Hotel Bahia Chac Chi...

So, on day six of my trip, I headed to Isla. I have lots more to post about that, but I thought I'd take some time to give my hotel review. When I looked into a short stay on Isla this Christmas, I checked out the Bahia Chac Chi...a new hotel on the west side of the island. I had looked at it on my last stay in July, and since it was only $70 a night during the holidays, I went ahead and reserved it.

Here it is as I'm approaching on the ferry. It's only a couple blocks from the ferry, so it's very convenient to get to.

The lobby area...

And the pool area which is just behind the lobby. It's kind of a strange pool layout and I never once saw anyone swimming in it. Not a very warm or inviting layout.

Here it is from my fourth floor...

And here's the fourth floor...

A single room with a king-size bed...

And the opposite view...

The sink in the bathroom area...

And the other side of the sink area...

The shower and toilet area.

This shower set-up is way cool, but just a little warning. I didn't know how to work everything, so I was playing with the settings and see those six little circular jets on each side? Make sure you warm those up before you use them, because if you're taking a shower with the other jets and switch to those without warming them up? HOLY SHIT!! I think everyone in the hotel probably heard me scream when that freezing water hit me at full blast. So that was probably too much information...on to more...

This is the best part of this hotel...the view...more of that later...

One of the downsides is that they don't provide patio furniture. If you want to sit outside to see the gorgeous view, you have to take the little upholstered chair outside on the patio. Here's my neighbor's...

And another guest below me. (Try to ignore the tighty whities on the chair.)

Here's the Justicia Social across the street...which I never went to this time. Have been to it before, but just never got around to it on this trip.

And here was my view when I went outside my door. So I got views of both sides of the island.

Standing on my balcony, here's my view towards the north...

And the view to the south...

This is the empty space between my balcony and my neighbor's. It would be a perfect area for big plants to better separate the two areas. Maybe they'll do that some day.

The balcony was a great spot in the morning to take advantage of island activity. This was the morning pelican meeting...

And this was the morning police boat getting ready to protect Mexican waters. I noticed several soldiers with machine guns and drug dogs getting into this boat.

There are several down sides to this hotel. It doesn't have refrigerators. It's also very noisy when you have the sliding doors open. Rueda Medina can be noisy since it's the main street between the north and south areas of the island. That actually didn't bother me because I kind of liked the activity of the island. That might not be the same case with other people. One good thing, though, is once you closed the sliding glass doors, you didn't hear anything. In addition, I felt like it was "incomplete" in that the space was empty between the balconies, there was no art on the walls and there were no lamps on the sides of the beds...just a big fluorescent lamp above the bed which lit up the entire room. That could be just part of the "contemporary" design, but they were things I noticed. They also claimed that they had internet, but I was never able to connect. I don't know...maybe that was just me...I'm not going to condemn them for that when it could have been my fault. They DO have a safe that will accommodate a laptop and the bed is VERY comfortable with plenty of pillows. They had a complimentary breakfast in the morning at 8:30 a.m...but be sure not to get there before then. I got there at about 8:20 and was told several times that it didn't open until 8:30. I asked if they had coffee ready, and he said "yes," but when I put some fruit onto a plate (since it was out on the table), I was reminded that it didn't start until 8:30. Okay, fine. Breakfast consisted of watermelon, mango and cantelope, dry toast, juice and coffee.

So...would I stay there again?? Definitely...but only if I was staying with another person...or friends or family members. It's not real conducive to meeting other people in comparison to places like Plaza Almendros, where you sit out with other people in a courtyard...or at a place like I stayed in Playa del Carmen where everyone congregates at the hotel bar. But the view was to die for. In all honesty, every time I came out of the bathroom area into the bedroom, I thought, "Oh, my God...this is beautiful!"

Off to Chichen Itza...

After spending the night in Valladolid, I walked back the "500" blocks to the bus station to catch the bus to Chichen Itza. Just missed the most recent one, so I had to wait an hour. That's okay...I needed a rest after the 500 blocks. (At least I didn't need to use the restroom.) Got on board and settled back for about a half an hour before we got there. I guess it will be a big show next April with Elton John...

You get out of the bus (or car or taxi or whatever you're in) and walk into a courtyard before you get to the gate where you have to pay. I didn't get a guided tour or anything and paid $11 USD for general admission. There are lots of vendors in the courtyard.

