Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 49

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 49

Mexico 

2/19/09  - Paamul - Via Cenote And Coba

It is hard for me to believe that we are on the road again – but we are.  This time our goal is to reach the Mexican Caribbean. 

We leave early, as we have a few stops to make.  We are excited.  We zero our odometer as we leave the RV park and go towards Valladolid.  Pass the side road to Tekum and drive right by the prison, even though they claim that they have the best hammocks for sale in the shop in front.

 We follow rig behind rig onto a narrow, gravel road.  Just before the turn, a lagoon has been placed on the right side of the road. A short dock runs out about 10 feet and a pile of rocks is at the end of the dock.  Sunning itself on the rocks is a nice, big gator.  I get excited and take pictures. Then I get worried, as we have very little wiggle room, let alone room to turn around.  We follow the one ahead. We are motioned into a dry, white, dusty dirt field with a big tree in the middle and dry brush around the edges.  We are directed around the tree and just when I think we are playing a pioneer wagon game, we are told that our rigs are too heavy and we have to move them. Now! We get safely stowed away.  Sam tells me we are going to a cenote (sea-no-tay).  Umm, ok.  We walk through the dust towards an area that has some artisans selling goods and Sam buys two tickets.  I am so impressed, that I have left my camera in Brutus and not missing it.  Sam has told me to bring my swim gear and I have been wearing my suit since we started this morning.  Sam is grinning from ear to ear.  We enter a shabby gate and I still see nothing.  Then we turn right and I see a big, dark hole in the ground, with big stone steps leading down into the dark.  I don’t like the dark.

Sam is in the lead ‘holding my hand’ or ‘pulling me into the chasm’ – depending on how you look at it.  He has to bow down, then bend sideways, holding me and the step above me, at the same time. A pretty good trick! I have to bend to get through the ‘tunnel’ that continues down, but I notice that everyone else is following and actually talking calmly.  I am still pretty anxious. The faint light gets less faint and more light and then I swear – I gasp!!!  An underground cavern containing an underground pool-springs-river, complete with gigantic stalactites---and bats.  There is one tiny hole in the ‘ceiling’. You can see just a little bit of a tree through the hole. Down here, you are up close to the roots of the tree dangling overhead as they reach for the moisture.  Turns out, this is the same tree we were circling just minutes before. We all get into the water, cool, but not cold.  Hot day outside. Sam has to pull me out  when it is time to go.  It was another piece of heaven just to float, swim, daze out, with Sam by my side.  I love this Cenote Dzitnup. Sam says that when he dove under the water, it was crystal clear and he could see fish (?) cleaning some of the rocks to the side. Another experience of a lifetime.  We crawl back into daylight and reluctantly go on our way.  Tough life.

Back on the road, heading still toward Valladolid.  We get onto Cancun Libre (free road to Cancun) and not Cancun Cuote (toll road to Cancun). We then take the road to Coba.  Doesn’t that sound exciting?  The road to Coba.  We could go to Tulum, but we opt for Coba, along with most of the rest of the group.  We get to Coba, park the rigs and get out.  We have a limited time to see all the ruins at this location – so we hire a bicycle cab.  Sam and I try to get a cab for each of us, as this is hilly terrain, but the bossy ‘cab driver‘ insisted that he take us together. We saw the ruins and he barely broke a sweat. We stop often to see the sights.  At the main pyramid, we got off the ‘cycle’ seat and Sam climbed all the way to the top.  I have pictures.  Many, many pictures.  I’ll show them to you and we can count the steps together.  The cabbie took us back to the entrance.  This site has not been as commercialized as some of the others at this point, but hopefully they will be more aggressive to preserve it in the future, as climbing does wear down a structure.  For now, you should get here and climb it while you can.  These ruins become one of Sam’s favorite.  For me - Coba, Sam, Panama Hat, Cenote.  Oops – back to the trip ahead.

Sam In Blue About Half Way

Resting At The Top

I cannot believe that with all the wonderful things that we have seen and done in this day that we are still on the road going to … the Caribbean!  Sam and I.  We are staying down a little from Cancun, as that is where the RV park is located.  Paamul! We make it! We drive in, past a security ‘gate’, and the group gets assigned spaces all over.  Since there are many ‘full-timers’ who have had palapas of various sizes and costs built around their full time rigs, we end up between two of them, and one with a washer and dryer outside, is behind us.  Everyone is very friendly and most are from either Canada or the United States.  We check out the hotel, swimming pool, banos/showers, dive shop, beaches and finally, the restaurant.  We are happy in the knowledge that we do not have to go back on the road for almost a week.  We can do this.