To Chichen Itza - On a "table bus"

Ever since I read about Chichen Itza, one of the Mayan ruins in Mexico, I have been wanting to visit it. I was fascinated by the pyramid which dominated the archaeological site and pictures of people standing atop the pyramid. Years passed by, and it was December 2010 when we finally planned a trip to Cancun. Chichen-Itza was a 2.5 to 3 hour drive from the resort we stayed. We were not planning to rent a car and if we had to visit, it would be a one day bus tour. I was not sure if it
would be a good idea to drag two young kids on a long bus ride to such a place.
 
Interestingly, the resort where we stayed, Iberostar Paraiso Maya, featured many Mayan ruins. The central pool had a building in the shape of El Castillo, the main pyramid at Chichen Itza.

Main pool with pyramid in background

Restaurant modeled after El Castillo interiors

One of the restaurants was also shaped like the pyramid and had a giant snake hanging from the roof. In ancient times, the pyramid used to be a Mayan temple of a feathered serpent deity named Kukulkan. Along the resort grounds, there were these pillars similar to the Columns in the Temple of a Thousand Warriors. And there was even a bench shaped like the red Jaguar throne found inside El Castillo.

Replica of Columns of Thousand Warriors

Replica of Jaguar throne

 

The resort had lots of activities for the kids - pools, playgrounds, lazy river rides. And of course, the beach was nearby too.

Fun with sand

With all these options centered around water and sand, the stay was more taxing than relaxing for the parents. We thought a bus ride would actually be a change and reserved seats to visit the world-famous Mayan ruins. We told the kids that we are going to visit a pyramid-shaped Mexican temple. That was the best way we could put across a visit to old ruined buildings to the kids.

The bus was huge and there was a table in between our seats. The kids were super excited to start the long journey on what my daughter named "table bus".

The "table" bus

Our little guy loved the stop at the toll plaza. There were more table buses and he could not get his eyes off them.

Can't get eyes off the bus

Cenote at Ik Kil

The bus made a lunch stop at Ik Kil, a park with a cenote. A cenote is like a deep well which is formed when the top part of a limestone cave collapses. They were considered sacred by the Mayans. Swimming was allowed in the cenote at Ik Kil. We just viewed it from above and strolled the beautiful grounds around the restaurant. Then, the bus continued through an old Mexican town with the tour guide explaining various things about the local culture. He mentioned that we are making all these diversions to avoid the heat. If we reach the destination too early, we may find ourselves turning into "Chicken Pizza" and not be able to enjoy the beauty of "Chichen Itza". With all these detours, the bus ride was taking much longer. Thankfully, the kids did not seem to mind.

When we reached the final destination, we were surprised to see the number of tour buses and tourists walking towards the ruins. Well, it was one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico. A short walk through dusty paths led us to the original version of the ruins. The pyramid was the most prominent structure and looked bigger than I had imagined. The 91 steps on each side and the platform on the top represented 365 days of a year.

El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza

Though I was a little disheartened to know that they no longer allowed tourists to climb the pyramid, I realized it would not have been an easy climb. It seems there was a lot of wear and tear of these steps and many minor accidents used to happen. An ambulance was always stationed at the base to handle injured folks. However, when a fatality occurred and an old woman died, they decided to close off the steps.

The tour guide was full of wonderful information about the place and its legends, some of which have a strong astronomical basis. We could not listen to all the stuff and just wandered around the grounds looking at the real Columns of Thousand Warriors and other temples.

Temple of the Warriors

Columns at the Temple of a Thousand Warriors

The most interesting part of the trip was when we saw our little boy do his style of "namaskar" (a Hindu custom to prostrate before God). He had taken our words literally and thought he should do what he usually does in the Hindu temples we visit !

A "namaskar" in the temple

Hola!

As the day cooled down, kids started to enjoy the place that had wide open grounds to run around. Our three year old was happy trying to use her Spanish skills and befriend a Mexican girl by saying "Hola" (hello in Spanish). The little guy was very hesitant to leave the temple.

One happy traveler

Should we leave?

On the way back, the bus headed straight to the resort and we reached without any hassles from the kids.

After the vacation, the kids started referring to all tour buses as table buses. In fact, the best and most memorable part of our Mexico trip was the table bus ride to the temple at Chichen Itza!