We started our Yucatan Tour by the two most famous archeological sites in Mexico: Uxmal and Chichen Itza!
Uxmal
Uxmal means “built three times” in the Mayan language, explaining the high degree of diversity in the buildings! Uxmal is one of the biggest and most preserved site in Mexico, absolutely stunning! Just beyond the entrance is the House of the Magician, a 30m tall pyramid. According to the legend, this pyramid was built in one night…
The Pyramid is looking over the Nunnery quadrangle , a huge structure composed of multiples buildings and full of sculptures.
The visit continues through many different buildings, but better than describing them one by one, here are some pictures!
The Governor’s Palace
House of the Doves
Sahil
We also visited a small site next to Uxmal: we were the only one visiting, pretty cool! The site is still uncovered in most parts and we felt like explorers 😉
The Gran Palacio
Yum Keep (God of fertility as you can see)
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is supposed to be the most impressive (and famous) archeological site in Mexico (and we also cried at the ticket counter discovering the entrance fee). The site is crowded and thousands of shops are around the buildings: it’s actually more a mall than an archeological site…
Asians are always a good source of funny pictures
El Castillo is the main monument of Chichen Itza: the step pyramid is perfectly restored and the foot of the pyramid is full of details and sculptures.
The Great Ballcourt is also really impressive: it’s the world biggest ballcourt for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame. The construction is amazing, full of carvings, and greatly designed for a perfect sound distribution (the echo was awesome!).
Temple of a thousand warriors (represented by the columns) but closed to the public
Plataforma de los Cráneos
Sinkhole where they conducted sacrifices and offerings
The archeological site of Uxmal is a real beauty, full of variety and stunning carving/sculpture. Chichen Itza was a real deception for us: the pyramid and the ballcourt are impressive, but apart from these the rest is tasteless and we’ve been aggravated by the crowd and the number of shops.