My amazing Chichen Itza tour

The archaeological site of Chichen Itza is considered one of the 7 wonders of the modern world. México has a world-renowned heritage and this weekend I gave myself the task of visiting it to learn more about the Mayan Culture. All this thanks to the help of my friends from Sol - Há, the tour agency that is right here at the Solaris Resorts, who also provide transportation, food and a bilingual guide.

I started my tour in a bus at 7 am with our guide explaining some of the data referring to the place and the Mayan Culture as the meaning of the name: mouth of the well of the Itza, the journey to the ruins lasts 2 hours and average, but they pass faster than you think, especially if you admire the landscape that shows us the road to our destination.

Once arrived, the guide gave us final instructions, such as the use of biodegradable sunscreen, to stay hydrated, to stay in a group and not to touch the sacred structures. Chichen Itza is an archaeological site with more than 1200 years with a series of buildings and a sacred cenote.

The pyramid or castle of Kukulkan, a beautiful Pyramid that left me amazed, to learn that the Mayans had great knowledge in topics such as astronomy, mathematics, geometry and acoustics.

The pyramid represents the Mayan calendar, it has 18 “bodies”, as they called the months because they only had 20 days each, the pyramid has 365 steps which are the days of the year, there are 91 steps on each side and one last step at the top or entrance of the temple.

Our guide told us that the total area comprising the pyramid is 55 meters per side and 24 meters high and has a total of 52 figures engraved around it, plus two stone gargoyles with the head of the snake - which they represent the god Kukulcan or Quetzalcoatl

From there we moved to see the observatory of Chichen Itza, which is known as Caracol (because it has a spiral shape inside) this observatory is also very impressive, because it has holes in its walls, which were directed to certain planets like Venus and some constellations of stars, all this to study the stars but they did this without any kind of device, everything was based on mental calculations and sight.

It also has an arena for the game of the ball, a former sports venue, such as the Roman Colosseum and tells the legend that the winning team was sacrificed to the Gods as a reward for their skill, the Chichen Itza court is one of the most large since it is more than 100 meters long and with a structure next called the temple of the jaguars.

Jose, our guide explained that the game could vary in the number of participants ranging from 2 to 7 players per team, and the goal was a mix between modern football and basketball, where a rubber ball had to go through a hanging ring On a wall vertically, the ball could only be touched or directed with the hip.

Interestingly, they had a structure made for their enemies, the Mayans explained to us, they nailed the heads of their enemies in stakes, that structure is called Tzompantli, and it has engravings of skulls and eagles that devour hearts. Another structure that impressed me was the temple of the warriors, since it is attached to a structure called "The Thousand Columns", which are divided into 4 bodies of 40 meters each.

And finally, there is a path attached to the main pyramid, and in the distance you can see a wall, but once you pass those stones, we can reach the sacred cenote, there they explained to me that in this cenote rituals were practiced and offerings to the gods. This majestic cenote is 36 meters deep, but despite that you can see its aquamarine green.

This was my tour of Chichen Itza, I invite you to visit this wonderful place and spend a day of fun and culture. We are waiting for you at Solaris Cancun!