Cenote, cenote, cenote

We woke up early to eat breakfast at the hotel before hopping in the car to go visit the ruins of Cobá. My here were many temples and things that were spread out on a lot of land, so we rented bikes for easy transportation. I'm used to riding bikes in Hilton head where everything is flat and smooth and this was very very different. The path was very bumpy but it wasn't a very long route. We started off towards the end, stopping at the ball court first. Everything was roped off but there was a really cool stone in the shape of a skull right in the middle of the court. I'm pretty sure it's where they stuck people's head before they were decapitated. We biked to the end and climbed up the Great Pyramid which is the 2nd tallest in the Yucatan peninsula. The view from up there was beautiful. Mom and dad were up there for a bit, but Helen and I stayed up talking and enjoying the view. At one point we were the only ones there and it was beautiful. We got down the pyramid the way three year olds go down stairs, on our hands.

After looking at the rest of the ruins we headed off to visit 3 cenotes. The first one was by far the best, the water was crystal clear and we were the only ones there. Light came in from a little hole in the ceiling as well as a couple lights on the walls of the cave. The second cenote was smaller but their were so many stalagmites that it looked like the ceiling was melting. We stayed there for a bit but cleared out when some more people came (we didn't want to explain to them how dad broke the stair). The last cenote was huge, but very crowded. The stairs down had two jumping points, one at 10 meters up and one at 5. I did neither but I did get in the water for a bit.

After the cenotes we were all really hungry so we ate lunch at a place overlooking the lake. It was probably one of the best meals I've ever had. They were kind of like tacos but the tortillas were filled with beans and fried to be like a hard taco shell. Inside was chicken, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and pickled red onion which is a delicacy here. After lunch we got back in the car to go to Tulum. Our hotel is called COCO Tulum and it is eco friendly, completely run on wind power. Helen and I share a cabaña which is right on the beach so when I wake up in the morning, the first thing to see is the ocean. Right on the beach is an area with hammocks that are super comfortable as well as beach chairs. After hanging out for a while we went to dinner in downtown Tulum at an Italian restaurant. The food was excellent and there was a guy with a beautiful voice playing guitar inside. We window shopped on the way back to the car and drove back to the hotel to go to sleep listening to the waves.