Field report · Yucatan, Mexico
Chichen Itza, then a cenote
The pyramid in the morning, cochinita in Valladolid at noon, and a sinkhole full of cold blue water after.
Yucatan, Mexico
Chichen Itza in the morning, lunch in Valladolid, and a cenote in the afternoon. It is a long day out of Tulum and it is the best single day the Yucatan offers, provided you do it in that order.
Chichen Itza is a few hours from Tulum and holds some of the most impressive Maya building anywhere: El Castillo, the Temple of the Warriors with its rows of columns, and the Great Ball Court. The carving is the part that repays slowing down for, the serpent heads and the relief panels that most people walk straight past on the way to the pyramid.
The Great Ball Court is where the ball game was played, and the game was not a pastime. It was a way of settling disputes, of honouring gods, and at times of conducting human sacrifice. Standing in it with that in mind changes the acoustics of the place somewhat.
Go early. This is the single busiest site in the region and the difference between arriving at opening and arriving mid-morning is very large.
“The carving is what repays slowing down for. Most people walk past it on the way to the pyramid.”
From the journalLunch in Valladolid
Paladar de Cura, in the middle of Valladolid, in a colourful colonial building. Traditional Yucatecan cooking: cochinita pibil, tacos al pastor, tamales. The chorizo is the thing to order, and we do not say that lightly. It is the best we have had.
Valladolid itself is worth the stop beyond the meal. It breaks the day properly between the ruins and the water.
Cenote Chukum
A short drive from Valladolid. Cenotes form when the roof of an underground river collapses, leaving a pool of very clear, very cold fresh water in a cave. Chukum is in jungle, and after a morning on hot stone it is exactly the right thing.
You can swim it, and if you want more than that you can snorkel or dive. The light coming down through the opening in the roof is the image everybody takes home.
One day, three completely different things, and the drive between them is short enough that none of it feels rushed.
From the journal · The Travelling T · Written December 2022
