Chichen Itza-New 7 wonders of the world!

I am soooooooooooooooo blessed!!  Mi amigo that is the manager of a tour business, sent me a text on Monday morning asking if I wanted to go to Chichen Itza.  I saw the text at around 7:00a.m. and he offered to pick me up at 7:30.  I thought, why not?

So, we went to Wet and Wild where some of the tour buses meet.  We hung out for awhile and I left around 8:30 or so.   I hadn’t had anything to eat(didn’t have time).  I was so happy to see that they served coffee and pastries on the bus!!  Not long after that they started serving cerveza!  Me encanta México! 🙂  For the tour they had 2 tour guides(one to give tour in English and one for Spanish) and one waiter/assistant.  The one tour guide talked quite a bit on the way to Chichen Itza(It was about a 2 1/2 hr ride from Cancun).  The tour guide was quite the comedian!  He started off by saying that the bus driver has been driving for 20 years, but a TAXI! haha He said that if we got back today, that he would be able to drive a bus! hilarious!  He went around and found out where everyone was from, which was different, but fun.

I love going on these tours!  They are very interesting and fun!  First we went to the Sacred Cenote(I had been there before when I went to Ek Balam).  It was still very amazing!  I knew that I was going to have a great day when I got out and went to one of the dressing rooms and found 140 pesos(only about $10 US), but I still felt lucky!  I wasn’t about to turn it into lost and found(I found it in the shower, pretty sure it had been there for awhile)…so I didn’t feel bad when I tipped the waiter and tour guides more or bought some Mayan stuff at Chichen Itza!  Then we had lunch at the restaurant there.  I felt very special because the waiter was asking what everyone wanted(beer, pop, or water), then he got to me and asked if I wanted a margarita!  Heck yeah! 😉

Then we were off to Chichen Itza.  It was…amazing!  I suddenly felt very small!  It is now considered one of the 7 new wonders of the world.  I can see why.  It is so interesting how they could construct a building to coincide with the Spring and Fall equinox.  It is on these days that the sun hits just right to make triangles to form what looks like a snake sliding down the side of the temple of Kukulkan.  It also has 91 steps on each side plus the top platform to make it equal 365, obviously like the days in year.  There is also a huge ball court and an observatory along with many other buildings/sites.  The history of the site is very interesting!

Also after the tour, there were tons of vendors there.  I got a chance to practice my Spanish!  Many were so funny, they thought because I spoke a little spanish that I was fluent!  I even told them I only knew a little, but I was surprised at home much I could say and how much I understood!  It was so fun!  I have so much to learn though!!

Along with my tour, mi amigo decided to really spoil me.  They have an option where you can get your own special Mayan calendar with a date that means something to you.  They also have a place where you can get your name or anything inscribed in Mayan symbols on a necklace, and of course tequila!  I didn’t pick tequila, but this other almond type liquor…should be very yummy.  I think I tried it at a restaurant and it was like dessert!  The guy on the tour said that I got all of them for free!  He(mi amigo) is sooooooooooooooooooooo nice!  Yes, I am very lucky!!

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Ek Balam

I have a super nice friend who happens to be a manager for different tours around Cancun.  He knows that I’m not working right now and have some free time on my hands.  Occasionally he will ask at the last-minute, “Hey, do you want to go ______ today?”  Sure!  One morning he sends me a text to ask if I want to go to Ek Balam.  It’s all in Spanish and I had a little bit to drink the night before…I look at it and then tell myself I’ll figure out what it says later. haha!  Then he calls and asks me if I want to go.  He would pick me up in about 30 minutes.  He is so funny, he even says it will be later because he is Mexican! 🙂  So I decide to go on a trip to a place I haven’t even heard of before spur of the minute.  Many times the best things in life aren’t planned.

So he picks me up and takes me to where I can get on the bus.  I even get coffee and donuts!  We were driving along and they realized the air conditioning wasn’t working.  We drove a little while and switched buses.  This bus didn’t have as many seats and everyone on the bus was with someone except me and one other guy(about my age).  We had to sit together.  We had a good time talking(he spoke English and I tried speaking Spanish).  We weren’t on the bus very long before I though I might be missing something.  MY PHONE!  I started emptying out my bag and giving everything to my new amigo.  He asked what was wrong…I tried to stay calm, in fact I started laughing!  I told him.  He said the favorite Mexican saying that I’ve heard so many times, “Don’t worry.”  So I realized I left my phone on the other bus(it either fell out of the bag or I didn’t see it).  I ended up getting it back at the end of the trip.

We had a great time checking out the Mayan Ruins, awesome Cenote, lunch in a Mayan village, and a traditional church!  This wasn’t all in Ek Balam, but it was rather close to it.  I ended up having a great time and making a new friend.  I feel very blessed that I get to meet so many cool people and see such wonderful places!

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