City of the Time Lords

Our ninth and final Mayan ruin (or Lowri's one and only) is justified its fame. We, for the most part the Lonely Planet's jaded visitors, were in awe. The site was an unexpected high after the justifying-our-detour- to-the-tour-party- less-Calakmul stop at Coba's temples two days earlier. The ball court was huge and resonant - the biggest in fact - with guides and mimicking audiences clapping to catch the supposed seven audible echoes - one for each player. The engravings too were unexpected; the most detailed, numerous and best preserved yet: soldiers carrying severed heads, eagles tearing out human hearts, scull-lined walls, serpents as banisters and atlas-impersonating columns and the central crowd drawer, the Castillo - Temple of Kukulcán - the crisp time keeper.