Travelling to Merida, Mexico, isn’t the easiest thing to do,
particularly when travelling from a regional airport like Newcastle. My journey
began early on a Sunday morning, where I caught a flight from Newcastle to
Heathrow, and then from Heathrow to Mexico City. Bare in mind, travelling from
the UK to Mexico takes a whopping eleven hours, so make sure you have something
to entertain you on the flight, or comfortable things to sleep in! 
Mexico City has to be one of the most confusing airports
I’ve ever set foot in – it’s effectively a long corridor on two levels with no
obvious directions. My advice: print out directions for inside the airport
before you go so you know where you need to check in and the like! Luckily, I’d
done this with direction for The Courtyard by Marriott hotel where I was
spending the night before my final flight the next day, although it did still
take me a good fifteen minutes to make my way there.
Jetlag wasn’t on my side, so it was an early start (luckily
they start serving breakfast at 5am) and my first taste of Mexican food was
excellent – refried beans, scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, chilaquiles
(tortillas topped with red or green sauce and cheese) and tlacoyo (black corn
tortillas with cheese and chilli). They also had a great selection of waffles,
hotcakes, omelettes and breads, so you certainly wouldn’t be going hungry!
Giving myself enough time to get lost again, I headed back
into the airport to check in for my Interjet flight to Merida, and was glad I’d
given myself the extra time as the queue for check-in was humungous. Don’t
worry if you don’t have time for breakfast as the airport itself is lined with
hundreds of stalls selling traditional Mexican food, and believe me when I say
the food is good.
You’ll also have plenty of chances to practice your Spanish
if you wish – I was asked at check-in if I spoke Spanish, to which I replied
“un poco,” and was the conversation then proceeded completely in Spanish. (Yo
entiendo mas que puedo hablar). A short while later, I was engaged in Spanish
conversation with someone in the waiting room – Mexicans are very friendly!
My primary reason for visiting Merida was to attending the
International Student Energy Summit, a biennial conference which invites
students from across the globe to some exciting location (last time it was held
in Bali) to hear from leaders in the field and engage with likeminded students.
I was collected at the airport by members of the SES team and driven to my
hotel for my time in Merida, the Hampton Inn by Hilton. Getting out of the van,
the heat hit like a tonne of bricks, and it wasn’t even the ‘hot hot’ season!
Sunscreen is a must.
Having a bit of downtime before the conference began, I
headed across the road to admire the natural beauty of Costco. You heard right.
This Costco, however, was different to most in the fact that it has a cenote,
naturally occurring sinkholes which are connected by underground caves
spreading all across the Yucatan Peninsula; right in its carpark. While this is
undoubtedly one of the less attractive cenotes (some are extremely beautiful –
more on that later), it’s something different that you won’t find anywhere
else.
Whilst the area of Merida I was staying in was a 7km away
from the centre (and I would recommend staying closer to town if you can), I
was pleased to find it wasn’t completely devoid of attraction, and opposite
Costco was not only a massive Mexican flag, but a line of small shops which
opened onto the street. The only problem was that they were across an 8-lane
highway from where I was currently standing. How does one cross such an
obstruction? You walk into oncoming traffic and hope the cars don’t hit you,
apparently, so that’s what I did. It is slightly daunting knowing that once you
cross you may never be able to get back depending on the traffic situation.
I wandered alongside the shops for a while, getting a feel
for what the locals eat, drink and do, before finding myself at a massive
shopping centre which appeared almost out of nowhere. Out of curiosity (and a
wish for some sweet, sweet air-conditioning), I made my way into the
supermarket inside – very different from back home. Here, everything was piled
sky-high (how they ensure the food at the top of the piles don’t go out of date
is beyond me) and they even had a tortilleria where you can get as many freshly
made tortillas as your heart desires.
The following day, I caught the hotel shuttle into town.
Don’t do this if staying at the Hampton. I was told at the check-in desk that the shuttle would take 20
minutes to get to the only drop-off point of the Fiesta Americana, and then a
further 20 minutes to walk into the centre. With this in mind, I thought
catching the 8:30am bus would give me ample time to be at the Cathedral for my
tour, starting at 9:30am. How wrong I was…
The bus left late to begin with, and then drove about 20
minutes, dropping 2 people off at a university campus. We then drove to a
cenote where more people were dropped off. At this point, it was 9:05, and
another of the passengers was already late for his tour leaving the Fiesta
Americana at 9am, so he checked his Google Maps to discover that we had headed
in the complete opposite direction of town and it would take us a further half
an hour just to get back to the Fiesta Americana. We ended up driving back past
our hotel, arriving at the Fiesta at 9:35. Needless to say, neither of us
were particularly happy being very late for our tours.
