Uxmal
Prior to my encounter with the bed bugs, I'd spent the whole day mainly hiding from the heat in air conditioned cafes. Sometimes heat is a real distraction!
In the evening I'd gone to Mercado 60, a trendy, hipsterish food market 6 blocks from the zocalo, on yep, you guessed it, calle 60. They have lots of different food options, from pizza, to pasta, to burritos, to sushi, to fancy sandwiches. It reminded me of Borough Market in London, or a more outdoorsy version of the Mercado Roma in DF. It's at these times that I actually really miss a good old taco stand, which just don't seem to be around in this part of Mexico. Because whilst it was nice to sit in the market and nurse a G&T, to the sound of the jazz band playing in the background, you just can't beat a good old taco de pollo and all its trimmings, for 25 pesos.
Whilst nursing said G&T I saw a girl wandering round. She looked a little lost and as she hovered by the bar I asked her if she wanted to join me, so she did, and it transpired that she had a had a pretty rubbish couple of days and was feeling lonely. We exchanged travel stories and I mentioned that I was going to Uxmal the day after, if she wanted to join. So she did!
The next morning at 5:30am Laila and I were on our way to the second class bus station, and 260 pesos later we were sat at the back of a very full bus that would drop us right outside Uxmal, 1h20 minutes later. Why so early? Well, as mentioned previously, the heat in the Yucatan is out of this world, and in planning to go to Uxmal I thought back to the lovely days of Coba in Tulum and Tikal in Guatemala, with less fond memories of the sweltering heat. Hopefully going early meant beating the crowds and the heat.
It worked, as we arrived at Uxmal at 7:30am, 30 minutes before the gates opened, and 3rd in the queue. At this time in the morning it actually felt considerably cooler than in Merida. And when we walked through the gates and to the site, it felt like we were the only people in the world.
We were aiming to take the 12:00pm bus back to Merida, and this left more than enough time to explore the whole site. It felt magical as we walked around the largest structure, the Pyramid of the Magician, with the sun rising over its back, flooding the silent spaces with morning light.
According to one Mayan legend, the pyramid is so called because the magician-god Itzamna constructed it in one night, using his strength and magic.
We finished with a walk to the temple of the dead, which despite being on the map of the site, felt off the beaten path as we had to walk through and push back lots of undergrowth.
As we walked back towards the entrance of the site, the midday heat pre-empted a frozen drink from the expensive cafe - not only does Uxmal have one of the highest entry fees for an archaeological site in Mexico, it also has extremely expensive cafes. But it was totally worth it to wander around this magical place as the sun came up. Our suspicions were also confirmed, as when we arrived back at the entrance, it was teeming with tourists. Early starts FTW!
A short wait at the bus stop and we were on our way back to Merida, and very much ready for a well-earned siesta, before a pizza and then a gin and tonic, back at Mercado 60!
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Uxmal: Vital Stats
Buses to Uxmal leave from the TAME second class terminal, on calle 69, betwen calles 68 and 70.
Morning departure times are 6:00am, 9:00am 10:40am and 12:30pm.
The bus drops you right outside the entrance to Uxmal and the bus stop for the return to Merida is opposite, about 30 metres back.
The return times are 10:30am, 12:00pm and 3:30pm.
The round trip costs 126 pesos.
Entrance to Uxmal costs a stonking 288 pesos for non-Mexican nationals.
A black coffee costs 45 pesos.
A small frozen mango drink costs 50 pesos.
In the evening I'd gone to Mercado 60, a trendy, hipsterish food market 6 blocks from the zocalo, on yep, you guessed it, calle 60. They have lots of different food options, from pizza, to pasta, to burritos, to sushi, to fancy sandwiches. It reminded me of Borough Market in London, or a more outdoorsy version of the Mercado Roma in DF. It's at these times that I actually really miss a good old taco stand, which just don't seem to be around in this part of Mexico. Because whilst it was nice to sit in the market and nurse a G&T, to the sound of the jazz band playing in the background, you just can't beat a good old taco de pollo and all its trimmings, for 25 pesos.
Whilst nursing said G&T I saw a girl wandering round. She looked a little lost and as she hovered by the bar I asked her if she wanted to join me, so she did, and it transpired that she had a had a pretty rubbish couple of days and was feeling lonely. We exchanged travel stories and I mentioned that I was going to Uxmal the day after, if she wanted to join. So she did!
The next morning at 5:30am Laila and I were on our way to the second class bus station, and 260 pesos later we were sat at the back of a very full bus that would drop us right outside Uxmal, 1h20 minutes later. Why so early? Well, as mentioned previously, the heat in the Yucatan is out of this world, and in planning to go to Uxmal I thought back to the lovely days of Coba in Tulum and Tikal in Guatemala, with less fond memories of the sweltering heat. Hopefully going early meant beating the crowds and the heat.
It worked, as we arrived at Uxmal at 7:30am, 30 minutes before the gates opened, and 3rd in the queue. At this time in the morning it actually felt considerably cooler than in Merida. And when we walked through the gates and to the site, it felt like we were the only people in the world.
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| The welcome to Uxmal. |
We were aiming to take the 12:00pm bus back to Merida, and this left more than enough time to explore the whole site. It felt magical as we walked around the largest structure, the Pyramid of the Magician, with the sun rising over its back, flooding the silent spaces with morning light.
 |
| The Pyramid of the Magician. |
 |
| Sunlight breaking over the Pyramid of the Magician, lighting up the other structures. |
We finished with a walk to the temple of the dead, which despite being on the map of the site, felt off the beaten path as we had to walk through and push back lots of undergrowth.
 |
 |
| El templo de los muertos. |
As we walked back towards the entrance of the site, the midday heat pre-empted a frozen drink from the expensive cafe - not only does Uxmal have one of the highest entry fees for an archaeological site in Mexico, it also has extremely expensive cafes. But it was totally worth it to wander around this magical place as the sun came up. Our suspicions were also confirmed, as when we arrived back at the entrance, it was teeming with tourists. Early starts FTW!
A short wait at the bus stop and we were on our way back to Merida, and very much ready for a well-earned siesta, before a pizza and then a gin and tonic, back at Mercado 60!
-
Uxmal: Vital Stats
Buses to Uxmal leave from the TAME second class terminal, on calle 69, betwen calles 68 and 70.
Morning departure times are 6:00am, 9:00am 10:40am and 12:30pm.
The bus drops you right outside the entrance to Uxmal and the bus stop for the return to Merida is opposite, about 30 metres back.
The return times are 10:30am, 12:00pm and 3:30pm.
The round trip costs 126 pesos.
Entrance to Uxmal costs a stonking 288 pesos for non-Mexican nationals.
A black coffee costs 45 pesos.
A small frozen mango drink costs 50 pesos.
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