Chichen Itza

Our visit to Chichen Itza was fantastic! You could spend days here finding artifacts.

This is the Temple of Kulkulkan.

The temple is a 9 story four-sided pyramid.
It is interesting that the Mayans built pyramids very similar to the leaning tower of Pisa.
This is the side where on the equinox you can see the serpent descending and ascending.

This angle gives you a view of just how big this structure is.

Natalie explaining things to Mom and Dad.
This is a view of Choc-Mool on the Temple of 1000 Columns (Temple of the Warriors).

The national sport of Mexico - bartering! This is where we bought real Mayan bookmarks.
A view of the Temple of 1000 Columns.







Sydney in another one of her famous moods.
Sydney sneaking up on Collin in the Temple of a Thousand Columns.
This is a picture of all of us taken by, you guest it, a family from Layton, Utah.
This is a view of the Temple of Kulkulkan from the ball court.
Cenote Sagrado... This is famous cenote were their sacrifices took place.

The detail of stone work of the Mayans.

Jay's favorite: El Juego de Pelota...The ball court.
We entered the ball court and walked to the middle where a tour guide was demonstrating how you can clap (or make another loud noise) and hear it bounce off the walls 7 times! Then Papa John got one of his famous sneeze attacks which better demonstrated the phenomenon. Everyone turned around and stared for a couple seconds then asked him for more!
This is where the chief and nobles sat to watch the game that could take two days to complete.
The ring where the ball had to go through to get a point. You could not use feet or hands, only hips, torso, and shoulders.
Another view of the Temple of Kulkulcan.
Collin trying to do his best serpent look.

John busting out his pesos to buy his trinket at Chichen Itza. This took about 3o minutes to negotiate this deal.
While John was involved with heated negotiations, Jay found time to take pictures of the beautiful handcrafts of the Mayans. They just scratch off the made in China stamp.

Natalie and the kids next to a stela.
Cool stuff to buy all along the paths. Collin and Sydney have really gotten good at saying "No, gracias."
Everyone at the observatory.

These buildings had so much detail. Amazing considering they are over a thousand years old!

John couldn't believe that it took them 30 years to build the nunnery. John could have had this project done by December.
Another famous Mayan Arch.