The Traveling Vet Girl

This article is part of my “New 7 Wonders of the World” series. The New 7 Wonders were voted upon worldwide in 2007.  They include The Great Wall of China, the Colosseum, Petra, the Christ Redeemer, Machu Picchu, and Chichen Itza. While it’s certainly not a complete list of places I want to visit, it is my goal to travel to each location!

Cancun is primarily a place that caters to young, drunk teenagers and college students on Spring Break. At least, that’s how I’ve always thought of the seaside Mexican city. With its beach front all-inclusive hotels and abundance of bars and clubs, it’s no wonder young adults flock there each year to have some fun. I have never been a party girl, so Cancun was never on my list of must-see destinations. However, after spending my second winter in Chicago and working non-stop, I was itching to just lie by the beach, drink a margarita, and read a book.   Enter Cancun. Flights were fairly cheap and direct from Chicago, so it seemed like the perfect vacation. I was even more excited when I realized how close Chichen Itza was, so that sealed the deal.

Chichen Itza is an archaeological site in the Yucatan Peninsula.  The Mayans built this large city over a thousand years ago.  The centerpiece is El Castillo, a large pyramid that served as a temple to their god.  It is located about 3 hours from Cancun near the city of Valladolid.

My boyfriend and I stayed on Isla Mujeres, a small island just off the coast of Cancun. It was a calmer alternative to a bustling Cancun and definitely more my style. It did lead to a slightly longer day traveling to the Mayan ruins, but not impossible.

There are literally tons of tour companies who offer trips from Cancun to Chichen Itza.  Usually, I am very much a do-it-myself girl when it comes seeing historical sights, and generally loathe tour companies who shuttle you like cattle from one place to another. I toyed with the idea of spending the night in Valladolid and arriving early in the morning, but ultimately decided against this as I didn’t want to pay double for hotels. Being in vacation mode, I wanted everything as simple as possible. So I chose a $49 tour from Viator, and the experience was overall pretty good.

Our day began at 7am with a 20 minute ferry ride from Isla Mujeres to the Ultramar dock in Cancun. A tour representative then drove us to the hotel zone where we boarded a large tour bus. The tour guide entertained us with some history of the Mayans during the drive.  Our first stop was the dreaded tourist trap, which I was prepared for via online reviews. It’s what you expect with a $49 tour! We basically walked around a souvenir shop for 20 minutes before we were allowed to eat the buffet lunch, which was actually very good.

Finally, finally (!) we made it to Chichen Itza! A guided tour was included in our package, but we decided to ditch it and explore on our own. I was nervous arriving later in the day (around 1pm), as I was sure it would be incredibly busy and all my pictures would be terrible. Luckily, it was so dang hot that all the tour groups were on the perimeter of the main pyramid in the shade, leaving the backdrop empty for my perfect picture!

We were given 2 hours to explore on our own. This was my main concern with booking this particular tour. I was worried that we would feel rushed, which I hate. However, it ended up being the perfect amount of time. The site is not very large, and we were able to see everything and stop for as many pictures as we liked. Honestly, by two hours, we were drenched in sweat and ready to get out of the hot July sun.

The rest of the tour consisted of a 30 minute swim in a cenote (this was rushed unfortunately) and a brief stop in the main square of Vallodolid. We arrived back in Cancun in the nick of time to catch the ferry back to Isla Mujeres. We even made it back before our hotel buffet closed at 10pm, which was great because we were starving!

Overall this day trip was a great experience. So, all you Spring Breakers, forego your drinking for one day and make a trip out to Chichen Itza, a breathtaking example of Mayan civilization and a new wonder of the world!