Thursday, April 7, 2011

THREE RUINS AND SIX CENOTES IN THREE DAYS


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........

chichen itza

chichen itza

chichen itza

chichen itza

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.....

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.

ek balam
ek balam
ek balam
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.


x-canche cenote

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.

cenote zaci


cenote zaci - the blur on the left is justin diving in


cenote zaci

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.

coba

coba

coba

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?"

cenote multun-ha

cenote multun-ha

cenote choo-ha

cenote choo-ha

cenote choo-ha

cenote choo-ha


cenote choo-ha

cenote tamcach-ha, at the top about to jump

cenote tamcach-ha, justin jumping

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!
















7 comments:

  1. the first pictures look like something I have seen.....at Michelle & Troys wedding, Aunt Hazel & I went, we also stopped at a cenote, & looked down from the top & saw all the crazy people swimming, way, way down, never thought my kids would be some of those crazy people....did you jump too Nadine?
    I think you both better eat a little more, you are both going to fade away....but you both look healthy.........

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  2. ok..you guys are offically certifiable! You should go see that movie about the cave divers..

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  3. Those look so cool, wish I was there! I'm curious- did you jump from way up there too Nadine?

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  4. Hey Jen,

    NO WAY! Did i jump, I was happy to take pictures! It was crazy high, whenever someone went to the high platform everyone would kind of stop and watch the nutty person go - aka Justin!

    As for the caves themselves, they were so amazing, I had to kind of turn my brain off otherwise i would of had a claustrophobic panic attack!

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  5. Time for some new pics and an update!

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  6. Happy Easter Nadine & Justin,
    Hope you are both well & still enjoying your wonderful trip. I see you haven't been on your "blog" since the 7th - hope & pray you haven't had another breakdown!!! Safe travels & keep having fun - am still enjoying your photos & notes very much

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  7. Hello! I just discovered your blog post and I am planning on visiting the three cenotes by Coba on my next trip to the Yucatan. They sound absolutely amazing. Do you have any tips for driving there? How are the road conditions?

    Thanks!

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