We have a final action packed day to the cave of Actun Tunichil Muknal, normally referred to by the acronym ATM.  Only discovered about twenty years ago, it contains some of the only intact Mayan artifacts (such as pottery, skulls and skeletons).  To get to the artifacts, you swim, wade, and climb with a head lamp and helmet on your head.   From the furthest point in to the cave that we go to the entrance is about an hour trek without stopping.  This is certainly one of the most adventurous things I've done. 

The entrance to the cave starts with a twenty foot swim.  The water is 73F according to our guide.  We're in water a few inches to chest high for much of the journey.  We press on and get to the dry part and stop for a bit.  Our guide is somewhat knowledgeable, but L' is starting to despise his condescension.  I didn't notice it at first, but he frequently would ask us if we knew something about the Maya that of course we didn't.  That got annoying, but I was able to ignore him easier than L'.  She thought about turning back to avoid pushing our guide off a stalagmite, but chose to continue on.  I was glad because if she's unhappy then I won't enjoy it as much.  

The cave is very neat with the usual interesting formations.  Since there is no natural or artificial illumination in the cave, we pause and turn off our headlamps.  It's completely dark.  You can't see your hand in front of your face.  Eyes open or closed looks the same.  Very eerie.

While we're stopped at the start of the dry part, we take off our shoes and get our cameras from the dry bag.  There are various artifacts along the path such as pottery and a skull.  Somewhat further in, we reach the last room of our trek which has a complete skeleton sticking out from the ground.  It's eerie and neat at the same time.  We then head back, stop to put our shoes back on before the wet part, and exit the cave about an hour later.  We change into dry clothes and get in the car only for it not to start.  When we're about to take another van back, the car finally starts and we head to the hotel getting back around 630.

We take much needed showers and since it's late, we eat at the hotel which is decent food and good Mai Tais.  We pick up some hot sauce as souvenirs and return home to pack up.  Tomorrow the vacation concludes, a new year starts, and many changes appear on the horizon.