Sunday, May 14, 2017

Yucatanning

Okay, so I started writing this blog in May 2016, and now it's May 2017 and I just finished it. Better late than never ;)

Very sunny and hot! We went to a Mexico for a month and overall we did NOTHING, and it was loooovely. Yes, we feel slightly guilty about missing out on several sights but we don't regret our nothingness. You know how you go on a trip and you try to do all the things? And then you are exhausted and feel like you need a vacation from your vacation? That's how we were feeling. We've never been to this part of Mexico, so why not? Off we went.


First Stop: Cancun, Quintana Roo

If the Las Vegas Strip and the Caribbean Ocean had a baby, that baby would be Cancun. That's not really our scene at all, which is why we chose to stay 30 minutes away from the beaches, in a residential neighborhood where we literally were they only tourists in that part of they city. We rented a little apartment where we hid from the brutal sun, watched lots of soccer, and only ventured out to get food. It was such a good time! To be honest, we weren't ready to leave but our places was already booked up so we couldn't extend. At the end of our week long stay we finally managed to force ourselves out to a beach, which was insanely blue and beautiful.





Next: Valladolid, Yucatan

We read about Valladolid online, it looked cool and people seemed to enjoy it. We didn't think it was a great as those people but we still had a good time. Valladolid is a great base to visit some of the Mayan ruins, mainly Chichen Itza. I'm big into pyramids and ziggurats so I was pretty happy to be visiting.

Our big inspiration for visiting this part of Mexico was to visit Chichen Itza, so it was great to visit this historical site. It blows my mind that you used to be able to climb all over the ziggurats. Word to the wise: it is HOT and there is no shade. Huge structures like this always strike me with such awe...to think that it was built with minimal tools, what a feat!

Temple of Kukulkan AKA El Castillo

El Caracol AKA the Observatory



Ek Balam Cenote

Valladolid

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Then: Progreso, Yucatan

Progreso is a little beach side city about 30 minutes from Merida city center. The colors of the city are stunning. There's not much going on in Progreso and that was a big part of the appeal for us. Plus, we stayed at a house that was across the main road where the beach begins. We spent a lot of time sitting out on the balcony, sometimes in hammocks, being cooled down by the ocean breeze. Sitting on that balcony was so peaceful and relaxing, definitely our favorite part about Progreso. So relaxing to alternate just going out for food and drinks and not be trying out to see everything. We definitely needed this time to recharge.





Last: Merida, Capital of the Yucatan

Merida is hot! We stayed in downtown, which was figuratively cool and literally hot. Shade is rare and awnings are non-existent. It cools down at night, which is when the streets are packed. We didn't do much here, still in hibernation mode, and ventured only to what was in a couple miles walking distance.



fantastic Joseph Kurhajec exhibit


Food in the Yucatan

My adorable-amazing mama is from Puebla, Mexico. So, the type of food I'm used to I suppose one would call Puebla Mexican food which I found to be a contrast to Yucatan food which has a considerable Mayan influence. In my family pinto beans (brown) reign supreme, in the Yucatan black beans are king. But what actually threw us off was how the beans were cooked, frijoles colados, which means strained beans. Pretty much, you get served a liquid bean soup as your side of beans. I was also surprised by the lack of spice in the food which contrasted with the plate of jabaƱero peppers on every table at every restaurant. P.S. I'm not a fan of these chiles, too strong of a flavor for my liking. We ate A LOT of cochinita pibil tacos. Yuuuum.

How Novel!

People rarely think I am Mexican, understandably so, not even in Mexico (or anywhere else I have traveled). Color me surprised when I saw people, lots of people, who look like me in Yucatan and Quintana Roo. We share the indigenous look, so here, lots of people actually thought I was Mexican! There was even that one clown (the dude was legit dressed like a clown) who congratulated me on snagging a white husband because I would be rich with all those dollars.

And after a month of recharging it was time to head back to California and start planning our road trip around the U.S. Travel gap year, to be continued...

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