Valladolid

Valladolid Arrival Day Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Early departure from Merida and wonderful Casa San Angeles. We drove to the rental agency to return the car as early as possible and they nicely offered to drive us in the car to the downtown, not zocalo, area ADO office. Sadly, later I realized I’d left my favorite flip-flow Chacos, & maybe other things, under the seat. Quite upsetting. 

ADO bus took us to Chitzen Itza on the way and made us start considering going there instead of Ex Balam. After all, if it is on of the Seven Wonders of the New World, even if there are crowds, it is probably worth seeing. Americans we met at Cenote San Lorenzo Oxman that day confirmed this. They said their daughter loved “Chicken Pizza.”

Arrival in Valladolid and no Uber service here. Taxis are a bit more expensive and figuring out where to catch them from by the bus station (the block perpendicular from where we were) allowed us to try some street food of panuchos and another tamale in banana leaf.

Hotel Casa Xaan isn’t in the most picturesque of areas, but honestly, Valladolid is not that picturesque as a whole. It is busy with traffic on narrow roads with unusably narrow sidewalks for a couple. However, the promenade of Calzados de los Freires that takes you to the Convento San Bernardino is lovely, with the flags hanging over the street in rows and the upscale boutiques and bars. 

The central Zocalo has a fountain in the center with a traditionally dressed woman with a pot, as if she is catching the water jetting from the green painted frogs spitting towards her, but she is not good at her job and catches nothing. Maybe that is why the water was turned off the next day. She was fired. This is the see and be seen area of town where the people watching is the best and you can see how in such a small town, everyone knows each other. Police are directing all the corners, though there are lights. It didn’t seem the police are signaling in sync with the traffic lights.

Across from central plaza is the main, traditional Mexican town architecture, cathedral. On each day we were there, a Tuesday and Wednesday, there was a ton of activity over there. At least half of the people dressed traditionally, including the cutest little children! The owner of the Collectivo we took to Chitzen Itza told me that the different trade groups celebrate mass, group eating and perhaps a dance afterwards so that each night of the week the church is busy. Our second night there, the cobbler (Zapateros) were having their occasion and we saw older people dancing, one man with a large boot on his head, a woman with a huge chancla. They were accompanied by awful playing of rudimentary instruments. 

John got an arroz con leche before we went to wander the shops around the square. What shopping disappointment! Everything is mass produced and so no matter how pretty, I just look at it as a product of China. The high quality art in Oaxaca ruined me for tourist goods.

Both the cathedral and the convent San Bernardino host light show movies created by the tourism agency at 9pm in Spanish, 9:15 in English. We saw the Convent show with a large group of people, but still enough room to sit. The Spanish version had a lot more information, dates and details, but both show wonderful animations that play and align so nicely with the shape of the convent. We don’t make it to the Cathedral show the next night because 9pm is pretty late for us now days. Piña and chamoy paleta and we stroll the other diagonal street back to our place. We are finding the quieter roads for walking and coming across more quiet squares so the town is seeming more liveable.  

Interesting Valladolid/Yucatan learning: 

I asked the Collectivo owner why the roads in this state are numbered instead of named after the fathers of the country, as they are everywhere else. He said it is because they reject many of them or don’t see them as heroes because they were neglected during the war of the Castes. I need to research this more to understand it but I know it involved the Spaniards throwing their swords and weaponry in cenotes so the uprising Maya couldn't use them.

Valladolid, Chitzen Itza & Cenotes tour Octubre 23, 2024

I could go to cenotes all day many days in a row and just swim & snorkel in the varied colored water, playing on the rope swings or zip lines, floating on my back and staring at the cave walls & ceilings with plant roots reaching down to take a drink. Each (“sinkhole” with water) is so different and this time of year we almost have them to ourselves. Closed in cenotes have aqua water because they don’t have plant material falling in and breaking down. So blue! The more open cave pools have a darker color, a green blue, but it is not dirty or swampy. The caves beneath connect a network of the cenotes together and the water keeps circulating. 

The cave we swam in today had only two holes in the top. The sun shone through in a sharp ray and quintupled in size entering the water and shining through the water to the bottom like a spotlight on a dark stage. Stalagmites everywhere and vines are narrow where they attach to to cave top and expand as they near the water, like flexible stalagmites. Few fish, but I loved diving with my snorkel gear and “climbing” down the wall into the deep deep dark. I got far enough I had to clear my ears three times. Not safe in the caves with the real currents

The other we visited was the Secret Cenote Maya. It is on a property with three palapa cabanas, a spa, sweat ceremony Maya structure, food and, most importantly, plans to build a 10km mountain bike trail. Eventually, they will have a hectare enclosure along the trail for a jaguar sanctuary. Imagine riding your bike and looking over to see jaguars playing in the water or even the babies! So amazing! John was trying to get us jobs there designing their trail and dropping IMBA qualifications. 

I love the cenotes so much that I write about them before I write about one of the wonders of the World: Chitzen Itza.

Our Collectivo was full of a group of Chilenas, two Canadians, two Germans. Our driver was Oscar from Costa Rica. No one else was game to split a tour guide, so we wasted time at the beginning trying to recruit European looking faces to split the $65 guide cost, especially after paying MX$635 each to get it (~$37).

