On Thursday whatever the date was, we disembarked once again. This time, we were on a time crunch. We picked this particular cruise because it was going to stop in Cozumel and offered excursions to Chichen Itza, a Mayan ruin and one of the current 7 Wonders of the World. This was the first shore excursion that we booked. Because it would take every spare second we had in port, we knew this trip had to be booked with the cruise line, and we got priority for leaving the ship and they would hold the ship if our group didn't make it back to the ship before we were supposed to. We got off at Cozumel, took some pictures on the dock of the island,
and got right on a ferry to go over to Plaza del Carmen.
From there, we walked a half a mile or more to get to the place where we caught our bus/glorified van. Once in the van, we drove about two hours into the heart of Mexico.
When we got to Chichen Itza, it was raining, and we were grateful for our ponchos that we bought back in Ft. Lauderdale. It still threw me off that there were Christmas Decorations up.
Our guide knew that our timeline was really tight. In fact, there was an elderly couple in our group, and he wouldn't let the husband go with us into the ruins because he walked so slow. He made him wait in the shelter of a hut/canopy while we went to see the ruins. I was so upset on this man's behalf, but he took it in stride. His wife wasn't surprised and didn't seem upset that we had to leave him behind.
The ruins were really cool to see, but it was really crowded there, and we couldn't just stand around and admire everything because of our fast-paced guide. But it was still really, really cool to see.
In the background, you can see one of the towers of the Great Ball Court. Apparently, archaeologists have identified 13 ball courts on the site, but this is the most impressive.
Here, they played a game involving throwing balls or something through rings on the side, and if you didn't win, you were executed. I'm so glad I didn't live here back then. Or visit here back then, for that matter.
Here's a picture of the ring on the side of that wall:
Halfway through our tour, the sun came out and it stopped raining.
This is the Temple of the Warriors. The columns in the front depict warriors.
What's cool about the Temple at Chichen Itza it was modeled after a calendar. On the spring and fall equinoxes, the northwest corner of the pyramid casts shadows that look like a serpent is slithering down the staircase. Wikipedia contributors don't think it is likely that this was designed on purpose, but all the information they gave us on our tours indicated that it was completely intentional. Who knows?!
All too soon, we were rushed back to our weird van/bus thing and began the two hour drive back to the coast.
Back to line up for the Ferry in Plaza de Carmen
And finally back to the ship.
This was our second formal night, and I regretted not bringing another nice dress. Yup, I'm that vain. And I insisted on posing ourselves. The "photographer" was a little uncomfortable with it, but I was tired of the prom poses, and I'm better at posing than she was.
There was supposed to be ballroom dancing in one of the lounges, but we were the only ones there.
We wondered around before heading to our room for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment