long blogs are for lazy bloggers.

In our final days in Valladolid, Yucatan State, we visited Las Ruinas de Ek Ba'lam and some of the most largely visited and photographed cenotes in the area!! Though Ek Ba´lam seemed fairly unimpressive, following Chichen Itza, the visit was a nice morning spent. They had no complementary wine served with the unexpected rise in price at this site..a suggestion i feel im not pushing enough at the ticket counter...luckily the people and dog watching usually pays us out if the structures don´t. BUT..small as it was...it was a nice site and is being restored very nicely.
After Ek Ba'lam we moved to the Dzitnup and Samula Cenotes. These are sinkholes that are true natural wonders in the Yucatan Peninsula. The Cenote Ring is perfectly circular and home to thousands of these links between underground rivers. There are theories that these limestone caverns were a result of a meteor that hit the Peninsula roughly 65 million years ago. They were once the only source of fresh water in the Yucatecan Jungle and were considered by the Maya to be the gateway to the underworld. Not all of them are open to enter but some that are, you can go and even swim! On the right is a shot of Dzitnup. We hung around for a bit and the whole crowd left it to us to enjoy in private.

On the left is Samula. There are tree roots coming down through the opening in the earth above. On the right is a sign that entertained Tyler and I very much.

 After this we went to Izamal. I love this city for several reasons. Not only is this another cobble stoned, clean, old colonial town..BUT it is also home to several archaeoliogical sites(smack dab in the middle of town) and every building is painted yellow!! It is known as the yellow city. I asked a street vendor why this was and he had no idea. It´s odd to me that he would never ask himself or someone else this question.

For whatever the reason, this was an awesome little town..we ate up some softserve and tacos like we were getting paid to do it. We visited Ruins in town and gobbled street food and cookies on the square in the night time.
We loaded up on bread from a local bakery and headed west for Campeche, Campeche. It´s the capital of its state. We landed there on a huge festival night. It was the celebration of the 3 kings. The whole city was craaazy with vendors, music, and food! It was awesome to walk into the town at night while it was illuminated. Campeche truely is a colonial fairyland! The city was founded in 1540 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site(the whole city) in 1997. The downtown is encompassed by a huge wall and 8 fortresses, stretching 5 by 8 blocks, that was built in the late 1600s to protect the port against pirate attacks. Every building inside these walls are painted pastel colors and have been restored.

Tyler and I couldn´t do anything but giggle when we got off the bus into the downtown area. This is the Cathedral lit up downtown on the square!! It was awesome and we scored a hostel that we could cook in for our last 2 nights there. We visited museum about the history of the city and took a bus out one day to visit the Edzna Ruins. These were awesome and as luck would have it..we had the place to ourself. We´ll throw a picture up in a few days. Really impressive structures. We got to see some stone heads that have really stood the test of time and were extremely vibrant in color. Edzna is sitting near the top of our site list.

This is a mexican meal made for kings- fit with a book exchange score on Mexican History and ice cold Coronas with lime that Tyler's been salivating over and raving about since we hit Central America. mmm.

Tyler really wanted me to share a story about trying to bargain with a hotel manager last night for a room.I feel like it will never be as funny to read as it would be to hear in person. The man offered us a room for 800 pesos. We laugh. He says we can negotiate. He won´t say a price but sent me off to see the rooms.- Yes. they were rooms. They were really there. We are about price. This is why we have a tent. Many people don´t seem to get that we aren´t looking for a palace somewhere. I see the rooms and return to the desk. He, now, is like a star from Telemundo..maybe a cross breed with Days of Our Lives. He is sweating and wanting to dance. We dance. 500 pesos. I say 300. 350..his final offer. Our eyes are locked and I refuse to budge. I say thankyou. I walk away. He lunges his arm out full length, biting his other hand, fisted, and says, now in perfect english, OK you win. 300 pesos. We were having a battle of eyebrow and wit. I told him I´d discuss it with the boyfriend. We walk away, never to look back at our mexican hotel negotiator, and wait for a bus. We found a way better deal in Santa Elena and were happy hippies and hillbillys.
We always win. -rachel.