Visiting friends in Mexico City
We flew back in to Mexico City for a few days of visiting
with our friends. We were hosted and taken care of beyond any of our
expectations, and enjoyed many delicious meals and great conversations. And I
got the chance to eat all (well, most) of my favourite Mexican dishes!
We were lucky enough to get tickets to accompany our friends
to the Radiohead show that just happened to be on during the week we were there
– an amazing experience to see such a big concert in Mexico City! We also went
out for an afternoon on the boats at Xochimilco, an area known for its system of canals.
We hired a boat for a couple of hours, and floated around the canals drinking
beer and people watching. John also got the opportunity to go out bouldering
with our friend Paco in the mountains north east of Mexico City. Hanging like a monkey is a lot harder
than people can imagine.
Our hosts both work at UNAM, the national public university
of Mexico, a totally free university that has a student population of somewhere
around 350,000. It has its own government and a budget bigger than most of the
states in Mexico. We tagged along with them to the main campus for a couple of
afternoons of sightseeing. The campus covers 40 acres, and includes a huge
ecological park.
Hanging out in hammocks in Merida
Weighing a 24 hour, $100 bus ride against a 1 hour, $130
plane ride from Mexico City to Merida, we saw no reason to take the bus. So we
arrived in Merida in style. Merida is a very pretty colonial city in the south
of Mexico in the state of Yucatan. It is inland about 30km from the coast, so
has the lovely sea air and warm sun. There are more plazas within walking
distance of the centre than you can count, and something happening in them
everyday. We spent most of our time there alternating between the plazas and
the hammocks by the pool at our hostel. It was simply lovely!
Touring some Mayan ruins: Uxmal, Kabah, Chichen Itza
We took one day trip from Merida out to the Uxmal and Kabah
Mayan ruins. These are both older Mayan ruins, and they feature a lot of
well-preserved detailed stone carving, mainly dedicated to the rain god, Chac.
The reason Chac was their primary god was because the Yucatan peninsula is in
the unique position of having neither lakes nor rivers. Their only sources of
fresh water are cenotes (deep water holes in the limestone), which, along with
their reservoir tanks, are mainly replenished by rain. Hence the importance of
a god that brings the rain. Both ruins are fairly small in size (at least what
has been excavated), and are not as frequently visited as Chichen Itza.
Chichen Itza was the last big Mayan ruin that we were
planning to visit. (Copan, in Honduras, being put off until a future trip). It
is divided into two main areas, built in two separate times and in several
architectural styles. The architecture is impressive, particularly when the
details of El Castillo (the main pyramid) are explained. They have the biggest
known ball court in the Mayan world, which is truly gigantic. Chichen Itza has
stone carvings dedicated to Chac, on the older constructions, and to
Queztalcoatl (the feathered serpent god) on the newer buildings. It has gained
an enormous amount of tourist popularity after being placed on the New 7
Wonders of the World list in 2007; so much popularity that the site sees nearly
4,000 visitors on any given day. Along with the visitors come the hundreds
(yes, hundreds) of vendors and hawkers of ceramics, textiles and other tourist
wares. The number of people was fairly overwhelming, although the site is still
worth visiting. It does not, however, have any of the mystical energy or
spiritualism present that was so appealing in Palenque and Tikal.
Enjoying beautiful water adventures in Tulum
We stopped in at the city of Tulum for a couple of days in
order to see the ruins and a cenote. Both ended up being spectacular water
adventures. Tulum the archeological site was thought to be used as a summer
residence and trading site by the Mayans. The ruins themselves are quite small
and worn by the elements. However, the site is almost unnaturally beautiful.
The shades of blue of the Caribbean sea defy description, and one can only
imagine how easy a decision the Mayans had when they chose to wake up to this
view every morning.
After a dip in the ocean at the steps of the ruins (with a
group of 50 bikini-clad 20-year old South Americans), we headed off on our
clunky one-speed rental bikes to the Gran Cenote. This is one of the many
cenotes in the area that are accessible for swimming, snorkeling and exploring.
Walking down into the sinkhole, you leave your stuff on wooden platforms and
hop in the crystal-clear water. There are caves both fully and partially
covered in water, where you can see stalagmites and stalactites, small fish,
and underwater plants. The water is so clean that it is sweet.
Soaking up the sun on Isla Mujeres
We decided to end our 6-month travel adventure by laying on
the beach on Isla Mujeres (just off the coast of Cancun). We spent four whole
days alternating between the beach, the warm Caribbean sea, and hammocks.
Nothing else. It was perfect.
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