Tymon Burghy

The calls of the Quetzal bird echoed down the steps in groups of three. In front of the pyramid, tour groups stood before the monument, the tour guide leading the group counting “Uno, dos, tres” as they directed their claps toward the North staircase.

    Chichén Itzá at one point was one of the most important cities in pre-hispanic Mexico. At the centre of the site sits El Castillo, a towering pyramid dedicated to the Mayan god Kukulcan, one of the major gods in the Mayan culture. On the equinoxes, Kukulcan descends from the heavens to Earth down the steps of the pyramid. The orientation of the pyramid casts a shadow on the north staircase that appears to be Kukulcan as a serpent slithering down the steps to the ground. El Castillo isn’t the only structure on the site of the once-great Chichén Itzá, although it is the most important. There are many monuments and structures within Chichén Itzá, from temples to a large sporting arena of sorts called the Great Ball Court.

    My experience with Chichén Itzá started on a toasty 39℃ (98℉) day at my friend Toni’s house. After stopping for breakfast, we set off and made a couple stops to pick up Sari and Edwin, two of Toni’s friends. After we had all loaded into Toni’s car we set off for the two-hour drive to Chichén Itzá. We passed through a small town on the way through and Sari had us stop over at a small stand with a woman selling strange purple fruit and she excitedly bought three for $15MX (about 75¢ USD). She explained that they were only available in this area and that we would eat them later. We continued on and after two hours of chatting and laughing, we arrived at the Chichén Itzá visitor centre.

    We got out and headed for the entrance. Outside, waiting to enter, men wondered the crowd advertising tours in English. My friends got very reduced rates being locals, but I had to pay $570MX ($28.50 USD) to get access to the monument. We walked past the couple of shops at the main entrance and through security into the main plaza of Chichén Itzá. We walked down a road lined with tables selling handmade goods and souvenirs to passing tourists and visitors. Vendors approached and began to offer their goods to any passerby who would listen. The polite response when you are approached and you aren’t interested is to simply say “no, gracias” or just simply “gracias” and wave your hand in the universal signal that you’ll pass on the offer – often a horizontal sweeping of a flattened hand palm down. 

    The first sight of the structure was something that I will remember. Through the trees, I spied the grey base of the pyramid against the green and tan of the ground around it. I let out an audible gasp and said “There it is.” as if I was an explorer discovering the wonder for the first time. We walked through the treeline and gazed in amazement at the pyramid before me. I remember being young and reading about the Mayans and their great pyramids. I had watched documentaries on this particular pyramid – El Castillo – and here I was. My dreams had come to fruition. Standing in front of the pyramid I was in awe, as I have before on my adventures, I found myself at a lack of words, all except for one, “wow”.

    Sari broke my silence by beginning to talk about El Castillo and the importance of the pyramid and site. She has been a long time historian and fan of the Mayans, she might even know more about the site than the official tour guides. She explained that there are two chambers within El Castillo where the priests would go to make sacrifices and that they would have large processions around the main plaza for sacrificial ceremonies. She explained many other aspects of the site that made it special and sacred and also mentioned something called el Cenote Sagrado where more sacrifices were made. 

    After taking some photos and giving our shot at clapping and making the quetzal bird call, we carried on to explore more of the area. We made our way to the Great Ball Court where there are immaculate carvings in stone depicting the game and the ritual involved. Sari explained that the game was played – as far as we can tell as there are no written rules or records – similar to association football (soccer) and basketball. Players could not use their arms or hands to play, only their legs, feet, torso, and head. They had to get the ball into a stone hoop 9m (30ft) in the air to score. Sometimes the game would take hours and up to days to play. At the end of the game, the losing team would be sacrificed. This sounds like a terrible game to play, but in Mayan culture, to be sacrificed was the ultimate way to serve their gods. The Great Ball Court also being in Chichén Itzá would make it the equivalent of the greatest arena in the empire and teams would train their whole lives to play there for the ruler. 

    We then made our way to Cenote Sagrado, the most sacred of the cenotes in the area. Cenotes are natural watering holes caused by the impact of the meteor that hit Earth killing the dinosaurs. The Mayans thought that cenotes were created by their gods and would often offer sacrifices into the deep chasms of water. In Cenote Sagrado alone, thousands of artifacts have been found laying alongside the skeletons of sacrificed Mayans. While resting near the cenote, a pair of iguanas came out of a tree and chased each other around the area only to get shooed away by another tourist. 

    We returned to the main plaza of Chichén Itzá and toured the crafts stands on the outskirts of the area. I came across a vendor who enthusiastically showed me his wares and explained that what made his masks special was that he carved them out of cenote stone. The masks were gorgeous and very well done. After chatting with the man, I decided to buy a mask to bring home to my family. I talked to the man about what each of the masks represented and I settled on a mask that represented prosperity and health in the household. I purchased the mask and thanked the man for his time. I find that when an artisan is passionate about their work and is willing to talk to a potential customer, I am much more willing to purchase whatever the artisan is selling. We wrapped up our visit with a stop at a local eatery to get some amazing food, but more on that in another post.