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.