To me, Merida is the sparkling jewel of Mexico’s Yucatán region – vibrant, colourful, choc-full of culture and yet still maintaining the friendly, small town vibe that made it a worthwhile destination to visit in the first place.

Following the hot humidity of Palenque, we arrived via a 7.5-hour overnight bus ride into the hot humidity of Merida. Fortunately our hostel, Hostel Nomadas, had provided super clear instructions to reach the hostel from the bus station, so within half an hour of arriving in Merida, we were checking into the friendly accommodation that would become our home for the next five days.

Nomadas Hostel

Nomadas is a bit of an institution in Merida, and has been the most popular hostel in town for years, consistently rated as the number one hostel on Hostelworld and TripAdvisor. And it certainly deserves the accolades.

Upon our roughly 7.30am arrival, we were told although check-in was not until midday, to help ourselves to the buffet continental breakfast, have a swim and to hang out until our room was ready. After a pretty sleepless night on the bus, this was a total blessing not to have the face the streets of Merida just yet, so we pulled up a chair around the communal breakfast tables, poured ourselves a coffee and helped ourselves to toast, cereal and fruit, and importantly, the free WIFI. I loved the ceramic tiling everywhere, but only managed to snap this one pic of the tiles near our room.

Oh and the BEST thing about Nomadas? The clean, sparkling, refreshingly cool swimming pool, complete with plenty of hammocks and lounge chairs for the ultimate in chillaxing! And yes, we did spend a good few afternoons and balmy evenings hanging out there with a cold cerveza or two!

We had booked a private double room and as always, am so glad that we did. I have nothing against bunks and dorm rooms (they were awesome when I was in my early 20’s), but as someone slightly older now, and particularly in a social hostel such as Nomadas, it is really nice to have a sanctuary to go back to later in the night when you are after a bit of quiet time following lots of socialising during the day and nights.

And private bathrooms begin to look like a real luxury that you are certainly prepared to pay for if they’re available (you can tell we have been on the road for a few weeks by this time)!

Whilst in Merida, we spent a day doing a tour out to the Cuzuma Cenotes, which, although expensive for what it is, was a great way to get out and about and see some of the Yucatan’s famous cenotes in an easy, stress-free way.

Cuzuma Cenotes

Cenotes are basically underground caves / caverns in the limestone that were formed thousands of years ago by the underground rivers streaming through the limestone, and they are ALL OVER this region. I read somewhere there are more than 3,000 of them in the Yucatán, although only about half of that are actually registered, while the rest are probably only known to the locals.

Back in the days of the ancient Mayans, the cenotes were often used as a place of human sacrifice – especially the deep ones – but nowadays they are used as very welcome swimming holes. The beautiful aqua blue waters are the perfect temperature – not freezing, but certainly not warm.

The town of Cuzuma, where three cenotes are located, is about an hour and half away from Merida and the small town is really a throwback to the olden days. It barely looked like there was running water there (although I am sure there was), and the homes were very traditional, with the thatched roofs and the self-constructed walls out the front.

Our guide dropped us off near a whole bunch of locals standing near horses and these weird looking cart thingeys, and told us he would see us in 2-2.5 hours …. Uuummmmm, would we be riding in a carriage to the cenotes? Yes, as it turned out!

The horses were harnessed in, and then made to trot along these old railway kind of tracks, which the carts were loaded on to – kind of a like a train I suppose, but instead of a steam engine doing the pulling, it was these horses! Below is a link to a quick video clip (hoping it works!) that shows the clip-clopping as we bumped along which was quite hilarious. There was nothing really to hold onto, and it felt like the cart would tip over at any moment, hence my nervous face!

VIDEO —-> IMG_0770

Our ride to the first two cenotes took about 10 minutes on the horse cart, and was probably a few kilometres. At the end of the first track we saw two cenotes, which, unfortunately (and very disappointedly!) we could not swim in, but just look at. The first one had lots of bats flying around and the second one was incredibly small and steep to climb down, but the water at the bottom was only about a metre or two wide (and who knows how deep).

By this time the humidity and the heat were almost killing us and everyone was starting to get a bit grumpy – when could we swim?! Dave putting on a brave smile below hahah.

