Chichén Itzá

February 14, 2009

We arrived at Chichén Itzá at about 8:30 AM. Early arrival beats the heat and the buses from Cancun and Mérida. The guide was quite helpful in demonstrating how the city is organized. He showed us the main pyramid first, and promised us more as we returned. The ball court was our next stop.

Chichén Itzá has the largest, best preserved ball court in Mesoamerica. The four structures that surround the large court are high and imposing. They weren't set up to hold large numbers of spectators. Theory has it that the initiate few were the only ones permitted to watch the games. City officials, priests, judges and family made up the spectator list. The acoustics of the ball court were carefully planned. Sections of the wall were constructed of different size stones and finished into slight concave or convex sections. The results are that the acoustics of the court are impressive. From either end a softly spoken word can be heard on the opposite end of the court. A clap from the center garners seven crisply spaced echoes. Evidence points to this being a matter of design – not left to chance.

On our way to the temple of the warriors across the city we once again passed the main pyramid. The guide demonstrated a focused echo from the stepped surfaces of the pyramid that sounds nearly exactly like the call of the Quetzal bird – long extinct in the Yucatan, alive in Guatemala, and revered as the sun god Quetzalcoatl or Kukulkhan by the Maya, Toltec and Aztec. Maya belief has it that echoes are voices from the spirit world, so I'm sure some pretty powerful points were made by the priests. At this site: http://www.ocasa.org/sounds/qqcaca.mp3 you can hear – side by side -the two sounds (echo and live bird) and make your own decision.

The guide also demonstrated that hand position makes a difference. Two claps at eye level and one at the waist in rapid succession make the voice of Quetzal say “Ku-Kul-Khan”!

The temple of the warriors is an impressive structure as well. While not as tall as the main pyramid's 79 feet, it soars to a temple hall at its top. Round columns not unlike those of the Mediterranean probably supported a thatch roof. Adjacent to the pyramid is the Plaza of a Thousand Columns. While the count varies, the architecture fades off onto the jungle that reclaims its domain. Archaeologists opine that thatch roofs covered a marketplace here.

Another grouping of buildings separate from the grand open areas around the main structures seem to have housed Maya's technology center. School buildings, religious academies and an observatory are all included.

Soon the heat and the throngs were making us ready to leave. Our path out led us past stand after stand of tee-shirts, jewelry and figurines in a Mayan style. A few trinkets were purchased and we retired to our rigs for siesta.

Before we entered Mexico our tour hosts recommended that we consider tipping and treating the kids with school supplies in stead of coins. Our stock of such treasures paid off quite well this afternoon. Two youngsters – one older interpreter, and one younger who spoke only Mayan – came by with hand-painted Mayan figurines. It turns out that they had painted them up, and would truly prefer trading them – not for coins – but for school supplies! We had a great time discussing the products in my broken Spanish and their interpretations into and out of Mayan. End result was they left with pens, pencils, paper, puzzles, and big, big smiles!

After dinner we went back to Chichén Itzá for a recorded music and Mayan history program – accompanied by a light show on the many buildings around the park. The heat had broken, a breeze came up and we all slept like logs.

G'night!