Merida - The Capital of Yucatan State

Hello All,

We are in Merida. We arrived on Wednesday. It was once ( 1800´s) said that you could get to Paris easier from here than to Mexico City. And in fact, European influence is much stronger here than other parts of Mexico. They created their own version of the divided, tree lined main blvd of Paris (Champs Elysées) right here in Merida. Funny thing is, its a show place blvd. You go 2 blocks back, and you have the basic, single story Mexican village type structures.

But Merida is a beautiful town, lovely large plaza in the middle of town (Grand Plaza), fun place to stroll at night. And since the day time temperatures reached over 100 Deg F here, its the night time when things come alive.

Yesterday was a day trip to the second most important Mayan ruin site to see in this area. Uxmal, is about an hour drive south of Merida. What an incredible place! Another World Heritage site, this was my favorite so far. Uxmal is in the Puuc hill area, and its architecture is characteristic of the Puuc Hill Mayan region. Beautiful beveled layers, flat facades with intricate frieses, and many carvings. I hope I can capture it with a few pictures.

Its getting hot here now though, so couldn´t stay out in the sun too long.

Driving here in Mexico has been interesting. The Mexican drivers in this region are good drivers, they aren´t crazy fast paced ´weavers´like the Italians or other places in the world. The roads are good and well marked, the main danger is the crazy rules. Any time someone can just park in a lane of traffic. Particularly the police, just stop and open the door!! But all in all its been smooth.

Gotta run, need to beat the heat for today, will be back with you in a few days

Bill

Arrival - Valladolid, a little City in the heart of Mayaland

Hello All,

Well we are here at last. Left at "Ohh- dark 30" on Monday morning. Off to SAN and then to Phoenix then to Cancun. Rented a car in Cancun to head out west over the Yucatan Peninsula. Customs took 1- 1/2 hours, seems agents were off for Easter :( but all in all it went smooth. The first night´s stay was in Valladolid, a small town about 2 hours west of Cancun. Long story about car arrangements, but ended up with a stick shift. No problem until you come to a stop and forget you don´t have an automatic. The car bumps higher than it does on the speed bumps!!

We arrived at our B&B guest house, The Casa Hamaca (hammock) and it was beautiful. (See picture and night time in this small town) Denis Larsen, our host, American from east coast has lived in Valladolid for several years. He has built a wonderful guest house (see píctures in gallery, click here plus more trip pictures) in Valladolid. Enjoyed chatting with Denis and learning more about the area and the Mayans.

Approximately 1.5 million Mayans still speak their native Mayan language. In fact, many only speak Mayan in the small villages! 25 years ago Mexico discouraged speaking Mayan, forced Spanish only, now after about 10 years ago, they encourage native languages, so many are practicing it again; and it´s coming back to life.

Tuesday morning, off to Chichen Itza, a world heritage site and when you see it you will know why. This was the principle town about 900 AD, then Itza people moved in. Then the Toltecs (from near Mexico City) either conquered the city or influenced it through trade and exchange because many Toltec influences are present (so the archaeologits say!)

The El Castillo, is the principle temple and stands out as probably the most famous ancient structure in Mexico. It is impressive. Someone was killed climbing down from the top, so the temple is now closed to climbing.

On Wednesday, left the wonderful hospitality of Denis, and drove about 3 hours west to Merida, after first visiting the site of Ek Balam, the Black Jaguar (in Mayan). This site is rarely visited, and proved to be remarkable. The main tower is one of the tallest in the peninsula, and was a great site ( you could still climb it!) to see what the Yucatan region looks like. the scene from up there is probably the same as it was 1000 years ago.

1/2 way up the tower, was an amazing frescoe that helps you visualize what the Mayan temples looked like when they were built and used. The frescoe shown here was hidden behind a totally bricked in wall, and was discovered about 10 years ago by accident!! Note the 1- 1/2 inch thick stucco plaster covering the rock. This was probably typical of the sites, and in many cases was painted many colors. Look at what shape the carvings are in after 1000 years!

Well hot today, about 100 deg! so will stay inside here in Merida (siesta!) and walk the streets tonight. Thats what they do here! no one is out mid day!

We will be in touch again in a couple of days. I´ll try to have more pictures in my gallery for you to see, just click on the link here in the blog.

Yours in travel,

Bill & Phyllis