While the workers of the world and America were celebrating May Day (and protesting Donald Trump!), we took off from Cancun for Chichen Itza in the late morning. It’s about a 2-1/2 hour drive west on Autopista 180D from Cancun.
Along the way we decided to divert to Valladolid to have lunch and see a couple of cenotes (natural pools in underground limestone caverns).
We stopped at Cenote Zaci, which is in a park in downtown Valladolid, and had lunch there. The restaurant was inside of a very large palapa (thatched hut).
The menu was very Yucatan-ish, and we didn’t recognize much (it was all in Spanish), but the food turned out to be very good…different from the “Mexican” food that we’re used to, but interesting and tasty in its own way. I would definitely order the same thing again, whatever it was.
The Cenote Zaci was outside, right below our table, to the left.
Many of the locals swim here. It’s a beautiful place, with crystal clear water, which is a cool respite from the normal 80 to 90 degree humid weather that typifies the Yucatan.
Some young dude named Oscar took a 100′ dive off of a log near the top of the cenote…and survived.
I met him afterward and convinced him to do it again, recorded on video, which I gave to him.
Carol and Jeff got into the act by jumping in, first from maybe 15′, and then, a second time, from about 35′. I got movies of them, too.
We later visited two other cenotes on our way to Chichen Itza. They were at a tourist trap located a few miles from Valladolid, where the Cenote Xkaken and Cenote Samula reside. The cenotes had to be accessed by marching down some very steep stone-carved steps to the underground caverns. Charlie stayed above ground. These cenotes were not as nice as the Cenote Zaci, but were interesting in their own right.
Jeff and Carol decided not to swim at this location. Or, at this last one.
We were led around the cenote complex by a 17 year-old lad named Esteban. His job, it seems, is to make sure that, on the way to the two cenotes, his guests walk by each and every vendor (probably relatives) that are purveying all manner of useless Yucatan crafts. He did a good job at this. But, he did teach us a useful Mayan word: “Ma!” It means, “No!”, as in “I’m not buying anything!”.
As I mentioned, Esteban is 17 years old. He stands maybe 5 feet tall. Believe it or not, he is a pretty average-sized man in the Yucatan. The women, on the average, are shorter; I’d guess that most are under 4’10”. The very short people (Mayan heritage) is one of the most striking things that one notices when visiting this part of the world.
I gave Esteban a $20 dollar tip for his services and he practically shit his pants. That’s a lot of money is these parts. I hope he spent it wisely on a case of Coronas (and, maybe, a loose woman or two).
After leaving there, we proceeded to the Mayaland Hotel at Chichen Itza. It is a famous place, located right adjacent to the archae0logical park. The hotel grounds are beautiful.
The hotel property was festooned with large trees. There were large stands of bamboo and a rubber tree that must have been 70 foot tall. The centerpiece of the property was an enormous Acacia tree whose circumference was maybe 25′ and was said to be 300 years old.
There were many iguanas on the grounds, as well as a huge peacock that must have been 8′ from beak to tip of tail.
The hotel property was quite extensive, with many thatched bungalows (which rented for $400 per night). We stayed in the main hotel.
One reason that this hotel is so famous is that it is located immediately adjacent to the archaeological park. We could see the Astronomical Observatory (ruins) from our balcony. This is what is looked like from the parking lot.
We had a very nice dinner at the outside restaurant. Here is my son Jeff getting ready to feast.
Tomorrow morning we hike the ruins.
Good night!