Chichen Itza and cenote swimming

I departed the hotel at 7am this morning for a guided Chichen Itza tour. We cruised out of Playa and it didn't take long to get away from the resort scene and into real Mexico. The drive to Chichen Itza was about 2.5 hours on mostly narrow two-lane roads through the jungle. We passed through several small towns that had Topas (crazy speed bump things) that required us to slow. Experiencing areas like this always puts things in perspective for me. It's unbelievable some of these communities are so poor.

A few miles before Chichen Itza we were stopped by Federales at a military checkpoint. We had to all get out of the tour van while they checked it for elicit items. It's fun to stand there with men carrying machine guns, hassling people over not having their passports. I had mine so I was safe! After a few more hassles we were back on board and entering Chichen Itza.

I can't even describe how awesome this site is. I've heard lots of people talk about crowds, but there were far less people than I was expecting. When our tour arrived, we were among the first and were able to view a lot of the ruins before other larger groups even showed. The exactness, precision, and detail in some of the ruins is amazing. How the hell the Mayans could build something so extraordinary is beyond me.

Our guide, Gregorio, offered up tons of great information and we spent about two hours touring the ruins. As the day progressed, it definitely got hotter and I became adept at finding shade. At the end of the tour, we were given 45 minutes to browse at our leisure before having lunch. I visited a cenote near the ruins but so many locals were selling gifts at the site that I spent my time with several others haggling and getting some good deals. Meeting and chatting with locals (and attempting to use Spanish) has been really fun.

We left Chichen Itz and headed to the Cenote Dzitnup o X'keken for some swimming. This sidetrip turned out to truly be a memorable experience! The cenote is subterranean and you descend down a set of narrow and slippery stairs to get to it. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before. The roots of a tree growing at the top extend down through a hole all the way to the bottom into this crystal clear water. Swallows flew all around the tree roots in circles. It was really unbelievable. We all hopped into the chilly water for a quick swim, which was refreshing after the heat of Chichen Itza.

After the cenote, we completed the tour by making a quick stop in Valladolid, a beautiful old town with a gorgeous church. Once again we hit the crazy narrow jungle road to head back to Playa. As we slowed for Topas, I took some pictures of the towns we drove through. Overall, this was a most memorable experience and one I won't soon forget. I met some awesome people on the tour, bought some neat artifacts, was humbled by many Mexican towns, and won't soon forget the amazingness of Chichen Itza or the cenote.

Pics from today.
Pics from yesterday!