Cancun International Airport (Mexico) on a May day with temperatures reaching 37 degrees Celsius is still bustling with international tourists with hundreds of flights every day. Most tourists will go to the resorts in Cancun, others will spread out to the smaller cities around, including Valladolid - a stopover for tourists to Chichen Itza - the ancient city of the Mayans with 1,000 years of history.
The photo series was taken by Minh Duc, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, during his journey to explore Mexico.
Chichen Itza's entrance fee is not cheap, about 800,000 VND, almost double the entrance fee to Taj Mahal in India, but still cheaper than Machu Pichu in Peru.
To get to Chichen Itza, visitors can depart from Cancun, a distance of 250 km, equivalent to a 3-hour drive. Therefore, most visitors from Cancun will arrive at Chichen Itza at noon when the temperature is high, along with the large number of visitors coming here. I chose to depart from the city of Valladolid, located 40 km from Chichen Itza, by local bus in Valladolid at 7 am, it took just over 40 minutes to get to Chichen Itza to wait in line until 8 am to open.
In ancient Mayan, Chichen Itza means “At the mouth of the well of Itza”. The ancient city was formed and developed in the pre-Columbian period on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico and was one of the largest ancient cities in Central America at that time.
Chichen Itza was discovered in 1841 by an American explorer named John Lloyd Stephens. From 1841 until the end of the 20th century, the area was continuously studied by American and Mexican scientists and anthropologists.
According to researchers, there are still many structures that have not been fully discovered at Chichen Itza. Restoration and excavation activities are still taking place continuously here.
It usually takes about 3 hours for tourists to visit the entire Chichen Itza site. However, when mentioning Chichen Itza, many people will immediately remember the El Castillo pyramid - also known as the Kukulkan temple, a typical work of Chichen Itza with impressive architecture.
The Temple of Kukulkan is associated with the Mayan god of creation Kukulkan. The pyramid has 4 sides, each side has 91 steps, a total of 364 steps plus the top part makes 365 steps, equivalent to the number of days in a solar year. On the Spring and Fall equinoxes every year, the sun shines down on the pyramid, creating the visual effect of a giant snake winding from the top of the tower to the bottom. The work has typical values in architecture, art, and astrology in ancient Mayan culture.
Previously, visitors could climb up to Kukulkan Temple, but for safety reasons, Chichen Itza has fenced off Kukulkan Temple from tourists.
Along with the Temple of Kukulkan, the Temple of the Warriors is also a prominent structure at Chichen Itza. The structure has four sides, decorated with elaborate carvings, and is surrounded by columns (Group of a Thousand Columns).
Not only valuable in terms of architecture, Temple of Warriors helps researchers better understand the social structure, religious beliefs, and ritual practices of the ancient Maya.
When visiting Chichen Itza, visitors cannot miss the Great Ball Court - the ancient Mayan sports space. Beyond the pure sports space, the Great Ball Court also has religious and political significance. Players must use their hips, knees or elbows to send a solid rubber ball through a stone circle hanging high above.
The game has symbolic significance in Mesoamerican culture, representing the struggle between darkness and light, life and death…. It is believed that the outcome of the fight can affect the harvest, rainfall or prosperity of the community.
A unique natural feature associated with the Mayan culture is the presence of cenotes. These are essentially water sources for the people of the Yucatan region. Sagrado is one of the most important cenotes in the Chichen Itza complex. However, many theories suggest that human sacrifices once took place here as human bones were found under Sagrado Cenote.
Today, the Cenotes in the Yucatan region have become tourist attractions for visitors as people can swim.
In addition to visiting the main ruins in the Chichen Itza complex, visitors can spend time shopping for souvenirs. In any building in the ruins, visitors can find stalls selling handicrafts and decorations typical of the Mayan culture in particular and Mexican culture in general.
It is estimated that Chichen Itza attracts nearly 3 million visitors from all over the world each year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in Mexico and Central America.
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