Hello again all,
Left Merida on Friday, and went to a small ruin site north of town that morning. Dzibilchaltun, is unique in that it has existed from about 1000 BC to the conquest in the 1500's. Its not much of a site compared to others, but interesting history with an amazing museum of local artifacts. Right in the middle of the ruin was a cenote. Cenotes are sink holes, that have developed from the collapse of underground caves after many years and water from underground streams have filled them. They are constantly refreshed from moving underground water. They served as the water holes for these ancient cities and were a center of activity. Today the locals love to swim in them. One is pictured here.
We traveled a bit west and visited a hacienda - Hacienda Teya, just out of Merida. Hillary Clinton visited this one some years back. Haciendas were the huge ranch homes of the wealthy Spanish back in the 1800´s. They are similiar to our plantation homes in the south. Many have been converted to upscale hotels and restaurants. They raised Henequen, a sort of sisal material used for hats, clothing. But henequen is a relative to the aguave plant...and so its principal use was for distilling Tequila!! but due to trademark reasons, they can´t call it tequila!!
On to the small city of Izamal, where we stayed. This is the "Yellow town". The whole place is painted yellow!! everywhere you go. Its a cute little town. Enjoyed the local market, sitting in the town square and eating a peeled orange from the local vendor. They offered to put chile on the orange (usual treat), I chickened out. The main feature of the town was the Convento de San Antonio de Padua. Convent, a meaning different than we are used to, meant a place for the priests to stay. I was built by Franciscan Landa in 1562, geez that was a long time ago. He was an incredible historian, and much of what we have learned about Mayan history and the conquest years we owe to him. Pope John Paul II visited here in 1993. I can´t imagine the fanfare in this little town.
The place we stayed was a cute little B&B just out of downtown, run by two Americans. A big jungle lot, with bungalows all over and a rock bottom pool. Had a nice breakfast in the main palapa, with free wireless Internet :)
Well, we are now in Cancun. About a 3 hour drive east from Izamal, and we are at last in tourist city. I can´t believe this place. Take the Las Vegas strip, stretch it out in a single file row of hotels right on a beach with the most beautiful blue, warm water and you have Cancun. I think I heard it has some 24,000 rooms here. Prices are high and the action is big. Table dancing at Senior Frogs in the middle of it all (no, we didn´t do that :)
It's quite a contrast, from the little Mexican villages we have visited up to now, but it serves the locals. Incredible number of service jobs.
Hey somebody has to do it, serve the tourist industry..right_
Well tomorrow we have the car one more day, so will be off to visit Tulum and the Maya Riviera coast.
Yours in Travel
- Bill
