Surrounded by dense rainforest, the Pyramid of Kukulcan in Chichen Itza is an ancient Maya ceremonial centre on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and is voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The history of the architectural complex, whose name means ‘at the mouth of the Itza well’, inspires a sense of wonder worthy of the name given to its inhabitants, the ‘water sorcerers’. The architectural wonder sits in the north-central part of the Yucatan, 75 miles east of the capital of Merida. It hides two freshwater sink-holes or cenotes within its boundaries. One is called Xtoloc which is the source of Chichen Itza and the other one is a deep, emerald-hued, sacred well where the rain god Chac was believed to have been invoked to bring water.
“Race you to the top,” yelled Clawdette, as Cletus Jr. and I followed behind. Now that was a workout trying to get up the Kukulkan, also know as El Castillo (The Castle). Isn’t it mind blowing to see such sites built so long ago when modern day cranes and tools didn’t exist! Exploring the area we saw some unique statues, so we jumped on for a photo op!
Next we stopped at a cenote (or sink-hole) filled with beautiful emerald water. Yes, we jumped on in for a swim… us Crawdads never miss a chance to experience water that isn’t brown!
