Lauren –
The drive from Bacalar to our next stop Valladolid was easy and beautiful. We had both been a little apprehensive about driving in Mexico, but needn’t have worried at all. The roads are well maintained and safe (except for the huge almost invisible speed bumps on the highways)!
Valladolid would be our home for the next 3 days. It is a small colonial town in the centre of the state of Yucatan and the perfect base to explore the surrounding cenotes and ancient Mayan ruins.
I was particularly looking forward to this part of our road trip as we were moving away from the more touristy Rivera coast and headed to an authentic taste of Yucatan living.
On arriving in Valladolid we were welcomed into our beautiful casa by our hosts – a lovely Mexican couple who had opened up their home to travelers from all around sharing with them their love of the Yucatan and knowledge of Mexican traditions. They worked as artists and the casa was full of wonderful eclectic artwork that they had lovingly made.
Valladolid was everything that I had hoped it would be. The streets were beautifully set amongst colourful houses which led to a ‘zoccalo’ or town square. It was full of locals and tourists alike enjoying the beautiful Mexican sun eating ice creams, listening to mariachi bands and soaking in the atmosphere.
We loved the design of the park benches which fostered easy discussions with your seat buddy whilst each having a different view of the park. We spent two afternoons sitting in these unique seats watching the world go by.
On our first night we went to an authentic Yucatan restaurant and sampled the local cuisine. I hadn’t realized how different the food would be here from Mexico City. There were still tacos and the like, but a much heavier influence of Mayan and Caribbean flavors.
The Yucatan Peninsula has a significantly higher percentage of Mayan descendents than the rest of Mexico, and you could feel this difference in culture immediately!
The next day we woke up early for our 7:30am breakfast with our hosts. The plan was to drive to Chichen Itza (around a 40 min drive) for 8am to miss the crowds. We were a little confused when at 7:15am there was no sign of life and we wondered if our hosts had forgotten! We were about to head off without breakfast when Teresa came rushing outside and asked why we were up so early! We hadn’t realized that there was a time difference from Bacalar and it actually was still only 6:15am! Whoops.
Chichen Itza was incredible. We were both a little skeptical after the success of our Coba ruins trip as we had heard Chichen can be a tedious experience – very expensive, huge crowds and hawkers taking away from the ruins.
We managed to miss the crowds as we got there so early (and the hawkers hadn’t yet managed to set up their stalls!) so the experience was the best it could have been. The ancient city is huge and incredibly impressive. We spent 3 hours wandering around this wonder of the world.
Our already pretty amazing day was topped off with a visit to probably our favorite cenote in Mexico – Samula. It was absolutely stunning – and we were the only people there!! The cenote was hidden underground in a huge cave, a small opening at the top allowing the light to permeate the crystal clean blue water. We both felt it was a special moment swimming there and one we wouldn’t forget anytime soon!
On our last day in Valladolid we decided to spend the morning cenote hopping before driving to our next stop Mérida around 3 hours away. We visited Xkeken, Suytun and Oxman. All were unique in their own ways and are both still in awe at how incredible cenotes are – I don’t think I could ever get sick of visiting them.
There is something special about driving to a secret spot in the hope of coming across a hidden gem, walking down the inconspicuous stairs, peering into an opening and discovering a magical hidden oasis under the earth! They don’t feel touristy at all (unless you happen to be there when a bus full of tourists from Cancun arrives!).
Our favourite that morning by far was cenote Oxman. It was tranquil, beautiful and there was a swing you could use to project yourself meters into the air before falling into the magical 45m deep water!
There also was a bar and a swimming pool surrounded by tropical gardens next door to enjoy a few cold beers and guacamole after your adventure. Perfect!
We were sad to leave Valladolid (and the cenotes) but were excited to visit the state’s capital Mérida. We stayed in a colonial casa in the center of town with a beautiful Mexican family. Their home was absolutely stunning – high ceilings, festive decorations and amazing art. Good start Mérida!
We decided our goal for the next few days was to walk all over the city, take in the festive atmosphere, eat all the Mayan cuisine and educate ourselves a little more in the history of the Mayans in the Yucatan. It was a busy few days but we managed to tick off our wish list.
We always like to do a free walking tour in new cities and this was a particularly informative one. The Spanish conquest of Mexico had been the most strongly resisted by the Mayans on the Yucatan peninsula, and it was fascinating to learn how the Mayan people preserved their religions, culture and languages.
Every Sunday in Mérida the city turns into a big party and as it was close to Christmas the party was bigger than usual! The zoccalo transformed into a hub for music, dance and street food with free concerts and performances late into the night!
We couldn’t have hoped for a better time in both Valladolid and Mérida and felt like we really were able to soak in the culture of this unique state. We left early in the morning and drove to our next location Chiquilá where we boarded a ferry to Isla Holbox for some much needed beach time!
Holbox was 4 days of sun, sand, kitesurfing (I took another much needed lesson), eating – tacos and amazing cerviche, sunsets and nature walks to see the native flamingos!
And that was it! Our road trip of the Mexican Yucatan peninsula was over! We loved every second and cannot wait to come back to the beautiful country that is Mexico. After a (rather frantic) drive back to Cancun to drop off the car, we checked into our flight to Havana and boarded the plane to partake in another exciting adventure.
Far Away From Home 