Chichen Itza

If you’re visiting Chichén Itzá, don’t expect an intimate traipse among the stones. This is a major tourist attraction – and for very good reason. Everything about this former Mayan capital is on a huge scale, from the Temple of Kukulcan to the Grand Ballcourt (where the losing captains were decapitated), and the hundreds of symmetrical columns that constitute the Temple of the Warriors. Climbing the central temple can be a distinctly unnerving experience, but the view from the top – a vast sylvan expanse pierced by distant ruins – is well worth it.

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