It was a rough drive from Merida to the Loltun caves. The offline maps took us through teeny tiny villages, with narrow streets that haves no dearth of potholes. Worse, it took us to a dead-end! We had to backtrack twice and find our way. Sigh! Somehow luckily we reached the Loltun caves just on time, for the 11am guided tour. Lol-tun, literally meaning "stone flower" was created by water millions of years ago. Although the entrance and the exit to the caves looks like a cenote (or a sink hole), there is no water anymore. To this day, one can still see remarkable fossil evidence of sea animals that once inhabited these caves. People before the Mayans lived inside these caves for protection from animals. A point to note is that the Mayans never lived inside the caves; they lived in temples. Unlike a lot of caves that get chilly inside, the temperature inside the Yucatan caves is always hot and humid because of its proximity to the equator. A notable feature inside the caves is the 100 meters long Cathedral, expanding to a height of 45 meters and a width of 20 meters. Back then, people used torches to navigate inside these pitch dark caves, evidence of black soots are still visible in certain parts of the caves. A remarkable carving inside the caves is the Loltun's Head, carved by the Mayans. The original carving is still preserved for visitors to see. The Mayans used cave pillars as instruments because they are hollow inside and make sounds. Each of us took turns to bang on two pillars with our hands, simultaneously creating the sounds "lol" and "tun". As we walked further inside the caves, we came across one of the massive portions of the caves, nicknamed as the Grand Canyon. May not be as massive as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, nevertheless these caves were marvelous! Towards the exit of the caves, we saw paintings of Black Hands or Manos Negras on the caves. These are created using an airbrush technique by people who lived inside these caves in 10,000 BC. An interesting thing is that, similar hand paintings are found inside the caves in Europe. Apparently, Mayans consider black as negative and red as positive. Hence all their temples are in red color. Then we came across two huge holes inside the caves, believed to be created by meteors. People used these holes to get inside and outside the caves. The caves were so surreal and fascinating, loaded with so much historical significance. Loltum caves turned out to be one of our favorite places in the Yucatan peninsula. read more

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Incredible Tour and Fascinating History of this Impressive and Huge Cave System! Well Worth The Trip! I visited the Grutas de Loltun (Loltun Caves) on November 19th with friends that I met at my hostel in Merida. We took a colectivo from Merida (they leave from the north side of Parque San Juan on Calle 69 between Calles 62 and 64 and cost 55 pesos each way. Parque San Juan is located three blocks south of Merida's main square) to the town of Oxkutzcab. The journey took about two hours in total. The drive through the Puuc region was very scenic and beautiful with rolling hills covered in lush green jungle. The colectivo dropped us off at the main square in Oxkutzcab (by the plaza, church and local market), which is where we found a taxi to take us to the caves (60 pesos), which were about a 10 minute drive away. The Loltun Caves are the largest dry cave system in the Yucatan. The entrance fee for the caves is 118 pesos. There are modern washrooms available at the entrance and there is also a parking lot for those who drive here. A guide is required to enter the caves, and the tours are only offered at scheduled times every day (9:30 am, 11 am, 12:30 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, and 4 pm). You can choose whether you would like a Spanish or English-speaking guide. We choose English and took the tour at 12:30 pm. Our tour guide's name was Ricardo and he was incredibly knowledgeable about the cave's history! He grew up and still lives in the nearby town of Oxkutzcab and told us that he used to play in the caves as a child, while his father was one of the first tour guides of the caves. I really enjoyed our personal and private tour with just the three of us plus our guide. We entered the cave from an opening in a tall rock wall. The tour takes you through only a few kilometres of the cave system, but there is so much more has yet to be explored and opened to the public. The caves were massive and there were lots of stalagmites and stalactites and many interesting and natural rock formations on the rock ceilings, which were incredible to see! The caves were illuminated with multi-coloured artificial lights (blue, purple and pink colours) shining on the rocks and on the ceiling in certain areas of the cave, which made it is easier to see the rock formations, however the lights were very bright and made my photos look a little strange afterwards. You might assume that the caves would be cool, but the temperature was actually very comfortable - I was not sweating nor was I cold. The caves were dark and the rocky and muddy ground was slippery and uneven in certain places, so I would recommend bringing a small flashlight with you when you visit (it was muddy because it used to be a river bed). There was also some climbing through narrow passages and on uneven rocky paths, but aside from that, the caves were fairly easy to navigate. Make sure to really look where you are walking, as I almost tripped a few times on the rocks, because I was admiring the caves and not paying attention to where I was going. Bring comfortable and sturdy walking shoes! Also, bring lots of water and snacks, as there was nothing being sold at the caves. Our guide showed us one stalactite that was completely hollow on the inside. He used his fist to pound the stalactite in one area and then another, which made a different sound/note/tone. Pounding the one side followed by the other made a tone that sounded like the word "Lol-tun," which is where the name originated from when the Mayans used the caves. I had always thought that the Mayans lived in these caves, but this is not completely accurate. In reality, up to 800 or so Mayans took shelter in the caves and used them to hide from the Spanish, as well as for religious ceremonies and feasts. For me personally, the most interesting part of the tour was seeing the rock wall where there were original hand prints from the Mayans. It was so fascinating to be able to see those! There was a section of the cave called the Grand Canyon, which basically resembles the actual Grand Canyon but on a smaller scale. This was really cool to see. Near the end of the tour, we came to an opening of the cave where there was an area with lush tropical jungle plants. Its name was very fitting and was called the "Botanical Garden." There were tall trees growing along the side of the rock wall surrounding the garden and our guide informed us that the Mayans would use these trees and their roots for sliding up and down, to enter and exit the cave! Overall, the tour was informative and absolutely fascinating and I learned so much about the history of the caves. The caves were incredible and I highly recommend a visit here when you are in the Yucatan! It was well worth the trip. read more