Ek Balam, Mexico

Continuing the rundown of my recent trip to Mexico, this post takes in the spectacular nature reserve of Rio Lagartos and the ancient ruins of Ek Balam and Uxmal.

MERIDA – 23-24/11/12

From Chichen Itza, we headed back to Valladolid, before setting off the following morning for Rio Lagartos on the coast.

Valladolid itself is an unremarkable town. The central square and surrounding streets are worth a visit if you’ve got a couple of hours to kill.

In Rio Lagartos, we took to the water and went in search of local wildlife. First up were flamingos – and plenty of them.

That wasn’t all: eagles, hawks, cormorants, pelicans and a crocodile. A good trip in this well looked-after sanctuary.

Ek Balam was the next stop after Rio Lagartos. It’s not as large a site as Chichen Itza, at some 12 square kilometres. The main ‘acropolis’ construction is one of the largest in the Yucatan state and you can scale its steep steps if you’re feeling energetic. The view at the top is impressive, looking down on the vast expanse of jungle all around.

From Ek Balam we headed to our next overnight stop, which was the town of Merida. The ‘El Governador’ hotel was our home for the night.

In a central location, the El Governador has a restaurant attached that coped well with our group of 20 and the various demands that this brings with it (from vegetarians, to no fish and even no peppers – I’m not sure the Mexicans have ever contemplated the latter, but a dish without peppers duly arrived following the request).

Breakfast at the El Governador hotel in Merida was good, too. Served ‘American’ style at the table, there was fruit followed by either eggs or pancakes.

We had just enough time to explore Merida and its multi-coloured streets. While not exactly glamorous, it does have something of an attraction about it. Perhaps it’s that it seems ‘typically’ Mexican. From the cars to the people and the things they sell and do, it just seemed to fit the stereotypes. Worth a visit, if not a prolonged stay.

UXMAL – 24-25/11/12

After leaving Merida, Uxmal was our next base. To be precise, it was the Hacienda Hotel in Uxmal.

The Hacienda Hotel has in impressive pedigree, with many a world leader and personality having stayed there over the years, albeit not it seems in the last 20 years. HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip take pride of place in the entry hall, having visited back in 1975. They’re joined by Princess Grace of Monaco and Henry Kissinger, among others.

The Hacienda Hotel is handily located for the archeological site at Uxmal – literally no more than a stone’s throw away across the road.

We made two visits to the site at Uxmal – the first in daylight and the second in the evening for the ‘sound and light’ show (more on that later!).

In the light, Uxmal impresses from when you first enter. The first monument you see as you enter is a pyramid-style construction. The first view you get is actually the rear, but you wouldn’t necessarily know.

There are numerous ancient Mayan buildings at Uxmal, but you inevitably end up in the four-sided theatre-style area, complete with ornate stone carvings all around.

There’s plenty to see here and it’s well worth looking around. This part of the site is also the venue for the sound and light show that we returned to see in the evening.

The sound and light show at Uxmal was set up with sound on speakers and coloured light illuminating the various monuments within the vicinity.

The main voiceover was in Spanish but you could opt for the 39 Peso (£2) audio headset. The 45-minute show was a walkthrough of various historic events that happened in the area, but it lacked any real substance.

The synchronicity between sound and light was ok, but didn’t really achieve anything. It would have been much easier to just read the information in about 10 minutes. One to skip if you’ve got any better offers.

Further posts to follow. This trip was booked through Archers Direct. The local tour company was ‘Best Day Travel’.

Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico

I was lucky enough recently to head to Mexico for a couple of weeks of winter sunshine. This is the first of my posts on that trip.

SO IT BEGINS

Time to escape the cold and rain of the UK in late November for a bit and head to Mexico for a couple of weeks. Starting off with a tour of some of the sights and ending up in Playa del Carmen on the beach.

We arrived in Cancun after a delayed flight from Gatwick. Two hours on the plane before even taking off, but at least we got off the ground in the end.

The good news is that the sun was shining and it was almost 30 degrees when we stepped off the plane – nice for November! The trip was timed so that we just missed the end of the rainy (and hurricane) season but arrived before the peak started.

First stop was the town of Valladolid, a couple of hours from the airport. It was dark pretty much as soon as we left the airport (only 5ish local time), so there wasn’t much to see along the way, except for a pretty impressive sunset.

After a 20+ hour journey, priorities by now were food and sleep. Unfortunately, food was disappointing. Our hotel in Valladolid was the Quinta Regia (sp?), which brands itself an ecotel. Soap and shampoos in the room claimed to be organic, but I’m not sure what else helps substantiate this!

It could be that they’re ‘eco’ when it comes to paying a chef. Food was basic here, with two dinners consisting of chicken and beef, with simple accompaniments. Ok, we were travelling with a group of about 20 so they served a set menu, but even so, it was poor. Starters were soups (one of which was so bad it must have been made from powder) and desserts were typical hotel-style cakes, lacking in any real flavour.

Enough about Valladolid’s Quinta Regia, anyway. The biggest attraction in the area is Chichen Itza and that’s where we headed first.

CHICHEN ITZA – THU 22/11/12

Chichen Itza is a big site and one of the most famous – one of the seven wonders of the world, in fact. Situated in the Yucatan state, no more than a couple of hours from Cancun, it is also one of the most tourist focused, with hundreds of stalls selling Mayan souvenirs and clothing all over the site.

The Mayaland hotel is right next to Chichen Itza and we made a brief stop there for lunch. Food was plentiful and tasty, with a mix of Mexican style and more European alternatives. Enough to make the thought of a return here for a one night stay later in our trip suitably enticing.

As for Chichen Itza itself, once you enter past a few thatched huts, you arrive at the main site, with central pyramid and surrounding historical ball courts and monuments. One of the great things about many Mexican sites is that there is still more to be discovered and that’s true even of somewhere like Chichen Itza.

Chichen Itza is a site that stretches some xx square kilometres, with much still under the cover of jungle. Around the central pyramid are a number of other monuments . Just a short walk away is the ‘cenote’ – a giant natural sink hole used by the Mayans for human sacrifice to the rain gods.

If you can get an aerial view of Chichen Itza (Google maps link) you’ll start to understand the scale of the place. One of the biggest attractions in Yucatan and the one you’re most likely to visit if you’re visiting the area.

Further posts to follow. This trip was booked through Archers Direct. The local tour company was ‘Best Day Travel’.