Chichen Itza is one of the most impressive sites I’ve ever seen. There is a lot of hype that surrounds this particular site, but without a doubt it lives up to it. The city was built by the Mayans as a political, religious, and military center. The city flourished from 300 to 900 A.D.

Chichen Itza is 4sq. miles and takes most of a day to see all the ruins. The most famous and impressive pyramid is El Castillo. Besides that pyramid there are many other sites to see including the Ball Court, the North Temple, 3 cenotes (nothing too spectacular), the Temple of Warriors, Market, and the Observatory. Besides all of the ruins, there are endless artisans selling crafts. After a little negation the prices were better than back at the coast.

The ruins don’t have maps throughout or even provide any direction. You can walk around on your own and read the signs (in both English and Spanish), or you can hire a guide. There are English and Spanish guides but they rush you through everything in about an hour and charge $40. In my opinion, the guide isn’t really worth it.

The hours are from 8am to 5pm, and admission is $11 a person. (And whoever is spreading the rumors about it being free on Sundays, is wrong!) Parking is also another $4.

Chichen Itza is about 60 miles from Cancun and is a good two- to three-hour drive from Playa Del Carmen, depending on the route and how fast you’re willing to drive. The roads to travel on are very good, but be prepared to pay some pretty hefty tolls (around $30 each way).

Although making a trek to the Chichen Itza takes almost an entire day, it’s worth every minute of it.

This ceremonial site was important for three distinct groups of people. Mayans first settled here in 435AD, and built lavish buildings in the Puuc style with ornate geometric friezes, Chaac masks, and jaguar symbols from 600AD. Itza people from the highlands of central Mexico then conquered the city, adding unornamented structures with simple lines, then suddenly abandoned the site. The city laid lifeless for a hundred years. Then Toltecs arrived around 1000AD and built new temples with military overtones, adding warrior columns, carved serpent and eagle motifs alongside Mayan jaguar symbols. They built a larger pyramid over the existing El Castillo pyramid, but left a hidden staircase to reach the interior Mayan jaguar throne with its jade-encrusted altar of ChacMol figures. In 1250, the city was abandoned again, and was still vacant when the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in the 1500s. Archaeologists predict that the restored structures may represent only 5% of the original city. Incredible!

The Sacred Cenote, a natural well with life-sustaining water was thought to be a gift from the rain gods, who Mayans kept appeased with commercial and human sacrifice.

The Temple of Kukulkan, or El Castillo pyramid, is the structure most people visualize when they think of Chichen Itza. This massive square based pyramid has four stairways and 52 panels that represents their sophisticated Mayan calendar (a complex system combining astronomy and mathematics to regulate religious rituals). The giant snake head at the base of the northern staircase grows a bodily form during the equinox. On March 21 and Sept 21 each year, the shadow of a snake descends the steps This fertility symbol marked the time for Mayans to plant. Toltecs performed a fire ritual every 52 years to prevent the sun from abandoning the earth. A victim was sacrificed to the sun god, and a fire was kindled in the spot where the victim’s heart had been.
The Temple of Warriors has a total of 1000 columns. Stone colonnades are decorated with reliefs of Toltec warriors, whose black painted eyes once were inlaid with white shells. Behind the columns is a pyramid where a Chac-Mol figure sits up high on the plaza. Tourists are now restricted from climbing any of the structures since a death occurred two years ago, but if you look closely, you can see the ChacMol figure where sacrificial victims died on the altar.

The huge Sacred Ballcourt opposite the Warrior Temple is where two teams of seven men used their knees, hips, and elbows to manipulate a rubber ball through a lofty stone hoop 23 feet off the ground. Contradictions arise whether it was the winning or losing team captain that was decapitated at the end of the game, but whichever it was, the bleeding skull joined the rack of other skulls protruding from spears atop the adjoining Tzompantli, a limestone platform decorated in bas relief skulls.

Forested paths lead to additional ruins not visible from the plaza, such as the intricately carved Nunnery and other Puuc-styled architecture.

