Explore The Yucatán
The second city of Yucatán state, Valldolid is around 40km east of Chichén Itzá, still close enough to beat the crowds to the site on an early bus, and of interest in its own right. Although it took a severe bashing in the nineteenth-century Caste Wars, it has retained a strong colonial feel and exudes the unpretentious attitude of a rural capital, catering to the farmers and ranchers who live nearby, while village women gather in theAround Valladolid
From Valladolid, the vast majority of traffic heads straight to Cancún and the Caribbean beaches. A few places merit taking time out to explore, however – whether the beautiful sculpture at the ruins of Ek-Balam, the cenotes of X’keken and Samula or, further afield, the flamingo colony at Río Lagartos or the beach at San Felipe. If you want to go all the way to the coast as a day trip, you’ll need to make an early start – the last bus from Río Lagartos for Tizimín leaves at 5pm. You’ll have to return at least to Tizimín to continue on to Mérida or Cancún.
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Cenotes X’keken and Samula
Cenotes X’keken and Samula
Perhaps the most photogenic swimming hole in the Yucatán, the remarkable Cenote X’keken, also called Dzitnup like the nearby village, is 7km west of Valladolid on Hwy-180 libre. Visitors descend through a cramped tunnel into a huge vaulted cave, where a nearly circular pool of crystal-clear turquoise water glows under a shaft of light from an opening in the ceiling. A swim in the ice-cold water is a fantastic experience. Across the road, at the even more impressive (thanks to spooky natural lighting) Cenote Samula, the roots of a huge tree stretch down into the pool.
Colectivos run to the village of Dzitnup from outside the María Guadalupe hotel in Valladolid (M$15). Any westbound second-class bus will drop you at the turn-off, 5km from Valladolid; then it’s a walk of 2km down a signed track. You could also take a taxi or, best of all, cycle from Valladolid on the paved bike path; the most scenic route is down Calle 41-A to San Bernardino, then along Calle 49, which eventually connects to Avenida de los Frailes, then the old highway and the ciclopista.
