Mision Merida

... Day 4
We leave at 5:00 am Tulum! And we arrived in Merida at 10 AM, walked the streets with buildings from 18th century at calle 60. We went to the municipal market, and we bought several fruits and of course freshly made tortillas.
We leave Merida 05:00 pm and went to Santa Elena.

... down hand built wooden staircases. The last one we had to climb down a 40 foot ladder. Looking down into the hole, you couldn't even see the bottom! It was definately a bit scary.



The water was crystal blue and it was eerily quiet in these caves. There was a large tree at the top of the cave entrance, and its roots hung all the way to the water, 100 feet below!

... per Cittā del Messico, non sapendo dove andare ci siamo diretti verso la costa sul Golfo. Progreso č una cittadina assolutamente insignificante, non ha particolari attrattive turistiche, il mare sul golfo č scuro, niente a che vedere con la costa caraibica; un paese messicano di messicani. Abbiamo trovato un posto per dormire veramente tristanzuolo, dopo una passeggiata nella via principale abbiamo deciso che non c'era molto altro da fare e ci siamo ritirati!

... hostel recommended (a colorful small size, for 12.5 Euros). To go back to the hostel I had to cross the central place in front of the church (same configuration as in Campeche) so I decide to go slow and take some picture. Some street sellers were waiting for prays in the shadows like lionesses in high grass. To protect myself I told them I already got one, showing the bag. At 1st all went went, but an old veterent came to me and found my weak ...

... for about half an hour and felt like we were back in a city. Mérida is the capital of the Yucatan State and is full of old colonial architecture, narrow streets, broad central plazas, and beautiful churches. And we discovered, many of the streets are one-way, as we had to go around the block a few times to get into the carpark for our hotel. The hotel was great - it was built around the courtyard and pool and our room was on the top floor (only three floors, no skyscrapers in ...

... to $840 pesos for 2 hammocks. The same ones I had purchased for far more two days earlier. *Fist shake* I did however try out the hammock again, and don't regret how much I paid for it, because it is so comfortable that I will find somewhere to keep it inside so I can use it whenever I want. We said our goodbyes as I was leaving the next morning and Marald was headed to Playa del Carmen along with me. And made our way back to the hostel to get some sleep. Up next: Homecoming

... back down was a bit scary - lots of weaving back and forwards so that you didnīt feel as though you were going to fall off. Once back on ground, the next challenge was to walk - the ascent was fairly steep and the thigh muscles were creaking alot!! Then it was back on the road. This time we were able to get onto the tool road that allowed D to drive at 110 km/hr. He was a happy boy! (The īregularīroads have extremely slow speed limits, but due to ...

... seen down mines along some narrow rails at reasonable speed considering the rickety state of both the rails and the truck! We jump on one of the carts and it trots back in the direction it has come (only one track) surrounded by vegetation and trees the horse has to trot between the rails. Shortly we stop and are pointed out some steps and told 30mins. We climb down from the bright sunshine to the coolness of the cave, and the under ground water glistens in the light ...

... of paintings to represent the interaction between the Spanish and Mayans that now hang in the town hall and are very impressive to look at. With the benefit of also having explanations in english (and the mayan language - which looks very strange!) I spent some time checking them out. There's not much more in Merida. The central plaza, surrounded by large Spanish style buildings, is interesting ...

After settling in, doing the grocery shopping, taking in the beautiful beach right at our front door, it was time to go and do some exploring. We decided to start with the nearby villages; one of these is Chicxulub. Chicxulub's claim to fame is that it resides in a crater created 65 million years ago when an asteroid hit the earth. The asteroid (or comet) that produced the Chicxulub crater ...