November 12, 2009 in Playa Del Carmen
These photos were taken on Day One of my new journey. First are some photos of me with my bicycle and backpack, along with some treasured photos of Eduardo. Second are some photos of my interesting sleeping quarters for he first two nights of this new adventure.
Me with my bicycle and backpack, standing on the Playa Del Carmen pier, with the ocean in the background.
Another photo of the same, trying to get a little more sun in the shot.
Eduardo and I standing on the beach.
Looking from the beach back toward the city.
Eduardo and Brenda
Eduardo on the beach.
Another great photo of my incredible friend Eduardo.
My new and trusty backpack.
My rustic room, looking at the door.
The open gap at the top of the door that would not close.
My elegant shower. Notice that there is no showerhead–only an open pipe …
Looking at my door from the outside.
The open-air common area. It was at this table (in the distance) that the manager and her friends stayed up till the wee morning hours, playing music, talking loudly, and drinking …
Another view inside my room, looking toward the back of the room.
A few of my dear ant friends.
My ant friends having a party by my front door into the wee morning hours.
Valladolid -Saturday Nov 14 to Tuesday – Nov 17
The bus station in Valladolid. It is very modern, and the buses are very nice and luxurious.
A posted bus schedule above the ticket windows in the bus station.
My Hostel – La Candelaria.
The outside entrance is right on the edge of the Candelaria park.
Four private rooms in the back. My room is on the second level, on the right, slightly hidden by vegetation.
From the back yard, looking back at the main building. My stairway is on the left. The bathroom is at the top of the stairway.
Bathroom and showers in the back yard, by the outdoor kitchen area.
Part of the backyard area.
This is Ewot (pronounced A-Vout, where the A is a long sound, and the out sounds just like the english word). He is from the Netherlands. He and his girlfriend Tania (who is from Nicaragua) manage and run the Hostel. The property is owned by Tania’s parents.
One of two little Chihuahuas that roam the back yard. Here, he is climbing up on my knees.
Some hammocks out in the far back. I have yet to try them out …
The beautiful outdoor shared kitchen area. We eat our breakfast here. Residents are free to store things in the refrigerator, and cook their meals.
Looking from the kitchen area back toward the back of the hostel.
A better view looking up at my bedrom – top right.
An indoor common area where people can gather.
Part of the front office/reception area.
Another view in the front office/reception area.
Part of one of the shared dormitories.
My bicycle locked up to a light pole in front of the hostel.
Looking from the hostel straight across the park. I believe those buildings are private homes.
Looking left (west) from the hostel door. This is a public library.
Another view looking at the exterior of the hostel.
This old church is just off to the right (east) of the hostel.
A photo of my room (2nd blue door on right) taken from the upstairs bathroom area.
The upstairs bathroom area (toilet and shower) as seen from my room.
My bed … I love this little room
Looking from my bed at the front of the room. My door on the right, my little computer table on the left, and the beautiful windows. These windows do not have glass. There are beautiful wooden shutters, behind which is screen to keep any bugs out. Such glass-less windows are common in this area.
A woman walking around town in traditional Yucatan clothing. This is very common in Valladolid.
A typical view on the streets in the center of town. Valladolid has a very unique flavor. The whole center of town, and much of the rest, is painted with beautiful pastel colors.
In a local market — many racks filled with traditional Yucatan clothing. Many stores in the center of town sell these dresses.
A place in the local bazaar, right across from the main town square, where I have already eaten many times. I love their chicken tacos and their plate of tropical fruits.
A view looking at all of the tables set up in this large food court area at the bazaar. The far wall is lined with scattered little vendors that sell traditional yucatan/Mexican food.
Another view of people eating inside the bazaar.
My plate of chicken tacos. One is already in my stomach …
This old street “Calle de los Frailes” dates back to the mid to late 1500’s. It leads down the the old “San Bernardino Convent”.
Another view of the same street.
Construction on this beautiful convent (San Bernardo) began around 1552. It is a beautiful old building. I walked throughout many areas on the inside and the yard in back.
This is the inside of the convent’s main chapel.
This beautiful old wooden door in the back yard caught my fancy.
This is part of the crypt in the old convent. Each square is a grave marker.
This is the inner courtyard–located in the part of the building that is just to the left (north) of the chapel.
Another majestic view in the inner courtyard.
One view of the beautiful gardens in the back.
This grate covers a hole in the ground that drops down a couple of hundred feet to an old Cenote (underwater pool). In this photo, I am looking straight down. The three flashes of light at the bottom are reflections of my flash from the top of the water below.
A zoomed-in photo of the water below. This shot is not very good, but I found it interesting.
Looking out an upper window across the park at some old homes below.
One of many beautiful old passageways through which I explored.
Most of the streets in the center of town are beautiful, with elaborate tile on both the street and the sidewalks. In the area of my hostel, over half of the streets are in the process of getting a new face lift to match. This is one of those streets. Look at the beautiful tile on the street. In this photo, the sidewalk has yet to be redone.
A similar street that is only half completed.
Yet another photo of work in progress.
This is the street by my hostel that leads two blocks to the center of town. This street is not yet open to cars.
Workers performing miscellaneous tasks at an intersection one block from my hostel. Amazingly enought, it looks like all of this road work is performed by hand labor.
A nearly completed street two blocks from my hostel. I found this fascinating because of the power lines on the opposite side of the street. Look at how low the cables sag between poles. This seemed to be “just the way it is” on these heavy cables. I hope these cables are not holding high voltage wires.
