The story continues from Campeche

Merida and Izamal Cities and Arqueologica Zona of Dzibilchatun, Oxtintok, Ake and Izamal and the sisal factory

I arrived in Merida by bus, this Thursday afternoon the 25^th of November 2004. I went from quaint, pristine and refreshing in Campeche to dirty, smelly, crowded, neglected, un-repaired, old peeling paint and downright nasty city of Merida. What a shock. I wasn’t expecting this mess. (Most of it was in the downtown area and I did find some cleaner areas on the outskirts of town). I had in mind a cute colonial town like Campeche turned out to be. No way. A taxi took me to the Delores Alba hotel. Not much on the outside but the interior had a huge courtyard, restaurant and my room was comfortable. I checked in and took a refreshing shower. After that I walked up the crowded streets to the place where I was going to rent the VW from mexicorentacar@hotmail.com and met the Alvaro Alonzo family. They had been so nice on the Internet with tips and info and I found them as charming in person. I was due to pick up the rental car tomorrow morning to use for the next 30 days. I just introduced my self and continued walking up to the museum here in town. It was another ten blocks. Thank goodness they were short blocks. In the middle of this dirt and grim it stood out in grand marble splendor. It used to be a governors palace, hence the fancy architecture. The staircase from the first floor to the second alone was carved out of huge pieces of marble. It was amazing. It was a great museum that had super pieces from Chichen Itza and other Yucatan sites. The whole museum had great displays with backdrops done in hand painted Mayan designs. Of course no pictures, so I was reduced to buying a couple of books. After I walked back to the plaza area it was time to go to a dance exhibition in the plaza that the Alvaro family told me about.

I took some pictures of the Folk dancers of the Yucatan with their fancy dresses. While I was in the plaza I looked around for some food. Sure enough right on the corner was a stand that was making hot dogs. He was doing a real brisk business. I looked at the food, which was fresh and hot. I decided it was safe and had one. It was pretty good and hit the spot. After the dancing show was over I walked back to the hotel and called it a night. Some of the streets I walked on were bus routes. The diesel smell was over whelming on the narrow streets and was so overpowering that I was gagging. The fumes didn’t reach over the tops of the buildings, but hung about nose high trapped in its air space. Besides that there were some very strange smells that lurked down some of the street drains that made me wonder if they were alive and if a slimy green hand would reach through the iron grate and come up and grab me. That made for a very negative impression of downtown Merida.

Dzibilchatun:

The next morning I went to pick up the rental car from the rental car family. I was all set to go to see the ancient site of Dzibilchatun located just east of Merida. After some directions on the map I was ready to take off. The drive was smooth and I didn’t have any trouble finding the way. The site was set in a dry dusty, parched area of the Yucatan lowlands. Not far from the sea, but drier than a bone. It wasn’t well kept and had trash in the bushes. I made my way through the outside museum area on my way to the main site. Along a path through the gardens were several statues of ball players complete with stone waist yolks. The site was big and I walked and walked. There were many interesting temples and buildings. The pictures show most of it. On the way back to the entrance was another section of the museum grounds that had a Mayan house and showed how it would have been furnished in the past. The regular museum had nice displays of the clothing of the Yucatan cultures from past to present. I bought a couple of things from the gift shop and made my way up the road to the beach at Progresso. That wasn’t worth more than a couple of pictures. The sea was rough and the sand gritty, but I managed to kick up a couple of nice conch shells. I went back to town and wandered around the plaza. They had many fine artists showing their wares. I bought a wonderful feather picture on a Mayan figure with a feather headdress. I found lots of shops where most of the salesmen promised a free plastic bag with a purchase. Can’t beat a deal like that. I bought some T-Shirts and a couple of muslin fabric pants and some embroidered outfits. Merida may have stunk but the crafts and art goods were wonderful. I also purchased a batik cloth with the figure of a Mayan king holding an offering.

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Oxtintok and Chunchucmil and Celestun:

The next morning I took off to see the ancient site of Oxkintok. It was a nicely reconstructed area. Very clean and located down a small road off the main highway. I thought the road was not good at the time until I made it to some of the other sites in the next few weeks. The roads are in various degrees of disrepair. If they wait too long the jungle and weeds will reclaim everything.

I took a lot of pictures and enjoyed the reconstructed temples and pyramids. The grounds were well kept and it had a park like setting that made the whole experience very pleasant. After spending a couple of hours looking around I went on to what I thought was going to be another site toward the coast called Chunchucmil. I had water, but as I passed a number of orange groves I stopped to pick a couple. I wasn’t sure how to pay for them as no one was around. I put some coins in a small plastic bag and tied it to a branch. I wondered what their reaction was going to be when the pickers found the bag of coins.

I almost got lost as there were many side roads and the towns were not marked. I kept referring to my map in the Yucatan Today magazine and after a few second-guesses I found the village. What caught my eye was that it had brand new Mayan houses (in the pictures). The site of Chumchucmil must have been lost out in the cornfield because there were no signs and no gates to try and get into. This village was way out in BFE with hardly any road to speak of, but they had electricity. After trying to ask for directions and getting several hand waves I managed to find the road to connect with the road to Celestun on the coast. That was the worst pothole mess I have ever traveled for 25 miles. Several times I thought one would swallow up the car but the VW managed to bump in and out safely enough. When I connected to the new modern road running from Merida to Celestun, I drove another 36 miles to the coastal town of Celestun. Talk about a few shacks on the beach. Wow. I ‘m sure the busy season brings many party animals, but not now. I was disappointed, but took a few pictures before I left. The sea here was as rough as in Progresso with a stiff wind. I made my way back 70 miles to Merida and called it a day.

