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ancun is a sunny res ort in Mexico，on the coast of the Yucatan peninsula.Most tourists come here to enjoy the beach,the water sports and night life．In fact，the town is so modern and Americanized that you might think youwere in southern California or F10rida．
But just a short two-hour jaunt from this sunny resort lay the ruins of the city ofChichen Itza．one of the capitals of the lost Mayan civization．The centerpiece ofthis city of ruins is the pyramid of El Castillq．The ancient Mayan priests climbedthis pyramid during festiVals to worship the Sun god．T0urists today climb it to Viewthe architectural achievement of Chichen Itza and to demon strate their fearlessnessof heights and steeP clihbs．There was a sign in Spanish，portuguese and English，admonishing visitors“It’s dangerous to go up．” I gladly ignored the warning andstarted my climb．
Surprisingly the ascent was uneventful(as long as you don’t look behind you)．The steps where higher than one might normally take,but the climb was not frightful at a11．Ftom the summit of the pyramid,I had a magnificent View of the remnants of this mavan citv What was most striking to me was that just beyond the ruins of magnificent structures，gardens，temples and eVen what—resem—bles a modern sports stadium，vou cOuld only see fOrest for miles and miles．It was almost as if some group had mysteriously came out of nowhere，built up a magnificent city and then almost as quickly vanished from the planet,leaVing only stones in its space．
After completing my climb，I slowly took in the view from a11 sidesof the pyramid．The only remains at the Pyramid summit，though，were the Temple of Kukulcan．During the festivals to honor the Sungod，only the high priest of the Mayans WOUld have ascended to thistemple．
After pondering on the historical significance of this place and snapping a few pictures，I realized it was time to go down．To mychagin．I discoveredthatwhatpeoplefear aboutthe climbisnotthe triP going up，but the desc ent going down．I saw a few braveSOUls who were walking down as if they were in their own house．Looking down at the steepness of the Pyramid，I had a sudden attackof acrophobia．My first instinct was to joke with a few people，“Whereis the elevator?”Thinking that a civilization that was this advanced，WOUld have had the foresight to pity the modern day tourists of thefuture and at 1east construct an elevatol Lacking such a futuristicdevice and the vanity to use the chain provided by the Mexicantourist authorities，I chose to climb down on all fours．
After my Visit was complete，I hopped on the bus back to mycomfortable resort hotel．Leaving the ruined city,surmising whatCOUld POSSible happened here．But the evidence is inconc lusive．One!night want to get an idea of what haPPened here by watching MelGibson’s 2006 movie Apocalypto．But 1 was back in the modern worlddrinkng COCktails on the beach，soaking in some rays before boardingthe P1ane and waiting for my trip back to home to the US，where theyhave all the modern conveniences SUCh as elevators!
But just a short two-hour jaunt from this sunny resort lay the ruins of the city ofChichen Itza．one of the capitals of the lost Mayan civization．The centerpiece ofthis city of ruins is the pyramid of El Castillq．The ancient Mayan priests climbedthis pyramid during festiVals to worship the Sun god．T0urists today climb it to Viewthe architectural achievement of Chichen Itza and to demon strate their fearlessnessof heights and steeP clihbs．There was a sign in Spanish，portuguese and English，admonishing visitors“It’s dangerous to go up．” I gladly ignored the warning andstarted my climb．
Surprisingly the ascent was uneventful(as long as you don’t look behind you)．The steps where higher than one might normally take,but the climb was not frightful at a11．Ftom the summit of the pyramid,I had a magnificent View of the remnants of this mavan citv What was most striking to me was that just beyond the ruins of magnificent structures，gardens，temples and eVen what—resem—bles a modern sports stadium，vou cOuld only see fOrest for miles and miles．It was almost as if some group had mysteriously came out of nowhere，built up a magnificent city and then almost as quickly vanished from the planet,leaVing only stones in its space．
After completing my climb，I slowly took in the view from a11 sidesof the pyramid．The only remains at the Pyramid summit，though，were the Temple of Kukulcan．During the festivals to honor the Sungod，only the high priest of the Mayans WOUld have ascended to thistemple．
After pondering on the historical significance of this place and snapping a few pictures，I realized it was time to go down．To mychagin．I discoveredthatwhatpeoplefear aboutthe climbisnotthe triP going up，but the desc ent going down．I saw a few braveSOUls who were walking down as if they were in their own house．Looking down at the steepness of the Pyramid，I had a sudden attackof acrophobia．My first instinct was to joke with a few people，“Whereis the elevator?”Thinking that a civilization that was this advanced，WOUld have had the foresight to pity the modern day tourists of thefuture and at 1east construct an elevatol Lacking such a futuristicdevice and the vanity to use the chain provided by the Mexicantourist authorities，I chose to climb down on all fours．
After my Visit was complete，I hopped on the bus back to mycomfortable resort hotel．Leaving the ruined city,surmising whatCOUld POSSible happened here．But the evidence is inconc lusive．One!night want to get an idea of what haPPened here by watching MelGibson’s 2006 movie Apocalypto．But 1 was back in the modern worlddrinkng COCktails on the beach，soaking in some rays before boardingthe P1ane and waiting for my trip back to home to the US，where theyhave all the modern conveniences SUCh as elevators!