Day 3- Cancun Trip 2010 (part 1)

CHITZEN ITZA'

Since I have way too many pictures to put on the blog to wait for them to load ALL NIGHT...

I decided to break day 3 up.

It was an amazing day.

The absolute highlight of the trip!

We were so excited about the idea of going to see the Mayan ruins...

But then we got a name from some friends in the ward of a family guide company that does LDS tours.

I will regret to this day NOT taking a recorder to record all the info he gave us!

IT WAS AMAZING!

The way they do their tours is similar to all the other tours, but this family ties the Mayans and the dates back to Book of Mormon times and we actually read in the scriptures on the tour, and it was amazing to be reading about something in the BofM and realizing that they are talking about right where you are standing.

Absolutely unbelievable!

Carlos was our tour guide.

He came to pick us up at our hotel around 7:30 a.m.

We knew it was him as soon as he pulled up with his BYU ball cap on.

He said that was the easiest way for him to stand out for his customers.

We thought it was great!

Let me tell you...Carlos was amazing!

I cannot believe how much information he had and he was so interesting and so friendly and so kind.

He was a lot of fun to be around.

In fact his wife was due to have her baby any day now...his first baby.

We asked why he wasn't home and he said that he has to work to pay the bills.

We are so grateful to him for taking the time to spend the entire day with us.

Like I said, I wish we had a recorder for all he told us that day...I am sure Brent has it all soaked up like a sponge...but he isn't here to help me remember...so the pictures will have to be enough for you...

It was the perfect day...a little windy, not too hot, but just right.

Our first stop after a 2 hour drive...was Chitzen Itza'.

That two hour drive was even amazing...Carlos had so much to tell us.

You could tell he is passionate about what he does and he just loves it so much.

The main Temple at Chitzen Itza'
These are all shots from the ball field.
If you have ever read anything about this game...it is incredible!
We always assumed it was the losers who were sacrificed...NOPE...it was the winners captain that got his head cut off.
Crazy times!

As you can see he had us very interested...
Another side to the big temple.
Carlos told us a few things about the restoration of these things.
He said that in these temples when they restored them they figured 4 staircases...must have 4 doors...
But Carlos told us that in fact they only had one entrance at the top.
There are so many cool facts that connect the Temple with the Mayan calendar...I will update when I can pick Brent's brain more about it!

These were homes of the wealthier people...I just loved all the carvings and lattice work.
Amazing!

This is the Observatory.

Also so many cool things about this and the seasons and the angles of the sun through the windows and I will pick Brent's brain and fill it in later too...

More spots in Chitzen Itza'

The back side of the big Temple.

The only restored two sides of the temple...so the back side was how it was found...after they uncovered all the trees and dirt from it.

You can see on the ground how it is dug up...there were layers and layers...just a few months, I think, ago they found a crevice and started to dig and found a stucco floor a few feet down.

They figure that the entire city floor was at this level and all made of stucco.

Everything was covered in stucco.

I do have a picture of us with Carlos...he is the one who made the entire day so amazing...

But that is from one of the other stops we made...so another day...

More soon...I promise!

If you ever go to Cancun you MUST do this tour and you must request Carlos!

http://www.helamantours.com/