so it couldnt last, it had to happen and damm it im going to say it. Sit yourselves down, get a cuppa tea (or your beverage of choice) and prepare for a blog bitch (man i love moaning). no one else will tell you the truth, they are scared and feel presured into enjoying themselves, they fain wonder where it is not due, and gasp in awe at a sight that is unworthy. Thats right....im going to bitch about one of the 7 wonders of the modern world, the most vistied site in Mexico and a cultural icon of the Yucatan..yes its Chichen Itza.
So i got Tess up at 6.30am to make sure that we beat the crowds and the heat, and it paid off the site in truely amazing and archaeological wonder, its what is happening to it that gets me. So, we arrived at opening time and had the main pyrammid structure to ourselves for all of 10 minutes before the first tour group trooped in ... and I mean trooped ... think Germany going into Poland here folks. Urgh. This was the most amount of white westerners that we've seen in the last month! and this was just the beginning. We expected tour groups, It is a wonder of the world afterall but by the time we left at 11.30am 50 coaches had already parked up and more were waiting to get in. It is not that there was a huge number of either; its the fact that they have more right to be there than anyone else. Par example, while trying to take a photo I was whistled at (as you would a dog) as a command, apparently, to move. What do you know, it seems that the one foot square of ground that I took up blocked the path of the hoard behind me (we were standing in the middle of a dirty great field. Secondly, God forbid you would be allowed to go near anything. There were ropes, bars, fences and no entry signs around all the buildings... every other site we went to, including Uxmal (the other really big one) allowed people to interact with the site.
This was in all respects NAF. As we wondered around we heard the odd tour guide tell wondrous stories about interesting features that were either within, above or behind what you could see from a 'safe' distance. well, we thought, at least it'll be explained, depicted etc with all the finds in the museum ... right? WRONG! the museum Tess was idly told 'shut down years ago!', how silly of us! of course it would be! God forbid you see anything detailed or more obliquely interesting. Here size and scale was what was supposed to awe you. Nothing about who build and lived at the bleedin' thing. To make thing even better the site was flooded with 'artisans' trying to sell their wares - problem -- all six hundred of them had the exact same stuff for sale, mmm perhaps no so unique after all.
To be totally honest with you, even in these respects Chichen Itza is completely outshone by Uxmal, however that is another hour or so away from Cancun so we can't really expect the majority of tourists to venture that far into the wilds of Mexico. So, here is my bequeathal ... Uxmal is far more interesting, awe inspiring, rewarding and quiet than the dare I say it... overrated Chichen Itza. Sorry.
ps. we got our first military check on the bus today. Big guns, kinda scary.
pps. got our first rain yesterday! was cool.
So i got Tess up at 6.30am to make sure that we beat the crowds and the heat, and it paid off the site in truely amazing and archaeological wonder, its what is happening to it that gets me. So, we arrived at opening time and had the main pyrammid structure to ourselves for all of 10 minutes before the first tour group trooped in ... and I mean trooped ... think Germany going into Poland here folks. Urgh. This was the most amount of white westerners that we've seen in the last month! and this was just the beginning. We expected tour groups, It is a wonder of the world afterall but by the time we left at 11.30am 50 coaches had already parked up and more were waiting to get in. It is not that there was a huge number of either; its the fact that they have more right to be there than anyone else. Par example, while trying to take a photo I was whistled at (as you would a dog) as a command, apparently, to move. What do you know, it seems that the one foot square of ground that I took up blocked the path of the hoard behind me (we were standing in the middle of a dirty great field. Secondly, God forbid you would be allowed to go near anything. There were ropes, bars, fences and no entry signs around all the buildings... every other site we went to, including Uxmal (the other really big one) allowed people to interact with the site.
This was in all respects NAF. As we wondered around we heard the odd tour guide tell wondrous stories about interesting features that were either within, above or behind what you could see from a 'safe' distance. well, we thought, at least it'll be explained, depicted etc with all the finds in the museum ... right? WRONG! the museum Tess was idly told 'shut down years ago!', how silly of us! of course it would be! God forbid you see anything detailed or more obliquely interesting. Here size and scale was what was supposed to awe you. Nothing about who build and lived at the bleedin' thing. To make thing even better the site was flooded with 'artisans' trying to sell their wares - problem -- all six hundred of them had the exact same stuff for sale, mmm perhaps no so unique after all.
To be totally honest with you, even in these respects Chichen Itza is completely outshone by Uxmal, however that is another hour or so away from Cancun so we can't really expect the majority of tourists to venture that far into the wilds of Mexico. So, here is my bequeathal ... Uxmal is far more interesting, awe inspiring, rewarding and quiet than the dare I say it... overrated Chichen Itza. Sorry.
ps. we got our first military check on the bus today. Big guns, kinda scary.
pps. got our first rain yesterday! was cool.
1 comment:
Ugh. Glad we decided to skip it. Your first picture of it is beautiful though.
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