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Published: August 8th 2007
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Dzitnup Cenote - Me In The Light
taking a dip in the cool fresh waters of a cenote Hey up once again! I'm not gonna be writing much this time as I've written plenty over the last few blogs. Basically we headed from Tulum to Valladolid which is a small town in the central Yucatan so I was striking distance from my main Mexico "must see" of Chichen Itza and also the local Ek Balam Maya Ruins. We stayed at a great hotel on the zocalo called Hotel Maria De Luz which had its own swimming pool and a great little restaurant that served regional and generic Mexican dishes at real decent prices - beats Tulum's inflated beach prices hand down for quality & quantity. Valladolid is pretty scruffy and still very Mexican and as such affords plenty of on street vendors plying there wares and has many places to eat at very economical prices.
Apart from visisting ruins the main attraction around these parts are the local natural "cenotes" or sink holes where over time the granite surface of the earth has eroded and collapsed into an underground cavern where you can swim in the freshwater amongst the stalagmites which have formed over the millennia into beautiful, intricate formations. We ventured out to the cenotes at Dzitnup
which were recommended to us by friends and are certainly impressive. You are basically journeying into the underworld down a small opening in the surface rock and navigating very steep stairs (man made into the stone) assisted by a trusty piece of rope for balance. As you journey into the darkness the artificial light becomes apparent to guide your way and the temperature drops considerably before the cavern opens up into a spectacular sight of huge calcium carbonate stactites like massive teeth dripping from the ceiling in epic dimensions. The pool of water at the bottom of the cenote is fresh and has blind catfish happily swimmimg around, the cave also sports bats that do their areobatics around your head all dramatically lit by a single shaft of dayight that punches its way through the hole in the roof (so to say) and illuminates the middle of the pool in azure wonder. Nature at its very best. We had real trouble trying to capture the cenote's beauty on camera as the light in there made the pictures either too dark or the flash would come on and you couldn't see anything - I suppose it's one of them "you
had
to be there" moments. We also managed a quick dip in the beautifully clear waters which proved to be very refreshing. There was another cenote just down the road that the cab driver took us to, this one didn't have as many beautiful stalagmites or stalgtites, but instead had a tree that had taken root just above the opening of the cave and its roots had trailed down nearly 100ft or so to the pool of water that was below forming its very own wooden stalactite. The body of water here was deeper than the previous caves and you had the local youth diving and bombing from great heights into the depths below - great to watch but not something I would be doing.
So apart from the cenote's I was looking at more ruins - I will include pictures here of the ruins at Ek Balam but will post another blog for Chichen Itza as it deserves its own slot. Ek Balam means "Black Jaguar" and the site is located about 12 miles outside of Valladoild - its not on a regular bus route so I had to get a cab there and back (I could
have got
a tour but decided to set out real early and miss the regular tourists). Claire has had enough of these ruins for now and was happy to stay well away and leave me to it. The site was virtually empty when I got there with just a few people milling around the structures - the site is also pretty compact and I easily got around it all at a leisurely pace in under an hour and a half. A couple of its main temples have unfortunately not stood the test of time and collapsed into rubble on the East & West side of the main Acropolis structure (which sports a natty thatched roof to preserve the intricate carvings found there). The afore mentioned carvings are quite something - at the entrance to the Acropolis pyramid there is a monster-like figure that is said to be guarding the entrance to the underworld with its teeth surrounding the door frame. Under the thatched roofs that protect the facade, other statues and carvings of angels, animals and various figures are integrated in a complex and beautiful design. Well worth a visit in my opinion.
Well thats about it for
now I will write a brief bit about Chichen Itza but will mostly be posting photos. Have fun whatever you are doing and I'll be back real soon with more travel blurb!
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Matthew
non-member comment
Hi Stu, thanks for the update. I rememeber you always said that you would visit the Mayan ruins one day. They truly are magnificent, I wish I could be there to feel the vibe too. Take care mate. Matt