Merida

Every weekend, there are concerts and festivals in various parks.



The Museum of Anthropology is housed in a former palace.

Among the exhibits are skulls that were deliberately deformed to denote social status,

A Chac Mool removed from Chichen Itza,

And a skull revealing emerald teeth bling.

The 19th century building housing the museum was known as El Palacio del General Canton.

Sunday street fair in the main square.

Corn kernels served with a lime and chili powder.

The region is known for their embroidered dresses.

Originally, when blogging of my visit to Mexico, I had intended to only post photos of the ruins and flamingos, but the city of Merida, which served as home base was such a gracious host that it felt rude to leave it out. It may only be a four hour bus ride from Cancun, but in terms of atmosphere and sincerity, it may as well be on the other side of the world. While Cancun takes on the attitude of a sidewalk hustler, trying to turn itself into what the visitor wants it to be in an open attempt to maximize a payout, Merida exhibits a warm authenticity that immediately puts one at ease. Retaining much of its colonial architecture, there are hidden courtyards to explore, parks to relax in (each and every one set-up with free wifi and marked outlets to allow recharging) and museums to visit. The prices, at least by American and European standards, are pretty unbeatable. I was paying about $6 a night for my hostel and even less than that for most nights out (including meals and drinks). There was one night when my steady diet of hot sauce and beer backfired and I was not feeling too hot, so a friend from the hostel took me to the drugstore to get something; total cost for a bottle of pills was less than $1. It is for a combination of these reasons that I found a thriving community of American retirees who call Merida home, at least for the winter months. They have learned they can get out of the cold and actually save money doing so. Also, there is very little danger of boredom since there are frequent buses to ruins, beaches and parks all over the Yucatan peninsula, not to mention free weekly festivals should they choose to remain in town. I should also mention there is very little danger, period. After all the mass hysteria over the drug wars, some colleges decided to make blanket proclamations, advising students not to visit Mexico which to me makes all the sense of telling someone not to visit Iowa because of all the violent crime taking place in Detroit. There are areas, mainly on the Mexican-US border and a trade route along the west coast that are suffering badly from the so-called 'war on drugs', but this only accounts for a very small percentage of the country. During my brief week in Merida, I never felt uncomfortable walking around at any hour of the day or night or even heard of anyone encountering any kind of problem. What I found was a place that I look forward to returning to and I don't intend on waiting for retirement to do so.