Our guide had told someone in our group not to take too long at the first two cenotes, because the third was where we could swim, and therefore should spend most of our time. Luckily for all of us, there was only about another 10 minute ride on the horse train to reach the third and final cenote. And this one, this one was the bomb!

Accessing the underground cenote via the cement staircase….

It was basically an open cavern in the ground and you climbed down a limestone / concrete staircase about 10 metres below ground level before you reached the glistening water. The photos I took, both on the iPhone and on the camera, really don’t do this place justice so I am in two minds as to whether to even include them!

The water was just so blue, and so clear, that you could see what looked to be about 20 metres below the surface to the rocks far below. Apparently this last cenote reaches a depth of approximately 24 metres, and connects to the large, complex underground water system.

Spending 90 minutes in there was easy – we just floated and swam, and dove in and around the rocks – the water was the most perfect temperate and it was just pure bliss, especially as an escape from the oppressive heat and humidity!

Swimming in there was just so cool – the sun was shining through the cenote’s opening at the top, giving the whole cave a mysterious, almost magical feeling. Plus the fact there is no salt in the water also meant that you got tired a lot quicker when swimming in it, as there was no buoyancy from the salt to make it easier to float.

Rather than getting lunch somewhere out near the cenote as originally scheduled in the tour, everyone on the tour opted to just head straight back to Merida and get back at about 2:30pm instead of 4pm, and sort ourselves out for lunch.

I do think the tour brochure and the promotions for this tour sell you the tour in that you get to see and swim in there different cenotes, when really, you do see three, but you can only swim in one. And considering that people only really go to the cenotes to swim in them, we felt a bit deceived. Maybe we should have done more of our own research. Either way, the third cenote was great fun and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, but would happily have spent all our time there instead of combining all three!

Merida Streetscapes

We were in a pretty central location in our hostel, and found it super easy and convenient to walk everywhere. Combining that with the fact that the casas (houses) and buildings of Merida are constructed in a myriad of colours, this made for fantastic meandering which we did a lot of, as we walked to and from the various restaurants we ate at, and in between sightseeing.

Check out these colours – aren’t they just delightful? Trying to get these perfect definitely makes me wish I was a better photographer, as the afternoon sun made getting good photos incredibly difficult! There were also a million and one VW Beetles in the streets of Merida, around every corner, there was another one, painted in retro or all different colours of the rainbow – just another quirk about Merida we loved.

The buildings that did look different to the above were mostly those found on the Paseo de Montejo, affectionately nicknamed ‘Merida’s Champs Elysees’ due to the beautiful, mostly imposing mansions and luxury hotels that line the main street, complemented well as the white-bottomed painted palm trees.

Oh, and here is Dave under some kind of weird dwarf tree – it was literally that short that he had to almost crawl to go underneath it, and this was on the side of the main footpath on Paseo de Montejo – we were cracking up as we came up to it, joking “do we need to limbo underneath this tree?!”

Merida Food

We have been eating out a lot – which we love as we are both big lovers of Mexican food, and we fully expected the authentic food to be significantly different to what we find in Australian restaurants, so we were looking forward to trying new flavours. However, we found that a lot of the local dishes all had the same flavours, same seasoning and even the same accompaniments, which did get a bit boring.

Nevertheless, we did try some amazing Yucatán food at La Chaya Maya, a restaurant renewed for its traditional Yucatán cuisine, and our joint favourite here was the Poc Chuc. Unfortunately we didn’t have the camera on us the night we went here so no pics.

Poc Chuc is essentially pork strips on a sizzling hot plate with simple seasoning, served with tortillas (there they are again), pickled red onion and (my new least favourite food) refried beans. The pork itself was juicy and tender and with a lovely almost-charcoal grill flavour, and the pickled onion set it off nicely, but I couldn’t bring myself to wrap it in a tortilla and smother it in the refried beans like they suggest – if I never see another refried bean in my life, it will be too soon!

Amongst the couple of not-so-great dishes, there were more than a few great, even amazing, dishes and we ended up frequenting the same two restaurants numerous times. The first was a local bar with booths for diners that we stumbled across on a British expat’s blog – this one was called Las Vigas and I highly recommend it.

