After the crowds from Semana Santa diminished, we decided to join Rodney and Katrina for a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula. Two taxi rides and a ferry ride took us to the bus station in Cancun. Mexico has a very nice bus system. We rode one of their higher class buses on the four hour ride west to the city of Merida, which is the capital of Yucatan and is noted for it's architecture and sculptures. We spent two nights there while touring the old buildings and squares of the city.
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| Our bus to tour Merida |
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| Old home on "Millionaire's Road" |
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| Another old home |
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| Example of sculpture found throughout the city |
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| Large cathedral on town square |
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| Interior of the cathedral |
From Merida, we took another bus west to the town of Piste, which is located right outside the Mayan ruins of Chichen-Itza. The next morning, we met our guide at 8 AM, so as to miss the big crowds from the tour buses that arrive later in the morning. Chichen-Itza is one of the most popular tourist sites in Mexico. Our very knowledgeable guide was a young Mayan man who grew up in the town of Piste. The largest pyramid is one of the new seven wonders of the world.
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| More Ruins |
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Rene tells us about the Kukulkan Pyramid
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| Some other large ruins at Chichen-Itza |
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| Locals selling in the park |
One of the things we found different in these ruins as compared to others we have visited is that they allow the local Mayans to set up merchant stalls in the park to sell their wares to the tourists. Since we got there early, they were still setting up, so did not bother us much. They disassemble the stalls every night and take everything back to town, often on bicycles.
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| The main road into the park |
There are always many souvenier shops in the towns also. This one by our hotel caught our eye.
The morning after we toured the ruins, we stood on the road outside the hotel and caught a second class bus to Cancun. These always give one a better understanding of the day to day lives of the local Mexican people, since they go through all the little towns, and are a primary form of transportation for the residents. It makes for a slow, but interesting ride.
