Chichén Itzá, Valladolid, Tulúm, Cobá

From Mérida I took a bus to Chichén Itzá. It really reminded me of Disneyland. They closed pretty early and since I left Mérida quite late I did not have time to see all of it. It is a bit bigger than Uxmál and there are some pretty cool carvings in some of the stones but it is not that much more amazing. It is just full of tourists in beachwear and mexicans selling local artwork. I liked Uxmál better.

The big pyramid in Chichén - not for climbing

Murals in a wall near the main Pyramid

Valladolid is a rather small town a bit east of Chichén. I stayed at the hostel de la candela (or something similar). Not really exciting, but ok.
On the next morning Andrée, Charles-André and I visited two cenotes which were quite good. The one in town was not really underground for a good part, and you are not allowed to swim, but as a little park it was ok. The second one (a bit west of the town) was pretty big and for swimming. :)

The big cenote near Valladolid

From Valladolid I went on to Tulúm. The town itself is really ugly and I slept at the Cabañas el Mírador, slightly south of the ruins. The beach is white and I could set my tent up for 50 Pesos. Apart from that the place is not great.

Today for the morning I went to the ruins of Tulúm. They are rather small and full of tourist groups. The location directly at the coast is pretty nice.

Ruins of Tulúm and the Caribbean sea

In the afternoon I visited the ruins of Cobá. They are really great! Spread out in the forest you can see several buildings and between them just stroll on a path through the jungle. Way less tourists than in Tulúm and Chichén. A real treat!

Now I will head for Isla Cozumel to get my tourism shock for this tour and hopefully see the Quebec crew and some fishies. From there next station probably is Palenque.