Todo fue perfecto en Yucatán

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Day 1: Entering Mexico

Happy tgiving! Thu morning. Passport check, camera check, Sonoma wine check. A flight to Mérida, Mexico via Houston took off ~noon. This time, I am tagging along Carlos for his niece’s wedding in Mérida. Mérida is the capital of Yucatán state and it’s located 3hrs west of Cancún, facing the Gulf of Mexico. At this point, I’ve seen a glimpse of Mérida in telenovelas :p So far serene and well-maintained decent-size neighborhood. Although I have technically “been” to Mexico, I’d say this would be my first time there. I don’t think la avenida revolución counts. A flight to Houston was…pretty much passed out as usual. Although we had 1hr layover, the next gate was 2 gates down and it went super smooth! From Houston, flight was only 2hrs to Mérida. After another quick nap, we were already back on the ground. The airport was tiny. After the usual immigration drill, we came to the final stage of entrance to Mexico - the button. After clearing the custom, each person goes through a Russian roulette. Press the button, if you get a green light, you get to go. If you get a red light though, your luggage needs to be inspected.

Carlos, his brother-in-law and I headed to get a rental car. There, Carlos whipped his magic and the mini Nissan turned into a shiny black Mercedes for a same price 😄 By the time we arrived at Carlos’ sister Jenina’s house, it was ~11p, just in time to squeeze in the turkey 😄. After a short stay, we retreated to the hotel, passed out.

Day 2: La Ruta Puuc - so much to tell

Despite late night, Carlos and I hit the road by 9:30a. Destination, Uxmal, a fairly large Mayan ruin ~1hr south of Mérida. When we arrived at 10:30a, there was hardly anybody there. We sat down for breakfast at a restaurant in the park. Btw, there is almost nothing along the way, not even traffic, just your car, green and endless road. At the restaurant, the waiter told us that the breakfast was over (at 10:30am?!?!) and gave us the dinner menu full of grilled meat etc. Uhhhh, nope. So they agreed to give us a continental breakfast with coffee and fruits, pheew. I’m so glad cuz I needed that coffee, especially with that crema!! Am I just deprived of milk that tastes like milk or what? The waiter was pretty talkative. As we (ok, I mean Carlos) chatted along, he ended up giving us the plan for the rest of the day. We were going to take it as we went but he helped to make the day concrete. He highly recommended “Luz y sonido (light and sound)” show at Uxmal when the pyramids are lit up. What we were to do until the night show? No problem, he had it all figured out - Loltún cave. Perfect. Also while we were eating, a guide came along and offered us a discounted guide. Good to be there in a low season. After 3 cups of coffee with yummy crema, we met up with the guide and headed to the ruin. For my training purpose, the guide was conducted in Spanish, sweet.

The guide was a jolly Mayan descendent. He explained the history with jokes here and there…some corny but likable 😊 But above all, I was happy that I understood him! The guide was interesting. He explained the motifs on the buildings, significance of the number of entrance, height of the building to name a few. Everything was carefully calculated and directed toward the hope for rain. Yucatán’s water source is underground - i.e. there is no river. Civilization developed around Cenotes, a natural well of underground water. Especially in Uxmal, there was no Cenote and needless to say that rain played a critical critical role. Chac is the rain god and he was THE god.

After ~2hrs of exploring Uxmal, we headed to Loltún cave via Ticul. My guide book listed a restaurant in Ticul as one of Top 10 of all Yucatán - definitely going. Supposedly it was right by the plaza. We asked a few people and they all seemed shaky but gave us some kind of direction nonetheless. After going around the plaza in circles a few times, we parked the car and started walking. We were pretty sure we were so close but just couldn’t see the restaurant. We gave up. Went into a hotel and asked the front desk lady. She calmly told us that the restaurant moved out of downtown…what?! Rrrrr, no wonder. Enough, forget it. We got back in the car. Next destination, Loltún cave. Ok, wait, which way? We must have asked like 3 people and they all made it sound like the road was right there. This became a common theme here. It could have been just me but they were like authoritatively giving directions that they don’t know about. Maybe they were right and we just didn’t get it...? In the end, we went with our gut feeling and suddenly, bam, there it was, the restaurant that moved!!! Good restaurant and need of direction, an obvious pit stop, although it was cutting close to the last tour at the cave. Carlos and I shared Pollo Pibil. It is marinated meat wrapped in banana leaf cooked underground. The dish had a strong kick of banana leaf. Later, I heard that this is eaten Sun mornings. Here, the salsa came with chili on the side. Things are not spicy by default.

