An under-appreciated aspect of mass tourism is how predictable it is. Tour groups act the same everywhere: buffet breakfast, long bus ride, tour and buy souvenirs, buffet lunch, long bus ride, dinner show. In Chichen Itza, they result in hundreds of trinket vendors littering the site. They are also the ones who helped vote this convenient Maya ruin complex into the new 7 wonders of the world in spite of the fact that it is debatably a top Maya ruin. However, this schedule also means that at 8AM, the vendors are still slowly setting up their wares and there are about only 20 people total wandering the site.
We hope the masses keep bringing oodles of dollars to the Yucatecan craftsmen and lots of entrance fees that are being used to uncover and study this massive civilization. We humbly request they continue to stick to their schedule and have their voting rights revoked.
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