Here I am: Christmas in Cancun - Part III: Coba, Cenote Swimming, and Tulum

December 24th:

I've been looking forward to going back to Mexico ever since I was there as a child. I still remember climbing to the top of the Temple of Kukulkan (which you can't do anymore) at Chichén Itzá and looking over the Temple of a Thousand Warriors. I also remember visiting the costal city of Tulum and climbing all over those ruins too.

Here are a few pictures from that trip in August 1996

[Yes! I got my hair done in braids with beads!]

[Me, Luke, and Ryan]

[Dancing on the chairs at Señor Frogs]

[Tulum with mom and Luke]

[Chichén Itzá]

[Temple of a Thousand Warriors at Chichén Itzá]

[Climbing down the Temple of Kukulkan at Chichén Itzá]

I loved those old building. So much, in fact, I decided to study Archaeology in college. While at BYU I took a few Mesoamerican classes including two years of Mayan Glyphs.

I was really excited to only only go back to the ruins (since it had been 23 years since I was there!), but to take Josh and Brodee there too.

Ryan, Kayleen, Josh, Missy, Tyson, Luke, Andie, Brady, Dane, and I got up early and hopped into a transfer van. The van drove for about an hour and then we met up with a large tour bus.

Then we all (us, 50 other tourist, and our tour guide) headed to the Cobá archaeological site.

[I don't know why Teotihuacan was on our tickets 🤷‍♀️]

Our tour guide then took us around Cobá and told us all about the history. He had studied at the University of Texas and didn't agree with everything in his script (which was provided by the government), but he did a great job showing us around and telling us all about the Mayans and their (and his) culture.

[Ball Court]

[Mayan arch]

[Stela]

[Looking through the obsidian at the sun]

[Another ball court]

[More stelae]

After walking through the jungle (while stopping at various ruins), we finally made it to Ixmoja. This restored pyramid stands at 138 ft tall and is the second tallest Mayan pyramid in the Yucatán (the Temple of Kukulkan at Chichén Itzá is 148 ft tall).

We all climbed to the top of the pyramid and took in the spectacular views!

[The "Descending God" on the temple façade]

After catching our breath and taking a bunch of pictures, we sat down on our booties and went down the stairs. It took A LOT longer to descend the temple this way, but it was safer!

Instead of walking back to the bus, we took trikes!

It was a mad dash through the jungle and at times it was a little scary, but we made it back to the bus safe and sound!

Our next stop was a Mayan Village where we were greeted by the village Shaman (wiseman).

He performed a ceremony to cleanse us and give us luck, which we would definitely need later.

Our tour guide then showed us how to make chocolate. He ground up the cocoa beans, added local honey, and cinnamon. We each got to have a taste and it was bitter, but sweet!

The Mayans loved chocolate so much that they called it the "Elixir of the Gods." These people traded chocolate with the Ancestral Puebloans in, what today is, the southwestern United States.

We then had a delicious lunch, changed into our bathing suits, and headed over to the cenote.

We all jumped off the bridge into the refreshing water, but then I noticed that my Apple Watch was missing. Ugh! Did I take it off before I jumped in?! I didn't need to because it was waterproof! Was it in my backpack?! Where was it?! AHHH!!

[You can see me holding my wrist at the moment I realized it was gone!]

After checking my bag and realizing I most definitely had my Apple watch on when I jumped in, I announced to the group that I would pay $50 to whoever found my watch.

We were able to find a few goggles and my brothers (and a few strangers) took turns diving into the deep part of the cenote to try and find my watch.

Some of the other people on our tour suggested calling my watch, so it would glow in the dark, but we had no service in the area! UGH!

The deepest part of the cenote was 15-21 feet (which was right where we jumped off the bridge). Luckily, Luke knew how to dive deep and pressurize (certified scuba diver right there!), so he was able to get to the deeper parts, but the countdown was on and we needed to leave and board the bus.

I had given up hope and we had only 5 minutes before we had to leave. In a last ditch effort I was about to offer $100 to the person who found it, but Luke suddenly popped out of the water and yelled! WOOT! He found it!

AND THE CROWD WENT WILD!

[Thanks Luke!]

After Luke found my watch a little kid came up to me and told me I needed to pay him. LOL! Don't worry kid, I will!

Thanks to Luke's dedication and the luck from the Shaman I was reunited with my Apple Watch!

Oh and side note: Josh jumped into the water with his iPhone in his pocket, but luckily it still works! This could have turned into a VERY expensive excursion!

We then left the cenote and Mayan Village and headed to our final destination: Tulum.

[Coati were all over the entrance to the site]

We walked through a shopping area, down a paved road,

and through a Mayan arch into the ruins of Tulum!

We were crunched for time so after our tour guide told us a little able the ruins, we headed out on our own towards the coast.

We tried to explore more of the ruins, but they started ushering us out at 10 to 5:00 PM. There is so much more we could have seen in those 10 minutes, but we didn't want to get in trouble.

We left the site through another Mayan arch and headed to the shopping area to meet up with our tour group.

While we were all on this adventure, my parents, Andie, Porter, Cole, Theo, and Kenna hung out at the hotel. They walked over to the flamingo area and found some HUGE iguanas!