a cross, with the beautiful Kukulcan Pyramid squarely in the centre. As you enter the complex and walk down the first limb of the cross you pass first rows of souvenir vendors that line the whole site (and primarily target the tour groups from Cancun) to gradually see the pyramid emerge behind the trees ahead. Kukulcan is situated in the middle of a large grassy clearing in the dry-jungle, with surrounding temples, smaller pyramids, ball courts and other ruins all sited a fair distance away. It is an impressive structure – a beautifully preserved and carefully restored ‘stepped’ pyramid about 25 meters high, covered in pale white stone. Apparently the number of steps up each side, the flights of stairs, carvings, etc all represent different aspects of the Maya calendar – and best of all, at the spring and autumn equinoxes shadows playing on the sides of the pyramid mimic a serpent sliding up or down! Actually the spring equinox is in a few weeks time, so in the early afternoon sunshine we got a lop-sided impression of what the effect looks like – have a look at the photos below…
The other areas of the extensive complex are also fascinating. As in Uxmal and Palenque there were lots of temples, pyramids, stone staircases, sacrificial alters...We particularly liked a huge building on the far side of Kukulcan which consisted of hundreds and hundreds of pillars on a stone base stretching in various directions from a central temple structure with impressive staircases. Unfortunately the roof that the pillars previously supported crumbled centuries ago, but they remain impressive. We haven’t seen anything like this since ancient Egypt – it’s very different from the usual ruins in Latin America. Another curious feature is that many of the temples, pyramids and pillars scattered through the complex were very carefully carved to show complex patterns or basreliefs. Gary’s favourite was a wall which seemed to show a game of noughts and crosses (crosses cheated and added a few extra symbols though!), but I preferred a temple with walls constructed from hundreds of ornamented stone slabs – each slab had a very friendly-looking skull engraved on its surface! Apparently the heads of defeated tribe leaders were kept in this building in ancient times…
One drawback to visiting Chichen Itza is it’s proximity to Cancun. This unfortunately means that you will not get to explore the lovely ruins in solitude, but instead have to dodge lots and lots of huge tour groups. Really big ones – each with 30 to 40 people, mostly from the USA. Actually watching some groups them wander by in the distance as we sat in the shade of a tree near Kukulcan Pyramid we thought they looked like migrating herds of wildebeast! It is just as well the central plaza around Kukulcan is so large… it accommodates vast numbers of (mostly overweight) tourists remarkably well! Considering the site is so easy to reach independently it is a great shame that most people seem to opt for a package – hop on one of the nice comfortable first class buses instead for more freedom and to save a few pesos!
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