Thursday 17 July 2003
We had breakfast at the hotel “Maria de la Luz” as the guidebook recommended this place because of the delicious buffet. The city is small with very few restaurants and despite the fact that we rarely eat at hotels; this seemed to be the only obvious option here.
The hotel restaurant was located in the foyer near the pool, which made our breakfast a rather noisy and stressful experience. Children ran all over and people came and went like on a railway station. The buffet was quite ordinary and was not well supplied when dishes went empty. We decided to try something else the day after.
The temperature was almost 37 degrees Celsius and humid, as we went to the park where one of the three cenotes was located. On our way into the park we saw some large lizards that enjoyed the shade under large rocks. The cenote was actually only a half-covered cave with a small lake where tourist could swim, even though the dust and pollen made in uninviting.
Shortly after we went by taxi to the two other cenotes Dzitnup and Samulá that are located approx. 7 km from the city. We made an agreement with the taxi-driver to wait an hour and drive us back home later for 120 pesos (USD 12). We could have rented bicycles, but after walking one mile we were exhausted and figured that cycling 7 km would have been too much for us in this heat. Access to the cenotes was 20 pesos a person each place, which seemed rather expensive considered other sites we had visited, but what to do.
Both places were more open caves than real cenotes, so we felt a bit disappointing when comparing to the nice postcards we have seen previously. When the sun was in the right spot over the Diztnup cenote, beautiful rays of sunshine hit the surface of the inner lake, which looks impressive. The water was crystal clear and lots of tourist took the opportunity to swim among the fishes while looking at the countless swallows and bats under the ceiling.
We spent the remains of the day in the hotel pool and ironically it got overcast and started to rain. The shade was a relief to us as the temperature declined to a more reasonable level for Scandinavians like us. While I was writing this diary sitting on the terrace, Ane went for at short walk in the city. Later she came back exultant with Nachos and fresh Guacamole and two cold beers from a nearby restaurant. “La Vita è Bella”.