Will they let you pitch your tent this close to the ghosts of Chichen Itza?

Dear readers, as you can imagine the answer is: probably not.

However, even if the site guards would let you, you would have to call it adventure travel if you overnighted at Chichen Itza near the places where luckless animals, warriors, and assorted other humans were given to the gods as living sacrifices. If there’s not at least one disgruntled spirit still hanging around there, it’s not for lack of trying. The go-getter high priests of that time and place were inventive and not too squeamish.

Historians tell us that Chichen Itza, located on the Yucatan peninsula, was a capital city of the central and northern Yucatan areas during the period from about 600 to 1200 AD. With its clever handling of stonemasonry and creative carving, its elegant architecture, and its love of ball games, you might wonder why the culture was so fascinated with blood and pain.

They may not be the only ones. If you’d like to hear the grisly details, here are some starting places:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice_in_Maya_culture

One reason why I won’t be there camping this weekend is that I wouldn’t want to intrude on the turf of so many ex-warriors with grounds for complaint.