Having arrived in Valladolid just before midnight we enjoy some time in bed before rising. Our destination is the Maya site at Ek Balam to the north of the town but to get there we need to use a ‘collectivo’. We eventually find the right place and get our tickets and wait - just for a few minutes whilst the van gets enough passengers to fill it - and then for 280 pesos it’s off we go!
Ek Balam is about 30 minutes away and is a large site. We explore it finding the big pyramid, some beautiful carvings and of course the ball court. Now, was it the winners or the losers who were to be the human sacrifice? Jury’s still out on that one!!
It's a cracking site and great to amble around and up the pyramids which we've got used to doing now with no health and safety police to spoil the fun!
Ek Balam also has a cenote nearby so we hire a couple of bikes (Alex on the back of mine) and cycle off. When I say bike I am being economical with the truth - there was a frame, two wheels, handlebar, seat and a chain. But no brakes! Which we found out going downhill!
We stop en route to the cenote for some lovely empanadas con queso, freshly cooked for us and a couple of beers to cool us down.
After a couple of kilometres we arrive at Cenote Xcanche. It is stunning. An amazing massive open hole about 100 metres across framed with huge trees whose roots are dipping down 40 metres to the water.
There are diving/jumping platforms around the side and one had a rope swing which Emma braves! There is also a zip wire across it which Emma and Alex use, dropping about 10 feet into the water at the lowest point. Alex has a brilliant time in the crystal clear and surprisingly warm water which has several schools of catfish living in it. Of course there are some crazy Mexicans and Irish who do all sorts of daredevil jumps and backflips into the water - great entertainment. This cenote is a paradise.
We cycle back to the main entrance to watch the last collectivo depart - oops! Although the staff try to help get a taxi, none are forthcoming and those there are already booked. How are we going to get back?
Guy spots a couple in a pickup truck and uses his charm and they agree to take us back to Valladolid. What a lovely and generous young couple they are and they even take us back to our hotel. We eat and drink at the hotel but their Molcajete is not a patch on that at the Mi Mexico Lindo back at Teotihuacan. After dinner we stroll to the town square where some dancing is going on and we have a couple of marquesitas (super thin crispy sweet pancakes with Nutella or cheese) and some churros.
It’s now the 20th November and we are up super early to get a collectivo to Chichen Itza (otherwise known as chicken pizza) which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and can get very busy, hence we go early at 7am to get there before the big tourist buses. After we disembark from the collectivo we realise that Emma’s camera is still on the bus but a quick sprint from Guy manages to stop the bus and get the camera back - phew!
Chichen Itza is a massive site and expensive to access. We have a digital guide on Emma’s phone which guides us around at our own pace. Highlights include the massive pyramid which dominates the place, the strange platform decorated with skulls (human sacrifice comes to mind), the giant ball court, the observatory and the sacred cenote. The cenote is green with algae and not fresh water and human remains have been recovered from it by the archeologists.
As Chichen Itza is so popular it has a vast number of licensed hawkers working the site and they can get very repetitive with their sales pitch and rather annoying! After the off the beaten track places we've been and scrambling over the pyramids and getting a real sense of the magic of the ruins this place feels a little disneyfie as you can't climb and it's heaving busy. Still it's very impressive and we're glad we came to see it.
Having had our fill, we get a collectivo back to Valladolid for a quick lunch and then on to the bus station and head towards the coast at Playa del Carmen. We arrive in the early evening and dash towards the dick to get ferry tickets to the island of Cozumel. As we are in a hurry and the ferry leaves in 30 minutes we use the nearest ticket booth - and for the first time get ripped off by ticket hawkers operating from a nice booth (annoying as we've avoided rip offs so far!) Luckily we don’t overpay by too much and catch the ferry on time. It’s a relatively quick crossing, about 50 minutes, and we arrive in Cozumel.
Our hotel is not too far away and carrying some heavy luggage we trudge there, with Alex really wanting to stay beside the beach. The hotel is nice, the staff welcoming, the place is clean and recently redecorated and has a nice little pool. Dropping our luggage in our room we follow some advice from the receptionist and head to a local taqueria called La Diaz and have lovely Tacos and beer/Fanta. Then it’s back to the hotel, another beer beside the pool and off to bed. Tomorrow brings a whole new adventure!
Guy
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