But it was anything but easy. The guy at the reception told me, there is no record of me prepaid for one night and that I had two keys, which means I lost a key and was issued a 2nd key! None of it was true of course. He insisted that I show him the proof that paid for a night with a print of the confirmation paper. I told him can I just show him the email I received from the PayPal, but no he insist a paper copy even though I would just print the email. So I went to search for Internet cafe, and of course none was open at 7:45AM. I came back to logon to the my email account at the hostel's slow internet machine, and guess what the internet went down as I was able to open the email. Since they are holding my passport (no place I stayed in the whole trip ever hold my passport), so I can't just dump the 1 night room charge and leave. So I reluctantly went back to plead with the guy, telling him that I forward the confirmation email to the hostel, when I made the reservation and that he look through the hostel's emails. Anyway I am not sure he went through the emails or not, 30 secs later he told, yes indeed I paid for 1 night already, also no mention of the 2nd key. Anyway this almost turned into a nightmare. The hostel room stinks and pretty bad looking, hot, and noisy - people were still talking loudly around 2AM. One of the worst hostels I ever stayed. If you're not a weary backpacker, you would have been one after the stay here for sure! The Weary Traveler Hostel sure lives up to its name.
Anyway I was able to catch the 8:30AM bus for Valladolid. The Spanish girls did not get up in time to catch the same bus for Coba (later to Valladolid as well). The bus' AC wasn't working too good, so it was very warm, luckily the ride was less than 2 hours. After I got off the bus, I went to look for a hostel listed in the book. But it was closed for renovation. So I decided to with a hotel, and $25 a night. I figure, after two nights here, there will be 3 nights of hostel, a nice break from the hostel scene. The hotel has a pool.
After lunch I went to checkout couple cenotes (water filled sink holes). The first in my trip. The first one was in the town itself, I took some pictures, but did not going for a dip. There are many different kinds of fish in the pool. The sink hole was partial covered, so you get plenty for sun and light. The 2nd one is 7km outside of the town, and I decided to go with bike, but before I got to the bike shop, a shared van driver ask me if I am going to the cenote, and the price was $2, so I decided to be lazy. The 2nd sink hole is totally underground with exception of a tiny opening at its roof. It was near the closing time, so it was not too crowded. After I took some pictures, I decided it is time for me to get into pool. The pool has shallow area, so I was able to seat and standing and enjoying the view and water.
Early tomorrow morning I'll either catch a bus or share van to Chichen Itza, one of best Mayan Ruin in Mexico. I plan to stay the whole day there - I got some snack ready. BTW, I finished all the food I bought from US back early days in Belize, with exception a half bag of beef jerky, which I expect to finish it tomorrow :)
As for town of Valladolid, I like it, not too touristy, people are friendly - better than Tulum by far (although Tulum has cheaper souvenirs).
2 comments:
is that water safe to swim in? it looks like there might be all these minerals and who knows what that drips into it.
The under ground sink hole has bats, so there are dropping of course. I am not sure bat dropping are good for the body :)
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