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Published: December 1st 2008
I had a relaxing breakfast this morning before heading out to explore Merida. I went to check out some of Francisco Castro Pacheco’s paintings at Palacio del Gobierno. Most of them were about Mayans and the Spanish conquistadors. By this time many food vendors were setting up around the periphery of the main plaza. Nothing looked very appealing to me. I wandered around aimlessly for a bit and there were so many churches all holding mass at the same time! I walked through the local mercado before heading back to the hotel; it sells mostly fruit, vegetables, sweets and leather. Some of the stalls were still selling Day of the Dead leftover sweets. Bees and flies were having a feast on them.
Some of us decided to go on our tour leader’s swimming tour of Mexico and visit a few other cenotes. We stopped by to pick up some stuff to make our lunch before taking a collectivo to Cuzama and ultimately Chunkanun. The major industry here used to be rope making from the local sisal plants (or was it heinekin?) but the factory was destroyed by a hurricane and with the growth of synthetic material it never re-opened. We
Merida
one of Pacheco's paintings in Palacio del Gobiernotook truks, or horse-drawn carts that run along railroad tracks used for transporting sisal to the factory to the cenotes. There has been extensive work done to make them more accessible. I gathered enough courage to go swimming in the first one although I didn’t venture too far. The second one was way deep so I decided to skip it. The third one was a bit too far and the access was just a small hole in the ground so we didn’t go. One of the truk drivers showed us the traditional way of making rope and everyone got a little sisal rope bracelet as a souvenir. On the way back we took tricycle taxis. It would have been fun to see if I would power the tricycle all the way back to Cuzama.
We had dinner at a restaurant called Amaro, where Quintana Roo was born. The state Cancun is in was named after him. I think I had chicken with mole sauce and a rice almond drink called Horchata.
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