The colourful letters of Mexico
The first week of the Mexico journey started in the authentic Chiapas. Now we were driving into the more touristic part of Mexico: Yucatan. No more police wanting to check who we are or where we are going. Two white women in a car apparently isn’t a rare sight anymore.
Campeche
First stop in Yucatan was Campeche. The main attraction is the small and colourful historic center. At night there is a fountain show on the boulevard that attracts both locals and foreigners alike.
Uxmal and Ruuta Puuc
With an early start, we were able to enjoy the Maya ruins of Uxmal and those in the area while avoiding the crowds. At all these places there are numerous guides offering their services. I never cared much for that and much prefer wandering the complex on my own.
Uxmal is the largest Maya ruin at Ruuta Puuc, there are 5 in total. We also made a stop at Kabah (23 km further from Uxmal) and Sayil.
Merida
Having our fair share of stones at Ruuta Puuc, we drove into a Merida. Merida is a bustling city on the West side of Yucatan. From this point I started to notice that more English was being spoken and definitely more travellers around us. We enjoyed spending the afternoon and evening, window shopping, trying some food and just absorbing the atmosphere.
Izamal
Between Merida and Chichen Itza, it’s worth it to have quick stop at Izamal. The town has a small center but all the buildings are painted in bright yellow. A photogenetic place that is an interesting short visit.
Chichen Itza
It’s 20 March, the day of the equinox and thousands of people come to visit Chichen Itza on this day to view the shadow serpent emerge at 16:00 hours. We were surrounded by so many people, it felt like going to a concert. In time I found a nice spot to get a front row view of this spectacle.
See the shadow serpent slowly emerge on the side of the stairs in an hour. Yes, you do need a bit of imagination.
Selfie with the crowd behind me
Cenotes, Ik Kil and Dzinup
This area of Mexico has plenty of cenotes. A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater.
It’s truly magical to swim in the water of these underground pits. The time of visiting does make a huge difference in sharing the space with hordes of people, or in the early morning having it all to yourself.
Ik Kil we visited in the afternoon. A beautiful place, but tons of people around us jumping in the water.
Dzinup we visited when it opened at 08:00 hours, and being the only ones to float around. Dzinup even has 2 cenotes in one venue.
Cenote Ik Kil
Floating alone in the Dzinup cenote
Coba
The last historic sight on the list is Coba. After the first exploration area we encountered a bunch of bicycle taxis, I refused and figured we could walk the sights on our own. After a 20 minute walk, we were more than happy that an empty bike taxi crossed our path. Yes please! We would love to ride with you. For 250 pesos he brought us to all the sights, patiently waiting at all ruins.
We’re overjoyed with our bike taxi
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