The most famous and best restored of the Yucatán Maya sites, Chichén Itzá, while tremendously overcrowded – every gawker and his or her grandmother is trying to check off the new seven wonders of the world – will still impress even the most jaded visitor. Many mysteries of the Maya astronomical calendar are made clear when one understands the design of the ‘time temples’ here. Other than a few minor passageways, climbing on the structures is not allowed.
At the vernal and autumnal equinoxes (around March 20 and September 22), the morning and afternoon sun produces a light-and-shadow illusion of the serpent ascending or descending the side of El Castillo’s staircase. The site is mobbed on these dates, however, making it difficult to see, and after the spectacle, parts of the site are sometimes closed to the public. The illusion is almost as good in the week preceding and following each equinox (and draws much smaller crowds), and is re-created nightly in the light-and-sound show year-round. Some find the spectacle fascinating, others think it’s overrated. Either way, if you’re in the area around the equinox and you’ve got your own car, it’s easy to wake up early for Dzibilchaltún’s (a site north of Mérida) fiery sunrise and then make it to Chichén Itzá by midafternoon, catching both spectacles on the same day.
The heat, humidity and crowds in Chichén Itzá can be fierce; try to explore the site either early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
The 45-minute light-and-sound show begins each evening at 8pm in summer and 7pm in winter. At last visit, tickets were free, but the show was only open to guests of participating hotels registered at www.nochesdekukulkan.com. By the time you're reading this the show may be open to the general public at an additional cost.
