Our Mexican Adventure

John’s parents recently visited us during the steamiest week we’ve had this year in Playa del Carmen. (If you don’t believe that it’s not the heat, but the humidity, visit the Yucatan peninsula this summer!) No problem. We’ll just spend lots of time swimming to cool off. Except that, as John’s mom pointed out, they “aren’t really beach people”. Yikes! What do you do in Playa del Carmen when you’re trying to beat the heat, but don’t want to go to the beach? You go to a cenote. But John’s parents had visited a cenote on a previous trip, and that one was enough for them. Yikes! So we enjoyed the natural beauty and culture of the Yucatan peninsula, and sought refuge in air-conditioning and pools when we could.

We started with the natural beauty. After reading our blog entries about the road to Punta Allen (here and here), John’s parents (okay, just his dad) wanted to do the same trip. Except this time, we decided to stay overnight. So we headed off, bright and early, down the Boca Paila road towards Punta Allen. John and Libby were surprised to see how much progress had been made in re-grading the bumpy dirt road. Not so bumpy anymore. John’s mom, on the other hand, found the road to be more of an adventure than she had bargained for. Between the dirt road and the swaying lookout tower along the way, she must have been very relieved to finally arrive in Punta Allen.

At least until she saw our accommodations … simple cabin, more or less on the beach, no A/C, no fan, no breeze (have we mentioned that it’s hot & humid?), mosquito nets over the beds and a not so clean bathroom. Very .. ummm … rustic. After an unremarkable dinner, we had a restless sleep in the incredibly still and humid air. But we were rewarded the next morning with a great boat excursion. We saw turtles, a stingray, dolphins, pelicans, frigates, boobys (the birds, the other kind are more frequently sighted in Playa del Carmen) and various other birds. Mom approved. Then we dropped the parents off at the beach, so that John and Libby could spend some time snorkeling the reef. Although we didn’t see anything special as far as marine life, the coral here was very pristine. It was in much better shape than what we’ve seen around Playa del Carmen, Akumal and Cozumel.

We drove back to Playa del Carmen and spent a full day resting up. We would need it, for the next day, we were heading to Mérida, a city about 3 ½ hours from Playa del Carmen. Unlike the tourist towns of Playa del Carmen and Cancun, Mérida is a real living and working city that just happens to get some tourists who come to enjoy the Spanish colonial architecture and the nightly fiestas in the main plaza. When we arrived, we headed straight for the Anthropology & History Museum on the Paseo de Montejo. The Paseo de Montejo is a wide tree-lined boulevard modeled after the Champs Elysées in Paris. Back in the heyday of sisal production in the Mérida area, many grand homes were built along this area. Most have been beautifully preserved and now house banks and insurance companies, believe it or not.

The Anthropology & History Museum is contained in one of the most beautiful of these old homes. This museum focuses on the history and religion of the Maya people. Upstairs they had a special display of Maya stamps –- clay stones with carved designs which were then dipped into dyes, such as indigo (blue) and achiote (red) for stamping. Libby thought it was really cool.

Next, we took a much needed lunch break in air-conditioned comfort at La Parilla. La Parilla is a chain and has a location in Playa del Carmen. John and Libby have never been there because it’s just way too touristy for us to handle. But at the La Parilla in Mérida, we were the only gringos present. The food was okay, but the most memorable part of the meal came when John ordered Enchiladas Verdes (enchiladas in green sauce) only to get Ensalada Verde (green salad). Note: Need to work on Spanish pronunciation!

After lunch, we checked into our hotel, the Dolores Alba. John and Libby had stayed here before and really enjoyed the respite it offered from the busy city life outside. Last time, we found the pool water a bit too cold, but this time the coolness of the water was much appreciated!

After we cooled off, we headed to Mérida’s Plaza Principal (Main Plaza). The plaza is bordered by the Cathedral, the Municipal Palace (City Hall), the Governor’s Palace, and the Casa de Montejo. These were built with stones from the destroyed Mayan pyramids originally on this site when the Spaniards “founded” Mérida in the 1500s. Apparently, there are some spots where you can see parts of Maya carvings facing out, but we didn’t get a chance to look for these. We visited the Municipal Palace and Governor’s Palace and enjoyed the great art there. We also peeked into the Cathedral while a mass was taking place.

Next, we found a park bench in the plaza and just enjoyed the music, people watching and street food – churros, potato chips, and marquesitas (crunchy crepes filled with edam cheese). Sunday is the day when Mexicans flock to the plazas to eat, socialize, dance and people watch. In Mérida, they have children’s activities during the day (which we missed) and a live band at night for dancing. No one’s embarrassed to dance here! Young and old, skilled or not skilled, they all know how to have a good time. If you’re not in Mérida on a Sunday, don’t worry. There’s a fiesta going on every night of the week.

The next morning, we headed off bright and early again for Hacienda Yaxcopoil. The haciendas of the Yucatan mostly produced sisal, although some were cattle ranches. We had read that this particular hacienda was a restored, working hacienda. What we found is that restored does not necessarily mean brought back to it’s original grandeur. Although the hacienda was not as beautiful and lavish as we might have expected, it was very interesting. We learned a few things from our Spanish-only speaking guide who really tested John and Libby’s Spanish skills. Libby’s head hurt something awful by the end of that tour. Other haciendas have been beautifully renovated and now serve as bed and breakfasts, restaurants and banquet halls, but Yaxcopoil is one of the best for learning about the history of haciendas.

After the hacienda, we moved on to Izamal, known as the Yellow City, because so many of its buildings are painted yellow. We had an awesome Yucatecan lunch at the Kinich restaurant where they make hand-made, stone ground tortillas. These are the best tortillas! Libby is still dreaming about the rellenos negros (turkey, ground pork and hard-boiled egg in a spicy black sauce) she had there.

We had a long drive ahead of us back to Playa del Carmen, but we couldn’t leave Izamal without taking a peek at the famous Franciscan Monastery – painted yellow of course. This is where we met Yosef, the friendly cop who insisted on giving us driving directions and “let” us park on the street. We just needed to give him a little “appreciation” for his help.

The monastery was beautiful, and we were able to see parts of Maya carvings in the stone path leading to the monastery. You guessed it. The Spaniards had destroyed the Maya pyramids here and built the monastery with the Maya stones. Fortunately, two remaining Maya structures still exist in Izamal. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see them. It was back to Playa del Carmen for us. And back to Chicago for John’s parents the next morning. We may have exhausted them, but we hope they had a good time. We know we did.

Punta Allen Pictures
Mérida Pictures

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