Costa Rica Trip
Day #10 - Saturday, January 17th
Rodrigo- tour guide
Kevin - tour guide
Ricardo - bus driver
Final touring day of the trip. The main reason we came to Cancun, Mexico is to take a day trip to Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza is one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. The others include: The Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu, the Roman Colosseum, Christ the Redeemer, and Petra. After today - I just have Petra (Jordan) yet to tour.
It’s nearing 6pm local time in Cancun - we are still on our tour bus, with another 30-45 minutes before we get back to our hotel. Long touring day - but a really great day! We were picked up at 5:40am at the Dos Playas Hotel - across the street from where we are staying (Casa Tortugas Boutique Hotel). It’s roughly a 2-1/2 hour drive to Chichen Itza.
I don’t think we’ll make the sunset tonight - but it’ll be close. We had a really nice weather day today - not too hot. It’s rained for about an hour on the drive home - but appears to be clearing up now.
Chichen Itza - the belly-button of the Cosmos. That’s how our tour guide (Rodrigo) described it. A Mayan temple that is so many things — but a “Calendar” might be the best description. Our guide was amazing today. He is Mayan - his mother is Mayan and his father is Mexican. Rodrigo grew up literally 100 yards from Chichen Itza. He’s 45- years old, has a PhD in anthropology, and 2 masters degrees. He has guided a number of Hollywood celebrities at Chichen Itza - with the stars of the movie the Black Panther as a few. He speaks 5 languages fluently and has guided many tours in Italy. A truly interesting guy.
I often take down a few notes while I tour around a new location. Some interesting things from today:
Maya language - will disappear eventually. Young people turning to technology
Order of most significant languages: Egyptian, Chinese, Mayan
Chichen Itza - #1 tour on TripAdvisor for 4 years running. Designed for celebrities.
Women are the bosses in Mayan culture
Mayans - short in stature, big forehead, short neck, straight hair
Mayan - only culture with no Alzheimer’s Disease due to Ayahuasca drug (used with children at early age)
No crime in Maya
Rodrigo’s mother takes a shot of tequila with the worm every night. She’s 91 years old.
Rodrigo’s Mayan name is “The Blue Frog”. He got the name “Rodrigo” from his father and the name “Cat” from his mother.
Mayan celebrate days - not years
Chichen Itza - 3rd Wonder of the World, It’s not a pyramid - it’s a calendar. There is a pyramid inside the external structure. There are 4 pyramids underground at each corner - that are upside down, there is a water sinkhole below Chichen Itza. The King’s throne is still inside. The King sat behind the Queen,
Sacred animals: Jaguar (1), Eagle (2)
Chichen Itza is located exactly between Anchorage, Alaska and Puenta Arenas, Chile
Mayans found magnetic north.
Mayans - only 1 day the sun lines up 90 degrees. August 22nd. 12noon. No shadows
Mayans discovered the seasons. Mayans have no leap year. 2 Happy New Years — Jan 1st and Aug 22nd
Cacao is the Mayan coin - chocolate
Mayan doesn’t use gold.
Chocolate, Salt, Habanero - trade items from Mayan culture
Chichen Itza is not Mexican property
Vikings 1st people, then Ming dynasty
19 constellations - from the 19 sections of the pyramid, 91 stairs on each side (364 days)
Equinox - forms a snake on Chichen Itza due to shadows
Paper, astronomy, astrology- all invited by Mayans
1,100 years to build Chichen Itza
When you clap - you get echo due to the water sinkhole beneath the structure
1000 people sacrificed. 1000 columns illustrate this, 1000 heads carved into the walls - those sacrificed were beheaded
Colosseum is where everyone was killed
After touring Chichen Itza we went to a Mayan location where we had a great lunch, learned about the rocks/stones that can be used to help take stress away, did a tequila taste-test (2 straight tequilas, mango, chocolate, and coffee tequila), and had an opportunity to swim/visit a cenote (a sinkhole with water). There are roughly 9000 cenotes in this area of Mexico.
We stopped by the town of Valladolid on the way home to see an ancient Spanish Church and tour the historic square.
One really cool thing from today: Rodrigo had told us about the Mayan Calender before we arrived at Chichen Itza - how they can make us one based on our names and date of birth. I went ahead and had this completed. I learned that my Mayan name is: “The Wise Jaguar”. My spiritual animal is the monkey. I’ll put pictures of what this means and how my moon has shaped me as a person. Truly interesting- and I feel pretty accurate for the most part.
That was a lot of stuff to cover today. It’s now 6:40pm - we’re 10 minutes from our hotel. Time for some dinner - and see if I can catch the end of the 49ers/Seahawks football playoff game.
I’ll do a wrap-up blog tomorrow - as we’ll be flying back to the states and our 11-day adventure will come to an end.
Here’s to my last night of a really great trip!!!
