Top Cancun Bus Tours - page 54

After lots of research we settled on this tour so that we could avoid long pick up and drop offs of a large bus tour. Also so that we could arrive earlier in the day. The communications were excellent (though WhatsApp messages). They confirmed pick up time with us at 6:30am and even texted in the morning that they were running a few minutes late. We were the last pick up. I think the air conditioned van could hold 14 but we had 8 which made for comfortable ride. Before the toll road we stopped for a potty break and snacks at a local gas station (10 paso for the toilet). The drive is ~2.5 hours to Chichen Itza. One other plus of the small van is we were able to park much closer to the entrance than the big buses. The highlight of this tour was Carmen our guide. It was clear she was extremely educated on Mayan history and culture. On the drive she taught us about the history, the beliefs and how the created the Mayan calendar which was all very interesting and informative. You could tell that Carmen had passion and pride for sharing the history with us. Once we arrived, Carmen rushed us through the ticket area and entrance in the site. We first stopped at the iconic pyramid and she gave us some free time for photos and to walk the perimeter. Then Carmen taught us all about the construction and history of the site. At every point she had new informative details we would have never seen or understood if we went on our own. She had well informed details answers to every question we had. She was truly a joy to be with. We did not expect the site to be so huge so then we moved to see other structures and areas of the site that many people likely miss. We spent a few hours there and found it to be really educational. It was in the 90s and there is little shade so be prepared for the heat. After this we returned to the van to go to lunch at a Cenote about 30 minutes away. This was really refreshing after the heat at Chechen Itza. Again we beat the larger tours to this attraction so it was not very crowded when we arrived. After swimming in the cool water we had a buffet lunch which did not include drinks so have Pasos ready. The food was really good and then we returned to the van to go to Ek Balam. Ek Balam was a real surprise as we were unaware of it before our trip. Its a more recent find and has not had much restoration. The highlight was that were were allowed to walk/climb on the structures and to the top of the pyramid. The trip is not difficult but we were exhausted partly do to the heat so when we returned to the van most took a nap for the long drive home.