Mexico Easter 2003 - Part 4: Chichen Itza and Merida

7th April 2003 - Merida and the ruins of Chichen Itza

I woke up with a start, early, like Tosh and went to jump into the pool because it was so damned hot! I got some nice fruits and milk in my belly for breakfast. We were packing up and sorting the stuff out to leave Piste, I stuck my middle fingers up at all the scavenging cats and dogs at this campsite, always hanging around like vultures. Got into the van, drove demon-fashion through tropical Mexican forest - haciendas and lone families appearing on occasion - it seemed very poor where these things existed. We were on the road to Chichen Itza. Got stopped and searched by a Mexican Army checkpoint, probably just for their kicks. Luckily they didn’t ask for passports because Bonnie didn’t get her visa stamped at Cancun - something to be sorted out at the immigration office in Merida. But right now, she was an illegal alien!

We got to Chichen Itza, muy bien, a fantastic site of relics. We luckily got there early to avoid the massive tourist crowds later. The Central Pyramid of the ruler of this Mayan City had steps very high and distant from each other. For this reason, there was a rope and visitors scared of heights were told not to try to climb it as it was pretty high at the top! But the view was awesome. The Mayan ruler could have seen all four corners of his city and the entirety of the jungle around from the 4 vantage points. I walked a little around Chichen Itza and the lake further away and enjoyed a coke before escaping the heat back for the van. I bought and haggled for a fine ceramic carving of a red Mayan sundial and a carved statue of a Mayan God [which broke when I came back to England].

Tourist numbers were getting bigger and we left and drove towards Merida where we checked into a little Hotel Mucuy. A lot of Meridas visitors have been lured away by the beach-blessed Cancun, and I felt sorry because Merida looked like a hot, vibe-rocking sort of a social Mexican town. Got there lunchtime, so we all went for lunch at a “real” Mexican by the Plaza Centro.

I had lusciously flavoured Pol Poc chicken and lots of beer as usual, which goes down really nice in the wet heat of Merida. This was followed by a quick session at an internet cafe with Bonnie and Tosh and we had the whole afternoon to amble around Merida, and amble is what we did! So me, Tosh and Bonnie walked around intending to get lost, but we had a map. I had an awesome time at the handicrafts mercado, wiping away sweat while trying to charm a lovely lady to reduce a traditional sisal Mexican shirt to 160 pesos. We almost got lured into this clever trap of buying a hammock for US$150 by a one-legged Mayan boyo who made us follow him into “his friend’s” shop after seeing the sisal shirt I had on. It was mad, people all making noise, everyone digging into their share of their daily life, but still in that laid back Mexican style. We had enough of the heat, so the three of us went to a balcony restaurant overlooking the zocolo to consume beers, and then more.

By 6 we all met up at the square, moved our bags into the hotel, and got readied to go out to a Mexican-Italian restaurant on the Plaza Centro. There I had a nice chicken fajita and we talked late. Then a lot of us wanted to keep the night going in town.

We went to Pancho’s - where the drinks were expensive and Mexican hombres in big sombreros showed off the usual flaming coffee tricks to the bemusement of big-eyed tourists. No live music here, so tired as I was, I headed back, I had another pina colada and settled down to sleep under a lameass fan in our hot room. As usual, I was sharing with Tosh, and we entertained a nice suggestion that Sybren had. I bent the blades of the fan so that they would shift more air on each circle, hopefully keeping us cooler. Someone will eventually do it, so who cares about damages?! I slept very well, well who isn’t going to in a clean hotel room under the warm stars of Merida with tropical fruits heavy in the air? But my stomach wasn’t feeling solid, some Pepto-Bismols did the trick.

A little dog with a ludicrous afro occupied the lobby of the Mucuy. It always looked pretty stoned.