Tulum and Cobá

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 09 February 2014. Posted in Mexico

We arrived in Tulum in the afternoon and found a nice place close to the bus terminal. It wasn’t the cheapest place but we got a nice cabaña with an own fridge and a porch. Jo, one of the travelers recommended this place.

Since we couldn’t do either ruins we decided to explore Tulum. Not that there is hell of a lot to explore - the town is very small - but we found a big supermarket which had some nice cheese, bred and olives. Time for a nice treat so we some extraordinary food with a red wine from Chile.

The next morning we drove to the ruins of Cobá and strolled around this big place with three different areas. You could have taken a bike but we had plenty of time until our bus would bring us back to Tulum.

From the Nohoch Mul (Big Mound) you had a spectacular view over the jungle. With its 42m it is the highest pyramid on the Yucatán Peninsula. At 11 o’clock it got slammed again but funny wise we had the Grupo Macanxoc all by ourselves. So we enjoyed our fruit before we headed back to our bus.

In the evening a German couple came to visit us which we have met at the bus station, and Maya from Merida, so we spent a nice evening chatting away at the porch. First we tried to sleep without earplugs but the Mexican roosters just got it totally wrong. At 2 o’clock in the middle of the night every 15 minutes this rooster went off. I almost got up to shoot that thing but decided to put my earplugs in.

So we took it easy the next day and rented a bike to ride to the beach. The beach of Tulum is really beautiful. You have this wide sandy stretch with the softest, whitest sand ever and the Cabañas are nicely set in the jungle and dunes. The water is turquoise and warm. What a lovely beach.

But three hours in the sun – couldn’t find a free shady spot – we had enough. So we went to the Tulum ruins which are situated at the coast. The position of those Maya ruins show that this must have been a fort and with the impressive wall surrounding this area it is a great place to wander around. But you should come early morning or late afternoon, otherwise you will feel like a big fish in a small pond.

Afterwards we passed the supermarket again to get some more bred for our second round of gourmet dinner and Maya came over later on. Next day we will drive to Playa del Carmen and stay for a week since we want to do some dives with Manuel, a friend of Michael.

Accommodation: Rancho Tranquilo, turn right of the ADO bus station, 5
minute down the main road on the right hand side

Price: M$ 450 Cabaña, small fridge, shared bathroom, incl. breakfast

Comment: close to the ADO, quiet and nice garden, breakfast is everyday pancake but close by is a cheap fruit shop

Merida - a beautiful colonial city

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 01 February 2014. Posted in Mexico

The first two days Michael was still fighting with his stomach and stayed in bed. As soon as he was up to it we walked around the town. Merida is known for its beautiful and well preserved colonial houses and it was really stunning. It reminded us on Cuba just with different cars and people.

The Merida Tourist Center offers daily a free city tour around the Plaza Grande with its Palaccio Municipal and the City Hall. Here we learned more about the Mexican history and the town development.

In Merida area there had been 5 big Mayan temples. When the Spaniards took over the country by force the used the rocks to build the big Cathedral, churches and houses. You still can find some symbols of those pyramids on some buildings in Merida.

The impressive Casa de Montejo was the first building in Merida and houses a bank now. They have a Museum with an exhibition of the old furniture of the family and we got a good idea how wealthy those Spaniards had been. We went in the Olimpo Cultural Centre and the Contemporary Art Museum (MACAY) with its scurrile exhibition. Some art is just not made for me.

Along the cobblestone street No. 60 we passed the University of Yucatán and the Peon Contreras Theater. At the Santa Lucia’s Park and Santa Ana’s Park & Popular we watched the people and took some pictures.

The next day we strolled down the Paseo de Montejo with its beautiful old mansions all the way to the Flag Monument. On Saturdays they have a Mexican Party in Montejo where we watched some dances in beautiful costumes.

Since 1970 every Tuesday Merida has live music at the Parque de Santiago. The big band played Salsa and Merengue and all the older people danced till late in the evening. It was just fun to watch. There was one man - at least 85 years old - he went wild.

On the weekend they showed the Juego de Pelota – the Mayan ball game and it was great to watch. Luckily it was the day before the massive rain when all the streets got flooded.

At the hostel they offered free Salsa and cooking lessons. For sure we joined some of them. We learned some more uno, dos, tres, cinco, seis, siete (remember, in Cuba they counted differently) and now we know how to cook Fajitas, Nopales y Empanadas and Poc-Chuc. Fantastico!

The Nomadas hostel was a perfect place to relax at the pool and chill out in the hammocks. In the quiet and nicely arranged garden we did some planning for Central America and our Spanish Course. We took our time and it was a great place to organize things. But there is always a time to move on and our next stop is Tulum. So let’s hop on the bus.

Accommodation: Nómadas Youth Hoste, Calle 62 No 433 at Calle 51,
www.nomadastravel.com

Price: M$ 330 privat, own toilet, shared shower, incl. breakfast, swimming
pool

Comment: awesome hostel with swimming pool, plenty of hammocks and chill
out area, free yoga, cooking and salsa lessons

Ek´ Balam and Rio Lagartos

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 30 January 2014. Posted in Mexico

In Valladolid we booked a day tour to Ek´Balam and Rio Lagartos. The first spot are Mayan ruins which you can climb and Rio Lagartos has a natural reserve which is ideal for birdwatching, especially Flamingos. We were the only once booking the tour so we enjoyed our private trip.

Early morning we arrived at Ek´ Balam which means black jaguar. There was no one else except two other tourists, so we enjoyed the remote ruins and took our time to explore the different buildings.

The Mayan ruins are settled in the middle of the jungle and you get an incredible view from top of El Trono (The Throne). On top we met Tony and Thomas, two crazy travelers which are on the road since 5 years. We arranged to meet up with them for dinner in Valladolid to share some stories.

We left Ek´Balam when the tourist buses arrived and had some massive rain on our 2 hours ride up to Rio Lagartos. When we arrived at the harbor it was overcast so we hopped on the boat and went off.

But suddenly we saw this massive rain coming towards us and boats chasing out of the lagoon so our boatman turned around to bring us back. We had first lunch and wanted to try it afterwards.

This was a good decision. We met some German tourists which weren’t so lucky and came back soaked, without seeing the flamingos. They were really disappointed and blamed the guide for not predicting the rain.

The sky just opened up when we jumped into the boat to give it another try and it was nice and sunny. I am telling you, the sun is travelling with us. The flamingos are awesome, they have a funny orangy colour and are really shy. What a great opportunity to see them and we were totally alone.

After this amazing experience we headed back to Valladolid to have a great evening with Tony and Thomas again. They are staying in Playa del Carmen for about a month so we will catch up with them again. Let’s plan our next trip to Merida.

More Articles...