Old Mexico 2008 - part 2

After a couple days of lounging, sleep, and guacamole we decided to venture out a bit and head over to Chichen Itza and Tulum to check out some old stuff. Chichen Itza was neat to see, there were so many buildings and stories to go with each one so it was pretty incredible. Then we found a whole in the ground and decided to jump in and take some pictures, so easily amused.

Then it got really hot and we were ready to go!

It was a pretty long drive from Playa to Chichen Itza so on the way home we stopped in this little town to buy some ice cream and walk around the park. These little kids were selling handkerchiefs and bracelets and there was just no resisting, they were way too cute. I actually got to use one of the five sentences I know in Spanish and found out their names were Lupita and Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos was not satisfied with the way I pronounced his name and repeated it to me until I rolled my R's enough.

He then gave all of us a little spanish lesson there on the bench by pointing to a bird that was painted on the back of it and naming the different parts in slow spanish (he knew what a moron I was from the whole name debacle). I was so pround that he understood me when I asked him in spanish "Where are the birds shoes?". He pointed to the black toenails on the birds claw and replied "The bird is wearing black shoes". Since the word "toenails" is not one of the ten spanish words I know I tried to think of how to explain it but then just said "Yes, the bird is wearing black shoes." Sure, why not!

There are these things all over the place called Cenotes, basically giant sink holes in the limestone full of fresh water. Some are open like huge pools of crystal clear water in the middle of nowhere and some are more like caves with a small opening in the top. We stopped at one on the way home for a little swim but we didn't know it was the cave-type with freezing cold water. So we took some pictures and stuck our feet in while Jared swam in the freezing water. He said it was really really cold, like iceberg cold.

Tulum was closer to Playa, only about 45 minutes away, and right on the coast. It was AMAZING! I liked it a lot more than Chichen Itza - it wasn't as crowded or overun with people selling you stuff, the guides are much more informed, and the tour ends with the most amazing beach I've ever seen. I think 90% of beach postcard pictures are taken there, it was incredible.

To be continued once more...