I literally begged the shuttle driver to take me to the
Cathedral, to which he reluctantly agreed, and we arrived there at around 9:45.
I ran as fast as my legs would take me to find my tour, and by some act of God
spotted a man in a pink t-shirt speaking to a group – a sure sign of the Pink
Cactus tours, right? I’d made it! And only just, as a minute after I arrived, the
group moved on to another part of town and there’s no chance I would have been
able to find them. To conclude, take a taxi into town!
The tour itself was very good – despite only taking in a
relatively small area of land, we managed to see a lot in the hour and a half
tour, including the Plaza Grande, Teatro Peon Contreras, shops selling
bejewelled beetles due to an ancient myth, beautiful churches, colourful
buildings, the Santa Lucia Plaza, before ending up in the artists foundation.
And the best bit? It was free! At the end, you can pay what you think the tour
was worth, and it certainly was worth it. A great way to spend the morning.
I asked our guide how I should spend the next three hours
before I needed to register for the conference, and he suggested to check out
Paseo Montejo. Firstly, I retraced my steps a bit to visit a chocolate shop in
the Santa Lucia Plaza to buy some Mayan chocolate as presents. The shopkeeper
was very nice and let me try a number of the chocolates so I could make my decisions
– I settled on an 82% dark chocolate, and milk with corn chips. I then headed
to the Plaza Grande to take some photos of the Merida sign and pick up an
overpriced snowglobe (it had to be done).
Paseo Montejo is a broad boulevard lined with utterly stunning
mansion-like buildings, so I can see why it had been recommended. You can
easily spend an hour or so strolling down the street admiring the beautiful
architecture. The street even has free wifi, so I quickly Facetimed my Dad (to
make him jealous of the sunny weather, of course) and checked the route back to
the hotel, which I’d decided to walk as I had a few hours to kill. Perhaps not
my best decision, as it was midday and 35’C, and I did end up getting a bit
lost, but I’d say I’ve certainly seen a lot more of Merida than most tourists
now. If you make a similar decision, please ensure you take a lot of water with
you – heatstroke is definitely a potential issue!
That evening and the following three days were spent
attending the conference, and included special events such as an opera
performance at the Teatro Peon Contreras (be warned, the one we saw was in
Italian with Spanish subtitles), a cocktail reception right next to the
Cathedral, and a Gala Dinner in one of the glorious Paseo Montejo buildings. I
understand my target audience probably aren’t as interested in energy as I am,
but if you’d like to find out more about the conference, do get in touch!
Given I’d travelled halfway across the world for the
conference, I had decided I might as well stay a few extra days afterwards to
explore, so on Saturday I headed down for a leisurely breakfast only to find
that the hotel had messed up my tour bookings and I was meant to leave 10
minutes ago. Again, not particularly pleased with the way the Hampton handled
this so I wouldn’t stay there again if I returned to Merida. Nevertheless,
everything was eventually sorted and I headed out on a different tour, this one
organised by Mayan Heritage to Chichen Itza, one of the most impressive
remnants of the Mayan era. Luckily, we arrived early at the archeological site,
although it was still very busy – the earlier you can get there, the better.
Entrance was 242 pesos which you pay yourself, but I would recommend following
a similar route to me, as the whole tour, including transport, a guide and
lunch had cost me 600 pesos, whilst choosing a tour guide at Chichen Itza would
set you back 800 pesos alone.
Our guide was very informative and walked us round the main
temples and buildings, explaining things like the ceremonial sacrifices which
occurred following ball games, what was found inside the main temple, how
clapping in a particular place in front of the temple would cause an echo that
sounded like a bird call, and ‘beauty regimes’ implemented by the ancient Mayans
like strapping boards to babies heads to make them more round and ‘attractive’.
We were then given about an hour to explore independently,
and the site is very large so there are plenty of places to walk and take
photos. I spent the remainder of the time checking out the hundreds of
stalls lining the pathways towards the Temple which sold all kinds of crafts
like tiny stone temples, Mayan calendars, crocheted bags, magnets and more. As
most of the stalls were selling the same goods, the stallholders were more than
willing to try and have the lowest prices to attract customers, and we were
followed around by calls of “One dollar! Almost free!” wherever we went. I
ended up with a stunning Mayan painting, ceramic Mayan calendar, and a tiny Dia
de los Muertos skull, haggling my way around and ending up with some pretty
good deals!
