Cobá, Bike Riding, and Cenotes

We had a very full day. Waking up at 7am to a breakfast of fruit, toast, and delicious orange juice, we then set off to Cobá. We were greeted with Mexican mountain bikes of various sizes, shapes, and colors, which we then used to bike around the site. We rode directly to the main temple, Nohoch Mul (meaning big mound in Mayan). All of us successfully climbed all 119 steps to the temple of the descending god at the top. The steps were uneven and challenging to climb up, but worth the experience. Little did we know the way down would be even worse! Then we rode to a Maya ball court, which was the playing arena for a mysterious ball game.




After surveying the whole site at Cobá, we headed into our white vans and drove to a nearby cenote, an underground water source. The site of the cenote was bare, only housing a bathroom and showers. The stairs descending the cenote were almost as memorable as those we had climbed earlier. Reaching the bottom of the stairs,we entered into a huge cavern. Much of the rock was white from oxidization, and the water was completely clear, so you could see the beautiful rocks beneath. We all jumped in, unsettling the serene water, and ruining the few other tourists peace. Everyone passed around Mr. Brown's goggles, and we were all amazed by the scene below. The water ranged from10-60 feet deep.




We returned to the vans and made a 45 minute drive to Valladolid, a Spanish colonial city in the center of the peninsula. We made a pit stop to exchange money and explore. We saw the murals of the city's center, and the huge Franciscan church, both surrounding the town square. After some sightseeing,we made our way to a Popsicle shop, where we all tried paletas, delicious frozen fruit on a stick. After our visit to Valladolid, we returned to the vans, and headed to our hotel by Chichén Itzá. Here, we all quickly conglomerated in the pool, and played a friendly game of three flies up. At dinner, were entertained by traditional Mexican dancers, with amazing abilities to balance things on their heads. Mr Spross and Riaz (the tour guide) explained Maya hieroglyphs and the Maya calendar. So then, ended our adventurous day.

--your junior Indiana Joneses, Daniel and Sloan




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Location:Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico