Chichén Itzá

Some people have asked us about or expressed a concern about our safety in Mexico, especially with the recent news of the violence in the border regions. For us, the opposite is true. While we have not even been here two weeks, we have covered a lot of ground, and we could not feel more secure. In Merida, a fairly large city, we wandered all over and never felt even a hint of insecurity or impoliteness. We did not even hear a single police siren during our stay. The police were present in the parks, at intersections to keep the traffic flowing, and at government sites providing security. For the most part, we sought out restaurants and cafes away from the hotels, trying to avoid any that might cater to tourists. We were never disappointed and managed to communicate one way or another. On our last night in Merida, we went to a nearby park that hosts free concerts every Thursday night at 9 pm. We really enjoyed the atmosphere. The gathering was huge, the performances excellent, but the speeches honoring the event were lost on us.

We booked a tour to Chichén Itzá, a Mayan ruin, about 1/3 of the way back to Cancun. We found an option where we could start our day with a group traveling round trip from Merida and then switch to a group traveling round trip from Cancun. After checking out of the hotel in plenty of time for our 9 am tour, we waited, and waited. At 9:30, I asked the hotel desk to dial the tour company for me. The tour company asked us to wait a few more minutes. Finally, at 9:45, a couple of guys in a van picked us up and explained they would take us to our 19-seat tour van, which was at a gas station. Finally joining our tour group, we were on our way. Later in the day, our tour guide explained that it is not polite in Mexico to be on time and that they know many Americans have trouble adjusting to Mexican time. We were happy to have a tour guide at Chichén Itzá to explain what we were seeing.

After leaving Chichén Itzá, we went to a cenote (sinkhole). There are no rivers or lakes above ground in the Yucatan, but there are underground rivers and many cenotes. This particular cenote was spectacular.

After lunch, we waited for our new tour group, which was much larger and traveling by bus. While waiting, we met an interesting couple from Hong Kong. They were at the very end of a three-month vacation. They had been to Argentina, took a two-week cruise to Antarctica, visited Chile, the Galapagos, Guatemala, Mexico, and others. After about an hour wait, we were on our way to Cancun. They had told us the wait for the bus would be 20 minutes, but we knew that was not true as soon as the words left their mouths. We are adjusting to Mexican time. They normally return people to their hotels, but since we didn't have one, they agreed to leave us at the ADO bus terminal, where we knew it would be easy to get a taxi to our ferry in Puerto Juarez. Our trip became very interesting once we got to Cancun, as we got a bus tour of the complete hotel district. We had been interested in seeing it, but not necessarily willing to go out of our way to do so. From our point of view, you would not know you were in Mexico in that part of Cancun. We were the last to be dropped off. A quick taxi ride, a run to catch the ferry, and a few minutes later, we were back at Isla Mujeres. We were back on Ariel at 9:30, exhausted from a week of substantial immersion into the Spanish language and Mexican culture. It was wonderful.