#isla mujures

[ladylibertywrites]

Blue skies smiling at me, above and below. Only in Cancún.

[sarahpannell]

MEXICO, 2012

Need to return ASAP www.sarahpannell.com

[thewearytraveller-blog]

Cancun 2 of 2

Chichen Itza day tour

This was a huge day, leaving the hotel at 7am and returning at 8:30pm. The best part about this tour was that we got to have a glimpse of the real Mexico, a great contrast to the ritzy tourist areas an hour’s drive away. There were quite a few grass huts and rundown buildings along the way, with  people getting by mainly through selling their arts and crafts to the tourists. It feels good to have a positive impact on the community. The first stop was at a sink hole or cenote as it is said in Spanish. It is a hole in the surface with a cavern underneath the ground where an underground river passes. It’s was a geologists Mecca with stalactites scattered all over the roof – Fun Fact: These stalactites grow only a centimetre every 7 years.

Chichen Itza was really epic and fascinating. I suppose this is a given seeing as it is one of the wonders of the world.. The main temple is huge and mysterious. The Mayan people seemed so advanced with their understandings of the world so many years ago particularly with the  development of their calendar which was much more accurate then the European calendars at the same time. They are a mysterious culture because the Mayan temples were found abandoned when the Europeans arrived – one has to wonder, why did the Mayans abandon the sites and where did that old culture go? The carvings in the sandstone structures scattered around the site were equally as interesting with many pictures inscribed of animals, beheadings, a wall with only skulls, and other pictures that people today still cannot fully understand the meaning behind.

It was coming up to the final days at Cancun and we hadn’t been into the shops yet, so we decided to do just that and go for a big walk up the strip and find some souvenirs. Well it didn’t take me long to lose my credit card somewhere... yes losing a credit card in Mexico is kinda scarey. The objective then changed to find a internet cafe to cancel that bad boy quick smart before any Mexicans bought themselves something nice at the diamond exchange around the corner. Shopping was over so we went home via the bus, this was a different experience. The buses are pretty run-down and are fitted with what look like plastic $10 k-mart special patio chairs. You can also hail buses anywhere when you see them on the road not just at specified bus stops, and when you get off you have to jump off the bus while it is still in motion - luckily it does slow down enough so you don’t have to fully do a jump and roll commando style.

The rest of the days in Cancun were spent relaxing in the pool, the ocean and in hammocks drinking and eating. The trip has been really relaxing and a real eye opener.