"It's not the end of anything," says stall-owner Isidro Ek'mato, pointing out the date on a Maya calendar he whittled out of Cypress wood.
Rather, he explains, it is the start of a new calendar cycle of five millennia.
Mr Ek'mato says his grandfather taught him the intricacies of the calendar and indicates how the different periods of time are all represented on the Kukulkan pyramid.
If anything, Mr Ek'mato says, it is a privilege to be here to witness the start of a new cycle.
The misconception about the "prophecy" of the end of the world is not the only myth circulating about the Maya. Many believe they were somehow wiped out shortly after the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.
In fact, the descendants of the people who built Chichen Itza are still here. They are the second largest ethnic group in Mexico, with between 800,000 and a million native Mayan speakers.
They are also some of the poorest, most marginalised people in the region.
In the small village of Tahdziu, times are tough. Traditional activities like agriculture are arduous and poorly paid.
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