After a great visit to Guadalajara, we flew east across the country to the Yucatán peninsula starting in Mérida. Our plan was to spend a week in Mérida, then move on to Valladolid for the weekend where we would spend a day visiting the ruins at Chichén Itzá. Then we would travel to the Mayan coast and Tulum before returning by bus to Mérida.
Mérida was hot but a much more interesting city than we expected. Still the city, as with most of the larger cities in Mexico, had classic architecture, tree-lined boulevards and plenty of restaurants and cafes. It was hot when we were there, so when walking we had to work hard to find the shady spots.
We were able to build into our schedule only one specific day to visit Chichén Itzá. We would take the bus to Valladolid and the next day take the short bus ride to the ruins. On our bus trip to Valladolid from Mérida, we passed through the parking lot for Chichén Itzá. I decided to check the website to see if we could buy advance tickets online. Shockingly, we discovered that Chichén Itzá would be closed for exactly one day - the day we planned to visit! In the long run, it was closing for a very important reason. On that day, they were announcing a new excavation plan and the president of Mexico would be visiting the site. Too bad for us.
We have learned in our over ten months of steady traveling that sometimes you get thrown a curve. You can moan and groan about it for a bit, but then you need to get back in the saddle and move on to the next adventure. That is what we did.
Photos from Mérida. Some wonderful furniture pieces. The little chihuahua had such an impact that his photo made its way into my forthcoming book, The Unlikely Twins and More Stories.
Valladolid was not much more than a speck and equally as hot as Mérida. It did not have much to offer except for one very interesting site. The old convent had, as many are, converted into a museum. Each night the city displayed a narrated history of the convent and the pueblo replete with a very impressive light show.
More coffee and Isa meets another statue.
Onward to Tulum and then back to Mexico City.
When we visited Chichèn Itzà (dubbed "Chicken Pizza" by our fellow BHS grad Logan McNatt) I got so hot my face and arms stayed beet red for 3 hours while I lolled in a nearby Club Med pool drinking iced tea and trying to cool off. We also had some near misses I'll email you--too long a story to post in comments. Keep traveling and sharing your stories with us!
What a lovely series, Ed. Isa meets the best of well dressed statues.
Janice