Chichen Itza, Izamel Tour

We took our final tour on Friday to Chichen Itza and the Yellow City of Izamel with Pedro. We really debated not going to Chichen Itza because we had heard that it is often crazy busy with tourists but we finally decided that we probably wouldn’t get another chance to go so we signed up. What a long day!!!!! Twelve hours in total and with entrance to the site and lunch it cost us each $55.00 Cdn dollars. It was worth every minute, because with Pedro you get so much more than a regular bus trip could ever provide.

There were nine of us (six from our complex) in the van and we left at 8am. The drive to the site (one of the new 7 Wonders of the World in case you don’t know) takes about two hours. On the way, we stopped in a couple of little towns inland. One of them, called Motul, had just about the cleanest food market we have ever seen outside Canada. It was spotless, as was the rest of the town. We only had about thirty minutes there unfortunately.

Our next stop was a huge bonus, as Pedro took us to the only remaining sisal factory in the Yucatan. It was fascinating to watch such a primitive process working with such outdated machinery. There is no such thing as workers safety here- bare feet around open hot running machines; no safety glasses or hearing protection even though it was so loud we couldn’t hear anyone talking; mules and donkey’s pulling carts of henequen (I don’t know if this is spelled correctly) agave to the mill, then out again when the fibers are processed to be dried in the sun, then again to the warehouse to be bound and cut to go to the factory in Merida to make rope.

Sisel fiber is what made multi millionaires of the families who owned haciendas in the Yucatan. These are the families who now own these fabulous beach houses on the coast. They mostly all still live in Merida and 80% of Cancun was built and is still owned by these people. We have been told that Merida as a city has the highest percentage of fabulously wealthy people in the entire world. This is believable because it’s the only place I have ever been where I have seen car dealers with huge inventories on the car lots: Jaguars, Mercedes, Lamborghini’s, Hummers, Land Rovers, Porsches etc. We just didn’t see regular dealers like Toyotas or Hondas at all!!!!

After the sisal factory tour we drove about another 45 minutes to Chichen Itza. We were prepared for a huge number of tourists when we saw at least 15 large tour buses in the parking lot….but it was surprisingly not too busy. The site is so large that even with lots of people, we never felt overwhelmed or crowded.

It is really magical seeing something so magnificent as the pyramids there. Having Pedro along to explain the symbolism of the hieroglyphics was perfect and really the only way to properly experience a place like this. Unfortunately, most of the buildings are off limits and cannot be climbed or touched. I guess this is understandable but I have to say we enjoyed Dzibilchaltun more because we were able to get into the buildings and really feel a part of the culture, which is lacking in Chichen Itza. There are also huge numbers of vendors inside the site. It sort of spoils the magic of a place like this!

After the tour we stopped for lunch at a wonderful restaurant just outside the site. We were very happy to have a great buffet lunch of mainly Mexican food while watching traditional folk dances!

On the way home we stopped in Izamal, the “Yellow City”. Wow. What a beautiful place. There are very few private vehicles, no buses and the citizens travel either by foot or horse drawn taxis. It is so very pretty and clean! The huge monastery has a very popular evening light show (all to the tune of chanting Franciscan Monks) twice a week. We couldn’t stay but Nancy and Mike did a couple of weeks ago and told us it was one of the highlights of their month long stay in the Yucatan.

This city is believed to be the ancient Yucatan capital. When the Spaniards arrived in the 1500’s they almost completely demolished the largest pyramid in Mexico in order to use the stones to build the cathedral and the square surrounding it. It is the largest square in the world after St. Peter’s in Rome. Never the less the remains of the original pyramid are still part of the city centre. It is at least a regular Canadian city block in diameter but only rises about one or two stories high, and then it just stops. It is tragic that it was destroyed! Nowadays, people have built homes- with basements that are part of the pyramid- and trees are growing out of the huge blocks of stone all the way up to what is left of the top.

Most of the buildings in the city are painted a beautiful yellow colour, which is why it is nicknamed “The Yellow City”. We have been told that this happened in the 1990’s to commemorate the visit of Pope John Paul II when he came to Mexico. It was so nice to get a chance to see it. I have a hard time believing I had never heard of this city before we arrived in the Yucatan!

Things We've Been Doing

This past week as usual has been busy. We came home one day from the laundry and found a note tucked in our door from John and Marilyn, who live down the beach in a very nice rental home. They came back to pick us up to take us to a little cocktail party they had in the late afternoon. Jim and Sharon were there, as well as another couple, John and his wife Alice, who drove us home later as they live only two doors away from us.

Nancy and Mike organized a huge bonfire on the beach Monday night. Gail and I dragged a lot of driftwood home to add to the fire. We bought a large package of wieners and buns and cooked hotdogs for most of the people in the complex. There were probably about thirty people there including Isidro and his wife Mercedes. They are the Mayan caretakers here. They speak no English but everyone had a great time communicating with them. They were really pleased to be invited and stayed until the very end. It was a great evening!

Wednesday we went back into Merida for one last visit. Pat and Paddy had to return their rental car so we went along with them. Afterwards, we took a double decker, open air, hop on hop off bus tour of the city. P & P’s grandson Avery was with us for the day so of course that made it a lot of fun for Gail. He is a sweet little boy and was amazingly well behaved. His parents are in Cancun for a week and Avery is staying with his two sets of grandparents. The other pair has a rental beach house about 2 kms away.

We had such a good time at John and Marilyn’s earlier in the week that we did the same thing Thursday afternoon from 3-6. We invited friends from along the beach and here in our condo complex. I made a few appetizers including fish cakes with real salt cod, which is sadly plentiful and cheap here, but the opposite in Newfoundland. They were a huge hit as no one but Gail and I had ever eaten them prior to our little party. Our large apartment shrank down quickly when almost twenty people filled it up! Nancy also brought a couple of yummy appetizers, which were quickly devoured. After the group from down the beach left, the party continued outside by the pool. Once again, just about everyone in the complex quickly threw together a wine and cheese and appy event. Of course the diehards, Karen, Gail, Pat, Paddy, Barb and Gerry carried on at Gail and Irv’s place (next door to us) until around midnight! Living in a place like this is so much fun because it is so small and intimate. Everyone knows everyone and because we are living in the sun and away from Canadian winters there is never an unhappy face! We constantly hear the weather reports from home, especially from Winnipeg, where at least half the people in our complex live. They gleefully tell us about the –30C temps there and in the next breath tell us that today it is +30C here!