The acoustics were amazing in front of the main pyramid. You could stand anywhere in front of the four sides clap and with in seconds a sharp echo of the clap bounced back for everyone around to hear.
This sport court was an early cross over of basketball, baseball and lacrosse. The Mayans actually used a baseball sized rubber ball and large wooden sticks to run the ball up and down the field and try to swat the rubber ball into the small stone hoops on the upper walls of the court. The only catch is the winner is beheaded as a sacrifice to the gods. Only the best was offered sacrifically to their gods.
You could stand at one of the court and in a normal voice talk and the person at the other end could hear you with no problem.
Why did you take a picture of the wall? To show you how advanced the civilization was in construction. The Mayans understood that placement of the size of stones determined echo patterns. Large stones on the bottom and smaller stones on top.
Madelyn was such a trooper in the heat! She really enjoyed Chichen Itza because she knew from watching Dora the Explorer that her mom work in the Pyramids as an archaeologist, so logic prevails that she would she Dora while visiting. She was sad to learn that Dora was out playing Boots in the Jungle.
Probably the funniest thing that Madelyn said on the trip was "Where are all the Mayan Indians today?" Explaining to her that they are the people who live and work here at Chichen Itza, she gave me a very puzzled look and then said "But these people don't have feathers on their heads." All we could do was laugh, because that is the only representation she knows of the Mayans.
Jaguar Temple
One of the two Cenotes that served as a water source for the Mayans.
The tour we took to Chichen Itza was about 2 and half hours from Cancun into the Yucatan Peninsula and was described as a spiritual experience. The meaning came true when we got off the van and realized that it was over a 100 degree 100 percent humidity, no breeze and it was a three hour hike. By the end of the tour, I really was saying "Please God help me make it to the end of the tour!" This natural wonder of the world was worth every minute in the sun and was beyond amazing, but after enjoying the 70 degree weather of Cancun it was a rude awaking of the heat that hit you in the face and kept at your heels the entire tour. I know that after living in Texas for hotter summers than this, that a day at Chichen Itza should have been a drop in the bucket, but at least here we have a week or two of semi hot days before the the blazing heat hits us.
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