Mexico - Vallodolid, The gran carrida (well almost)

Well, I was hoping that for my first entry on our blog I would be able to tell you about a crazy Mexican bullfight, and, for a brief moment, I thought that might be the case. After deciphering the signs around town and finding a cab to take me out of town to the plaza de los torros (bulls) la victoria for a reasonable price, I was amazed to find myself the only gringo at the arena, which, for those of you in the know, is something akin to the Cheney Rodeo Grounds - a real rural venue for the local show. I´m talking guys riding in on horseback, loads of shitkickers and cowboy hats and plenty of cerveza to go around. Had she gone out thre with me (and lucky for her she didn´t), even JeeHeon may have found it a little interesting. Then, out of knowwhere, the skies opened up and let loose with a torrential afternoon rainstorm, and not the kind that let´s up after a few minutes - it just kept raining and raining and raining. So, instead of watching the skillful and brave matadors of Mexico, I got to stand around under the beer tent for a couple hours with everybody else trying not to get soaked, except unlike everybody else, I didn´t really have much appetite to drink as I´m wondering how in the hell I´m going to get back to town with not a cab in sight. On a good note, at least a few local guys brought their instruments and entertained the crowd during the storm. Finally, I decided I better hoof it back or I´d be stuck in rural mexico in the dark and pouring rain. Took me just over an hour to make my way back to our hotel on foot. Hopefully I´ll have a bit better luck next time.

On a good note, JeeHeon and I did manage to have a good time in Valladolid (in the central Yucatan). We visited the famous mayan ruins at Chichen Itza and a local cenote (pools of water formed by underground springs that provide the soul source of water for the Yucatan state). Some pictures are below, including some eerie carvings of what appear to be grinning human skulls (think human sacrafice).