Chichen Itza - Worth The Trip

I'm thinking of heading to Chichen Itza in February (the pictures I've
seen look fabulous) but I hear it's overrun by tourists. Is this right
or is it still worth the trip from Playa Del Carmen? How early should
you get there to beat the crowds, if that is even an option? How hard
is it to climb the big pyramid? It looks pretty tall, but it's the
steepness of the angle more than the height that determines
difficultly, and that is hard to guage from a photo. How are the
daytime temps at that time of year? Thanks.

On 13 Dec 2004 15:54:08 -0800, travel-man@excite.com wrote:

> I'm thinking of heading to Chichen Itza in February (the pictures I've
> seen look fabulous) but I hear it's overrun by tourists. Is this right
> or is it still worth the trip from Playa Del Carmen? How early should
> you get there to beat the crowds, if that is even an option? How hard
> is it to climb the big pyramid? It looks pretty tall, but it's the
> steepness of the angle more than the height that determines
> difficultly, and that is hard to guage from a photo. How are the
> daytime temps at that time of year? Thanks.

Um....don't let the fact that there's always an ambulance near the
Castillo temple bother you. :-) true story. The stairs are steep. They're
steeper looking down than when you're looking up at them. Some people are
able to walk up quite normally and ending scooting their butt along the
steps on the way down. The view is fantastic and there's some very nice
artwork at the top. There's a heavy rope running down the steps for a hand
hold. I use it--many people don't. Personally the claustrophobic trip up
the inside of the temple bothers me a lot more than stairs on the outside.
You could have a wonderful trip without doing either of these things.

There are many fantastic things to see in the area. If you focus too
much on the Castillo you'll miss many other excellent sights. To me a
better question is: is it worth the trip from Chichen to Playa del Carmen?
Now there's a place that's really overrun with tourists. The site itself is
relatively large and absorbs tourist far better than Tulum, which is a
relatively small site. Just as a matter of comfort it's usually better to
get there early. The last time I was there the site was opening at 9am.
Other worthwhile sights in the area that draw far fewer visitors are the
very nearby Balanchanche cave that was used for ceremonial purposes and Ek
Balam with it's lovely tomb entrance on the main temple. Chichen has a lot
of beautiful intact and in place artwork in many different places.

If you're looking for archaeological sites with fewer visitors go just
about anywhere, but Chichen and Tulum. There are a lot of ruins in that
region. Many of them are just as interesting as Chichen, if not more so.

Dennis

Followup question - Chitzen Itza or Coba? We'll be in Pto. Morelos and
it looks like either one would be a good day trip. Any recommendations
on which one?

TIA,

Dave

On 14 Dec 2004 06:48:29 -0800, Dave wrote:

> Followup question - Chitzen Itza or Coba? We'll be in Pto. Morelos and
> it looks like either one would be a good day trip. Any recommendations
> on which one?

Chichen. Coba is a much less impressive site--smaller ruins, with very
little remaining artwork and most of that is in very poor condition. I like
Coba, but I enjoy it as much as a nice walk in he jungle as a visit to the
ruins. In and around the site you can see a wide variety of wildlife. The
nearby lake has crocodiles. At Chichen, as with most of the sites, you'll
see lots of birds and some amazingly large iguanas.

Personally I enjoy visiting all the ruins. Aside from the ruins
themselves and what I learn about pre-Columbian civilizations it gives me a
good excuse to go wandering around odd corners of Mexico. I'm pretty much
assured that the trip will have some sort of reward. Rural Mexico and its
people are fantastic. I see a lot of wildlife. Calakmul and Kohunlich, for
example, are particularly rich in wildlife, but you'll see something at all
the sites. The artwork, both at the sites and in the museums, is quite
stunning. Even small unassuming sites can produce interesting experiences.
I meet a lot of nice and themselves very interesting people by visiting the
ruins. For me it's sort of like fishing--it isn't so much about catching a
fish as it's about the whole experience.

Dennis

Coming from the coast, Coba makes for a closer, and I think better,
"ruin experience". CI is like a park, while Coba is in a forest, and
has fewer visitors. You can see some of the wildlife of the Yucatan,
if you're lucky.
Coba is huge, and you can rent bicycles, to explore the trails,
between the different buildings, and see them in various stages of
restoration... You can still climb on "Nohoch Mul", the tallest Mayan
structure in the Yucatan, but the days of climbing ruins, is pretty
much over, at any of the major sites......
Don

On 13 Dec 2004 15:54:08 -0800, travel-man@excite.com wrote:

>I'm thinking of heading to Chichen Itza in February (the pictures I've
>seen look fabulous) but I hear it's overrun by tourists. Is this right
>or is it still worth the trip from Playa Del Carmen?

It does get very, very busy with tourists, but not until about 10 a.m.
If you can afford to it's worth spending a night at one of the hotels
that are right on top of the site so that you can visit it late in the
afternoon and then again early the next morning when it can be very
quiet.

>How early should
>you get there to beat the crowds, if that is even an option? How hard
>is it to climb the big pyramid? It looks pretty tall, but it's the
>steepness of the angle more than the height that determines
>difficultly, and that is hard to guage from a photo.

It's not that tall - only 91 steps. It is quite steep but, even
though I'm terrified of heights, I did manage to climb it by going up
practically on my hands and knees and I came down on my bum! I wasn't
the only one who did it that way though. I wasn't able to climb it on
the first day we were there because it was too busy, but at 8 a.m. the
next morning there wasn't another person in sight so I wasn't so
nervous. The views from the top are amazing and I'm really glad that
I forced myself to climb it.


--

Julie S

On 14 Dec 2004 06:48:29 -0800, "Dave" <davidamundi@> wrote:

>Followup question - Chitzen Itza or Coba? We'll be in Pto. Morelos and
>it looks like either one would be a good day trip. Any recommendations
>on which one?
>
Coba. Chichen Izta is amazing, but it does look exactly the same as
it does in the photos and is very touristy. Coba, on the other hand,
is much quieter and more atmospheric (IMHO). The ruins at Coba just
loom out of the jungle, whereas Chichen is much more sanitised. If
you do visit Coba, make sure you take enough water with you as the
site is absolutely huge. DH and I made the mistake of not taking
enough and had to turn around to go back to the entrance much sooner
than we would have liked to. Also when we visited four years ago
there were bikes for hire not far into the site. I still regret that
we didn't hire them as we would have seen a lot more (it's very spread
out).

I'm not knocking Chichen Itza at all, it's well worth visiting - but
if I had to choose between the two, Coba would win by a mile.



--

Julie S