Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico

I was lucky enough recently to head to Mexico for a couple of weeks of winter sunshine. This is the first of my posts on that trip.

SO IT BEGINS

Time to escape the cold and rain of the UK in late November for a bit and head to Mexico for a couple of weeks. Starting off with a tour of some of the sights and ending up in Playa del Carmen on the beach.

We arrived in Cancun after a delayed flight from Gatwick. Two hours on the plane before even taking off, but at least we got off the ground in the end.

The good news is that the sun was shining and it was almost 30 degrees when we stepped off the plane – nice for November! The trip was timed so that we just missed the end of the rainy (and hurricane) season but arrived before the peak started.

First stop was the town of Valladolid, a couple of hours from the airport. It was dark pretty much as soon as we left the airport (only 5ish local time), so there wasn’t much to see along the way, except for a pretty impressive sunset.

After a 20+ hour journey, priorities by now were food and sleep. Unfortunately, food was disappointing. Our hotel in Valladolid was the Quinta Regia (sp?), which brands itself an ecotel. Soap and shampoos in the room claimed to be organic, but I’m not sure what else helps substantiate this!

It could be that they’re ‘eco’ when it comes to paying a chef. Food was basic here, with two dinners consisting of chicken and beef, with simple accompaniments. Ok, we were travelling with a group of about 20 so they served a set menu, but even so, it was poor. Starters were soups (one of which was so bad it must have been made from powder) and desserts were typical hotel-style cakes, lacking in any real flavour.

Enough about Valladolid’s Quinta Regia, anyway. The biggest attraction in the area is Chichen Itza and that’s where we headed first.

CHICHEN ITZA – THU 22/11/12

Chichen Itza is a big site and one of the most famous – one of the seven wonders of the world, in fact. Situated in the Yucatan state, no more than a couple of hours from Cancun, it is also one of the most tourist focused, with hundreds of stalls selling Mayan souvenirs and clothing all over the site.

The Mayaland hotel is right next to Chichen Itza and we made a brief stop there for lunch. Food was plentiful and tasty, with a mix of Mexican style and more European alternatives. Enough to make the thought of a return here for a one night stay later in our trip suitably enticing.

As for Chichen Itza itself, once you enter past a few thatched huts, you arrive at the main site, with central pyramid and surrounding historical ball courts and monuments. One of the great things about many Mexican sites is that there is still more to be discovered and that’s true even of somewhere like Chichen Itza.

Chichen Itza is a site that stretches some xx square kilometres, with much still under the cover of jungle. Around the central pyramid are a number of other monuments . Just a short walk away is the ‘cenote’ – a giant natural sink hole used by the Mayans for human sacrifice to the rain gods.

If you can get an aerial view of Chichen Itza (Google maps link) you’ll start to understand the scale of the place. One of the biggest attractions in Yucatan and the one you’re most likely to visit if you’re visiting the area.

Further posts to follow. This trip was booked through Archers Direct. The local tour company was ‘Best Day Travel’.