The landscape was hard to see beyond the edge of the pavement because the sides of the road had weeds higher than the car that made it impossible to see. So I never could even view the flamingo nesting areas or the surrounding landscape.

That night I went to a restaurant the car rental family recommended and had the Yucatan favorite dish of Pollo (chicken) and a side of guacamole. It was ok, but the margaritas were better, served again in a different way. The restaurant itself was located on an open interior courtyard of a building right off a side street. It was decorated very nicely with soft candlelight and some background music. This was lovely enough to withstand the fume-laden air on my walk back to the hotel.

Ake and the sisal factory:

Somehow I missed the road that goes to the Ake site. I ended up almost back to the Merida city limits before I found the road that went that way. The whole landscape in that area is flat scrubby salt flats. Not many trees and a whole lot of small dusty villages. Being the whole ground is packed with rocks everyone has a great rock fence. The only way to clear your land is stack rocks into a fence. It is that way all over Mexico, especially in the Yucatan area.

When I did find Ake, about 3 p.m. it was located behind an old Hacienda fence and a sisal factory. The factory was running and I could see the machinery moving. It didn't take long to look at the site of Ake that contained a columned building, the temple and another smaller temple building behind it with stairs and an old wooden cross at the top.

When I came down I stopped at the factory and asked if I could take a couple of pictures. He said 2.00 but I didn't have change. He walked away just as a pickup pulled into the larger building on the other side of the dirt road. I debated and then got back out of the car and went across to where the men were. I asked again, telling him I was writing a book and wanted pictures. I asked him if he had change, sure enough, (after the price went up a dollar) to 3.00 I was given the grand tour of how they make jute rope and twine out of Maguey cactus. It was a fantastic process. The machinery they were using was shipped from England in the 1850's and was still running. After he showed me the plant he took me back to the huge 30-foot high building and showed me how they take the cactus leaves and run it through a machine that strips the fiber out of the leaf and makes it ready to spin into jute in the factory part. He also told me that the hurricane from two years ago (2002) ripped off the roof and damaged some of the operation. This made sense after wondering why the roof only had a few boards on it. When he was done I tipped him 2.00 because he gave me a really good tour and he was nice to explain how the sisal was made. No English, but a lot of hand gestures and pointing. He even gave me a ball of jute twine. By that time it was getting dark and I hustled out of there while I still had some daylight. On the road I could see many acres of cactus plants growing in the fields. It takes seven years before it can be harvested. The heart of the cactus plant is used to make tequila.

Izamal:

Night came fast and I barely made it to Izamal before I couldn't see the road. I stopped in the middle of town at the plaza. I inquired at the hotel whose sign I had seen on the building. The man selling ice cream in the lobby went to get the hotel caretaker. When he arrived I asked about a room. He said ten dollars. I was tired and didn't ask to see it first. He showed me to the room. Egad, another Coba fleabag with no running water in the shower. This room and the rest of the rundown place were hidden from view behind the façade of a hotel on the town square. I took it anyway, as the next choices were the two fancy hotels that charged 100.00 per night.

The next morning I walked all over town looking at what was left of the ancient Mayan pyramids and the stones, which were still intact that weren't stolen to build the Spanish church and dwellings. In spite of that, I liked the convent and arches. It had a beautiful altar. The monks said it was ok to take a picture. It was too dark to see much, sorry. I walked back down the steps of the convent and over to the market and found besides the meat department and the veggies, a whole section of food vendors that were selling meat tacos for breakfast. They were doing a brisk business. I found the orange juice man and he squeezed me a plastic bottle of fresh orange juice. Going to miss freshly squeezed juice when I get home. I couldn't find any eggs, so I went to a small restaurant next to the market and had a lovely omelet with rice and guacamole. The restaurant was very clean and the decorations were delightful. I really enjoyed my breakfast.

I continued my walk and the ever-present Internet came into view. When I was done with the Internet, I saw a man opening his store. I had been kind of waiting for him as the write up on the town in the Yucatan Today magazine said he was from the US. Sure enough he was Hector Garza. He and his wife were from Austin. (I live 40 miles from there). They had been down here 18 years, the first 12 in Merida. He goes all over Mexico and buys some really neat stuff from the interior of Mexico to sell in his shop, 'Hecho a Mano'. He sat me down and we hashed over the condition of the world condition while he ate breakfast. He told me that a fancy doctor from Merida owns the Hotel Cantu where I stayed, (that was in such a fleabag condition), has never done anything to fix it up. Apparently he uses the hotel as a status symbol. Some of his friends should stay there and tell him a thing or three about the condition. It could be fixed up really nice. The building is an Old Colonial Spanish style probably as old as the conquest.

Itzamal doesn't seem to do a whole lot of stuff other than the usual small dusty town things. I did see a couple of nice houses and some interesting local flavor. I was glad to get on the road after walking the all over the whole place looking for the 5 parts of the pyramids. Only managed to see three and in the conversation with Hector Garza he told me I was sitting by the wall of the fourth one in the area next to his shop. I bid him good-bye and drove from there back to the highway.

All is well, getting brown and crispy. I will look like a Mayan when I get home.

That’s all for this entry. Pictures for this section are located in webshots.com. Click on the Mexican hat on the first page of my web site to get to it. The story continues in the section called ‘Interior of the Yucatan’.