After Chichen Itza, we headed to the Ik Kil cenote, where 80
pesos got you access to swim in the stunning pool – definitely worth it. You
could backstroke into the centre of the cavern and look up at the hole above,
with vines dangling down and Motmot birds flying overhead. One of the girls on
my tour said it was the most amazing place she’d ever been too. It’s certainly
one of the most exciting places I’ve ever swam! It was tiring work though – the
cenote is 50ft deep so you have no chance of touching the bottom, meaning you
have to keep treading water or find one of the ropes around the edge to hang
onto. An hour was more than enough for me, and how refreshing it was.
Our last stop of the day was lunch at a lovely buffet stop.
On one side of the room, they had Mexican cuisine – sopa de lima, pork
cochinita, refried beans – and on the other, international food – hot dogs,
quesadillas, mashed potato, corn chowder. A great mix and definitely meaning
you wouldn’t need dinner later. We also had mid-dinner entertainment in the
form of dancers balancing beer bottles on their heads. A successful day I
think.
The following day, I headed out on another tour with Mayan
Heritage, this time to two more Mayan ruins – Uxmal and Kabah. Both were
considerably smaller, and notably less busy, than Chichen Itza, but with
distinctly different architecture. I enjoyed Uxmal in particular as unlike
Chichen Itza, you were allowed to climb some of the ruins, giving a fantastic
view of the Mayan site and the surrounding forest area from the top. I did
think to myself during these tours whether it had been worth choosing them, as
once you’ve seen one Mayan ruin, you’ve seen them all, but I was glad I had as
they were quite different from one another. Had I another day in Merida, I
probably would have headed to Celestun, a beach famous for its hundreds of
flamingos, which may be worth visiting if archaeological sites aren’t your
thing.
Having seen it on a number of other tours to Uxmal and
Kabah, I asked our guide if we could visit the nearby chocolate museum, Choco
Story, which he agreed to take us to if everyone agreed (thankfully they did).
Again, the entrance fee wasn’t included, but when in Rome… The museum was a
series of cabanas each of which explained something about cacao, such as its
role in sacrifices and offerings, as a monetary alternative, and had its use
had spread across the globe. One stage was also a ritualistic ceremony which I
think was supposed to represent praying for rain. Whilst clearly touristy, it
was still interesting to watch.
Perhaps my favourite part was watching the
process of making Mayan hot chocolate, which we then got to try (very bitter)
and had the opportunity to add in sweets and spices to tailor it to our own
taste. The museum also served as an ecopark which was very exciting, and we saw
spider monkeys, jaguars and deer; a nice addition to the iguanas and snakes
we’d seen at some of the ruins. Well worth a visit if you have the chance. 
Again, our final stop was lunch at a place I have written
down as Ca-Nah, and just in time too, as the heavens opened (clearly the rain
ceremony had worked) as it does occasionally in Merida. The food wasn’t quite
to the same standard as the day before, but it felt traditional nonetheless.
On my final day, I ordered an Uber to the airport – do not
do this. Apparently Uber drivers get told off for going too close to the
airport so most won’t take you there, despite you still being able to book it
on the app, so I was charged a cancellation fee. Instead, we took a taxi – 200
pesos (around £7) isn’t bad for a 30 minute drive. My plane trips back weren’t
split with an overnight stay, so after leaving early on Monday morning, I
arrived back in the UK late on Tuesday night – a long trip. Worth it? I think
so.
My advice regarding Merida: prepare for weather (hot and
sunny or hot and torrential rain) and mosquitoes – suncream and insect
repellent are musts. If you don’t mind slumming it, stay in a hostel. My hotel
cost whopping UK prices, whereas friends who stayed in pleasant hostels in the
centre were paying only £7 a night. Don’t just stick to the touristy
attractions – whilst the Mayan ruins are once in a lifetime experiences, don’t
miss out on checking out the city and Paseo Montejo which are definitely worth
a look.
Did you enjoy this blog? Make sure to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry
- I'm spending the whole summer traveling so they'll be lots more like
this coming soon! Also be sure to let me know in the comments if there's
anything I missed in Merida (or Mexico!), and I'll be sure to check it out next
time I'm there!