Overnight trip to Chichén Itzá

Chichén Itzá is a wonder of the ancient world and only two hours from Cancun. Most tourists make a day trip of it, on buses unleashing throngs of tourists into Mayan sun. That's an easy and popular option. We decided to get a little fancy and DIY, making mistakes along the way (but those all disappear through cognitive reprocessing as we reflect on the awesome parts of the trip).

Driving highway 180D from Cancun to Villadolid (Lessons Learned)

Highway 180D, which is a new toll road, opened just months before we arrived and is a straight shot from Cancun to Villadolid. Simple enough, right? We were looking for the highway, rumbling though a poorly marked construction site, and suddenly we were just on the toll road!  Things started out great, the highway was in excellent condition and we didn’t run into any traffic issues, in fact there were barely any cars on it. Maybe it was the time of day (from 4-6 PM) or maybe it’s that locals don’t really use it. There was some construction from the Cancun airport to the highway due to a Tren Maya station being built but, once on the highway, it was smooth sailing.

We assumed, wrongly, that at some point there would be an ATM or bank along the way where we could get some cash but here is no place to get cash anywhere along the route. I didn't panic though because I figured we'd be able to pay with a credit card. Then we came to our first toll plaza. The attendant was insistent that she couldn't take a credit card, she could only take Mexican Pesos. I was convince we’d be stuck on the toll road the rest of our lives. She eventually relented and pulled a credit card reader out from under the desk (phew). Ok- we vowed to get cash at the next stop. The problem is, there are no ATMs (at least there weren't at the time of this writing) at any of the toll plazas. I decided to download the toll road app and spent more than an hour trying to configure it and it never worked. Every toll stop was the same terrifying story. We'd pull up, the attendant would ask for cash pesos, we'd sheepishly say we only had cards. The attendant would insist they didn't take cards and then eventually relent and pull out the credit card swiper. Every toll station was a panic attack in the making for me.

Stay

Somehow we survived the humiliation of Highway 180D to arrive at our hotel, Hacienda Chichén (https://www.haciendachichen.com/), which is housed in a historic Hacienda nestled deep in the Mayan jungle. Until recently Hacienda Chichén had it's own private entrance to the archeologic site, which is mere meters away from the property edges. That entrance is no longer open due to some sensitive archeologic studies in the area. Still, the hotel is only a few minutes drive away from the main entrance to the archeologic site. We arrived just in time for dinner and drinks and then wandered the grounds as a flock of parrots flew overhead. The service and surroundings were spectacular.  That night, as we were tucking ourselves in in our bungalow, I imagined jaguars and ghosts roaming in the Mayan remains in the forests surrounding us.

Route from Hacienda Chichén to Chichén Itzá

After gorging ourselves on a breakfast of mango, papaya, and melon the next morning, we arrived at the archaeological park right around eight AM.  When we got to the main road to the park entrance, there were a bunch of official-looking people in orange vests flagging us in their parking lots.  Andy was insistent that they weren't park employees (he was right) so he charged right past them. It felt like we were disobeying authority, which made me cringe, but we got a spot right near the main entrance in the site's parking lot.

Visiting the Site

Chichén Itzá is the only cultural heritage site I’ve ever been to that allows vendors to set up inside the perimeter. We got there early and the vendors were focused on setting up and not making sales. One of the most common items for sale are ceramic jaguar whistles. The vendors blow these jaguar noise whistles and it’s like the pied piper; they are simply irresistible to children.  In all fairness, they do sound like jaguars, and this was so tempting to our kids that we had to haggle with a vendor to procure one. We also bought a lovely carved wooden jaguar.

You could literally spend weeks exploring the site, from the snake slithering down the side of el Castillo to the Cenote Segrado. When we visited, the Gran Juego de Pelota was off limits to visitors, which had been at the top of my list to see. I think my favorite part of the site was the Mil Columnas area which is on the eastern side of el Castillo.

Anyway, spending the night nearby and visiting the site early gave us the opportunity to wander quietly at our own pace and get up close to the ruins without worrying about photobombing other visitor's pictures. If you decide to make this journey, whatever you do, make absolutely sure you have CASH pesos before leaving the airport and getting on the highway.