A Tale of Three Cities: Playa Del Carmen, Tulum and Valladolid (Part 1)

 A brief synopsis of each:

This adorable creature-- showing off for the visitors in Tulum as he/she unabashedly groomed his/herself in public--is purportedly a Mexican ant eater. But who knows?! I was never able to verify this! 

Playa del Carmen: Overrun with tourists, opulent and expensive. Julie and I opted for staying--as always--in a humble Airbnb away from the main touristic area; the downside was a fairly long walk to get to the beach. Swimming in the Carribean was lovely as always, except for our last day when yet another storm set in; the sky was magnificent but the water was choppy and violent. We were not sorry for a fairly short stay in the town. (A great aspect, though, was the myriad bike rental stations... we tried to get into their very complicated system in order to rent a pair, but as has always been the case, my attempts to pay via credit card online were rejected, so this was not an option for us. Really a shame.)

Tulum: This was only a day trip for us and we were actually glad it wasn't longer! This town was as bad as Playa in terms of being overrun with tourists and obnoxiously aggressive vendors; way overbuilt and smacking of too much Americana. We DID rent bicycles in the town, which was fun... and had a nice ride to the famous Mayan ruins alongside the beach. We spent a couple hours there amidst at least a thousand other tourists, at least so it seemed! This was truly a pity, because the crowds definitely detracted from the experience. We DID have fun navigating our way down there (from Playa) on a "collectivo" with the locals. (As previously mentioned, these are small trucks or vans that transport commuters in between the various towns.) 

Valladolid: Finally! A quaint and charming--much smaller--town with actual character, NOT overrun by tourists! The "centro historico" was quite beautiful, with its cobblestone streets and wonderful old architecture. In fact, exactly what you expect Mexico to be like! Our lovely Airbnb hosts made us part of their family and were the epitome of warmth, friendliness and phenomenal hospitality, making our four day stay most memorable and wonderful. (The only exception to this was the traffic noise near our "casa" and one very pitiful, caged parrot whose relentless squawking sounded much like metal scraping on metal... a horrific and heart-wrenching sound, indeed!) 

Now, for the pics from each: 

Playa del Carmen (on the coast, about 90 min. south of Cancun)

(As you can see, not much at all was picture worthy in this town!)

There is no question: the Caribbean, when calm, is magnificent: clear waters of the gorgeous turquoise for which it is famous, and gentle, non-intimidating waves. It was periodically possible to see fish when we donned mask and snorkel, but not many... that part was rather disappointing. Still, Julie and I are both avid swimmers, so heading to the beach to swim was a daily occurrence for us. 

One of the opulent, beachfront hotels where we did NOT stay!

Opulent and lovely...and not for the likes of us two!

One sees the influence of the ancient Mayan culture all along this section of the Caribbean coast

As with everywhere in Mexican towns, the murals are fantastic!

More opulence: another very "chi chi" hotel by night, near the beach

Day trip to Tulum: home to one of the three most famous Mayan ruins

View of the sea from the hilltop of the Mayan site. Is it any wonder that ancient culture chose this spot for their city?!

{The ridiculously huge, blank space you see above--and is impossible to eliminate or fill-- is owing to yet another maddening and inexplicable glitch inherent in this really annoying Blogger site...which is, unfortunately (and according to my good friend and writer, Valerie) the least of the blog site evils! Go figure. I wouldn't use this site at all if there was another, better choice...which apparently there is not!!!}

The only explanation I can proffer about these ruins is that apparently they are from a very large and long-lasting Mayan city, dating back to 500 years B.C. Beyond that... I am clueless. We did NOT, as did most others, join a tour group to get here--WAY too costly and unsafe (to be on a crowded bus with 50 strangers, can you imagine?!) so we merely wandered, imagined the past, and enjoyed photographing the remains of what once must have been an amazingly beautiful culture. (Like so many others, it was basically destroyed by the arrival of the Spaniards. Amazing that anything of it remains at all.)

Yes, another of these critters was happy to pose for me... sniffing about, as he was, in the garbage of tourists at the site of the ruins. 

Another awe-inspiring view point from atop the hills, next to one set of ruins.

Yes, I will forever be in love with the Mexican iguana...and never, ever tire of photographing these fabulous animals!

And finally, Valladolid, my favorite "pueblo bonito":

The most interesting day by far was the one where our wonderful host, Mary, along with her 4 year old son, Felipe, took us to a cenote not far from the town. There was also a cave on the same property; as with most of these natural wonders, many relics of the Mayan culture were found here, signs that they took advantage of these special and natural land features to use in their every day life (as well as for religious ceremonies and the like). We had intended to tour the famous Mayan ruins of Chit-zen Itza, considered one of the three best archaeological sites in Mexico, but the over-the-top commercialism of it as well as exorbitant entrance fees put us off... so we contented ourselves with the very charming--and not at all commercialized--attraction of the cenote and adjacent cave.  It was a photographer's paradise, as you will see! 

Vultures atop a bare tree above where we parked at the cenote site... a good omen, I thought! Especially the way they fanned their wings for us!

Our lovely host, Mary, and her son, Felipe--a little terror, but with a winning smile!

These "ropes" are actually tree roots that start at the surface above the cenote--basically, a natural, underground pool with an opening in the earth--and extend all the way down to the water, their source of nourishment. Quite an impressive mechanism for the trees' survival, I think!

Also incredible was how the cenote formed a near-perfect circle. The lighting inside was magnificent...as were the very large and awe-inspiring, calcified stalactites! 

The only living creatures we saw in the water were myriad catfish and one very small turtle, which was too far away for a photo. 

There were wonderfully few people when we were there: about a half dozen tourists and only three guides. The choices for going into the water included paddling a kayak or swimming.....


...I opted for the latter, though the water was quite chilly!

Apparently the Mayans used the cenotes as their source of drinking water, and considered them quite sacred. The water was certainly clean, clear and lovely!

An Argentinian woman and her son: leaving the comfort of the stairway to descend into the chilly waters... the kid was understandably quite reluctant! He eventually did take the plunge, however. 

Next in our exploration: Descent into a Mayan cave. Here, we were awed by some relics of pottery, petroglyphs and tales of rituals performed in this foreboding wonderland. (Namely, sacrifices of humans and animals alike...yikes! We did find some bits of bone, though our guides admitted they didn't know how old they were or what species they came from.) 

Another descent into a deep, dark hole! This one had water in it as well, but not deep enough for swimming... and definitely not inviting like the former cenote! 

The helmets were protection against possibly falling stalactites...I balked at the idea of this overprotective measure...that was, until I came very close to whacking my noggin on one such very-low-hanging specimen!  

Do you detect a modicum of trepidation on this youngster's face?! 

Mayan pottery fragments--date unknown

The size of some of these monstrous stalactites...most impressive! I imagine them forming from the slow drip of water over thousands of years... 

Petroglyph mixed with moss... not sure of the symbolism, I am afraid! 

This one I DO remember: the face of a jaguar! Can you see it?! The Mayans worshipped a jaguar god, so apparently this animal was much revered. 

Cenote within a cenote! This one, further down... too small to get to, though. 

The impressive stairway we descended...now, to ascend back up!

Felipe, dashing ahead...poor Mary, struggling to keep up!

He may still LOOK peppy, but he crashed as soon as we were in the car, headed back to town! 

Next blog posting: Part 2, Valladolid only! (Well worth it--the town itself also being quite beautiful.)