Chichen Itza – A Wonder Worth Seeing

Another great family trip we took was to Riveria Maya, which is the resort filled coastline south of Cancun, Mexico.  While we were there, we accomplished a lot, but one day was dedicated to seeing the iconic Chichen Itza.  It is a Unesco World Heritage Site as well as one of the 7 New Wonders of the World.  What justifies something as a “Wonder of the World”? By Wikipedia, it’s a remarkable natural or man-made construction that aims to represent global heritage. This definitely is an amazing representative of a man-made structure, but it, like the pyramids, is astonishing that they could do this so long ago without the technology we have today.  Built by the Mayan civilization between AD 600-1200, it became one of their largest cities.  There are a variety of architectural styles that surround the main structure and filled with crazy legends and stories.

There are several options of getting there and considering over 2.5 million tourists visit each year, so it isn’t a secret.  We had opted to rent a car for the week of our vacation and drove ourselves. It took a couple of hours to drive but we left early enough to get there before 9 am. Most of the tour buses that can be taken from all the resorts (and cruise ships) usually arrive between 10 am – 12 pm. Not only does it become incredibly crowded, but it also gets very hot.  However, the tours are a no-brainer and come with tour guides so go for it.

If you do not come on a tour, there are English speaking tour guides in front of the entrance available to hire.  It only cost us about $30 for a 3-hour tour for our family.  There is an entrance fee to get in but it’s minor and worth it.

Our tour guide had a photo album that she flipped through telling us the stories of each area that we visited. She was amazing and her family was actually Mayans from that area.  She had grown up there and spoke the native Mayan language.

After we had been overloaded with more Mayan culture and history that I thought could ever have been filled into a tour, we were set free to wander around the grounds and explore for ourselves.  There is a shopping area with all kinds of trinkets and touristy stuff.  There are places to get drinks and food as well, but I highly recommend bringing your own bag with water and snacks.

I highly recommend this experience if ever going to Cancun.  Chichen Itza is really amazing and one of those things that I had to check off my bucket list.  Still have more Wonders of the World to visit… just another reason to keep traveling.  Have you been to Chichen Itza and/or what Wonder of the World has been your favorite?