So we left Merida at the ridiculous hour of four a.m. and headed down the road to start our whirlwind tour of Chichen-Itza, Ek Balam and Coba. We have been starting our driving days before sunrise to beat the heat and we arrive at each destination at breakfast. The ruins have been interesting but a great deal of our conversations revolve around other tourists........
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| chichen itza |
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| chichen itza |
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| chichen itza |
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| chichen itza |
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| chichen itza |
After a crazy hot day viewing the ruins we made a beeline for the nearest cenote. The first one we went to was really beautiful but extremely busy, there was six massive tour buses there.....
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| ik kil cenote |
Day two we headed for the less popular but equally impressive Ek Balam. Another really hot day, it took everything we had to stay out there to check it all out.
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| ek balam |
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| ek balam |
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| ek balam |
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| ek balam |
Then we headed to cenote number two. We decided to hire a 'gringo cart' because we were really tired and couldn't handle the mile walk. It actually was as much fun as swimming in the cenote.
On the drive back to the hotel, we headed to another cenote. This one had only four other people swimming in it, which was fine by us.
Day three we were off to the ruins of Coba. These ones were fantastic! We got there before the tour bus rush. It is only partially excavated and we had to rent bikes to get to all of the sites.
On the way out of the ruins we saw a sign for, you guessed it, more cenotes. Three to be exact. These ones were amazing. They made the other ones look like slews. To enter them you had to go through a tiny opening that dropped into the cavern. Descending, played with your imagination - "aren't we in an earthquake zone?"
We are now officially cenote junkies. We looove them. The water is warm, clear and soft. Swimming under stalactites and over stalagmites is amazing and our favourite activity we have done so far. We plan on never bypassing any beat-up sign that says cenote!
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| x-canche cenote |
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| x-canche cenote |
On the drive back to the hotel, we headed to another cenote. This one had only four other people swimming in it, which was fine by us.
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| cenote zaci |
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| cenote zaci - the blur on the left is justin diving in |
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| cenote zaci |
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| cenote zaci |
Day three we were off to the ruins of Coba. These ones were fantastic! We got there before the tour bus rush. It is only partially excavated and we had to rent bikes to get to all of the sites.
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| coba |
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| coba |
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| coba |
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| coba |
On the way out of the ruins we saw a sign for, you guessed it, more cenotes. Three to be exact. These ones were amazing. They made the other ones look like slews. To enter them you had to go through a tiny opening that dropped into the cavern. Descending, played with your imagination - "aren't we in an earthquake zone?"
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| cenote multun-ha |
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| cenote multun-ha |
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| cenote choo-ha |
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| cenote choo-ha |
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| cenote choo-ha |
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| cenote choo-ha |
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| cenote choo-ha |
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| cenote tamcach-ha, at the top about to jump |
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| cenote tamcach-ha, justin jumping |
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| cenote tamcach-ha |
We are now officially cenote junkies. We looove them. The water is warm, clear and soft. Swimming under stalactites and over stalagmites is amazing and our favourite activity we have done so far. We plan on never bypassing any beat-up sign that says cenote!
