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Monday Jul 27, 2009

Last days in PV/Chichen Itza

Well hello there... Readily accessible internet was not so easy to find as I thought it would be during my travelling and last 2 weeks in Mexico, so I thought I'd use two blogs now to fill you all in on what I got up to!

I filled my last couple of days In Puerto Vallarta with fun activities as I hadn't really taken too much advantage of the tourist trade available there - plus I had been living pretty cheaply and somehow had managed to have more money than I expected to have by this time! Puerto Vallarta is surrounded by jungle high up in the mountains, and is actually pretty nearby to where the Predator film (you know you love Arnie really) was shot, so I decided to take a trip up there and go on one of the many zip-wire courses they have up there! If you've never been zip-wiring before, I absolutely recommend it, there's nothing quite like looking around as you zoom over the tops of trees and suddenly see the ground fall away to reveal a large canyon and see the waterfall that you're about to abseil down! Maybe not for the faint-hearted or those scared of heights, some of the zips were over 300ft drops, but I completely loved it!I also decided to try some scuba diving while I was there, as I had only been once before 4 years ago (an experience which ended with my ears in agony and me generally not being too impressed). Luckily, this time round was a lot more fun!

I decided not to go back to the refugio as I had already said goodbye to the kids and didn't want to confuse them - though it felt really harsh at the time, I'm still pretty sure that it was the better choice. So, finally my time in Puerto Vallarta came to an end, as I set off for Chichen Itza! We actually had to get a flight to Mexico City first, and then a connecting flight to Cancun where we picked up a hire car and then drove the straight (and almost empty) 2 and a half hour road to reach Chichen Itza (the 8th modern wonder of the world apparently) deep in the Yucatan peninsula.

If you ever go to Chichen Itza, I highly recommend staying at the Archeological Villas, the accommodation originally used to the archeologists who first came to excavate the ancient Mayan site, which has now been turned into a lovely hotel, quieter and more modest than it's rivals, this hotel has real charm and is generally more interesting than staying at some purpose-built-for-tourists-package-holiday kind of hotel which are so common these days. (I promise I'm not employed by them, I just really liked it there!)

The ruins at Chichen Itza are of course amazing, especially to a big history student nerd like me. They are brilliantly preserved and there are boards with information about each of the structures in Spanish, Mayan and English all over the site, although it is just as interesting to just wander around the site without reading the information. The only thing which disappointed me with Chichen Itza was their famous light show they do at night, in which they supposedly re-create the optical illusion which naturally occurs there twice a year at the spring and autumn equinoxes in which serpents appear to be slithering up the central pyramid structure. I can tell you now, they've either stopped doing this or they never did, because it certainly isn't featured now! The show is really just disappointing all round, basically just lighting the buildings up in different colours with terrible commentary alongside it, so really not much to rave about.

However, there are lots of other things to do around Chichen Itza as well, besides lazing around in the beautiful sunshine they get there, and as we were there for a couple of days, we decided to take the car for a drive, as it was a lot less stressful, a lot quieter and a lot safer to drive around Mexico than we were expecting, with strict speed limits, long straight roads, and the Green Angels, a government funded service which provides tourists with road-side assistance in case of emergencies. First we ventured to Valladolid, a nearby city which appeared to be half empty! It had a lovely town square in the center and some nice cafes so it was a nice trip...but not altogether interesting nor exciting. On another day we went over to Isamel, also known as the Yellow Town, as a lot of the buildings are painted yellow! Apparently the best time to see the Yellow Town is at sunset to get the whole effect of this glowing yellow town, but we couldn't really stay the night there and it's dangerous to drive in Mexico after dark so we just had to make do with the afternoon. We took a horse and carriage tour of the town which cost M$200 (around £10 for 3 of us) and lasted about half an hour or more which was really nice in the sunshine. Our guide showed us the main buildings in the town and also some old Mayan ruins which still survived, one of which was abolutely massive, it would have been at least twice the size of the main building at Chichen Itza in its time! Pretty interesting to see, Isamel displays the way in which the indigenous cultures "merged" with the Spanish Conquistadors' as the town church is in face built over the ruins of an old Mayan structure, which was destroyed in order to make way for the Church as a demonstration of power, and modern Isamel definitely has the appearance of a very Spanish town.

The Chichen Itza area itself is also a great place to spend time, surrounded by the wildnerness it is great for walking around, but I preferred the lazy option and went horseriding to see the scenery instead! Mexican horseriding is a lot easier than most styles so really anyone can do it, and it's a great way to see the jungle, and you even get to see a dry Sinkhole (loads of them are dotted across the Yucatan and they're really quite impressive) and if you're a bit of an idiot like me, you can even swing about on one of those vines that Tarzan used! Maya World Hotel (right beside the Chichen Itza ruins entrance) advertise these horse treks and will happily book you onto them even if you don't stay at the hotel (like me).

So that was Chichen Itza! Lots of fun and perhaps my favourite place that I visited in Mexico, if you're ever in Cancun you should definitely take a trip over to see it. Fi.

 

Posted by Fiona ( 3:19 PM )
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