Chichen Itza ruins, Ik Kal Cenote and Balankanche Cave

Today started out super awesome but has ended in a bureaucratic sludge.  But back to where we left off.  I had gotten a room in Piste.  I went to the park first thing in the morning for the 8 am opening.  I had scouted out the situation the night before and found the free road and free parking.  I took advantage of the parking.  The free road has a fence now and when I looked down, there were people milling about.  I wasn't sure if they were guards or what so I decided to contribute to the National Heritage fund (I have no idea what the actual name is but the acronym is INHA - INAH something with those letters combine).   If I had known it was $15 to enter, I probably would have tried to rush the fence, but alas, in for a penny, in for fifteen bucks. 

I wasn't going to go to Chichen Itza because I had been before but when I realized that Rio Lagartos was a one day deal, I needed to fill a day.  Chichen Itza is fairly close.  I am so glad I came for a second visit.  It is still spectacular.  You can't climb anything now but it is still wildish.  You have to walk through woods to get to various buildings so it is still cool.  In fact, I found two new sections this time.  I started in the main area which has the big pyramid.  It is hard to imagine how they built that with primitive tools, it is so intricate.  All of the buildings have carvings and giant human faces or snake heads.    Pictures to follow of course.  When I arrived, there were very few people there yet.  I got lots of photos of the place with no people.  But there were local Mayans coming through the gates in droves, setting up tables.  By 11, the place was like a mall.  There was not a path that wasn't completely lined with junk for sale.  Amazingly, this wasn't that distracting.  They mostly stayed on the edges or in the wooded paths.  Plus, I had a good 3 hours of tranquility. 

Chichen Itza - the main square

El Castillo

The ball court

detail on the ball court wall

 Skull Platform.  Those skull carvings cover every wall.



El Castillo



Temple of the Warriors

 Chac Mool statue on the Temple of the Warriors

Temple of the Warriors that shows the columns

Group of a Thousand Columns

That's a face with a big nose (in profile)

Detail from the Platform of the Eagles and the Jaguars
 (Eagles on the sides, Jaguar in the middle - all three are eating a human heart)

After circling the main square for a couple of hours in which I found a cenote and a few building I didn't remember, I finally looked at my Frommer's map.  There was another cenote, called the Sacred Cenote.  I did not see that last time.  I walked along the long path and found this very excellent spot.  I mentioned before that a cenote is a fresh water spring.  But the signs called it is sinkhole (much less romantic sounding but in this case, much more accurate).  It was like a giant well, 50' across and about 30 feet of straight walls before the water starts.  It is black.   Apparently, a Brit bought the site in the early 1900s and dredged up the cenote.  He found gold and jade artifacts and lots of bones.  There is a platform at the edge where apparently, the Mayans threw in their sacrifices.  Of course, those artifacts and bones are still in England, how those English explorers liked to pillage collect.  New bird - a white fronted dove.

 



Cenote Sagrado (Sacred Cenote)

This is what the paths looked like by mid morning

Another read of the book and map.  There was another section, the south plaza.  Another long path - did I mention that I was pretty tired by then - where I found what turned out to be a section almost as awesome as the big pyramid.  This part is older, according to my book.  But there is an observatory.  A real observatory, with a round tower with windows looking in all directions.  Crazy.  Plus some other impressive buildings, including one called The Church.  They don't know if it was a church but it is so ornately decorated, the discoverers figured it had to be something special. Plus it is close to a building called the Nunnery, so names because of the many tiny rooms.

 

 Chichen Itza - the south square

El Caracol (named after a spiral - snail shaped - internal staircase.  Otherwise known as the Observatory for obvious reasons

La Iglasia (The Church - so called because of the extensive detail on the one room building

As we all know, I am not a spiritual person, but it is hard to not to imagine the past and feel the power of that place.  All of the people who lived and died there, often violently, it is hard not to feel some weird vibe.  I can see how some people end up there on the equinox when the pyramid acts as some sort of focus for the sun.

