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6th MAY 2009 - SWIMMING IN THE SINKHOLES!!!
I was back to not sleeping very well last night...very restless once again. Think I am getting nervous about nearing the end of my trip as well as having other things on my mind!! At 5.30am I was wide awake and didn't have a prayer of going back to sleep! I laid in bed tossing and turning for ages but it was no use...I was awake for the day. I got up at around 7am and jumped into the shower before getting dressed and going on the internet for a bit whilst Nat still slept. I felt rubbish but the shower helped me pull myself together and a spot of tasty breakfast finished the job! I was ready for the day! After breakfast I headed back to the room to see that Nat was up too. We both did our own thing for an hour or so and then decided what to do with our day. The ruins had now been opened by the government...woo...however we decided to delay our visit for another day and go to the cenotes (sinkholes) instead. We set off out at around 10am and called in at the
fruit market for a couple of snacks to take with us. We then contuinued raoming the streets until we found the bus station to take us to Cuzamel. A bargain at 14 pesos!!
The journey took about an hour. It was a nice bus with air conditioning and free of buskers bothering us for money! Like I have any...my clothes are aren't even in good enough condition for the charity shops so I certainly don't have loose change knocking about!! The driver was spot on too and when we got to the place we were heading he shouted and signalled for us to get off. Off the bus we were swarmed by cycling cart men offering to take us to the Cenotes. We had been warned that they would try to rip us off and so we were ready for them. They wanted 50 pesos, we tried to barter down to 30! It was difficult to barter when we didn't know how to speak Spanish but the universal symbols of higher and lower came in handy and we did ok!! One guy eventually agreed and we got in. The contraption was basically a seat on 2 wheels with a
bicycle attached to the back. We sat on the seat and they guy pedalled us to where we needed to be. Hard work!!
I felt sorry for the guy at first. I know from my experience in New Zealand that pedalling with 2 panniers on a bike is hard enough let alone the weight of 2 people and a cart in the blazing hot sun!! I really felt sorry for him on the inclines...his pace slowed and his breathing got heavier. I tried to breathe in thinking that it would make me lighter...not sure it quite works like that (I wish it did) but at least I tried to help!! As we went along he kept yabbering to us in Spanish. We did not have a clue what he was on about...something to do with three cenotes or one cenote and what we were paying. As far as we were concerned we had already agreed the price and so we just ignored him and let him ramble on!!!
He soon pulled up at a sign labelled cenote and we jumped off. It didn't appear as we had expected it to. It wasn't busy for a start (only seemed
to be us there) and there were no horse and cart tours cracking off. Things didn't add up though it was signposted 'Cenote' and so we walked along to check it out. A Mexican guy came over and showed us to the cenote. It was a hole in the ground with some rickety old ladders down to the bottom. He said he wanted 30 pesos for entry. Now I knew that we were in the wrong place as we were supposed to get a horse and cart tour to 3 different cenotes for 200pesos. This one looked dodgy as and I doubted the ladder would even hold my weight! It was the equivilent of going down a drain at home and to be honest drain diving has never really been on my list of things to do! Nat and I looked at each other and shook our heads. We had a bit of a discussion and headed back to where the cycle cart man was waiting.
We wanted answers!! The guy began speaking in Spanish again but the basic gist was that he had ripped us off. He said that 30 pesos brought us where we were. If we
wanted to go to the tour of the 3 cenotes then we would have to pay the full 50 pesos. It was not what we agreed at all but it was difficult to be able to argue when we didn't have a clue where we were and didn't speak the language!! We had no choice but to hop back on and pay the full 50 pesos. He set off and pedalled us to where he should have taken us in the first place. This time I was pleased when a hill came along and I certainly didn't breathe in to make his life easier!! If anything I breathed out...that would show him the little con artist!!
At around 12.30pm we arrived at the start of the proper guided tour. There were a few other tourists there getting into the trucks and we were shown to a truck of our own. A truck was basically cart on rails that was pulled along by a horse. We had a little black headstrong horse. He didn't seem like he wanted to pull us at all at first (can't blame him can you) but he soon got into his stride after a couple
of shouts from our cart man. It was a pretty cool way to ride about. I felt like I was in the olden days. It was very hot and dusty and I was looking forward to getting into some cool water. After 20 minutes or so of being pulled along, we arrived at the first Cenote!!
