Chichen Itza (sounds like Chicken Pizza)

Today we actually got to see the ship dock at Progresso. We had traveled all night from Cozumel - up and around the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula.  And while you and Papa Bruce stayed on the ship, Dad and I took a two hour bus ride from Progresso to see Chichen Itza (voted one of the new Seven Wonders of the World).

We didn't realize how busy it was going to be when we got there.  We forgot that it was a holiday for the Mexican people too!  But we arrived and our tour guide Saul got us into the park without a problem.  He did a very good job of keeping track of our entire bus!

Saul's tour of the site was really quite abbreviated.  We only had about three hours and he wanted to give us time to wander around by ourselves as well.  It was truly fascinating to see in person what I'd only seen in pictures before...

This pyramid was the greatest of all the Mayan Pyramids.  It was used for religious ceremonies.  The Mayans were obsessed with the calendar and time and their architecture reflected this.  Twice each year, during the vernal and autumnal equinox, as the sun rises the shadows that it casts actually make the form of a serpent on the steps leading to the top of the pyramid. Get there early if you want to see it! Saul said about 80,000 people showed up at the last equinox.

There was also a very large structure called the Temple of the Warriors, which is surrounded by tons of columns.  The area with columns was supposedly their "flea market" where people from all over the Yucatan would come to trade their wares.

The hour and a half we had to roam around on our own hardly did the site justice.  There was still so much we didn't get a chance to see!  But, Saul had warned us to meet him at 1:45 sharp at the tour bus so we could get back to the ship before it left. I definitely want to return one day to finish exploring.  And by then, you should be big enough to come along!

Tomorrow we start heading home.