The guide was also really well informed with deep cultural understanding and Maya pride. It didn’t feel as valuable because our guide at Uxmal was so thorough and I work to remember some of his teaching that stands out. The facades are not as ornate though there is a Great Wall covered with skull carvings. He said it was meant to scare away enemies, especially when real heads were put on top. The pyramid is slightly concave at the top so you get the bird call sound when you clap and the area is closed in for better sound in general. The few places where we see the rain God Chaak, it is not as well restored as at Uxmal.

We saw a sacrafice stone where a person would be layer on their back, with two people assisting the priest by holding their hands and feet and forcing them down at an angle to break their back to make heart extraction easier. Well, maybe the extraction is easier and hurts less, but breaking your back still hurts certainly. After extraction, the sacrafice goes up the stairs and is placed on the Chak Mol figure at the top. A note the guide emphasizes is that they don’t think the sacrifices we rampant and were probably only done on prisoners or sick people, because the rulers needed their productive workers and a dead citizen can’t contribute. Also, he points out how clean and sanitary the Maya must have been. In those times an injury or illness meant death so they had two containers of water for meals, one to wash their hands and food before eating, the second to rinse their mouth and wash afterwards. Their prioritizing tooth care is admirable. They also chewed an extract of a rubber  to clean their teeth too. We didn’t ask about beauty and aesthetics. The last wall we studied, by the ball court, had depictions of a sacrafice and spurting blood like snakes. There are good remains, but the message is easier seen in a re-creation by an artist or archeologist.

Overall I feel that Uxmal was a better experience because of the greater detail on the rocks leading to more stories and conversations around symbolism and melding of cultures but the grandness of the pyramid of Chitzen is amazing for its scale.

Our last night in Valladolid we went to the convenience store for family sized beer and had our own happy hour. The back terrace area of our boutique hotel is so pleasant and lush with plants. They’ve created a great hang out space for eating papaya & avocados and chips and listening to the birds.

Still time left in the evening, we went for a walk to find some chanclas (RIP favorite Chaco flip-flops) and keep busy I got a few wonderful street pibil tacos, but John passes because his stomached spidey sense warns him those tacos may bring digestive danger. One more paleta with chamoy, this time mango, and we head back. We arrange to get a taxi at 6:30am the morning.

Valladolid Summary (Oct 22-24, 2024)

Transportation: Uber isn’t really a thing here yet. Taxis are more expensive (starting at 50$MX) but are consistent. Eg: town to Cenote San Lorenzo Oxman is $150 as of Oct ‘24)

Tours: Chitzen Itza & 2 cenotes $1500 private taxi, $1000-$3000 tour company, Collectivo van with no guide $250 per person. Taxi & Collectivo does not include entrance prices. A guide is worth it, especially if you have not gone to Maya ruins before. Chitzen entrance for non-Nationals was 635$MX Oct ‘24. During off season, it wasn’t horribly busy and we got plenty of pictures with no tourists blocking the icons. Uxmal, nearer to Merida, was kind of a better experience because there were even fewer people and the facades are more ornate. The pyramid has round corners too. We didn’t go to Ex Balam, but know it to be a calmer scene and you can climb on more stuff. 

Cenotes: there are thousands and all are all special. Closed in, cave-like cenotes with only a small hole to the sky are super aqua blue because of little organic material falling in. They tend to have wonderful extreme stalagmites dripping like wax. The beam of light is magic to see cutting through the water and expanding to shine in the pool floor like a spotlight. Bring goggles or a mask! The more open cenotes are more green blue from the tannin of the leaves and such, but have more fish. It is awesome if a lifeguard throws in some tortilla or fish treats in front of you and you get to watch the fish mayhem as they fight it out. Floating on your back gazing up at the sky and cave roof is serene and the rope swings or zip line thrilling entrance into the pool are worth multiple gos! Many cenotes are a whole experience with restaurant, bar, spa, pool, etc. Enjoy the easily accessed ones, but finding a quiet remote one like Cenote Secreto Maya near Yalcobá, brings a remarkable sense of calm. 

Nighttime: two light shows/“stories of Valladolid” by the tourism office are projected at 9pm (9:15 in English) on the zocalo cathedral and the oh so beautiful Convent San Bernardino each night. There seems to always be something going on at the Main Square, Cathedral. Industry groups, like the shoemakers or electricians, have mass together and dances and food afterwards. It’s so cute to see the little children in traditional clothes, and the women dressed up with the embroidered dresses and flowers in their hair.

Food: we just ate street food: lechón tacos, elite corn, paletas, and went to grocery abarrotes & bakery panaderías. Not even any crunchy crepe marquesitos. It was nice to happy hour at our cute boutique hotel with fresh fruit & avocados. Novelty food was a sugar dusted loaf of soft sweet-ish bread filled with ham, cheese and a few mild green chilis. We call it doughnut ham sandwich! I can’t get enough of the habanero down here. The salsa is fantastic if you have an iron belly. If not and you like hot, eat it anyway, and take some Pepto.