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Published: November 13th 2011
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Casa Mexilio
Our first Bed and Breakfast, Casa Mexilio was an old, quaint 8 room 18th century mansion converted to a small intimate B&B Merida, capital of the state of Yucatan, on the Cancun side of Mexico is our next destination.
Monday, October 31, we flew with Interjet, our favorite Mexican airline. They still serve free drinks! We landed in the sunny, warm, and humid city of close to 1 million people. A short cab ride delivered us to Casa Mexilio, our first Bed and Breakfast experience. Filled with the trappings and echos of centuries past, this is where, in 1936, President Lazaro Cardenas debated the conditions of Mexico’s expropriation of the Henequen Hacienda owners. After having been abandoned like so many other elaborate Merida homes, Casa Mexilio was restored and turned into a small hotel/bed and breakfast. It's a beautiful old building with a multitude of terraces, narrow stairs going in many different directions, a pond/pool in the courtyard, plants and trees everywhere and cats...scurrying everywhere. After settling in, we went for a walk to the nearby Zocalo, and acquainted ourselves with our surroundings, then had a great traditional meal.
Tuesday morning, we were directed across the street to a garden courtyard where we were served a delicious private breakfast, which is part of the package. Then Linda settled into work on
Pool Area of Casa Mexilio
Surrounded by tropical plants and with a small fountain, we had to walk through here when leaving our room...cats everywhere one of the rooftop terraces, under a palapa, surrounded by tropical foliage, and lazy cats. She was able to accomplish a fair bit of writing for her newest project. Maurice spent the time wandering the streets, finding a grocery store, a cold cerveza store on the corner, and gathering information regarding activities and happenings in the city. Late afternoon, we walked Paseo de Montejo, the main city boulevard. In the early 20th Century, Mérida prospered from the production of henequen. For a brief period Mérida was said to house more millionaires than any other city in the world. As a result, many large and elaborate mansions were built along the main avenue, Paseo de Montejo. Many of these homes have been restored and serve as office buildings for banks and insurance companies, a few are still family owned, however there are many that have been abandoned and today, lie empty. After much walking we caught a local bus and ended up at the Zocalo to eat and stroll while enjoying the dancing, singing and Day of the Dead festivities.
Wednesday morning, after breakfast, we piled into a van along with about 6 other people and left for a tour
At the Merida Zocalo
Traditional cabs are available to tour the city of a Henequen Hacienda. A different species of the agave plant produces sisal which is used to produce rope, and fine cloth as well. Always known for these fibers, it was only with the introduction of machinery in the late 19th century that it became possible to produce rope and twine economically in substantial quantities. Huge plantations resulted, with a hacienda at the center. These employed thousands and created many millionaires. Recently, hemp rope, or twine, is making a comeback because of its' environmental advantages. Please google Hacienda Sotuta de Peon for more information if you are interested. It is a fascinating project which employs more than eighty Mayan families in what was their traditional lifestyle. They have spent 25 years preparing this project, reclaiming the land, planting the agave, restoring the hacienda and building a hotel which will soon be ready to open. After the agave has grown for 6 years, 10 leaves are stripped from each plant, and 6 months later, another 10 leaves are taken. This plant looks similar to the mezcal and the tequila agave but is of a totally different variety. Using the old machinery, the leaves are combed and then dried in the sun
Are You Ever Tall!
This lady helped us find a few local spots and exclaimed to Linda how tall she was for 5 hours. They are then packed into bales and shipped to the city where they are made into twine, rope or if processed sufficiently, even cloth. What an interesting tour we had, our guide was very knowledgeable. He introduced us to an old indigenous gentleman who when young had worked at the hacienda on the land. He spoke only the old Mayan language.
We then proceeded to one of 9 cenotes on the hacienda property and enjoyed a cool refreshing swim in the underground cavern. This was followed by an equally refreshing cerveza. This whole area of Mexico has these cenotes and underground rivers because of the geological formations. It has no above ground rivers. We were told there were at least 90 cenotes in the city of Merida. Some private homes even enjoyed the luxury of their own cenote.
Once complete, this destination hotel, connected with the hacienda, will be beautiful and unique in what it offers to its guests. We were served a delicious meal in their restaurant. Then it was back to the city, where we were lucky enough to take a turibus tour of the city and learned much more.
Thursday morning,
Linda at work
A beautiful location on the rooftop offered a fresh and quiet area for work where she was undisturbed we stopped at an ADO bus line booth intending to buy bus tickets to Chetumal. A sign advised us that it was now possible to take a red eye at 9PM to Belize City and arrive at 5:30 AM for only 480 pesos, or about $35. So, we changed our plans for our visit to Belize, starting instead with the interior of the country and then proceeding on to the Cayes.
We then walked to another bus station and caught a bus to the town of Progreso for some beach time. The town is located on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, about a 40 minute ride north. 28 pesos, or about $2.25 was the cost of a round trip ticket. The water was pretty churned up because of the storm that passed through 2 days earlier. We spent the afternoon swimming, walking the pretty malecon that they have built, and reading on the beach. We liked Merida and area so much, we decided to stay an extra day, and visit Uxmal, a major Mayan Ruin in the area, not far from Chitzin Itza.
Friday morning, we headed to the bus station and bought tickets directly to
Breakfast Area
It was outside amid the trees and shrubs which are so prolific and gorgeous Uxmal, where we connected with 3 other tourists and hired a guide to explain to us the various buildings, rituals, and significant other details that make these ruins so fascinating. The complexity of their society in the 600 to 1000 AD era is mind boggling! To climb these structures and sit at the ceremonial sites is humbling and breathtakingly beautiful. We arrived back into Merida around 5, enjoyed a quiet relaxing supper, and walked to the ADO station to catch the 9 PM ride to Belize City and our next adventure...............Belize!
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