Las Vigas is aimed at young, budget-conscious locals – especially those interested in watching a sporting match on one of the many TV screens displayed around the joint. And it was CHEAP. We arrived for Happy Hour one evening before the re-enactment of the ancient Mayan Ball Game which we went to watch, and ordered a couple of margaritas before even checking the menu as everyone else seemed to be drinking them.

These came out promptly as a frozen cocktail. The iciness of them, combined with the strong tequila taste, was a welcome respite in the (crowded, so stuffy) dining area. By the time we checked the menu, and realised we were paying less than AU$1 per cocktail, we were blown away – and over the next hour or so I think we consumed seven margaritas in total… and the food was good too.

To start with, we ordered a shrimp ceviche which came with chopped tomatoes and red onion, and plenty of coriander and had a deliciously tangy-lime flavour, but I was pretty weirded out to see that what I had assumed would be prawns were in fact the teeny tiny little shrimps you get in Asian fried rice. And they were certainly not ceviche (where they are raw but cooked in the lime juice). Which, to be honest, I was actually quite glad about – not sure raw mini-shrimp would be entirely too good for the guts! The serving was pretty massive and I think cost AU$2.50.

Following our ceviche starter came the shrimp enchiladas (served in a delicious creamy spicey sauce, but again – the mini-shrimp!) and the hero of the night (besides the $1 margarita’s – they win) was the delectable, fingerlickin’ good fall-off-the-bone pork ribs with barbeque sauce. These were huge, meaty ribs, I think there was 6 on the plate and this was more than enough – Dave was very impressed by these and vowed that next time, he wouldn’t be sharing with me haha. Again, the price point wowed us – about AU$4 for the ribs.

The following time we went back, we were really only after a light lunch so shared the chicken nachos, which were about AU$5 and were more than enough for the two of us to share. There was more than enough guacamole as well – I like to heap a little bit of guac on every mouthful, so ample guac is important.

Our other favourite hangout, and where we went twice for lunch and once for dinner was a fabulous little spot that for some reason we could never work out, never seemed to really have too many customers. It is tucked away in a corner of a row of fancier, more upscale restaurants overlooking a small square, and it is called Botella Verde (the Green Bottle).

The staff were fantastic, giving us their recommendations and cracking jokes with us, and we tasted about half of their menu over the three visits. Before I touch on the actual dishes, I have to mention these little pickled veggies and antipasto they served complimentary while you’re perusing the menu – literally every time we went, we would knock off the little jar filled off this pickled goodness and they would bring us more – if I could have just had the pickle for lunch, I would have! There was baby cauliflower, as well as sliced carrots but mostly white onion and olives, and it was a delicious vinegary, tart but spicy kind of flavour – incredibly moreish! YUMMO. I need to figure out this recipe when we are home, and then I will always keep a jar in the fridge, so good!

Besides the pickled freebies, there were two other dishes that were big winners – beautiful roasted figs served with blue cheese and crispy jamon and a drizzling of balsamic glaze (the blue cheese and fig taste is obviously a winner, but the cheese melted over the fig – ERMAGAAAHD!)….. here is a quick pic to get your mouth watering!

And the other winner was a fresh and zesty chicken, coriander and lime mayonnaise mix served over two avocado halves, served with the yummiest side salad including a hibiscus balsamic vinaigrette dressing – mmmm, the freshness of the chicken and the zestiness of the lime and coriander made this another dish we will certainly be trying to replicate when we get home!

On the evening we had dinner there, we also the bruschetta as an entree which came with two toppings – a green pesto and a traditional tomato bruschetta mix. Both were delightful and after not having had proper bread in a couple of weeks, the crispy garlicky bread the toppings were on, was just what the chef ordered!

Besides the figs and bruschetta, we also ordered a lemony Greek chicken pita wrap meal, served with black olives and salad, again, the chicken was super tender and had so much flavour, we were blown away. We also ordered a (comparatively average) chorizo and grape sautéed dish with worked, but just didn’t live up to the other dishes flavour-factor.

