Valladolid - Chichen Itza

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Trip Start Jul 22, 2007 Previous
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  Valladolid, Mexico
Friday, July 27, 2007

So after a few days in Cancun (which I personally liked VS all what was written in guide books, the thing is that I met very nice people and maybe was lucky enough to stay in the right hostels), I decided to finally start the trip and leave for a village/little town called Valladolid.

Very nice typical mexican village, where everyone I met was kind of half my size...and all wearing old typical Mexican dresses. The most striking I think was the fact that here everyone is smiling when they look at you (no no guys, hold on! actually no man really dooes that but more the mother & their children). Remember the saying that goes like "a smile doesn´t cost anything and brings a lot to the others"? Well, I confirm!
The village is nice and quiet, the atmosphere is realy nice and peaceful (not too touristy yet, but it´l come coz it´s next to Chichen Itza, which has now become one of the New 7 Marvels) everyone stays outside and I had my first "real" typical mexican food in the Bazar of the village. Delicious, a bit afraid of having a nice day in the toilets the next one but hey, who doesn´t dare never tries anything new!

Met a English girl and we went together to Chichen Itza with the first bus in order to avoid the mass of tourists...and we did well! The place is amazing, impressive and very powerful. Being able to see that with almost noone on the site is a luxury. We looked for some more backpacker to share the costs of a guide, and we got a really nice guide who is himself 100% Maya, chamman and practicing the rituals (he couldn´t tell more about this) still once in a while with his family.
He gave us nice explanations for what can be explained, and stayed very objective for the rest. Around 40000 Mayn Toltecs lived on a 20 squareKM site, though now only a tiny bit is open to the public. Not possible to go on the Castillo coz it got damaged too much in the past by tourists, but still a nice place to visit.I somehow could feel a lot, but it´s impossible to explain, I guess it´s just the power of the Castillo VS the quietness of the old Mayan village next to that. Maybe I was Maya in another life? ;-)
We even got the chance to visit a part of the site which is not open to the public (so shhhhhhhhhhhhht don't say it!), after 1km walk we arrived in a much more virgin area where the temples were in the middle of the jungle, really really nice!

When coming back, we went after that to one of the many Cenotes in the area (cave) in order to enjoy a nice swim in a clear cold water. The most impressive is I think swimming while seeing Stalagtytes above your head (gosh, and if they fall?), and only a little hole bringing a ridiculous ray of light in the cave.

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Chichen Itza "Odysseus"	Valladolid church	Mayan costumes	Bazar en Valladolid
Calle en Valladolid	Cenote Dzitnup	Anne-So en el Castillo de Chichen Itza	Castillo de Chichen Itza

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