Blogs from Merida, Yucatán, Mexico, North America - page 10

Was left all by myself again in Cancun.. one by one my friends left me.... So i left too. I am now in Merida, in the state of Yucatan. This is the Mayan region and is full of ruins. Though i couldn't see them all i went to the main ones, Chichen itza (large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization), which are about 2 hours from Merida. Apparently they are now recognized as one of the wonders of the world, and i can see why. The ruins are over 1500 years old.. a little older then my mum. there is a great huge pyramid that towers over the site as you walk in the main entrance, followed by many other ruins as you walk around the huge site being heckled by the many almost ... read more

The last couple of weeks of August we spent in Mexico. I submitted an abstract about my honours work for the Society for Ecological Restoration Conference in Merida; which to my delight and utter surprise was accepted. We found ourselves planning a short trip down to Ol’ El Paso. Finally the day came! After a short schmozzle – I left my poster beside Phil’s front door and realised just over halfway to the airport – we made record time getting to Toronto airport for our Montreal-Cancun flight. Hey, in my defence, it was a VERY unsociable time in the morning! Our excitement grew as the plane descended into Cancun and we could make out the distinct junglyness of tropical plants and vegetation! On landing we were greeted with the longest immigration and customs line-up I’ve ever ... read more

After a relaxing time in Progreso we were ready for the hustle and bustle of Merida. Merida is the hub of the Yucatan and as such was a very busy spot. After dropping off our backpacks at the quaint Hotel Chabais we headed into the city centre to find a thriving zocalo (which is a large plaza open area with seats and trees). Being a saturday there were plenty of people out and about doing their shopping and generally enjoying their weekend. Shopping is a major attraction of Merida and with the wealth of the city there were quite a few diamond and jewellery stores. The department stores were a welcome reprieve from the heat of the day. Another place was the small restarant/bar Las Vigas where we replenished our energy with a serving of fried ... read more

It was my last day in Cancun. I had been trying to decide where to go next and it was after chatting to a Canadian lass called Stacey, and reviewing a bunch of recommendations given to me by erstwhile colleague, Charles, that I decided to head to the Yucatan peninsula to soak up some culture. But that was a whole day away. Firstly, we had to polish off Cancun in style. Everyone at Hostel Quetzal had grown close so Kate the TV chef decided to hold a farewell BBQ for those who were leaving the following day. This included me and Stacey (who had only been there one full day up till then - such was the warm close-knittedness). Prior to that we went to some nearby ruins called El Ray. They were pretty boring but ... read more

My buddy Alan from couch surfing was late for picking me up from the bus station. But I didn't mind that much as I knew about the "Mexican punctuality". When he came his first words were: "Do you wanna come to a pool party?" "Yeah sure" I responded. Because the party was actually a birthday party of his uncle I could meet some members of his family. Unfortunately the language barrier was to big to have deeper conversation and also because there were no atractive women present I felt sort of bored after a while. The next day was supposed to be more interesting. I ate breakfast at the house of his aunt and then got a ride to downtown Mérida... There are three things that are famous from Mérida: Mayan hats, hammacks and special shirts ... read more