This weeks blog is written by my daughter Priya, a budding blogger still at school. If you enjoyed reading her blog entry, don’t forget to like, follow, share and comment!
Hi, I’m Priya and I recently went to Mexico with my family. We stayed close to a small town near Cancun; called Playa Del Carmen on the Caribbean Sea.
As you may know there are many archaeological sites in that area. If you visit Cancun, then I highly recommend you go and visit one of these sights. They all belong to the native people of Mexico who are called the Mayans.
So, who are the Mayans?
They are an ancient civilization who were prominent in central America around 900 A.D. The Mayans were a huge civilization, at their prime, it is said that their population reached 22 million. They used to build temples for their Gods made from stone and only royalty would be allowed to touch it.
2 hours from our hotel was Chichen Izta, which is a massive Mayan temple, and is one of the new seven wonders of the world.
Chichen Itza stands 98 feet tall and it has 91 steps on each side which totals 364 steps. Plus the one large step on the top, the Mayans created 365 steps – matching the number of days in the year. The Mayans were ahead of the game, by understanding time and how the earth rotates the sun. The temple is a huge pyramid like structure in the middle of a clearing in the centre of the jungle!
When I first saw it, I was in awe of its size and condition, as it was very well kept. I stood there wondering, how on earth did they build this. IT WAS SO BIG!!!
There are also other ruins on the site, such as a Mayan sport court. They played this game that was similar to hand ball (and Quidditch!) but much harder, they have to use all of their body to get the ball into a goal over 3m above them. It was very interesting to hear and see what they did for entertainment. Our guide told us that the winners would sacfrice themselves at the end of the game as a reflection of their devotion to the gods. I was surprised to hear that, as was everyone else. What an amazing place!
I learnt a lot from going to Chichen Itza and it was definitely worth it.
My advice when visiting this site is to go as early as possible, many tours leave at 7am and get there around 12, at that time it is intense heat and very busy. If you want a calm cool(er) time then try and get there as early as possible. 😀
In my next blog I will write about my trip to the Mayan ruins of Coba.
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