Cancun Pictures

^Captain Hook dinner cruise.

The large sinkhole we stopped at before our Chichen Itza Tour. It was beautiful and HUGE. They let the tourist (after they showered) swim in the water. Everyone was instructed to NOT touch the roots hanging down as it would kill them.

This is a picture of the original temple they found (I believe this year). Apparently the Mayans built a smaller temple and when they began expanding they built a larger temple (El Castillo) over the top of this one.

One of the sites where we stopped. Our vacation was awesome. But if everything else would have been a dud, Chichen Itza would have been worth the whole trip. This place is truely amazing and full of tradition and history.

This is the sports arena where two teams of royalty competed against each other to get a rubber ball into a stone ring set in the side of this wall. At the conclusion of the game, the loser was sacrificed as a worthy sacrifice to the sun to ensure that life/sun continued.

Another of the sites we stopped at... there were I believe 8 different sites we saw. The astrology building was awesome. We don't have a picture on here. The building was obviously a place for the Mayans to view the sky. They would meticulously chart out where the stars were generation after generation. Interestingly enough the door to the building was not centered in the building was at a angle degree to the right. On December 21st of every year (winter solstice) the sun would shine through this door and illuminate the inside. It only happened the one time a year and symbolized the birth of a new sun.

This site was the most amazing, consisting of 91 steps on four sides and the top layer (which counted as one) to equal the number 365 (the calendar year). The Mayans were obsessed with time and had three different calendars they kept. The indentations on the sides of each step were 40 (which was the gestation calendar they kept). The side we are standing on is the side the sun shines on. The side to the left is the side that is always shaded. On Summer Solstice the sunshine goes over far enough that it creates the illusion of a snake on the side of the stairs of the shaded side.

Interestingly enought the same day of all their 3 calendars only occures every 57? years. The calendar is said to start over again on December 21, 2012 and Mayans and some historians believe that this is when the end of world will be (they believe the Earth will be wiped out by a flood).

Sorry for the history lesson, this place was just SO awesome and awe inspiring.

^This was taken on our last full day in Cancun. We went to some of the shops and plazas. This is in front of the Chocolate Factory... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I would recommend Cancun for anyone. This was a once in a lifetime trip. I'm so thankful we got to go.