So we pushed it till last, and im glad we did. heading out from Merida super early we planned on hitting the ruins at first opening, avoiding the dumb crowd and the exhaustive heat of the Yucatan. upon arrival right from the gates this place is set up for the tourist. its lost all its mystique and really ... if it wasn't for El Castillo, the largest and most well preserved / restored Mayan pyramid, i would have turned around at the gates.
Having said that, once we got in, away from the americanised entrance, with very little people around (seen in the empty photos) El Castillo, pops up square in the centre of the field. huge and jaw dropping. its to be seen, and like many temples, its a construction built on an earlier base pyramid, yeh 2 in one. for those wondering, this giant was a ritual temple, used not only to represent the Mayan calendar in 3 dimensional form (levels, stairs, sides all representing days and years etc) but is also famous for its construction, interacting with the rising and setting suns, summer and winter equinoxes to show a shadow serpent shadow moving down its steps to reach the base Kukulcan serpent heads.
From there the site also contains a giant but plain ball court, and many base pyramids. as well as the observatory and temple of 1000 pillars, the local residential palace. but seriously, nothing touches the center point. we took a spin around it all and the weather was the clearest we've seen on the entire trip, which made for some of the best lighting for our shots. but by 11am the sun was blazing and the tour groups from Cancun were beginning to roll in thick and fast, we needed to book it outa there and fast .... we had what we needed, we said adios and headed to see "what the real Cancun had to offer". we had been told by a few in Merida .... too many Gringos there.
4 comments:
What a pity.... about the tourist thing.. and I had a funny feeing it was either going to blow you away, or disappoint! Take it as an experience to say you have at least been & seen! All the other shots you have taken, the lighting has been fantastic too, so do not fret. Have enjoyed all the updates and news. Looks like it was an awesome part of the holiday. :)
all was great really, it still is a great site, just don't arrive late lol.
wow, breathtaking,fabulus pics mate, were yo able to go inside?
miguel
nope, none of the temples are now open to climb or go inside, after a few major accidents. the only temples we could climb were the ones in Tikal, only temple 4 and 5 (man made side stairs) which is a total bummer. quick fact aswell, El Castillo, is actually built on top of an older pre pyramid (as are many in the Mayan lands)
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