I headed to Chichen Itza on an early morning bus from Merida. There are regular buses but from experience in Tikal it's best to head to ruins early if you want to climb any of them. It costs around 88 pesos to get in for adults and opens at 8am. There are lots of tour packages to Chichen Itza but it's not really necessary as it's easily accessible from town. I would, however, recommend paying for a Chichen Itza guide as if you really want to learn the history of the temples this is the best way. My recommendation to go early isn’t just because it can busy at the top but also because it gets very hot, very early in the day.

We climbed El Castillo first. It's incredibly high and not for those who don’t like heights. The temple itself is very cleverly designed as all the stairs and levels add up to 365, the reasons for this are explained very well at the anthropology museum in Merida. A certain times of the year a snake shadow can be seen to descend down the temple. Getting up is generally not a problem and you can always stop part way. Getting down isn’t quite as easy and I must have made the slowest descent in history, holding on all the way.

My favourite part of Chichen Itza was the Ball Court. They used to play a game there where you had to keep the ball off the ground with only your knees and elbows and get it through a hoop on the wall. The losing team were sacrificed but the winning team could offer themselves for sacrifice as it was considered an honour to want to join their gods. The acoustics in the court are amazing and the sounds echo all around. You can imagine the noise when it was full. We heard a German guide telling his group how people come from all over the world to shout their country’s name and hear it echo.

There are several other areas including the thousand pillars and secret cenote. There is a shop and café and around the area there are lots of sellers with traditional goods.

Chichen Itza is probably the most famous pyramid in Mexico. Actually, Chichen Itza is the name of the entire archaeological zone. The pyramid itself is called "El Castillo," and was the site of the gruesome religious ceremonies. The Mayans were an amazing people, not the least because of their knowledge of astronomy. On the day of the Spring Solstice (March 21), the afternoon sun hits the main staircase of El Castillo in such a way that it looks like a serpent wriggling down to the bottom. And of course, at the end of the serpent is the head of the plumed serpent Kulkulkan.

Inside the pyramid, up a dimly lit and narrow staircase, you'll find the ceremonial reclining figure Chac Mool (on whose lap the beating hearts of human sacrifices were placed), as well as a beautiful Jaguar Throne.

In the central grouping of buildings you'll find the circular observatory, also called the Caracol, as well as the Nunnery and assorted other buildings. Note that the Spaniards named most of these structures—the Maya certainly did not call that large apartment-like structure "The Nunnery." In fact, I'd guess that if the Mayans and Toltecs had been around long enough to meet the Spanish (the Mayan/Toltec civilization disappeared hundreds of years earlier), they'd have given new meaning to the concept of "having a Nun over for dinner."

Chichen Itza is a large and imposing archaeological zone, and easily deserves 2 days of exploration. If that is your intention, there is another of the wonderful Club Med Archaeological Villas on-site. Tidy rooms, great food, wonderful pool, FANTASTIC location, and discount prices.

Our favorite area is the Ball Field. We have yet to figure out exactly what game was played there, but with circular "goals" mounted in the walls, they probably used some kind of ball in a game that resembles soccer. There is a game still played in the area in which the players hit the ball with their hips instead of their feed. And, of course, if your team lost the game, you got to visit our old friend Chac Mool.

One structure, the name of which escapes me, seems to be constructed entirely of human SKULLS! Now as violent as the Mayans were, I understand it was the Toltecs who were the real "head hunters."

If you are still looking for adventure after your 2 days at Chichen Itza, I recommend you drive to Vallodolid and go about 4 miles southeast to the Cenote Dzinup (also spelled Dzitnup). It's deep underground, with only a small hole in the ceiling for light. When we were there, a crowd of Germans were on-site, and my sister-in-law (devil that she is), swam out to the far side of the Cenote and screamed "Snakes!"

We had the place to ourselves after that . . .

Very impressive, even to teenagers. Tour guides are a must to really understand what you are seeing. Tours are about 2 hours, and the price depends on how many people are collected into a group. You collect in groups as you enter the park. Be sure to climb the pyramid. There was a long wait to get inside, so we skipped it. Be sure to go early in the day - by midday, it is crowded and hot, even in April. I hear the evening light show is touristy - we skipped it.