Chichén Itzá, Mexico

Two and a half hours by bus west from Cancun Mexico, lies one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World".  Chichén Itzá,  or more specifically the Temple of Kukulcán at Chichén Itzá was voted into this distinguished group  in 2007.  Constructed around 600 AD, this stone structure is still impressive today.    

A thousand years ago, this area would have been teeming with people, vitality, color, and life.  A hub of most trade routes in the area, it was truly the center of the Mayan world.   Unfortunately, by the time the Spanish arrived in 1526, the Mayan culture had declined so far that they encountered no real resistance taking Chichén Itzá.

This amazing place is still experiencing challenges, even fifteen centuries later.  In recent years, the amount of tourism has increased drastically.  With the current economy in Mexico, street vending has exploded at tourism sites like this.  Our tour guide explained with obvious frustration that over 500 vendors would be inside this astounding archaeological site.  This puts significant stress on the locations facilities, and even on people who wish to come and ponder this incredible place. 

I would highly recommend visiting here, and going with a reputable tour guide.  The amount of history, culture, religion, and awe inspiring engineering that you can see here is overwhelming.  

One of the many colorful "shops" along the path from the main entrance to the Temple

It appears that this road was paved at one point, but due to the years and people it is back to mostly dirt.

Some of the colors here were amazing to my American mind.

I took some photos in color, but I think this place is best shown in a distinguishing black and white.

There was quite a few birds around the area, filling the air with sound.

This vendor was in the process of carving one of the statues he was selling. He found it humorous that I wanted to take a photo...

There were also quite a few iguanas waltzing around, or as in this case, sitting around.

One of the many "Cenotes" in this area of Mexico. (Yup, I went swimming in this one)...