“It was early spring, 1519. Hernán Cortés and his men had just arrived off the coast of the Mexican mainland. The conquistador ordered his men to bring one of the natives to the deck of the ship, where Cortés asked him the name of this exotic place they’d found. The man responded, “Ma c’ubah than,” — which the Spanish heard as Yucatán. Close enough. Cortés proclaimed that from that day onward, Yucatán and any gold it contained belonged to the king and queen of Spain, and so on.
Four and a half centuries later, in the 1970s, linguists researching archaic Mayan dialects concluded that “Ma c’ubah than” meant “I do not understand you.”
Each spring, thousands of American university students celebrate with wet T-shirt contests, foam parties, and Jell-O wrestling on the beautiful beaches of the I-Do-Not-Understand-You Peninsula.”
— Christopher Ryan (Sex at Dawn)
I used the above excerpt as a caption for my Instagram image taken at the ruin of Tulum. A day before the trip to Tulum and Cenote Labnaha, I visited Chichen Itza (the Mayan pyramid) and Cenote Ik Kil. Needless to say, they were amazing places too, and I was crazily excited because that trip was guided by Rodrigo, a wonderful guy.
“– Chicos, remember that there are only two types of weather in Yucatán: hot, and very hot. Today seems to be the latter”, said Rodrigo — the tour guide — before entering Chichen Itza. People laughed excitedly. The guy really did a superb job, with all his enthusiasm.
An hour later, after a walk under the sun with no shades at all, I told him, “Rodrigo, jeez man, you were wrong, today’s type is not hot or very hot, it’s fucking murderous!”, That’s why after Chichen Itza, Cenote Ik’Kil is a very cool (literally and figuratively) spot to stop by, a deep natural sink hole that is open to the sky, formed by the collapsing of a cave. Cenotes were the main source of fresh water for the ancient Mayan civilization and were used for ritual activities as well.
Swimming in this huge well, 25 metres beneath the surface, with jade colored water levels sitting at around 35 metres deep, is a sacred, almost mystical experience. Perhaps those who swam there can get to understand how the Maya believed cenotes were gateways to the afterlife.
Be careful though, for some reason, it seems harder to stay afloat (compared to a swimming pool, and I’d say I’m quite a good swimmer).
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