Also, another owl!  A tiny little owl, called a pygmy owl (I think there may be more to that name).  He was just sitting on a branch of a bare tree.  Begging to be seen and identified.  He was so small compared to the Mottled from the other day.  But he looked just as stern as he swivelled his head to stare at me, as if to say, ID me already, I have places to be.  Pictures taken, ID in place, and he was off to impress some other park visitor. 

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

 

I finally left the park after 3pm.  I was exhausted after 7 hours of wandering (with lots of sitting and absorbing of mystical aura and/or bird happenings.  Back to my room for another nap.  I am going to ask at work if I can have a two hour nap each afternoon.  I like the naps.   Piste doesn't have much going for it so I went to OXXO (like 7-11) and bought a Mr. Noodle.  I carried it back to my room with boiling water already in, and managed to not scald myself.  Good job.

Next day (today) I decided to visit a Cenote (Ik Kal) that is nearby.  After the Sacred Cenote, I wanted to see one up close, plus there are so many around here and they are all swimming holes.  I wanted to give it a go.  I got there at 8am.  I think I woke up the guard who opened the gate for me.  He radioed along to let the next bunch know that someone had actually shown up at 8am.  Not a car in the lot.  In I went, found the cenote.  I didn't really want to shuck my clothes in front of a bunch of twinkie tourists on spring break so I was glad it was deserted.  Of course, when I got there, there were a couple of guys scrubbing the deck so they got to see me in my bathing suit.  Whatever.

Anyway, body issues aside, it was just like the one at Chichen Itza but this one was partially covered.  I climbed down another million stair staircase.  I thought there were huge moths flying around, but they turned out to be bats.  The water was just black, with roots hanging down the 30 feet from above, almost touching the water.  And there were so many black fish in there - kind of like carp, it sort of freaked me out.  But I got in, it was cold.  And black, did I mention black.  But, I had the water to myself and the workers ignored me so I got to paddle around and just stare upwards.  Again, an experience that I don't think can be had in Canada. The bats were quickly replaced by swallows who flew by my head as the fish swam by my legs.   

Looking down at the Ik Kal Cenote from above

 

The stairs down

Amazing!



The cave ceiling over the covered part of the Cenote



The carp-like fish. This picture doesn't do them justice, they were black and creepy. 

After about 15-20 minutes, I figured it wasn't going to get any better so I got out.  I had left my camera locked in the trunk of my car so I dried off, changed (there was a change room) and went back to the parking lot to get my kit (camera, binos, bird books, water).  Yikes, two buses were pulling up and disgorging dozens of tourists.  I had to rush as they were ahead of me.  But, again, the hordes are slow and seem to like looking at trees, so I got back to the cenote in plenty of time to beat them there.  By then, the workers were getting ready for their own dip pre-horde.  They weren't in the water yet but they had thrown in some life vests.  So my pictures aren't as pre-historically authentic as they could have been, but still excellent.  I got to the top when I remembered that I had forgotten to document the fish.  Back down the stairs, snap snap, back up where I met the first horde as they entered the cave/stairs.  Once I was out, I did a bit of birding  - 1.5 new birds.  One ID'd and the other I could not ID to save my life.  It looked and acted like a wren but isn't in the book.  I have pictures. 

Turns out he is an Ovenbird.  I was trying to find him in the Wren section because of his sticky-uppy tail and hoppity behaviour (all very technical birding terms)

 

I ate breakfast there.  I had fresh fruit which should shock my poor colonic system after so many tacos.  Then a breakfast I had never heard of and now can't remember the name.  But it was a cacophony of flavours.  A tostada on the bottom, a skim of beans, two fried eggs, then the how thing was covered with bits of ham and cheese and peas.  Then all of that was encircled with fried bananas.  There was a lot going on there but it was pretty tasty.  Plus coffee and toast.  I was stuffed.  Back to my hotel, it was now 11am, for the noon checkout. 

Huevos Motuleños

My view from the breakfast table.  It is hard to see but that green area to the center right is the top of the cenote opening.

 



 I forgot until I looked at my photos.  As I was leaving the Cenote, I noticed a Sacbe (sacred road) just leading out of the park and into the woods.  What was I to do, I followed it. 

