Sept 1 – Do you remember when we were in Valladolid and tried unsuccessfully to swim in a cenote? Well, today we will get another chance! Although there are no cenotes in Izamal, our hotel host Monty arranged a taxi that will take us to a cenote about a half hour away.
Cenote Chihuan, in the town of Holcá, is on private land and is said to be the only totally subterranean cenote. Our taxi pulled up to the gate and it was… closed. Not again! The taxi driver banged on the gate and shouted, but no bananas. Our driver got back in the cab and started searching on his phone for an alternate cenote, when the proprietor opened the gate. Success!
We were given flotation vests and shown the stairs downHow far back do the waters go?Jim brought his phone right into the water, which was cool, but not cold. Very refreshing!We swam into absolute darkness, but kept an eye on the lighted entranceThe water was crystal clear and reflective, so we couldn’t tell if we were seeing stalagmites below, or reflections of the stalactites above.A magical place, and we had it all to ourselves!Returning to town, we asked to be let off at the Convento de Antonio de Padua, which is the centerpiece of Izamal. It is very yellow.Buggies lined up to take tourists on a tourI like a horse who can rock a saucy sombrero A young beauty having her Quinceañera momentInside the church, there is a retablo at the altar featuring Our Lady of IzamalThe rose windowThis statue, affectionately called Mama Linda (beautiful Mother) is dressed every month in different raimentHere are some of Mama Linda’s other outfitsPeople leave prayers and requests hereThere is a Pope John Paul II museum here – his visit in 1993 was the biggest event to ever happen in this townWhen’s the last time you saw a habited nun? We saw several – I don’t envy them their outfits in this heat!We wanted to go to the folk art shop, but it was locked up tight. We met an artisan, and he showed us one of the pieces he’s working onAs the sun went down, a thousand great-tailed grackles screamed and swooped for their last insect meal of the day. So noisy! A wonderful end to our visit to Izamal.
Aug 30 – One more yummy omelette at our Celestún hotel, and we were off to the bus station for our ride to Izamal. Little did we know that our big bus was a local, not an express. We boarded the bus at 9:30, changed buses in Mérida at 12:30, and arrived in Izamal at 3pm. And there weren’t any movies to watch on the bus!
Izamal is called la Ciudad Amarilla (the Yellow City), and as soon as we got off the bus we could see why.
Yes indeed, friends – the city is painted a very deep shade of yellow. The internet provides two possible explanations for this: 1) the color honors the Maya sun god Kinich Kakmó, or 2) the downtown area was spruced up with a new paint job in preparation for Pope John Paul II’s visit here in 1993. You decide!Jim always does a good job finding us places to stay, but for Izamal he really hit one out of the park. We are at Hotel Macan Che, a group of jungle huts surrounded by lush greenery and the sounds of tropical birds.The path to our hut. As an added bonus, we have hot water in the shower! This is a perk we always appreciate, but know better than to expect.Buddha is here…in addition to lots of Maya masks…and facesJim is swimming with a smile. Our pool is built over a natural stone bottom, warm, inviting and crystal clear.He tried to swim to the bottom, but the deep part was very deep!Aug 31 – Today we will visit the two Maya pyramids that are right here in town. The biggest one is Kinich Kak Moo, the Maya sun god. We left early in an attempt to beat the morning heat, but it was HOT. The pyramid was right in town, a 15 minute walk from our hotel. Here are the steps up to the pyramid.There it is – Kinich Kak MooThere goes Jim, scrabbling up!He made it to the top! (I graciously volunteered to stay behind to capture the triumphant photo)A view from the top. See the Yellow City below?As we were already nice and sweaty, we kept going to the second pyramid, called Itzamatul. None of the other tourists followed us here – we had the pyramid to ourselves. This one was shadier, and not as largePlenty of stepsSee the little speck of Jim at the top?Then it was back to town
Taking Our Time 