Back on the road, this time straight to the cave because we were cutting close to the last call. We were doing fine…until a Y-intersection. There were signs with names none of which were on the map!!! Which way??? We were staring at the map desperately hoping to find some clue. Shortly after, a pick-up truck pulled over. I guess a shiny black Mercedes in the middle of nowhere could have stood out a bit :p A father and son (so they seemed) pair said “oh, it’s this way, we’re going that way. At the next turn, we’ll go left but you guys will have to go right. Follow us!”, in a nutshell. In reality, they went into great details with estimated distance etc. So nice. We followed them to the next intersection. They got off again and described once again, made sure we know how to get to the cave.

When we arrived at the entrance of the cave, it was right at 4p and people were on their way out. Did we arrive on time? Uhhhh…ok, just park, and you, young lady will have to get off and buy the ticket now. It turns out that the guide (Cave is accessible only with the guide) was on his way out but graciously agreed to squeeze in the final visitors of the day. Yippy, thank you!!! The cave is ginormous - it’s ~2km walk in the darkness. It’s where the Mayans lived and underground water used to flow. Impressive.

A side note - on the way to the cave, we ran into a ranch or house where bunch of SWAT-looking guys were, with face mask and machine guns, just like in the novelas. Carlos asked the cave guide what that was about. He said that was probably a narco, crazy.

Outside was getting dark at the end of the cave walk and it was time for us to go back to Uxmal for the night show. There was a line at the entrance for a good seat. Once the door opened, we had to walk a bit to the plaza. Carlos and I were not so obnoxious about getting the front row and we calmly sat down in the second row. Shortly after though, 2 people right in front of us moved somewhere else so we ended up in the first row. We had just been so lucky today! The show lasted about 45min with stories of Maya accompanied with colorful lights on the buildings near and far. Very nice.

Returned to Mérida ~9pm. There, some of us were planning to go to the fair - the largest in Yucatán! The initial info was that it was in Mérida and you won’t miss it once you get close cuz it’s so big. Sure. First, we stopped by the gas station. The guy told us something which got us outside the city. When we reached the security point, we knew we went too far and made the U. Sketch. After the U, the security loaded, yes, he loaded his machine gun and approached us, asking us what the issue was. We just want to get to the fair, officer. He graciously gave us the direction. By the time we reached the fair, it was past 11p! It was like a fairground and indeed hard to miss. But it was sort of out in the boonies… Fair was like the usual - rides, booths, arcades etc. etc. etc. The only difference was that it was going to be open all night - that’s the spirit!!!

Day 3: La boda!

Tonight was the wedding day of Gina, Carlos’ niece, and we were going to check out Mérida during the day. We had nice buffet with Rosita, Francois and Mathias and all of us headed into downtown Mérida. We walked around Plaza Mayor and Mercado. There were hordes of people. With sidewalk just wide enough to fit one person, it was rough.

We had to get ready to be at the house ~4p. From there, we went to the Hacienda, where the reception was going to be, for the photo session. Hacienda was huge and gorgeous, like a palace. Yucatán had major plantation of henequen, a plant used to make ropes etc. There are haciendas throughout leaving the reminiscence of the flourishing time. The wedding party moved to the church and at ~7p, the ceremony started. It was very somber, religious and beautiful. The ceremony lasted ~1hr and we all moved to the hacienda for the reception. Let the party begin!

The reception started by wining and dining. The tables were setup on both sides of the stage where the live bands and DJ played awesome mix. The stage extended to a stone gate which housed the wedding cake and meringues. Rays of light illuminated the cake and it was breath-taking! Party toys everywhere all through the night and it went until 5am - that’s what I’m talking about.

