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Una mas noche por favor!
We had intended to drive on from Valladolid and stay in Merida as we worked our way around the Yucatan Peninsula, but we were so happy in our little hotel that asked for another night. It was to become a recurring theme! The staff were so helpful and the receptionist so patient with me practicing my Spanish. If you're stopping in Valladolid its definitely worth checking out Hotel San Clemente. Its on the corner of the main square opposite the cathedral.
The drive to Chichen Itza was pretty uneventful and we arrived early in the day, well before the bus loads of tourists from the coast. It's an interesting place and is a lot larger than I expected. It's quite different to Coba in that a lot of the jungle has been cleared away from the structures and they mostly rise from a grassed plain. The main pyramid, El Castillo, is the first structure that catches your eye when you enter the site. The architecture of pyramid is a representation of the Mayan calendar. Each side has a serpent staircase with 91 steps. Together with the top platform this adds up to 365. At the spring and autumn equinoxes, the sun creates a series of triangular shadows that appear to be a serpent crawling up the North staircase.
There are many intricate carvings on a lot of the structures, some a little morbid. As well as jaguars, plumed warriors, serpents and majestic birds there is a whole wall of carved skulls. There's also apparently carvings depicting warriors being decapitated, but we didn't see these.
There are so many buildings on the site; temples, observatories, the market, games courts, a nunnery; that I won't bore you with a description of them all. Other than the main pyramid, my other favourite structure was the Gran Juego de Pelota - the great ball court. The court is long with steep stone sides. Vast is probably the best descriptive word for it. On each side of the court there are two hoops high above the ground (maybe 10m up). Archeologists believe that the game was played with a rubber ball and bats or paddles. When the ball was passed through the hoop the game was over. They also believe that the captain of the loosing team, and possibly the whole team, were sacrificed at the end of the game, based on carvings at the site. A slightly different perspective on sport than our modern views!
We chose to leave as the tourists started to stream in. We'd seen what we needed to and decided to head on to Merida for some lunch and to buy a hammock. Hammocks are available all over the Yucatan Peninsula, but it's a little intimidating buying a hammock in the local market, carrying out the whole transaction in Spanish, knowing that its very difficult as a gringo to get a good deal. Many turn out to be poor quality when you get them home. But not at Hamacas El Aguacate. The sales staff let you take them out of the bag, string them up and test them out. They show you how to fold them for storage, how to string them up and how to store them by day if you plan to use them again that night (the Yucataneans sleep in hammocks in the hot summer). The staff were incredibly helpful and we had lots of fun lazing about in the shop and checking out the different types and patterns of hammocks. We left as very satisfied owners of two new hammocks.
We didn't spend much time in Merida. It was a Saturday and the centre of town was packed. After spending so much time in small towns on our trip it was a little overwhelming. The streets teamed with people, which made us feel a little crowded, but it was also quite amusing. Tim and I are a lot taller than the average Mexican, so we were able see above the crowd, over a sea of heads. Other than shopping for hammocks, the only touristy thing we did was check out an art exhibition on a side-street next to the cathedral. The sculptures were pretty cool. Check out the photos!
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