Monday, May 18, 2009
We now return to our regularly scheduled vacation blogging
We left Playa del Carmen and took a drive ALL the way across the Yucatan, through the jungle, on a little tiny, rough road through tiny towns where a lot of the people didn't even speak Spanish, but Maya. We purposely chose to take the back roads to get a better sense for this part of the country, but once we committed to that route, we both admitted that we were scared. Thankfully we only got stopped once by the Mexican military (huge guns much?) and only once by the Mexican police. Yowza.
After 4.5 hours of stressful driving (without a functioning radio no less!), we finally arrived at Uxmal (pronounced 'oosh mal'). Uxmal was the only reason we braved this long drive, and it was worth it.
(can you see Ryan all tiny against that thing????)
Uxmal is known for being one of the more beautiful, and amazingly preserved Mayan sites. And, because it's in the middle of nowhere (seriously, jungle and nothing else), there were very few tourists, so we could climb on EVERYTHING.
The only bad part of this trip was a slightly crabby husband (he hates long drives, but he quickly got over it when we saw the amazing ruins) and my stupid inability to adapt to a humid climate. I was so purple in the face by the end of our time here that when we walked out people stopped and were giving me a look like they were trying to decide if they should call an ambulance.
That night we stayed in Merida, the capital of the Yucatan. This is an appropriate time to mention how scary the drivers are in the Yucatan. We ran into a guy from Mexico City who told us how 'crazy' the Mayan drivers are. We were so glad we'd had about 5 days of driving before we had to brave Merida because it was hella scary. Not to mention, our 'hotel' was impossible to find.
But, we stuck with it because we had a "Presidential Suite" with a "rooftop terrace" reserved. For $80! I know, right? Not so fast. Wanna see our "rooftop terrace"? It was less 'terrace' more 'rooftop'.
We were so scared when we got there that we almost just drove straight to Chichen Itza. Boy are we glad we stayed! Merida is magical at night. We had amazing food, and even though it was the middle of the week, the people of Merida were out in the parks looking at local crafts, visiting with each other, looking at public art, and enjoying a huge outdoor concert. It was amazing. The most hysterical part was that we were the only blondes that we saw all night, no one spoke a lick of English (Merida isn't as much of a tourist destination), and we were taller then everyone by at least a foot.
Next post (or, you know, whenever I get to it) will be about Chichen Itza (we saw one of the 7 Wonders of the Modern World!), and Cancun (and swimming with the dolphins!).
Completely unrelated to our vacation, check out my Photo Club assignment photos. The assignment was Using Light Creatively or something like that. What do you think? Just some fun with light.
(see ghost me and ghost puppies?)
posted by atpanda at 8:38 PM
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About Me
- Name: atpanda
- Location: Mesa, Arizona, United States
I'm Amanda. I'm an engineer in an industry full of men, a professional wedding and family portrait photographer, a firefighter's wife, a traveler, and a dogMa.
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4 Comments:
That's so cool that you chose such an un-touristy place for vacation. It's so brave of you, and it sounds like you had such an experience. Those ruins are amazing!!
Is that a tealight going to a glass of wine? Glad you made it on that road alright. Thank God your car didn't break down. eeek!
I spent a month in Merida in college for study abroad. :)
The ruins are cool :) I bet that drive was nuts though!!
Loving the shots. 4.5 hours in a car without a radio. Did you guys keep talking the entire time?
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