Here we are! After 11 weeks traveling through Mexico, we finally arrive in the famous and ultra-popular Yucatan Peninsula. We approach it with great excitement, but also a little apprehension. Is the Yucatan really Mexico? That's what we will discover in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, we are driving fairly quickly to Cancun because we have a package to pick up at the airport in a few days 😜.
Friday, March 17th, 2023
It's hot, very hot. We would love to stay in our little corner of the Chiapas jungle taking cold showers every half hour, but we need to move on. We eat crepes, fold up the tent, take a cold shower, and get going. Normally, we try to avoid air conditioning, in order to consume less energy 😵💫, but between slowly melting in the sun like a piece of butter and having to refuel more often, we've made our choice! 🫠 We leave Chiapas, make a quick stop in the state of Tabasco, and arrive in Campeche. Already, we're in another world: no more speed bumps in sight, and a road so smooth and easy to drive that we could be back in the US. We cover kilometers without any difficulty until we reach the Edzná archaeological site. However, the problem with air conditioning is that when it's time to get out of the car, we risk fainting 😂 And yet, we turn it on very slowly! It's 39°C (102°F) in the shade! We make a salad and eat plenty of cool watermelon. But nothing seems to work. By the time we set off to visit the site, we're already sweating.
Edzná is not a very touristy site, but it is still very pretty with its main temple, which is 40 meters high and offers a beautiful panoramic view of the entire city. Oh, no, you can't climb it anymore! Too bad. You walk from tree to tree to stay in the shade as much as possible, and when you have to cross the Gran Plaza, you shelter under the umbrella. As in most Mayan sites, the acoustics are good, there is a ball court, a central square, and a beautiful pyramid! However, you wonder how the Mayans could live in such heat! Archaeologists are restoring some frescoes, and it's very interesting to see them at work. There are also plenty of iguanas!
It's too hot to stay any longer. We get back in the car and drive until we find a swimming pool! A small family hotel welcomes us. For 200 MXN, about 10 €, we can park in the courtyard, sleep in the tent, enjoy the pool, WiFi, shade under the palapa without limit. The owner even gives us the keys to one of the rooms so we can access the bathroom and shower. And what a shower! An Italian shower like we haven't seen in... a long time! The only downside to the place is that we're next to the highway and it's noisy. Oh well, tonight we'll use earplugs.
Saturday, March 18th
Finally, it's not the trucks that wake us up, but the heat. At 7am, it becomes unbearable. We get out of the tent and dive into the pool! We spend the morning on site enjoying the pool, the palapa, and the WiFi. At 1pm, we reluctantly hit the road. It's not too difficult, as we already know we're headed to another pool 😁 Indeed, storms are expected tonight and tomorrow. So, we prefer to take a room with a local host in the big city of Mérida. We arrive at Élisa's, who lives in a beautiful house that's completely open to the garden and the small pool. We get the room upstairs, with a private terrace, a superb shower, and three single beds. It's perfect!
We had not planned to visit Mérida, but since we were there, we decided to go! We went to the city center in the early evening. It was Saturday night, lively, full of people, very clean, and well organized, with pedestrian traffic lights. Are we still in Mexico? We even surprised some Mexicans who did not know how pedestrian traffic lights work! However, as soon as we wandered through the surrounding streets, we came across old, run-down houses with an abandoned air, dirty streets with broken sidewalks, homeless people, and garbage everywhere. As a result, we had the impression that the tourist area was a facade for tourists. Clearly, Mérida is not our favorite city. However, we did find some strange local specialties there: Nutella and grated cheese cakes, and cheese crepes sprinkled with grilled insects! 🙃
On our way back to our accommodation for the night, we come across a street performance. It's a reenactment of a Mayan ball game. The participants are dressed in traditional costumes and we watch dances, a blessing of the field by a shaman, and a demonstration of the ancient game. It's forbidden to use hands, feet, or head! The Mayans played exclusively with their hips! It's safe to say that it's quite technical.
We also had a demonstration of a variant of the ballgame: playing with a ball on fire! 😮 The trick to avoid getting burned is obviously not to hold the ball for too long and quickly pass it to your teammate. It's very impressive! Finally, to end the show beautifully according to Mayan traditions, the winning team was sacrificed in the public square... oh no, that's not done anymore! 🤣
Monday, March 20th
Nous avons passé un dimanche digne d’avant le voyage : pendant qu’il pleuvait sans discontinuité au dehors, nous sommes restés dans notre chambre pour travailler sur les photos et le blog, surfer sur YouTube, chiller dans le lit et regarder… Koh Lanta. Oui, oui. Bref, c’était trop bien ! Aujourd’hui, on reprend la route. Mais avant, une mission de taille nous attend : nous nous rendons chez Décathlon pour acheter des équipements de snorkel. Car oui, la Péninsule du Yucatán nous attend et on compte bien aller observer les poissons, et plus si affinité. On quitte ensuite la ville pour rejoindre la côte et découvrir pour la toute première fois le Golfe du Mexique ! Enfin, on l’aperçoit entre deux hôtels et deux maisons luxueuses… On roule jusqu’à trouver une côte plus sauvage et on trouve un bivouac près de l’eau. La mer n’est pas turquoise, mais la vue est plutôt sympa !
Tuesday, March 21th
Instead of taking the main road, we decided to take the back roads. It was much more enjoyable, even though there were more speed bumps. We drove until we reached El Cuyo, a small village by the water.
"From there, we take a long track that leads us to the edge of the sea. We find the perfect bivouac: far from everything, a stone's throw from the water, in the white sand. We are alone in the world and it's perfect! We even allow ourselves a swim in the sea... in naturist mode 😇
Wednesday, March 22nd
We hit the road after a refreshing dip in the sea. Today, we are heading to Cancun to pick up my mom who is coming to visit us and spend a few days with us! 😊 And there might be a big surprise waiting for me!
4 commentaires
Merci de nous faire participer à votre voyage.
Merci pour ces magnifiques photos et tous ces commentaires.
Bonne continuation.
Marie Claire.
Merci d’être passée par ici ! 😀 C’est toujours un plaisir de partager nos aventures ! On continue notre route au Mexique et bientôt vers le Belize, prochain pays !
Ouhaou ! Quel périple ! Quelles découvertes ! Et le bonheur pour Nathalie de se retrouver dans des sites inoubliables en présence de ses 2 enfants !
Ne nous la malmenez pas trop ! Mais elle a trop envie de continuer à partager ces moments inoubliables que vous lui offrez !
Profitez de la vie !
Bises à vous tous depuis nos Corbiéres ventes mais ensoleillées
Hello ! Merci pour ton message 🙂 On a passé de super moments tous les 4, c’était un vrai plaisir de se retrouver ensemble après toutes ces années !