After you pay your admission, you go down a walkway to the ruins. Again, there are many vendors...

With souvenirs like this...

Then...BAM! You are there...

It's hard to explain the feeling. It's awesome, to say the least. I felt so incredibly small. If I was standing at the bottom of the stairway, my head would hit about the sixth step, so that puts things into perspective. It's hard to believe that something built in the 7th century is still standing...much less in excellent condition considering all that time.

The steps are SOOO narrow. I know the people were smaller back then, but it's hard to think of them running up and down these stairs. I had thought they they didn't allow tourists to climb the stairs due to the wear and tear on the stone. But another tourist told me that according to a travel book she read, someone fell down the stairs and died a few years ago, and that's why they don't let anyone climb it anymore. Damn clumsy tourists...I would have loved to go to the top.

So, I'll have to let my camera go to the top...

Not quite the same, however...

Since I didn't go on a tour, I don't know the details as to why things are the way they are...

Here's the back side...

I had originally thought that the big pyramid was the only structure. Boy, was I wrong! There is a lot more to this than I thought...

Is this where "tic-tac-toe" started out???

Lots of pillars...

I zoomed in on the little characters at the top of this building...

Here's the one on the left...

And the one on the right. I love his little quirky smile and dimples...

More pillars...

As I was looking at these buildings, I turned around and saw this again...

...and was totally overwhelmed by the massiveness against the beautiful sky.

Some details of other buildings...

Here's the end of the area where they used to play "ball"...

These blocks are all numbered...don't know why...

Apparently, they used to throw some kind of ball through these holes in the wall...

My son, Jared, was looking at my pictures and he said, "And they used to kill the losing team." I laughed and said, "Yeah, right." He said, "No, really." Whoa. That's serious sports. So I did a little search on-line and found that apparently the winning captain was actually the "loser":

"The Mayans were great sportsmen and build huge ballcourts to play their games. The Great Ballcourt of Chichén Itzá is 545 feet long and 225 feet wide overall. It has no vault, no discontinuity between the walls and is totally open to the sky.

Each end has a raised "temple" area. A whisper from end can be heard clearly at the other end 500 feet away and through the length and breath of the court. The sound waves are unaffected by wind direction or time of day/night. Archaeologists engaged in the reconstruction noted that the sound transmission became stronger and clearer as they proceeded. In 1931 Leopold Stokowski spent 4 days at the site to determine the acoustic principals that could be applied to an open-air concert theater he was designing. Stokowski failed to learn the secret. To this day it has not been explained.

It is not hard to imagine a Mayan King sitting here presiding over the games. Legends say that the the winning captain would present his head to the losing capitan, who then decapitates him. While this may seem a strange reward, the Mayans believed this to be the ultimate honor. The winning captian getting a direct ticket to heaven instead of going through the 13 steps that the Mayan's believed they had to go through in order to reach heaven."

Jared and I agreed it would be interesting to go back in time and witness what went on back then. (But I don't think I'd actually want to participate in it.)

So, now back to today's world. After toting my 20-pound backpack through the several miles I covered at Chichen Itza, I decided I needed a refreshing beverage from the snack bar. Little did I know that they would be offering entertainment. There were three "dancers" doing a clog-type step with a tray of beers and glasses on their heads. I'm sorry, but does that seem really crazy after witnessing the incredible history of Chichen Itza...or is that just me??? Who knows...maybe they had serfs (or whatever they called slaves back then) run the equivalent of Coronas up and down those tiny little steps on top of their heads?!

Well, it just seems kind of silly in my opinion...but they did look nice in their Mexican garbs.

Now, just a few pics of the cenote I visited after Chichen Itza. I grabbed a cab who took me to the closest one...Ik Kil. The grounds were very pretty and well-kept. There's a restaurant under the palapa on the left, but I didn't stay for lunch because I had a taxi waiting.

I didn't go swimming, but it was fun to watch...

The cab driver took me back to Chichen Itza where I wanted to buy a book to become more knowledgeable on the subject. When I went to buy my bus ticket back to Playa del Carmen, the ticket agent told me the bus just left but he would find out if another bus would take me to Playa. So out we ran to the buses where he had an intense discussion with a bus driver and lo and behold...I'm on on this bus back to Playa. So, no book about Chichen Itza, as I settle in the back seat for the long drive back.

The adventure continues...