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!

When we decided to cycle to Chichen Itza I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Almost smug. Like who rides their bike to Chichen Itza?

Not many people is my guess and let me tell you why. It’s a long, treeless highway with a smattering of pueblas along the way and not much else. There is no where discreet to pee along the way (sorry to the old man who passed by at the wrong moment) and it’s very, very hot by 9am. Nevertheless, we pedalled on and while it wasn’t a terribly interesting ride it was nice to be on the bikes. I also take back my comments about how dogs in Mexico seem to be treated better. It’s only true in the city; rural dogs do not have it good. I suggested to Nick that we carry kibbles with us to feed the dogs along the way. You can imagine how that conversation went. Poor Nick, he is trying to make our pannier’s lighter and I’m buying dog food.

When we arrived at Chichen Itza we locked our bikes and all our belongings to a post and hoped that they would still be there upon our return. I had my doubts but a local collectivo driver assured me it would be fine. I had visions of him driving away snickering with our panniers. Off we went to queue up and wander amongst the ruins.

Did you know the Chichen Itza was privately owned for a very long time? It was government managed (poorly, I might add both then and now) and finally the government bought it outright for some ridiculous amount of money. Can you imagine finding great historical ruins on your property? Bananas. It is like winning the lottery.

Now I had been there before but it was Nick’s first time and he was shocked by the amount of people setting up stalls to sell you tourist kitsch. We marched on past and did a walking audio tour with an app I had downloaded. It worked well as it was informative and no one tried to sell us stuff as we had earphones in. Two hours later, severely dehydrated and most likely suffering from heat exhaustion we stumbled out of the complex and to my surprise found our bikes intact. Next, we had to track down a ride to Merida as it was still another 140km away and we had a hotel booked for that night. Cycling was not an option.

We had to take a second class bus. I know, terrible right? But we had no other option. So I bought the 2 tickets and when the bus showed up we had to dismantle our bikes to get them to fit in the hold while everyone just stood and watched. Then, we get on the bus and the driver tells us it’s another 100 pesos for the bikes. No receipt. Bullshit. It went straight in his pocket and Nick and I fumed the whole way. The whole 3 hour bus ride. The full 140km, stopping in every town. Plus, the driver stopped so he could go pee right outside my window. I felt like I deserved that one though; for my earlier indiscretion. At any rate, I fantasized about arguing with driver once we got to Merida but by then I was so thankful to get off the damn bus I probably would have paid another 100 pesos.

We arrived in Merida about 3:30pm and then began the adventure of cycling in a very congested city that is all one way, narrow, pot holed streets and drivers who do not give way to cyclists. It was actually quite exhilarating and fun once we realized we had to be aggressive if we wanted to get to our hotel in one piece.

It was like walking into an oasis of calm when we arrived at Hotel Casa Flor de Mayo. It’s a small hotel in a renovated colonial building just two blocks off the Paseo de Montejo which is a beautiful tree lined street filled with cafes and galleries. We settled in and rested up to begin our exploration of Merida!

We decided to take the bus to Valladolid. The 141km distance between the coast and this inland city would require that we overnight halfway and we just couldn’t secure accommodation anywhere. Turns out it was a good plan as the road had no shoulder and we didn’t pass a single hotel.

We took a first class ADO bus and stowed our bikes below standing upright no less for about $15 each. The ride was fast and very comfortable. Nick got us seats up the front so we could see the countryside.

We arrived in Valladolid at about 5pm and made our way to Casa Tunich Naj. It’s a B&B we found online run by this lovely woman Daniela and her grandsons. It only has 2 rooms and we had to wheel our bikes through the sitting room to get to the courtyard.

The city of Valladolid is roughly 50,000 people of primarily Mayan descent. The architecture is mostly Spanish though as most Mayan remains were destroyed completely or torn down and reused to build in the Spanish style. The plazas and churches are very pretty and we spent much of our time walking and exploring the different neighbourhoods. we didn’t meet any other Canadians as most travellers seem to be European right now.

The following morning we hopped on our bikes and did a 30km ride exploring a cenote and some neighbouring towns and haciendas. There are 100’s of cenotes in the area plus the ruins of Ek Balam as well as Chichen Itza. The city is a great jumping off point to explore as well get a true taste of the culture of an inland city.

The remaining day was spent wandering, having a siesta and a late supper of traditional Yucatan food.

We probably could have stayed in the area a couple more days but our room was already rented and we had a room booked in Merida so I could have good wifi for my accounting course in two days time. So we planned for an early night to have an early start the next day to cycle to Chichen Itza. I was looking forward to the ride and to be back on my bike.

Did you know that Cozumel hosts an Ironman triathlon? I didn’t either and to my utmost surprise there is a dedicated cycling lane around the Island. Now I’m being generous when I say dedicated; it’s more like a suggestion. For the most part it was just us and the odd cyclist but in some spots there were scooters, cars, trucks, police cars….you get the picture.

The route loops the southern half of the Island with a main artery cutting through the centre. It is about 65km in total. We set off around 9am from the busy west coast and cut across to the east side which was about a 15km ride. Then there is nothing. Just miles of beach and not a soul in sight. We rode along and stopped to swim and cool off in a few places. It was so pretty but we did need to keep an eye out for animals. Only one close call with a hedgehog looking thing and a few iguanas running across the path.

We had bought a giant bottle of water for 15 pesos before we set off thinking it would be enough. It wasn’t. Even Nick was thirsty and he’s like a camel. We ran out of water at about 30km and finally found a tienda at roughly 45 km where I paid 40 pesos for the same damn water. The lady knew she had me, I had no choice and she was the only place for another 15km. I hesitated for half a second and then bought it anyways. It was the best water I’ve ever had! Once refreshed, we set off for the home stretch. By the time we got back to town it was 3pm. We were starving, still dehydrated, and cranky. It was time to find food.

We cycled up into the town proper and found a Cocina economica which is a family style restaurant where you can order off the menu or get the meal of the day. We did a little of both and had a fish fillet, pozole (delicious Mexican soup), and enchiladas verde. So amazing. Afterwards, it took everything to get out sore backsides back on the bikes for a slow crawl to the hotel to shower and have a siesta.

Nick slept and I studied for a few hours and while we were getting moving to go out again a halloween car parade went past our hotel. I don’t know if this is a regular thing or a Covid thing but it was fun to wave to all the kids in their costumes. We did go down to the square and there was a big street fair and entertainment for Day of the Dead festivities. Another fun fact: kids run around trading candy. The parents give them a big bag and off they go to trade with the other kids. No door to door trick or treating.