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I took a trip to Chitchen Itza, which I am soo glad I did because it was amazing! I had to get up at 6am though, as the bus was coming for me at 7am. Luckily my new friend Erica (see cancun blog) gets up every morning at 6am to pray! This came in handy for me, as I didn't have an alarm clock. I slept the whole bus trip (like 3 hours from Quintano Roo into the Yucatan) and woke up just as we arrived at the cenote to go swimming. Basically, this is a giant, underground cave filled with fresh water. There are cenotes all over Mexico and the Mayans used to believe they were sacred places, so they use to hold ceremonies and sacrifices there.
After swimming you walk around this village and see some traditional activities from a typical day of the life of a Mayan (BORING!!!! turns out I don't care that much about culture!). It was way too hot to really care what you were looking at.
The Yucatan Penninsula is further inland and it's covered with low lying jungle, which makes it CRAZY hot there. It is increadibly humid and made me think I was going to pass out. Here's a little fact for you... the jungle only grows like 20-30 feet high because the trees grow more underground, in order for their roots to reach the moisture from the cenotes. I am slowly turning into the encycolpedia of all things Mexican!
Next we went for lunch (which was awesome) at some traditional village where they try and sell you more hand made Mexican crap you really don't want or need! This seems to be the norm everywhere in Mexico. After lunch we watched some traditional dancers stomp around with bottles on their heads. It was also during lunch that I had the privilage to listen in on a conversation between these 2 fat American men. One guy was going on about how he doesn't like the local food and how it took him 3 days to find a Taco Bell in Cancun and how surprised he was that it was Mexican people working there. What is wrong with some people...how retarded can you get? I was disgusted with their stupidity!
Finally, we arrived at Chitchen Itza for our guided tour and then some free time to roam around the grounds. Amazingly, it was even hotter here! Our guide started by informing us "if at any point you can't remember your name or where you are, just lay down on the ground and he would get help, as you were probably losing your mind from heat stroke! Despite this warning, he constantly insisted on stopping to whitter on about mayan history and culture in the direct sunlight, instead of the shade.
It was around this time that I noticed my right ankle was looking a bit swollen. Well, it only got worse as the day went on and it ended up turning into a full blown Cankle because of the heat. How insane is that? and when did I get soo old that hot weather can now make my ankles swell up into giant ham hocks???? What the hell is happening to me?
Anyways, I digress, back to Chitchen Itza. After an excruciating hour and a half long tour in sweltering heat and constant sunshine (by the most boring man alive) we finally had free time to walk around and take pictures. The main pyramid/temple was pretty amazing and totally takes your breath away, but next to that everything else was looking pretty rubbish. If you have seen the movie "apocolypto" then their is no need to visit Chitchen Itza, you have basically seen everything their is to see here, but it was still pretty cool and i'm glad i got to see it.
The day ended with a 3 hour bus ride back to Cancun. I arrived back at the hostel to find Jauve watching some Steven Segal movie in Spanish and laughing his ass off. Something must get lost in translation because I could not see what was soo funny. The next day I said my goodbyes to Kat, Erica, Juave and Issac and headed off to Playa del Carmen.
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andy tonner from Andy her father bloody briliant I wish you had you had told me if you ever come to Florida Ihope you will get in touch even if its just to feed you and give you a little tour love dad