“You know, Chicken Pizza must have come from Chichen Itza. 1st there was Chichen Itza, then a tourist came and thought it was related to chicken, so called it Chicken Itza. Then a hungry tourist came and wanted to have pizza, so he called it Chicken Pizza.”
Doesn’t make sense? Neither did it make sense to us when our guide to Chichen Itza was narrating his thought line as to the connection between Chichen Itza and Chicken Pizza, or why it was even remotely relevant! So, we followed him to the UNESCO Archeological Site with lots of 2nd thoughts as to what he is gonna say next! However, he turned out to be very knowledgable and kept us away from the potholes of being a typical tourist and we came back appreciating the unique heritage. He taught us not to make the following 5 Touristy Sins at Chichen Itza –
- Visit a place without doing prior homework
- Leave a place without understanding its history
- Damage the already fragile structures by standing/leaning/sitting on it
- Taking pictures of only the structure we see on the net and ignoring all others
- Not interacting with the locals
Profound words from a person who started out by comparing a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a food… you never know where wisdom lies…
We came back with great amount of knowledge about the place and learnt a lesson for life as a tourist, and have found that avoiding the 5 Touristy Sins makes our life and that of the locals so much easier and happy!
Hope that like us, you have also understood the Touristy Sins that we unknowingly must have committed and from the coming year your travels will be free from this sins!
Happy to share!
A Infinite Step 
I love it! Short and simple yet information filled. I am travelling this Sunday and will make sure I don’t commit any sins especially only taking pictures of what we have already seen online. I do that simply to show others that I was there swell which is sad right? Thank you for sharing
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad to hear 🙂
LikeLike
These sins are very true. I love interacting with the locals, and always try to learn as much as I can about a place we are visiting for the first time.
I even once spent time playing soccer in the streets of Haiti with some local kids.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh thats wonderful! The kids must have been so thrilled and you also in the process learnt their life a little better 🙂
LikeLike
I didn’t know this. I love how your post is to the point and takes us through this information snippet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks 🙏🏻
LikeLike
This site sounds amazing and I like the chicken reference. Can one climb this structure?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not allowed anymore
LikeLike
Great reminder. I do try to always do research before I go somewhere. This would be so neat to see!
LikeLike
Doing things that could potentially damage historical structures or artifacts is one of my biggest pet peeves! People can be so careless sometimes. We need to treat them like the treasures they are.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very true. Once I was a French tourist scratching at a painted wall at pyramid to see if it comes off. I gave him severe dosages of my mind
LikeLike
I haven’t been to these ruins since my honeymoon 14 years ago! We loved exploring them. I remember being so afraid standing at the top as there weren’t any rails or guards to prevent falls! Fun place!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s not allowed to climb anymore, because tourists have already destroyed large art of it 😞
LikeLike
Living in a touristy place, I see visitors commit these sins all the time. As tourist, we need to educate ourselves, or probably it should be part of government policies on tourism to orient tourists.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It must be so maddening, isn’t it?
LikeLike
So true that we need to take photos of the place that we don’t normally see on the Internet. It reminds me of my trip to Petra, the photos that you find online is only 1 per cent of the story. I do enjoy chatting with the locals online.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh that’s so true
LikeLike
It depends on how they hear the words, and we misinterpreted it. It does happen to many places and assumed that they are right.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very true
LikeLike
Ruins is one of the most interesting place to visit. You can learn a lot from such visits. Thanks for the wonderful share 🙂
LikeLike
Pleasure 😊
LikeLike
I love to visit historical places like this. If we are ever visiting, we will be sure to check them out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This place has interesting history
LikeLike
UNESCO Archeological Site Seems like an interesting place to visit for chicken pizza. Lol Looking forward to it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😄👍
LikeLike
I am
Guilty of all the sins ! Except the last one. I do engage with locals and love it
LikeLike
It is so very true that you should probably do your research before you visit a place. You can look pretty silly if you don’t! Thanks for sharing your experiences.
LikeLike
We love adventure and explore other places. This travel destination is worth visiting for and its name really intrigues me.
LikeLike
Great tips! Trust me if I visit I’m taking pictures of all structures and everything between
LikeLike
These are such important points. I love to travel and there’s nothing more distressing or embarrassing than seeing others being ignorant or worse, deliberately disrespectful to a culture they are the guest of.
LikeLike
Never been there but I would l9ve to visit that place
LikeLike