The cenote was again a big hole in the ground but this one had some proper steps leading down into it. It looked pretty cool. We followed another group down the steps and into the hole. The water looked so blue and clean. It was pretty dark down there too apart from the light shining in through holes in the ceiling of the cave. It was nothing like anywhere I had ever been before anyway! We took a few photos and then got into the water. It was very cold but in a good way after being in the heat of the sun for so long. We only had 30 minutes to play about but play we did. It was lovely water to swim about in and I really liked being down underground! After a while, we climbed back up, dried off and
got back into the cart. The horse was attached and we were off again...onwards to Cenote number 2!!
It was a pretty cool job for the cart men. Drive cart, stop at Cenote and chill out with mates from other carts whilst the punters go for a swim. Hop back on the cart and drive to the next cenote where they stop for another 30 minute rest. Not a bad days work if you can get it!!
The second cenote was little different to the first one. The opening was very narrow and rather than a proper set of stairs going down it was a vertical ladder made from wood. Quite slippery I might add! Nat was not too keen at all on going down as she does not like confined spaces or heights but she managed it. Down at the bottom it was so cool. Smaller and darker than the 1st one we visited but there were more holes in the roof which shone like spotlights onto the water. We got in for a swim and a cool off again. There were some steps out of the water which I found myself cannonballing off a fair few
times! Caused quite a splash! We took some photos and the 30 minutes flew by! We soon had to climb back up to daylight again. Our driver was waiting for us at the top and showed us a little hole that we could climb into to get a view down into the cenote. The hole was so tiny it only just fit us both in and the entrance was swarming with buzzy flies. Not nice but we went in anyway for a peek! Got to get your moneys worth from these trips!
Back on the cart and away from the offering of fly snacks, we were pulled along to the third cenote. It was similiar to the first one and had some proper steps goiing down into it to the delight of Nat. I slipped off the bottom step and almost broke my neck in the process. Clumsy as ever! There was a high platform in this centote that I did a good few jumps off. Nat tried to photograph it but my camera kept malfunctioning. Really good fun though I did manage to lose an asset or 2 out of my bikini top with the force of hitting
the water. Good job the camera wasn't working properly!! Once 30 minutes were up we got out, dried off and made our way back to the cart for the final journey back to the start. It was nice to be a little wet still as it was so damn hot outside. I think Mexico is the hottest place we have visited....so intense and even the wind was warm! We got back to the start at 4.30pm...I had really enjoyed it! Very different and so much fun!
Cycle carts were waiting again to take us to the bus stop. No scamming us this time though...we made sure of it! The guy wanted 50 pesos, we said 20, the guy came down to 30 but we insisted on 20. We were driving a hard bargain this time and so we set off walking. He rode along side us for about 30 seconds before agreeing to 20. We gave him the 20 upfront this time and made it clear that there would be no more where that came from. Deal done and we climbed in!! The man was a lot nicer this time and I went back to breathing in on the
Jumping off the ledge....
Camera malfunction...moving too fast to catch!!tough parts. I didn't envy him at all...such hard work! I promised him I would go easy on the portion sizes in future. He didn't understand me but just laughed and nodded! Bless him!
Off the bike we bought a drink from the shop and paid 16 pesos for the minibus to take us back to town. 2 pesos extra but we didn't mind as we thought it would be faster than the big bus. The guy practically kerb crawled all the way back to Merida trying to fill every last seat. In fact, he wasn't even happy when all the seats were full...he wanted a couple standng too. The drivers must work on commission out here! He kept stopping and starting for people to get on and off and it literally took forever to get back. What a joke! We arrived in Merida at around 6pm. I felt very groggy as the journey had made me sleepy. No fresh air to wake me up either...only hot sun and warm wind!
On the walk back to the hostel we called in at the supermarket to try and get something to cook for tea. Nothing stood out to us
and so we decided to treat ourselves (again) and eat out. We found a lovely little mexican restaurant with nice owner that kept coming over and looking after us. I ordered a chikcken burrito and Nat got a mixed burrito. We got complimentary nachos, sauces and dips too. I will turn into a nacho at this rate! It was a tasty meal...one of my best in Mexico. I asked the owner to take a photo of us at the table. He went and brought back sombraros and a gun to make it Mexican authentic! Brilliant. He even let some passers by on the street wear them for their photos too. Turned out we were as much of an attraction as the sombraros though as he invited a random guy into the shop to have his photo taken with us! Mexico...such a funny place!!
Back at the hostel we spent the evening chilling outside in the courtyard area. We enjoyed some more fresh fruit and sat around cahtting to some fellow travellers before heading off to bed for our final sleep in Merida! It had been good!!
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