Looking up

Looking back from the woods toward the Ik Kal Cenote park area.

 

The ruined building at the end.

Next stop, a cave Balankanche.  Again, this is something that people do here so I wanted in.  I showed up and saw that tours run every hour, alternating between English and Spanish.  I was about 6 minutes early for the next Spanish tour.  But as I approached the ticket window, I saw just one guy sitting there waiting for something.   The ticket guy informed me that each tour (no going in by yourself) needs a minimum 6 people.  But, if I and my new friend Bob from New York, want to wait, we can go in with 3.  We waited about 30 seconds before ticket guy said, well, if the two of us wanted we could just pay for the third person and go it with just two.  Heck, what's another 40 pesos.  So we paid and in we went.  It was one of the easier cave my book tells me.  But it was hot and humid.  It must have been 100 degrees and 95% humidity.  It was pretty interesting but what can one say about a cave that doesn't apply to every other cave.  It was cavernous.  haha.  Poor Bob didn't look so good, he was just pouring off the sweat so when we came upon a down staircase about midway, he said he would just wait there.  There was another spring at the bottom.  When the cave was first discovered, they had found pots in the big cavern.  Those (or perhaps replicas) are still there, nicely arranged for picture taking. I obliged.  45 or so minutes later,  we reemerged to the cool tropical jungle heat.   I was soaked, I wished my swim could have followed that cave. 

 

Balankanche Cave

 

 

Going in

 

 





The Great Hall.  Apparently, once logged, the pots were put back as they were found.

Apparently, these pots are in the same spot that they were found in.
 I love thinking that I am standing in the same area that some Mayan stood in humdreds or thousands of years ago.

 

 

A cenote at the back of the cave. 

Corn grinders and a bowl

 

A fruit bat

the exit

Bob made it out, heart attack avoided

 

Then I headed back to Tulum.  I want to do another day in Sian Ka'an.  I arrived and the annoying banking tasks began.  I started by finding a phone place so I could pay to call a 1-800 RBC number.  The nice lady on the phone figured out what was going on but she can't fix it until I get back.  She suggested  I go to an HSBC in Tulum and see if they can call Tizimin to fix it.  You can imagine how well that went.  No, they can't (but that took 10 minutes of pigeon Spanglish to get that sorted).  Then I stopped into another travel place to see about that bird tour I had tried to book when I first got here.  There is space on Friday, let's book it.  Run my visa and it is rejected. Oh for frig sake.  But this nice travel agent lady let me use her phone for free.  Another RBC call in one day.  Never good.  I thought they had blocked me.  At first, I had forgotten to call and let them know I was leaving (my new job leaves no time for personal business - very annoying) but I remembered as I was leaving so I called them from the Toronto airport, so they should know where I was.  But that wasn't the problem.  Apparently when I was renting my car, my guy Luis (might as well use his name as he is going to make a another reappearance beyond renting me the car and then retrieving the keys) and I messed up the charge and I put in the PIN one too many times so they blocked me.  15 minutes and RBC got me re-set up.  Finally I can pay for something. I am booked for Friday. 

But that got me thinking.   I looked at my car rental contract and it didn't have a day for return.  I was pretty sure it was Friday at 8pm.  But since I was right there, I stopped in to confirm.  Luis was not there but the other guy showed me where the return date is and it is Thursday.  I made him call Luis at home.  Poor guy.  When he had to retrieve my keys, his wife and kid were in the office and they had to leave so he could help me, now I am interrupting his day off.  I have to go in tomorrow to see him in person.  He is going to have to lend me his car on Friday if he doesn't fix it. 

Luis

My little car. 

A stop at a money changer (for a horrible rate) because all of this bank account checking has reminded me that it costs $5 every time I use my bank card.  While I am carrying around all of my American birthday money.  silly me.   Tacos for dinner at the place on the corner that has Wi-Fi and back to my room soon.  I have now bought something, I broke down and bought some whistles for Amy's kids.  Cool, one sounds like a jaguar for Lilia - she loves cats - and an owl for Kai - I am trying to make him love owls.