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Published: August 25th 2017
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Today we decided to finally be true tourists. We rented a car for a day trip to Chichen Itza, Il Kil, Coba, and whatever we had time for in between. We opted for the rent-a-car because it seemed cheaper and we're not fans of going on group tours.
Alamo showed up right to our hotel with the car, we quickly filled out the paperwork and went on our way. It was an easy drive with a direct route, however a little boring. You're driving through miles of tall grass, but I didn't care too much, just happy to be traveling in another country. When we arrived to Chichen Itza, the entrance was jammed up with buses and cars, so we reluctantly paid to park in a dirt lot close by. I suppose it was better than dealing with the chaos of getting in and out of the parking lot.
Waiting in line at the entrance was a chaotic mess, and not to mention, very hot. Luckily, the line went fast, and the grounds around Chichen Itza were big enough for people to spread out and not feel congested. The ruins themselves were impressive. You simply have to look past
all the people taking selfies, or very unoriginal photo ops of crushing the pyramids with their fingers or doing yoga poses with the pyramid balancing on their hindquarters. After only a short time of walking through and seeing everything, we wanted to leave.
We then drove over to the famous Ik Kil cenote. Once again, very chaotic and busy, but it was worth dealing with it. After taking some time to figure out the process of obtaining a locker, life vest, changing, taking a shower, etc. we finally made our way down the stairs to the base of the cenote and it was BREATHTAKING! When you look up you see long roots and vines from the flora above, along with multiple streams of water falling out of various points in the ground. There's a little staircase to the right if you want a bit of a cliffdiving experience when jumping into the cenote or you can gently walk in with the ladders on the left. The middle ground was jumping in the middle from only a few feet up. The water was a moderate temperature and fish were everywhere. The best thing to do was swim up to one
of the ropes in the water and just hang out and look around. I made several jumps, took several photos, and just like Chichen Itza, became annoyed with the crowds and decided to move on.
Headed back, we drove through the small town of Vallodolid. After driving through, I wish we had the time to stop, but we needed to get back rather than attempting to drive the roads at night. Which we've heard is a nightmare. Anyways, Vallodolid appeared quaint and full of history.
We did have time to stop by Coba because it was closer to downtown Tulum. We arrived after hours, so it was still open, but more expensive. We did a quick walk through the jungle, walked to the top of the Coba pyramid and left. It was cool, but nowhere near as breathtaking as Chichen Itza or Ik Kil.
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