What did however, was the one and only dessert we have had in Mexico so far (we are usually too full by then hahah) – the corn and ricotta cheesecake. This was light and fluffy and whilst you could certainly taste corn, it was subtle and sweet and an incredibly perfect way to finish our meal, alongside a couple of espressos. Oh, I forgot to mention, we did try some Mexican wine, and the sauv blanc was pretty average but the cabernet was good. Can’t recall winery names unfortunately.

To give you an idea of price, this was more expensive than Las Vigas (which was particularly cheap) but all in all, for two entrees, two mains, a dessert, two espressos, two glasses of wine and 3 beers, this meal cost us approximately AU$70, which was a real splurge. How can you not love Mexico?!!

All in all, we totally loved Botella Verde and if you know of anyone visiting Merida, PLEASE tell them to go visit this amazing little gem of a restaurant. I only hope that the lack of patronage there reflects a very quiet week for them, and not a regular occurrence as if that is the case, I cannot see how they can stay open much longer, which would be a real loss to the Meridian food scene, at least in my humble, pickle-loving opinion!

Chichen Itza

On our last full day in Merida, we decided to hit up Chichen Itza, some more famous ancient Mayan ruins. Chichen was originally on our itinerary to do from Valladolid (next stop after Merida) as it is only half an hour by bus from there, as opposed to the 2 or so hours from Merida.

However the weather forecast was predicting overcast skies and thunderstorms for the next week in both Merida and Valladolid, so we bit the bullet and caught the 6:30am bus to Chichen Itza.

We arrived at Chichen about 8:15am, just after the gates opened and before most of the big tour buses arrived so we were fortunate to be able to see the majority of the ruins in relative peace and quiet. Chichen was the rising star of the Mayan civilisation around the time that Palenque was falling, so they were not direct rivals but probably were well populated around the same time.

I think I may have said this before, but no matter how many ruins I see (and by this time, we have seen a lot!), and despite us joking that we are just about ‘ruined out’, there is something incredibly awe-inspiring when you first see these phenomenal structures rise up in front of you.

The mere fact that they were able to do the engineering and construction of these ancient buildings over a thousand years ago is humbling. And man, did they make them beautiful. What we see today are literally the ruins of what would have been incredibly colourful and imposing buildings – painted in bright reds and vibrant blues, and displaying hundreds of precious stones such as turquoise, jade and obsidian.

Chichen Itza itself is probably the most beautiful of the pyramids we have see – its construction is clearer to visualise as the stone steps led to the apex, with giant snakes at the bottom of the staircases, and the detail still visible in the way they constructed the steps themselves. There is one photo below where you can see the original and the now-damaged steps. Pretty amazing.

Chichen had a wonderful temple called the temple of a thousand columns, there is no roof on the building now, and the shell of it is all that remains but looking at it, you still have to wonder how on earth they did it! Each column would have weighed hundreds of tonnes, and lets not forget, these guys did everything by hand – and not by slaves, but by the general Mayan population who wanted to build these temples!

We had a good couple of hours enjoying the serenity of Chichen Itza before the crowds started flowing in, and the hawkers selling hats, masks, skulls, t-shirts and everything in-between started ruining the atmosphere, and we decided to head back to Merida. It’s beautiful out then when it’s just you, the trees and the ruins, but when there is suddenly voices calling out ‘hey senorita, where you from? Today special price for you, so good almost free!” every other minute, it starts to lose its charm. Although we did love the colourful skulls on display!

Either way, we were glad we saw Chichen Itza (and it didn’t rain a drop!) early in the morning, and by the time we got back to Merida we still had the majority of the afternoon left to laze by the pool and hang out in our hammocks! Oh, we will miss this pool when we leave Nomadas!

So, that was Merida, I think I covered the main things anyway! This blog is a bit all over the place because there were so many different things I wanted to cover and I thought it would be better having it one blog rather than splitting it up into a few on Merida, so thank you if you managed to stay with me until the very end.

Next stop, Valladolid – I think this two night stop will be a lot cruisier as the main reason for stopping there was to see Chichen Itza, which we have now already done! Oh well, we can certainly do with a couple of chilled days before we hit Tulum!

Hasta Luego!