yeah, busy time in yucatan state (obviously we've been in the yucatan peninsula for a while, this is specifically the state), we spent four nights total in the state, and had a great time. arriving in valladolid on a thursday afternoon, we went for the hi hostel (but it was closed for renovations), so we ended up at the hotel zaci which was a pretty nice place anyway. the next day, we got up real early so that we could get to chichen itza as it opened, it's a 45 minute bus ride, so don't bother having a shower 
. it was just opening when we got there, so not too many tourists and the hawkers weren't really set up yet either. entry was $98 pesos, which includes the cost of the night light show (which we didn't hang around for), so maybe coming in the afternoon is a better bet (though you'll definitely have to fight through the crowds).
one of the new wonders of the world, it is, once again, a terrific site, and definitely not one to be missed. el castillo is pretty much the first thing you see when you walk in, and there are plenty of different angles to get a photo of it (though not as many as there used to be, as you can't climb it, nor can you climb to top of the temple of chac mool (muy disappointing 
). even still, there are so many things to see you won't be too disappointed, there are colourful birds, myriad other structures, statues, columns, and wildlife to catch. it's a big site, we spent almost four hours there, so plenty to keep yourself entertained (as long as you like this kind of stuff). also, beware when buying masks from the hawkers, alf got a big one that he thought was wooden, but it turned out to be plaster. the price was knocked down from $300 to $120 or something, so something fishy going on there.
after that, we went back to our hotel in a colectivo, checked out (checkout time was 1pm, very cool) and left our bags with reception, before heading out to cenote samula by colectivo taxi (about 20 minutes, $15 pesos). this cenote is underground, it is famous for having the roots of an alamo tree sucking moisture from it. we went for a short swim (water was surprisingly warm, not like tulum, but warmer than lorne for sure), i took some photos, and then we headed back. it is the smallest and possibly least popular of the cenotes near valladolid, but the tree roots attracted us. lots of fish in the water, and lots of sparrow-like birds flying about, they shit in the water too 
.
went back to town by colectivo taxi again, then got on our bus headed for merida, the state capital. the biggest city we'd been to since puebla, and probably the warmest place as well (similar to melbourne in summer, but it was spring in merida!!), merida was a most charming city. i really liked it, hard for me to decide which was my favourite place, but merida is definitely up there. the first full day there, we went shopping, and bought ourselves some hammocks (i still don't know what i'm going to do with mine). alf and ozzy got a heap of other stuff, i got some nice t-shirts and left it at that. it's a really nice city to wander around in, the zocalo is busy (at times) and there are lots of shops and markets. we also went to the governor's palace on the north side of the zocalo and looked at the murals by fernando castro pacheco, there are a lot of them, pretty much all about the mayan people before and after the spanish conquest. these were my favourite paintings of the whole trip, really well done, and the explanations really explained the paintings well.
onto uxmal (again, entry was $98 pesos including the cost of the night light show, again, we didn't hang around for it), the last site of ruins that we would see in mexico, certainly not the least though, from a quick glance, i think i've got some pretty nice pictures from here (which would've been better if we were able to get there earlier). it's a one and a half hour bus ride from merida, with the earlist bus leaving at 6am, we got the 8am one. the site opens at 8am, so it's not easy to get to without your own car or taxi (unless you want to wake up real early). it's a pretty large site, with pretty much everything concentrated in the central and southern areas, we covered it in about two hours. once again, the first thing you see when you get in, is a big pyramid (can't climb it though, nor anything else). i actually got in trouble for walking over ruins that i thought were just rocks (i guess the sign should've told me otherwise, of course i only did it cos other people did, but that's still my fault). the bus trip back was a bit dodgy though, there doesn't seem to be any colectivos servicing uxmal, so you have to go out to the highway and catch the bus back to merida (or campeche), just wait, one will come along.
my final word on the ruins, we did spend a lot of time there and stuff, and managed to get the best possible light for a couple of them, though i wonder now, what it might've been like to go in the afternoon as well, if you've got time and money, it's probably worth it, if you're looking for some really good photos. in terms of my favourites (taking everything into account), i'm not going to qualify my judgements here, but:
other than that, we had a lot of ice creams and sorbets in merida (yum ), did a fair bit of shopping, and generally chilled out for our last days in the yucatan and the east. it was really busy on our last night, sunday, at the zocalo, which was good, cos we hadn't really seen any liveliness from mexico (not that we looked that hard), stalls out, and stuff, lots of churros and ice creams for sale . alf and ozzy did some last minute shopping on our last morning, before we headed for the airport for our flight to guadalajara. just on that, make sure you check in your pocket knives, or swiss army knives before you try and get into the terminal. i forgot about my swiss army knife, and had to run in and out of the terminal (the long way of course) to get my backpack back just to check in my knife, fortunately we left enough time so that it wasn't a problem, though it was still a bit of a rush. with that, onto guadalajara to finish off this trek.
picture of a statue/sculpture on paseo de montejo in merida.
Last edited at 4:42 21st-may-2008
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