The whole reason this trip happened was my interest in visiting Merida. It’s a city of about 1 million people and it’s ranked the 2nd safest city in North America. It piqued my curiosity. Maybe that’s where we will move one day?

We spent 5 days roaming the city. We had a beautiful boutique hotel in the Centro and we travelled around mostly by foot. There were some really amazing restaurants near us that we sampled and also spent one day on our bikes getting out to some of the barrios. We took our bikes to a bike shop called Bikestop where a lovely young man named Romario gave our bikes some love. We discussed in broken Spanish a few suggested bike routes and how best to avoid the traffic.

Merida is a very European city that is quite wealthy. It feels like Europe. No street food or roaming dogs – no chaos except for the drivers. The one exception in the heart of city is the mercado. It’s the central market for the Yucatan and all goods travel through here. It was overwhelming and to be honest in Covid times a little too congested for our comfort. Plus I was told there was an animal trading area in the centre and I just couldn’t bear it.

The first two to three days were great and we were enjoying ourselves and then the next two days I felt melancholy and I just wanted to get out of town. I don’t know what it was; maybe the breakneck speed we were travelling at but we decided to take one full day and sat by the pool. It did feel good to rejuvenate and rest a little before heading back into the busyness of city life.

On our last day we took a bus to Izamal to see the city. It is considered a “Puebla Magica” which is an area of historical significance. Izamal is known in Yucatán as the Yellow City (most of its buildings are painted yellow) and the City of Hills (that actually are the remains of ancient temple pyramids). We hopped on bus to take there and it turned out to be the local route which stopped in every single town. The 45 min drive took over 2 hours. Ugh. By the time we arrived we were hot and cranky. Nevertheless we had a look around, climbed an old pyramid and grabbed some lunch.

Nick opted for queso rellenos, a local dish that is cooked a creamy, white sauce that is stuffed with tortillas and pork. He said it was tasty however Yucatan food is very heavy and within 45 min Nick was not feeling great. I, on the other hand, had chicken and a salad and felt pretty good. Nick was ready to get out of town and head home and taking that 2 hour bus back was out of the question. We hopped in a collectivo and the driver sped us back to Merida in under an hour. And it cost $2 each. Good grief, when will we learn to stay off the second class buses?

In the end, I don’t think Merida is for us. It’s too big, too busy and lacks the wildness of Mexico that Nick and I love. I’m glad we visited though. It is a culturally rich city with much to see.

The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn to hop on our bikes and cycle to the coast. Next stop Chuburna!