As some of you may know I was recently in Mexico - I have over 1,500 photo's to go through so I will be posting a few over the next few weeks ! . The trip was a blast. Here are a few of a day we spent in Chitzen Itza. It is one of the new 7 wonders of the world. I have over 500 shots of this place alone !

This is The Pyramid of Kukulkán. For a scale it is 24 meters (79 feet) high. We had a guide for the first hour. The history is amazing. It is clear a large Mayan community thrived here between around 700AD and 900AD

It was an impressive site - I will post some others of the area as time allows. Hope you enjoy!

Front Side (restored)
[IMGWIDEleft]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2286/2306692618_1664fc21b6_b.jpg[/IMGWIDEleft]

Side View
[IMGWIDEleft]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2119/2305892711_7e910ef0ed_b.jpg[/IMGWIDEleft]

Back Side
[IMGWIDEleft]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2187/2305893029_4cd23f6b35_b.jpg[/IMGWIDEleft]

91 Very skinny very steep steps. The front side was restored
[IMGWIDEleft]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2092/2305892409_c6672e2c43_b.jpg[/IMGWIDEleft]

When the Sun sets you can see shadows of a snakes body comming down the side of the steps to the snake head below - these Mayans were genious!
[IMGWIDEleft]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2394/2306691980_50ae2d412b_b.jpg[/IMGWIDEleft]

Closer vew of the Snake Head and how skinny these steps really are !
[IMGWIDEleft]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3121/2305891703_d04efbf08d_b.jpg[/IMGWIDEleft]

The Top
[IMGWIDEleft]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2305891035_725a6acff0_b.jpg[/IMGWIDEleft]

[Sailor]

Wonderful, Dave - the one with the visible sun looking up to the top of the pyrimid is especially appealing to me.

Jer

[weatherwise2]

Great shots. It is a wonderful, sacred place. From the top you do get a different view of other nearby temples. When you think of the practices of the civilization there it is amazing. I thought the ball court, pok ta pok, was pretty impressive.

[daacon]

Too bad they closed it! I was there in 1989 and we were allowed to climb the pyramid and actually go down into the heart of it. It was amazing.

It does look like they're doing some nice restoration on it, though.

The resotoration is very well done. It was too bad we could not climb it or go in.

Nice photos.
I see they've put a fence around the central temple.

I like that part of Mexico very much, people are friendly.
Also more to the south and inland you can find a lot of Maya ruins.

If you ever go back to Yucatan, a few hours driving from Chitzen Itza there is Uxmal. Try to visit Uxmal as well and some other old complexes along the Puuc route.
Uxmal gives me the creeps. You can still feel the horror at the pyramid of the wizard.
f you also visit the other complexes of the Puuc route, like Mayapan, you may find yourself wandering through a deserted city all by yourself in the jungle. We even saw a jaguar once.
No tourists, sometimes a lot of undiscovered detail.
- Bert

It was cool Bert - nice picture I will keep that place in mind next time I go back thanks!

Wonderful, Dave - the one with the visible sun looking up to the top of the pyrimid is especially appealing to me.

Jer

Thanks Jer the sun was hot hot hot that day for sure.

Great shots. It is a wonderful, sacred place. From the top you do get a different view of other nearby temples. When you think of the practices of the civilization there it is amazing. I thought the ball court, pok ta pok, was pretty impressive.

Thanks weatherwise. You got that right a sacred place for sure and it was an amazing place - I wanted to go the top (we could at the observatory) I will post some more later.