Day 4: Recuperation

It was so hard to wake up but it was already 11a and had to suck it up. At 2p, there was going to be a follow-up luncheon at Jenina's house. 20 some family and friends gathered, all in need of recuperation from yesterday. As customary, we were treated with yummy ceviche and chicharron - crispy pork skin mixed a la salsa, mmmm. Before it got dark, Carlos and I hit the road to check out Progreso, a beach 30min north of Mérida. It was off season...too cold for the locals...rrrr spoiled!! It was quiet with a pier lined up w fishing ppl. Sun set shortly after and we hit the road back to Mérida. Stopped by Jenina's and retreated early to get more much needed sleep :p

Day 5: Adventure part deux

Well rested and we were able to hit the road by 8a. After much thought, we chose Valladolid to be the destination for the day. As there was not much info on the city, we really didn't know what to expect. We arrived at 9:30. A sunny gorgeous day. We stopped by a tourist office and got a recommendation for the bfast. We crossed the plaza to las campanas for more cafe con leche/crema (at least for me :p). After 3 cups, we headed out to a Cenote, which is located smack in the middle of downtown! It was pretty huge too, with a jungly look. In the pool, we saw bunch of fishies and even a turtle! From there, we headed further west to a convent. The walk was very pleasant through quiet and well-maintained streets. It was a hot day, hovering around 30C, and totally loving it 😄

We arrived at the convent but it was closed. Supposedly, there is another cenote right in there. At that point, we were craving some frozen stuff and I needed to hit the potty… We went across the convent and found a video store slash cafe. They didn’t have ice cream or bathroom. But! The lady said I can go to the back, a home, and use the bathroom. Awww, thank you!!! While I was taking care of my business, Carlos was chatting with the lady. It turns out; he was getting tips from her as to where to go next. Right then, we had our day set 😄 We picked up the frozen sweets and left the town.

Next stop: Ek-Balam, a Mayan ruin just outside of Valladolid. A short walk from the parking lot took us to the ruin. Many structures were still buried but there were enough excavated and there was one ginormous pyramid!! We had a great 360-degree view from the top. We walked around everywhere in this ruin, hiked around the pyramid and up on all possible structures 😄 Just when we were checking out the last few structures, hordes of tourists flocked the site. Looked like we just missed them, sweet. Also, thunder was in the area but we avoided the storm too. Perfect.

It was passed 4pm and we were ready to hit Temozón, which was a town known for carne ahumada, recommended by the lady from Valladolid. In fact, there were place after place that served carne ahumada while going through the town. We picked El restaurante familiar. The restaurant had local customers - a good sign 😊 First thing first, the waiter brought us ice cold beer in frost glass. Sol for me. Ahhhhhhhh, one of the best sip of beer I’ve tasted in years, probably since Bud light (yes, believe you me) after my first half dome hike. After walking all day in 30C weather, beer went down like water and the order for the seconds followed immediately 😄 Along with the beer came chips and munchies including potato mush salsa flavored with longaniza, carne ahumada a la lime and cilantro, pickled onion and mini meat patties, yummm! Shortly after, much awaited and deserved plates arrived - carne ahumada and longaniza!! Soooo yummy and tasty 😄 Last but not least tortilla a manoooo!!! I’ve been so longing for this hand-shaped corn tortilla ever since the Guatemala trip. Believe it or not, it tastes completely different from machine pressed version. It’s tastier and chewier. もちもちっとしてるのよね。

Ahhh so satisfied 😊 We said good-bye to this wonderful region and made our way back to Mérida. We spent the last night at Jenina’s house. Hopefully, Carlos was able to squeeze the last moments with his family 😊 9am flight took off to SFO via Houston. All went smooth just like the entire trip 😄

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Photos

Uxmal
Plaza withe the guide

Uxmal
From the top of the observatory pyramid

Uxmal
A perspective shot

Santa Elena
Un pueblocito cerca de Uxmal

Feria
Platanos asados...mmmm

Feria
Empanadas

Feria
Nacho Libre

Feria
Dulces :p~

Cathedral
Mérida

Plaza Mayor
Row of shoe shiners

Awww
Gina y Beto