In addtion to the fact, that I was already pretty early on my way, when I got there I found out that Valladolid is in hour behind Quintana Roo, so it was even earlier again, may just 10 am if I remember correct.
So that after a short walk, when I arrived at the hostel, people were just starting to get up. Luckily a bed was available for me... I booked an air-conditioned room and had it all to myself.
Just when I got a map of the town at the little reception desk, I met a german couple from Wuerzburg, who a couple that just checked out and had of hours left before their bus was going to leave and we decided to quickly have a look around the area closer to our hostel.
We went to the San Bernadino Convent, but couldn't find the cenote that we were promised was hidden in a secret cave underneath it. Even asking some of the local monks and construction workers (there as some renovation going on at the convent) didn't shed any light on this mystery. Anyway, the building was nice, even without the cenote and soon Lisa and Sebastian had to leave for their bus.
I walked around a bit further in this very pretty colonial town and had a look at the central plaza and some other old churches. This place really felt like you would imagine Mexico: hot, old buildings, many nice and not so nice smells, a couple of VW bugs crawling along the street.. it was really great to soak it all up.
I found a food court and had some lunch before I headed back to the hostel for a bit of a rest.
After my Siesta I went to a taxi stand that I was told has taxis going to Ek Balam - a not so famous Maya ruin.
It wasn't a long walk and I quickly found this old courtyard where an old Mexican was sitting in the shade. I was the only one there, other than the man in the shade and had wait around a while until we had enough people (4 passengers plus the man in the shade, who was our driver).
The waiting was worth it, the 25 km trip to Ek Balam only cost me 40 Peso (3€).
This place was very different from the archaeological maya site in Tulum. No Subways and only one official souvenir shop, not 40 buses in the parking lot and most importantly not so overrun as Tulum.
After a little walk through the jungle the path opened up onto a large, area with maybe 10 stone buildings different sizes. Two rectangular blocks of stones rising 10 meters high mirroring each other, there was a spiral pyramid called the Oval, which was used for cosmological ceremonies but the all-over-looking and not to be missed piece of this Temple area was the large rectangular pyramid in the back: El Trono (the throne).
It was a great place to explore, not much was off limit, no ropes keeping you off or out of the different buildings. You could nearly everywhere and climb on everything. Most importantly you could walk up the stairs of El Torno and have a great view over the vast jungle that surrounded this cool place.
I may not have been as beautiful as the ruins at Tulum but it was certainly more adventurous and exciting. Well worth a visit if you are in the area and a good half day trip from Valladolid, which I also recommended to visit.
After a little wait in the empty parking lot a taxi came by and we quickly had enough people to fill all the seats and were taken back to Valladolid. Surprisingly for the same price as the way out. I feared the demand and availability ratio would drive up the price but the driver stayed fair and by that earned himself a nice tip (well, 10 peso, but that's a 25% tip).
Now it was time to think where will I spend my last couple of days in Mexico. I had planned one more night here in Valladolid to explore Chichen Itza tomorrow and then have a few days on in the sand before going to my next and last adventure (for this trip): Cuba.
I decided to try my luck on Isla Holbox, just north of here on the edge between the Golf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Most people I talked to, who had been their, counted it as one of their favourite places in Mexico and I knew it was going to be a challenge to find a bed since my stay would be right in the easter break. But, luck is with the brave and stupid, I found a bed for a couple of nights, but had to transfer the deposit in advance, they wouldn't take Credit cards. So I had to go to a Mexican bank and try to transfer money to that hostel (in Spanish)... that didn't work. As far as I understood, I needed to have an account with the banks I tried (I tried two).
I tried called the hostel to see if there is another way, and indeed I was able to use PayPal for the transfer in the end.
This activity took up most of the afternoon and it was time to get some Dinner. I wasn't really looking for any more Mexican Food by now and tried to find something else. After a bit of a stroll through the town I did find a local burger place and was just in time to enjoy it while the Mexico : Paraguay match was on TV.
A little walk while enjoying the cool evening air and I was back at the hostel, had a bit of a chat with some of the guests but after this, quite busy day I was happy to get an early nights sleep.
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