A freshly completed new sidewalk by the new road. Note that the gap between the two will be left (but probably filled in a little at the bottom) as a place for rain runoff to accumulate and flow.
This is another view of the almost-completed street by my hostel. In this photo, we are looking back toward my hostel, which is situated behind the big tall green tree on the right. On the left is the old church which I showed in a previous photo.
Not only are many of the streets getting a new facelift, but so is the main town plaza. This large plaza in the center of town is completely closed and ripped open, being completely re-landscaped, receiving new sidewalks, benches, and who knows what else. I bet it is beautiful when they are finished.
I rode by this fascinating old building while on one of my bicycle explorations. It looks very old. Currently it is a museum called “Museo de San Roque”
This beautiful old church (San Servacio) sits on the south side of the main town square (the one under construction)–exactly one block from the bazaar where I am eating many of my meals.
This is the inside of the San Servacio church.
This old church has a crypt too. Most of the dates on these grave markers are in the 1800s, althought I am sure the church is much older than that.
Many little local ladies were standing around the church, attempting to sell hand-made items, asking for money.
This beautiful “Cenote” (pronounced say-no-tay) is right in the center of Valladolid. It is called “Cenote Zaci”. It is perhaps 200 feet below the surface above, and is enclosed in a large cave, with tree roots and stalactites hanging on the upper surface. These Cenotes are quite common in the Yucatan. They are large sink holes filed with crystal blue water. I hear they are very very deep.
Another view of this beautiful swimming hole. (I did not swim in this one.)
Yet another beautiful view of the blue waters below.
These beautiful friendly children met me in the parking lot above the Cenote and tried very hard to sell me a few items. I started talking to them and we became friends.
Today I went to two Cenotes at Dztinup (pronounced seat-nupe). The first one is called X’keken. It is a very famous Cenote. On the spring and fall Solstices, the sun shines straight down through a hole in the roof, making a beautiful column of light.
This is the path leading up to the entrance.
This is the beginning of the stairway leading down into the Cenote. It is like a small cave. The lights were off and it was very dark and steep.
More climbing down the steep stairway. I had a hard time navigating through this section.
A gate part way down the staircase.
As I emerged from the stairway into the Cenote, it was all dark. Candles were placed in various areas, I heard flute music, and beautiful chanting/singing. I soon learned that a religious/spiritual ceremony was in progress, and I approached very reverently.
From everything I could figure out, I believe it was a group of spiritual tourists who were attending a ceremony conducted by Mayan Shamen.
In the darkness, this is about all I could see. Later, as others were taking a few flash photos, I did the same.
As the ceremony came to a close, everyone from the group (over 100) took turns standing in line to be blessed and cleansed with herbs dipped in a yellow liquid.
You know me … I could not resist and as the line was winding down I asked if I could participate. I was one of the last ones to receive a blessing/cleansing.
This beautiful man was conducting the ceremonies. He is also the one who was singing. He has an incredible baritone chanting voice.
The man standing on the left is the one who performed the cleansings/blessings. I can only assume he is a Mayan Shaman.
This man blew his Conch Shell at the end of the ceremonies. The sound resonated with incredible energy in the enclosure of the Cenote.
A view of the Cenote with the lights turned up a bit.
After the ceremony, most everyone in the crowd stripped to their swimsuits and jumped in. I did the same, swimming over to the far side. The energy was incredible as I sat and meditated in the water on the far side.
Some huge stalactites that hang from the ceiling, going down into the water. I swam over and hugged one for a while. I also held onto several of the roots hanging in the middle and absorbed their incredible energy.
This is a picture of a postcard, showing what the inside of the Cenote looks like with bright lighting. Sorry, I did not do a very good job in taking this photo of the card.
The second Cenote I went to at Dztinup is called “Samula”. It is right across the street, back in about one hundred yards. It was just recently opened to tourists.
This is the entrance way–another cave winding down into the depths below.
This is a view taken from the top, just after the entryway comes into the open cave.
Another beautiful view from the top.
A view from the bottom, looking up at the opening in the ceiling. Look at the incredible tree roots growing from ground level above down to the water below.
In this photo, the top-right spot of light is the water surface, where the sunlight from above breaks into the water’s calm edge. The bottom-left spots of light are on the bottom of this part of the Cenote.
Another photo looking up at the opening to the sky above.
Another photo of the beautiful light as it hits and enters the water. From right below where I took this photo, I sat in the water for 45 minutes while hundreds of little one-inch fish (about like a guppy) swam around me and nibbled on my feet, legs, arms, and back. It really tickled. The longer I sat, the more fish came to chew on me.
My friend Jenni (Here at the Hostel – From Montreal) told me how she did this the day before. These fish do not break the skin. They simple nibble on the dead layer, giving you a professional quality skin exfoliation. This was actually quite fun. I did not want to leave …
After exiting back to the surface, a man convinced me to spend 20 pesos to buy a coconut and drink the coco water. It was my first time ever drinking coconut water–I’m proud of myself for doing it. I liked it a lot. Then I bought postcards from a persistent young girl (perhaps about 10) who is already a very talented salesgirl.
This is a photo I took of the postcard that I bought for the Samula Cenote. Again, the qualilty is not perfect, but it shows how beautiful this Cenote is when lit up with bright lights.
What an incredible day ….