When people talk about travelling to the Yucatan, the picture that most often comes to mind is one of the Mayan Riviera, a place of glorious beaches, big well-appointed resorts and warm water. And that is a very good description – it is beautiful and full of interesting things to do – snorkelling with turtles, checking out the Mesoamerican Reef, lounging by the water and drinking Mararitas. Truly, truly lovely.
But, there is another Yucatan, one less visited unless you are on a one day tour from the coast, but well worth taking the time to explore. This is the Yucatan that we want to tell you about. It is a place off the beaten track, full of beautiful colour and life and much more “Mexican” than you will find over on the Riviera side.
Let’s begin our journey in Merida (pronounced Mer EE da). This is the capital and largest city in the province of Yucatan and is located east of Cancun. It has a rich history, as evidenced by the many beautiful old churches and abandoned mansions that line the Paseo de Montejo where you can rent a bike and ride on the street each Sunday. Here you will see many people riding a variety of bicycles, but make sure to stop and gaze at the beautiful buildings along this lovely boulevard. While some have been maintained or restored, many are deteriorating with time, as are other buildings in the historic area of Merida. It makes for some interesting photo ops!
Stroll around the Plaza Grande park on a Saturday evening and you will most likely find much activity, including market stalls full of handcrafted items, street food and music, always music. Wandering the streets of Merida at night is a pleasure. The heat has abated and people are out – it is a wonderful way to experience the culture of this area.
Although we did not have time to visit on our trip, there are some Mayan ruins just north of Merida that are also worth taking the time to see.
From Merida, you could head south to the Ruta Puuc, a hilly region where several Mayan temples can be found, as well as cenotes. Take advantage of the many cenotes in this area as the ones over on the Riviera side tend to be very touristy (and expensive) indeed! A good place to stop for a day or two is Santa Elena. This very tiny town does not have a whole lot going on except for a wonderful little place called The Pickled Onion, run by Valerie Pickle who came here by way of England and then Canada. She runs the most lovely little place (I hesitate to call it a hotel or a resort – its a bit of both). The small casitas are perfect to stay in, the pool welcoming at the end of a hot day and the restaurant excellent. We stayed for 3 days and wished we could have stayed longer – don’t miss out on this place!
Near Santa Elena are two Mayan sites. The first, Kabah, is a much smaller and less visited site, but easy to get to and a good way to introduce many of the features found in the ruins in this area.
The other site, Uxmal, is just stunning and was one of our favourites on this trip. While there are shops and lots of things for sale on the outside, once you are on this site there are no vendors like you find at Chichen Itza, something we found really detracted from the experience when we were there. At Uxmal as well, there has been a lot of work done in certain areas to restore the hieroglyphics so that visitors can see what they would have looked like when the site was active and occupied. The carving is truly amazing to see and the views are as well. There are several other Mayan sites along the Ruta Puuc, so if you are driving, you will be able to experience much more than we did on our bikes.
From Santa Elena, you can make your way down to Campeche, which is on the northern coast of the Yucatan peninsula. This beautiful old city, surrounded by much new development, is another little gem not much visited by tourists from other countries, but it is a popular spot for Mexicans to come. The old town is full of beautifully painted walls of all colours and at night there are many outdoor restaurants to choose from. The malacon (or seawall) is not far from the old city and wonderful to walk along in the early morning or evening. During the day, though, its pretty hot! Throughout the old city you will find many wandering Mayans selling clothing. They are not at all aggressive, but I think add a lot of colour to the area. One evening as we sat eating our dinner, a woman came in with her baby on her back and a whole wardrobe of beautifully coloured tops (called blusas) and dresses. The woman at the table next to us spent quite a bit of time looking through them all and bought several. I thought, “what a wonderful and relaxed way to shop!”. The next day I bought a couple of blusas from this woman. I loved the colours and also wanted to help her and her child. It was a win win in my book!
A site not to miss in Campeche is the Fort San Miguel. It sits atop a hill with some spectacular view of the water and, along with its small but very interesting museum, can allow you to visualize what life was like in this area many many years ago.
Much further to the south from Campeche is the Mayan site Palenque. It can be reached from Campeche by car or bus and if you are here, you really really must go to Palenque! Unlike other Mayan sites in the Yucatan, Palenque sits in the middle of a jungle. Its setting makes this site just stunning to view. We hired a tour guide for this site and were very pleased to have done so as we gained a much better understanding of not only this site, but others we saw as well.
Between Palenque and Campeche is Edzna, which we are told is another great site. It was unfortunate that we did not have time to see this ruin, but gives us an excuse to head back!
All in all, the many ruins in the Ruta Puuc area are well worth the effort to see. If you are driving, make sure to get up early and get to the site you wish to visit first thing in the morning, before all the tour busses arrive. This will ensure that you have the very best chance to appreciate this amazing area and the history of the Mayan people.
North of Campeche is the beach town of Celestun, which is in a national reserve. Again, most of the tourists come here on day trips from Merida, but we recommend that you stay right in town. There are many little hotels right on the beach as well as restaurants that are open to the sea with fabulous views, great seafood and delicious Margaritas! We loved taking a little tuk tuk like conveyance from town out to where we had a tour of the lagoon where many flamingos can be found feasting on the shrimp that make much of the water in this area so pink. To take a tour, simply wait by the entrance for some people to show up. The boats go out in groups of 6, so if you find others to share the boat with you it is cheaper. Spending a few hours out on the water seeing these beautiful birds was a highlight for us.
If you have a car (or bike) and want to do a little exploring, check out the small small community of Chunchucmil and the Hacienda there. We happened upon it along our ride to Celestun and spent some time with a local guide checking out this totally abandoned old place. The size of the property and the intricate decor that you can still make out in the old rooms is just amazing. Each room had a different theme and all of the wallpaper was handmade – incredible! Worth a little detour!
Ok, so there is a little tour that you can take in the Yucatan! All of this would be doable by bus or car and you could spend a couple of weeks really exploring and learning about this area without ever going to the other coast, so when you plan your travel to Mexico, think about the Other Yucatan!
Safety note: Before we left for Mexico, many of our friends and family were concerned for our safety, having heard so much about violence in Mexico. We have to say that we felt more safe at all times in Mexico than we did at home! As long as you take normal precautions, this is a wonderful place to visit. We will certainly not hesitate to return and hope you will too!
If you are curious and want to read about our entire bike journey in the Yucatan, check it out at https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/mexicoandcuba/
