really "progressed" much. Although there are souvenir shops wherever you look along the main street, the laidback feeling and the relaxed way of life is still prevalent. Tulum has a nice beach and some small ruins, but the main attractions here are the small Cenotes (sinkholes filled with water) and of course, Chichen Itza (Chicken Pizza as its jokingly called by some:).
"Chichen" means around the cenote and "Itza" was the ruling familys name at the time.
The site itself is very touristy, much more so than the others i have seen. Strangely its also not
one of the best sites in my opionion. The only pyramid is just 30m high, and you cant really walk on anything right now, although this might change later. Its fun to stand in front of the pyramid and clap your hands. The echo is a sort of ping, almost like a birds call. Apparently the sound is due to the way the small house on top is shaped.
The most impressive thing for me is the ballcourt, which is 168m long. The ballgame was considered sacred by the Maya, and as such was only played and watched by priests. Seven players on each team would have a bat in one hand and a racquet in the other hand, trying to get a 3kg rubber ball through hoops 7m up. Although the ball was made of rubber (tree sap) it had no bounce, and the ball was played with almost the whole body(legs, hips, shoulders). The captain of the winners team would be decapitated as a sacrifice to the gods. Although this doesnt seem to us like a very good incentive to play well, it was considered an honor at the time.
"The ballcourt. You can see the hoops far up on the walls on either side. This whole court was covered in smooth black stucco, even the ground was covered. The acoustics in here are great, designed so that the players and spectators can hear eachother easily."
"A closer look at one of the hoops. Imagine trying to get a 3kg ball through that little hole 7m off the ground. Kinda makes todays basketball players look a little wimpy actually:)"
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