For the second year in a row, we’ve called Mérida our home for a couple of months, so we really feel like we’ve come to know this place. Our hood of choice this time around has been Barrio Santiago, one of our favourite barrios in Mérida, a tightly packed grid of hot dusty streets that…
Hacienda Heaven
Just outside of Izamal is the glorious Hacienda Sacnicté, a beautifully restored 18th Century henequen (agave fibre or sisal) plantation that’s been converted into a small boutique hotel. We’re here for Ants’ birthday treat – and what a treat. The Hacienda has 10 luxurious (but astonishingly affordable) suites all with cathedral ceilings, original colonial features, four-poster…
Return To Izamal, La Ciudad Amarilla
We were in Izamal for the first time just over a year ago. One year later and we’re just as a captivated by the glowing yellow colonial architecture, the tranquil atmosphere (the lack of tourists post-Easter), the hot dusty narrow streets and, in particular, Restaurante Kinich, one of the best restaurants in the region. I’ve…
The Destruction Of The City Of T’ho
By the time the conquistadores arrived in the Yucatan in 1541, the ancient Mayan city of T’ho had been long abandoned save for around 1000 people still living in the area. According to one Spanish account at the time, “A small village of Mayan Indians settled in thatched and wooden huts and the remains of…
Semana Santa en Mérida
One thing you won’t see in Mérida over Easter, or anywhere in Mexico for that matter, are Easter bunnies (maybe in Walmart) or Easter egg hunts – here, there are two things that dominate the period of Semana Santa (Holy Week): religion (of course) in this deeply Catholic country, and food – the fattier and…
Labná – In The Footsteps Of Stephens & Catherwood
Just another 8 or so kilometres down the Ruta Puuc from Sayil and you come across yet another wonder of the ancient Maya world, Labná, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This temple complex was built in the late and terminal classic era and has a date of 862 AD (but using the Mayan calendar) inscribed…
Sayil – Place Of The Ants
A further 9 kilometres along the Ruta Puuc and you come across the Mayan temple complex of Sayil, with the same dusty carpark, empty of cars and people! Once again, we were the only ones there at this site, so free to roam these wonderous structures at will. Sayil is a Classic Maya site, built…
Kabáh – Lord Of The Strong Hand
Travelling through the dense jungle along the hilly Ruta Puuc, the first of our four Mayan sites of the day, Kabáh, presented itself suddenly to either side of the road. We drove into a dusty car park with a small ramshackle ticket office, paid our 70 pesos entry and then wandered off into the site…
La Ruta Puuc, Yucatán
La Ruta Puuc (the Puuc Route, “puuc“ in Maya meaning hills or mounds) in the Yucatán jungle packs a lot of adventure into one day, as there are major Mayan cities, temples and pyramids every few kilometres. Our trusty driver, José Luis, picked us up from the casa at 8.30am, negotiated the downtown traffic, and…
Domingo en el Barrio
The bells ring out early from the nearby churches of Santa Lucia and the Parroquia de Santiago which are packed with devoted locals all Sunday morning. Dawn breaks to the song of White-Winged Doves which have an endless cooing call that sounds like ‘who cooks for you?’ https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/4038 The great-tailed grackles also start up early and…