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The tour took 10 days in August 2003.

Backpacking Tour: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala

Thomas Driemeyer
2005-10-17 14:27:25

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MEXICO

2.8. Merida is one of the two cities in Yucatan with a convenient international airport. (The other is Cancun, but that's a tourist ghetto.) I arrived in Merida late at night, and I didn't feel like exploring the bus system so I simply walked up to the taxi booth and had them deposit me at the Nomadas Hostel for 110 pesos. (10 pesos are about 1 Euro.) The hostel manager didn't remember my reservation but he found a bed for me anyway. It's a really noisy place, but I had earplugs. I like to begin tours like this in hostels because there are people there who can give recommendations and warnings. Sometimes there are people who go in the same direction, but not this time.

3.8. I started the day by taking the bus from the Noreste bus terminal to Mayapan, a quiet small cluster of Maya ruins an hour and a half south of Merida. The sun is really hot, and I brought sunblock and plenty of purified bottled water. (Tap water is dangerous in Mexico.) After an hour or so, I stopped a bus back to Merida, after an uncomfortably hot wait at the side of the highway. I spent the rest of the day walking around Merida. It was sunday, and they had a festival with booths and dancing around the main square at the cathedral. Downtown is a grid of streets with old low buildings, most of which need a fresh coat of paint. Streets west of the main square are generally better maintained than east. The main street is Calle 60 for a few blocks north and south of the cathedral, with many restaurants and shops. At the end of the day, after a brief thunderstorm, the whole city was soaked in the most soft yellowish pink light, just before the sun went down in a blaze of colors, like in the picture (1).

4.8. The next morning I took a first-class bus to Chichen Itza. Arrive at least 45 minutes early, the ticket line can be very long and seats can run out. I had reserved a room at the Hotel Alba the day before, using ...