Ek Balam was our final Mayan site of the trip, so got up early, did Church and breakfast, and off to the site. We arrived early enough as this is not a major attraction. However it is a wonderful small city with probably some of the best bas relief carvings still intact. The picture is looking down from this temple which obviously you are still allowed to climb. This climb goes back to our theme of personal responsibility if you fall its your fault! Connie wouldnt go to the top but I did and the view was spectacular. You could probably see thirty miles, flat as a table top so any bump in the landscape is probably a temple not discovered yet.
We left here, and drove toward Cancun on the "toll" road. It was recommended and it was flat, straight and no one was on it. In 3 hours of driving we saw 5 cars!. Then we hit the toll booth and found out why. It was over $20 US for the privelege to use this road. No exits, no services nada!
In the afternoon we took in the Playa del Carmen strip. This is a closed off street with sunglass, tee shirt, jewelry and food vendors each trying harder than the last to get you to buy. We had enough in short order and drove back to the boat.
Now we are awaitng a weather window to cross to Florida. About 425 miles so we need 3-4 days to be sure. Once again it will be an uphill slog, oh how I miss down wind sailing..... just a memory.
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03/12/2012
Saturday we got up early to beat the crowds and were almost the first ones in the parking lot. Ironically we waited for another couple to arrive to share the guide costs. Connie talked a couple from Belgium into sharing and English speaking guide with us even though French was available.
The picture you see is the most famous temple in Chichen Itza and arguably the most photographed. Notice I was so early there are no people in the frame of the shot. Later in the day there would have been a thousand people there. We had a wonderful tour and it easly exceeded our expectations. People had told us that other sites are better and we might want to skip Chichen Itza. We had a wonder ful time and although you can no longer climb the temples and pyramids, the ball court and celestial observatory were worth the trip. My advice definetly GO but go EARLY and avoid the crowds.
After several hours in the park we went back to our hotel and rested up for dinner.
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03/10/2012, Cancun area
We used the colonial town of Valladolid as our base to visit not only the sights in town but two more Mayan ruins Chichen Itza and El Balam. We visited a five hundred year old structure that is a church and convent outside of town.
This church was built over a cenote which is a sink hole. The whole penninsula is honeycombed with these natural wells. The Mayans used them for rituals and drinking, and the friars who built the convent of San Bernadino used them as well. Recently they have begun searching the bottom of the well with scuba and found cannon and rifles from an uprising in the 19th century.
We enjoy the colonial towns we have visited in past and this was no exception with people and businesses residing in building centuries old.
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03/09/2012, Quintana Roo
After having rented the car late Thursday night, we were able to leave early Friday morning. We drove two hours to the Mayan ruins of Tulum. This is the only Mayan ruin on the ocean, and also holds the distinction of being active after most all of the Mayan kingdom had disappeared. These folks hung around long enough to die out from small pox and other diseases brought by the Spanish sailors in the early 1500's. We hired a private guide for the tour and enjoyed our visit. Due to clever planning (Connie) we had arrived very early before the crowds. This was the first day of driving which was very strange after such a long hiatus. We rented a standard transmission, Chevy Aveo, which I thought was small until we parked next to some really small cars. Stop signs, stop lights, speed limits etc are simply advisory and apparently can be ignored completely. The only thing you can not ignore are the Topes.
These speed bumps on steroids come in all shapes and sizes and can rip the bottom out your car if you take one to fast. You can be on a 4 lane divided highway with unlimited speed and have to break to almost a stop to drive over the Tope. After we finished with Tulum we drove on to Valladolid for out hotel and base of operations. Our hotel was Hotel Colonial la Aurora. This modestly priced hotel, is a colonial building with the courtyard converted to a swimming pool. The rooms had A/C and a TV.
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03/07/2012, El Cid
As of last saturday we are now in our third slip of our stay in Marina El Cid.
Last post was galloping docks and sure enough beyond the snapped lines all of the remaining lines I examined when the wind moderated slightly had chafed through enough we had to cut out the bad sections and re tie.
I showed the damaged lines to the Manager and he agreed to let me go to a 70ft slip against the breakwater. That is where we are now and feel a little better about leaving the boat safely for inland travel. The wind shifted from SE which caused the galloping docks to NE. During the transition time we moved successfully to the new slip and snugged down with cast off bits of line and spare anchor line called into service to tie the boat down.
We went shopping in Cancun yesterday to buy new dock lines but they cost 3 times what they do in the states so we are going to make do.
We plan to rent a car tomorrow night late and then leave early am Friday for our road trip.
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03/03/2012, Marina El Cid
We were pleased to get into the marina on Thursday and we washed the boat on Friday however we noted a weather forcast for SE winds, so asked and got permission to move our boat to the leeward side of the dock. However it wasnt enough as the SE waves are roaring into the marina causing the dock to gallop up and down. The motion is completely un natural as the boat never completes a roll or pitch as it is brought up short by the dock lines. The doubled up dock lines. However while we were out biking our stern line parted. A neighbor put one of his lines on and we replaced it with our own when we returned but expect the new one may break soon.
This is a relatively new lightly used line that broke. Serious design flaw in the marina making it vulnerable to SE winds. The winds will turn North Sunday with a cold front and give us some relief. No SE forecast for a week out or more after it turns. We wont stay here for the next one.
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