Mérida - unbearable heat

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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 made of material that can handle the heat. The Mayan hats are unique because they absorb the sweat and you can wring them out like a piece of cloth. The hammacks are of high quality and I even tried to sleep in one but, damn it, I am not used to sleep on my back and when I wanted to turn on my stomack I almost fell out of the hammack.

Mérida is definately a rich city. They have here one street called Prolong Montejo which is dotted with the finest car salons like Mercedes, BMW, Toyota you name them. Everywhere nice and clean, one could think this is USA not Mexico. This Prolong Montejo turns then into Paseo Montejo and my eyes couldn't believe what I saw. Big palaces and mansions of the finest architecture along a wide boulvard! I am not kidding you! I felt like being in Europe somewhere in France or Italy maybe.

At the end of the Paseo Montejo you enter the so called old town of Mérida and the good story ends. Norrow, dirty streets with massive traffic. The sidewalks are so tiny that barely two persons can walk comfortably. And of course the pollution of all the old buses and cars mixed with an unbearable heat of almost 40°C (104 Fahrenheit).

However, despite all this dirtyness there was one street called Calle 60 which bore some nice houses and interesting buildings. First there was the old church Iglesia de Jesus completely build of white limestone . Then the enormous Teatro Peon Contreras built in classicism style I believe. Just next to it was the main building of University of Yucatan and further down the street one could see the actual heart of the city. The almighty Plaza Grande!

This square is truely the "El Centro" of the city and a very nice place to spend some time. There are plenty of trees and benches and the entire square is surrounded by the most important building in the city. First of all, there is the enormous cathedral. Apparently one of the oldest in Americas built in 1598. The Spaniards constructed it using the stones of former Mayan temple so sometimes you can see Mayan symbols imbedded into the walls.

To the left of the cathedral and on the south side of Plaza Grande there is the Casa Montejo. As you already might have noticed the name "Montejo" is widely used in Mérida. The reason is that Montejo was the name of the Spanish conquistadores who razed the Mayan city T'ho and founded Mérido in its place.

Opposite the cathedral at the other side of the square is the City Hall. Very nice red building with a small tower and some exhibitions inside. Finally at the north side is the governor's Palace with a nice courtyard and some beautiful paintings upstairs depicting the history of Yucatan.

All of this sightseeings I visited during one day by temperatures reaching 38/40 degrees! My skin burnt despite putting tons of sunscreme on it. My head ached of sunstroke and I drunk something like 2 liters of water. I was a dead man when I arrived back home. By the way, I couldn't find the place of Alan. All the houses in the neighbourhood look for me the same and as my limited Spanish was of not big help I wandered for a while around till I found the right street.

For the next day: "No city center" I said to myself. Alan recommended to me: "Why don´t you visit the ruins of Dzibilchaltun and take a swim in the cenote?" I admit the word "cenote" had an big impact on me. "You mean nice, cool water I can jump into?" "Yes, my friend!" he answered. "We can bring you there next morning and you can spend there half a day or so...". Of course I like the idea a lot.

The ruins of Dzibilchaltun are not as famous as Chichen Itza, Tulum or Uxmal. But the were the closest to Mérida and I was keen on plumping into the refreshing water of a cenote. It took us only couple of minutes by car to get there. By the way, the infrastructure in Méride is superb. They have an highway ring surrounding the city, also a high speed road leading to the port city of Progreso.

Dzibilchaltun is located 17km north of Mérida in the middle of the jungle. The ruin complex is not huge but there are some notable remains. I got there by 9.30 am ate breakfast with some local bus drivers (very funny guys, by the way) and then headed for the ruins around 10 am. Already on the way there I could feel that the day won't be less hot than yesterday. After visiting few of the ruins and taking some pictures I was eager to jump into the refreshing waters of the cenote.

By the noise of some teenagers I could easily locate the cenote. The sinkhole wasn't big but its clear water was very inviting. The Mexican teenagers were already taking a bath. I didn't think twice but quickly removed my clothes and joined them. What a great feeling that was when my sweat-saoked body indulged in this godly cool and refreshing waters! I could spend there hours if not days!

Getting back from the cenotes wasn't an easy undertaking. There was no colectivos that could bring me back to Mérida. I had to catch a local bus, which first would round all the small villiges around Mérida before entering the actual city.

For the evening a dinner with the entire family of Alan was planned. We went downtown and sat in one of the cheapest locals. A bird shitted on me while I was eating supa de lima. And a pitbull run into our table while chasing a cat. One of the cousins of Alan was knocked off his chair by the crazy dog. Thank god nothing happened to me but the whole situation was quite scary. You don't believe how powerfull a pitbull can be. Not only he bumped into our table knocking the poor cousin off his chair but also was dragging his owner behind. Truly grotesque picture.

So that was my last day in Mérida. A city that impressed me by her architecture and the unbearable heat! It was about time to make my way further south. The city of Campeche shall be my next stop over.

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Photos

Mérida
Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo

Comments

[Berenice]

hola Robertoooooo !!! hope u'll enjoy Mexico !!! Make it safe and have a lot of fun ! We'll see U in Cancun when u come back. xXx