Merida - visit to Uxmal (Mayan ruins)

Temple for the high priest
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Saturday 20th October – Chichen Itza – Merida

We got up this morning in time to stand in front of our hotel to wave down the 7am bus. It was running slightly late but pulled over on our request - 2nd class buses are great like that, whenever you want them to stop they do so. We got into Merida around 10am and walked through the town and busy market. Alex and Jo were not very keen walking through big dirty puddles on the roads in their flip flops due to poor drainage systems. We got to a cheap hostel, which was a few steps down from the type of our accommodation we had been staying at and booked a 1pm tour to Uxmal (Oosh-mal). Riff decided not to go as the Rugby World Cup final was on, so it was just Leigh, Jo and Alex. We decided to go out for brunch and after walking out of a not so clean restaurant we headed to Subway. Leigh and Jo then went shopping to look for some suitcases, but ended up getting Leigh a cool pink shirt. Just after 1pm our tour guide picked us up in what looked like a powerful V8 minivan. The guide was also the driver who explained how the day would pan out as he drove us the 1.30hr drive to Uxmal. On the way we stopped at a couple of sights – a colonial town that produced textiles a number of years back and also at the top of a hill so we could look across the surrounding area to see how flat and green the area is filled with mid sized trees but no lakes or streams anywhere to be seen.

Outside the nunnery
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It was absolutely scorching when we got out of the van, so hot the 3 of us were just dripping. We got our tickets and our guide led us into the area. Firstly he would explain in  Spanish and then quickly summarise in English. Uxmal was simply beautiful and the unique thing about the site was everything was built by hand. There was also this really peaceful air about it unlike Chitchen Itza. The area was not as big as Chitchen Itza, but the designs on the building where very intricate and unique. The tour lasted for an hour and a half and then we wandered around taking photos by ourselves. It was great as there were hardly any people there and at one point we were climbing over a wall and couldn't see anyone around at all which made the place one of our favourites. We then met our guide who took us to a restaurant/hotel, for those that had got the deluxe package to enjoy a buffet meal, while us 3 went and sat outside by the pool. Leigh enjoyed opening a can of whip ass on the ping pong table, while Jo and Alex enjoyed some drinks.

Where the light and sound show happened in evening
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We then got taken back to Uxmal to watch the sound and light show in the evening. We had to wait around a while, but eventually 8pm came. The lights on the building where great, but the story was in Spanish and neither of us could be bothered getting the audio guide, so we just appreciated the colourful lights that lit up all the structures and the dramatic music that played. We also had a laugh at the constant chanting of the Rain God “Chaar, Chaar, Chaar” in voices that sounded like they were reading a scary story. We then headed back for Merida at the conclusion and luckily the trip back was quicker so we got back just after 10pm. We went and got Riff who wasn't happy that the English lost and ate out again at Subway as not much else was open. We ended up heading to bed around midnight as we had an early start in the morning.