Chase That Dish: Chichen Itza

Located 200km West of Cancun and about a 2 hour drive. Question is “Should I visit this or stay at the beach?”, “If I go there do I stay overnight or a day trip?” These are the questions that were on my mind and usually I would just make a spontaneous decision and go for it. However the location of Chichen Itza is in the middle of the country meaning it will be hot like hell. There are a lot of Mosquitoes at the resorts. There are a whole lot of tourist going here so expect large crowds. It is a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE and it is quite amazing once you see it. You are already in Mexico so why not? Here are the top recommendations I have for making this trip pleasant:

Here are my top 10 recommendations for Chichen Itza :

1. Getting there: There are taxi colectivo which can get you there for 400-500 pesos (21-27 US dollars). If you are running on a budget then this would be wise. However Spanish language skills is essential for negotiations and navigation around Chichen Itza since you have to find your way to the entry site and back to town. They have luxury buses (Google ADO) going there as well which is slightly more comfortable. They have tours running daily from East to West so this would be ideal but costs more.

2. Day trip with a tour group: : I chose this option as I was not keen to spend the night there and experience the wildlife. The tour group I used are Yuca Treks . It is a 12 hour journey door to door and in a Mercedes super van. We were 14 on tour in total costing $124 US per person. It included air conditioned transportation, Guided tour of the ruins, stop at Cenote Dzitinup which is some awesome underground pools with sunlight shining through the cracks on top exposing some bats (It was like swimming in the bat cave). It also includes a lunch buffet and a sightseeing stop/shop in neighboring town Valladolid.

All Drinks and snacks are provided as well on the trip, and all entrance fees are covered so there are no surprises. It is far better than the cheaper options with a bus full of 30-40 people which moves very slow.

3. At the site: : Once you have got your entry tickets from your guide and swiped into the site, you get the historical walk/talk through for each ruin. For someone with a low attentions pan I did well as the descriptions were not too long. It takes about an hour and it is hot but if you make it before 11am like we did there are less tourists and chaos. Even got some photos absent tourists in the background. There are lots of markets on site selling wood carvings and other local jewellery so carry some pesos if you wish to buy.

4. Wildlife on location: Saw a few lizards, giant ants, and some bugs that looked not too scary. My mates who have stayed there overnight have reported mosquitoes and one nonpoisonous scorpion in the wet towel left outside overnight on the deck. These wild things are also present from Cancun to Tulum if you look hard enough ;) so nothing to worry about.

5. Hotels in Chichen Itza: To play it safe go with the known brand here which is the Mayaland properties that have 4 hotels in the area. They all have swimming pools so an overnight stay and cool down would be ideal here. Luckily the tour I was on took us to the Bat cave for a swim. Some of these hotels have deals with the big tour groups so your relaxed moment at the restaurant can get crowded very fast so plan restaurant trips outside these hours. Only major advantage with overnight is early access to the site absent all tour groups big or small.

6. Shopping: I purchased a wood carving of a Jaguar head because it looked bad ass. Wrapped in newspaper this was transported back to Norway. The sales person advised the wood was treated and safe for export. This was not true. I brought with me dry wood termites 

Luckily upon exit of the wood carving they tried to eat into wood covered by paint n died. After find dead bodies I figured what I was dealing with and froze the wood carving for a week which killed all the termites. So I would advise against buying wood products. The ceramic skulls are much better.

7. Restaurants: The food at the restaurant we went to was nice, more Mayan traditional food and it is different from the east side restaurants at the hotels and bigger towns. It does the job and like all cuisine in the country features lots of flavors. After being picked up by my tour group at 7am I was hungry and enjoyed the meal at 1pm. Other restaurants menus that I came across in the town had similar dishes so Chichen Itza is not your culinary destination in Mexico.

8. The Journey: Travelling there by road allows you see more of the real Yucutan lifestyle outside of the tourist zone. The people we met roadside were very friendly and understood my Spanish or Spanglish.

9. Duration of visit: : I found the 12 hour day trip was more than enough but if you want to go to the site very early than an overnight stay is recommended. Anything longer than 24 hours means you will get bored very fast.

10. Child Friendly/Safety: The Cenote swimming is fun and they do have life jackets for kids & adults. The stairs are little steep so precaution advised. However the actual site would be quite boring and tiring for most kids.

Need to Know: They have ATMs on site of the Chichen Itza Entrance.