Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, February 02. - 16. 2022

Visiting Mexico was not in our plans, but when looking for the next destination for our winter holidays, the choice was limited due to Covid restrictions(most of Southeast Asia still closed or very restricted, for example). We wished our trip to be as hassle free as possible and seeing that Mexico had scrapped most of their Covid restrictions, we decided to go. It was a bit complicated to search tickets, because we wanted to avoid transfering through United States or Canada (due to many Covid related restrictions and ESTA) and so were looking for a direct flight from Europe. Oh how I miss the easy pre-Covid travel!

We finally found the flights from Barcelona again, with Iberia airline this time. The kids had to miss two days of school, but I hoped it would not be a problem. It was going to be a long day of travelling, but we were kind of used to it already. This time though, we decided to fly from Nice to Barcelona and not drive. In January, after we had already bought the tickets, Mexico decided to remove all their Covid related travel restrictions - what a pleasant surprise. 

Mexico is a huge country and with the two weeks we had, we could only manage see a tiny part of it. We decided to concentrate on the Yucatan peninsula, but also there we had to choose between so many interesting places -  what to visit and what we must leave out (or for the next trip). Finally the trip was going to be a mix between, history, nature, active days and relaxation. Mexico really has a lot to offer!

About two weeks before the trip, I got a message from Vueling that our flight from Nice to Barcelona was cancelled. I finally got us new tickets from Marseille to Barcelona - so instead of Nice airport, that is only about 20 minutes from where we live, we had to leave from Marseille that was two hours away. It also meant taking a train to Marseille and the kids having to miss another day from school. As it was our only solution, we had to go with it. At least on our way back we were still able to fly to Nice. 

Everything went flawlessly on the day of travel - the train to Marseille was on time, we then took a small local train from Marseille Saint Charles station to Vitrolles Airport station and a short bus ride to the airport building. Marseille airport looked deserted, there was only a few of flights leaving this day and most of the bars and cafeterias were closed, even the tax-free shop closed after all the people that were on our flight had walked through it. All our papers were checked thorougly at the check-in counter, but as usual, I had done my homework and we did not have any problems. We also had the Spanish QR codes, that are important for entering Spain and must be obtained from SpanishTravelHealth website before the trip. The flight from Marseille to Barcelona took an hour and we got out of the airport without any problems (only the QR codes were checked). I had hoped to get an Uber or Bolt from the airport to the hotel, but neither of those seemed to exist in Barcelona. We then went for a normal taxi and paid a hefty 35 euros for a 10 minute ride to the B&B Hotel Viladecans (the same hotel where we had stayed before our Tanzania trip). It is a nice hotel not too far from the airport. The receptionist at the hotel recommended us to use the Cabify app to get to the airport  - it is similar to Uber and we paid 12 euros for the airport ride with them the next morning. 

There was a long day of travelling ahead - Barcelona -Madrid - Mexico City - Cancun. When checking in on our flight in Barcelona airport, it nearly felt like travelling pre-Covid - we did not have to show any certificates or test results, just the passports. The 12-hour flight from Madrid to Mexico City was fortunately not too full and the four of us got two places with three seats. It was the first time for us to fly long haul with Iberia and their service could definitely be improved. They skipped one meal service altogether, leaving all the people on board without any food or drinks for over eight hours - we had a warm meal just after take off and a small cold  meal just before landing. We arrived at Mexico City in the evening, with a pretty bumpy landing. On the airplane we were given immigration cards to fill out and those cards had to be presented on to immigration arrival. They took the main part of the card and a smaller part had to be kept with the passport until the end of our trip and they also checked our return tickets. We still needed to find an Aero Mexico counter as Iberia could not give us the boarding pass for the internal flight. Fortunately we had nearly four hours to spare - Mexico City airport is confusing and it took time to find a place where to get our boarding passes. We finally found out we had to take a monorail train to another terminal entirely for AeroMexico flights.  

It took a bit over two hours to fly from Mexico City to Cancun. At this point we were all super tired, having travelled over 20 hours and our bodies all telling us it was almost the next morning, not early night. Cancun greeted us with warm tropical breeze and we felt out of place wearing our jackets - while it was a chilly under 10 degrees C in Mexico City, the temperature seemed well over 20 degrees in Cancun. We had reserved a hotel close to the Cancun airport for the first night, but it was a challenge to get there. There were not too many taxis available and the price for the under 10 minutes ride was 30 dollars. We waited for nearly an hour to get the taxi and were exhausted when we finally arrived at the hotel. The problems did not end there though - we had reserved a junior suite in Villa Palmeras through booking.com, that was supposed to have a king sized bed and a sofa bed. The sofa bed was tiny even for our 13-year old, who somehow managed to sleep on it anyway and the rest of us, meaning two adults and a 15-year old, slept in the king sized bed. We were just too tired to start arguing about it and it was already 2 am, so we had to make do with it for one night.  They also did not have extra linen for the sofa bed and the receptionist finally managed to bring us something.

The next morning everything looked brighter - the junior suite actually had a nice large terrace overlooking the pool area. Our room rate also included breakfast, that was served buffet style, and could be eaten either indoors at the restaurant area or outside by the pool.

Our terrace was the large one on the first floor

 

Poolside early in the morning

 

Breakfast by the pool

 

 Merida and the Yucatan state

We did not stay long in Hotel Villa Palmeras though, because we had reserved a car at National car rental at Cancun airport for 8 am to start our Yucatan peninsula road trip. The service at the National was great and in a short while we had our Kia Forte and were all set for our next destination, Merida.

The fastest road to get from Cancun to Merida is the motorway - it takes just a bit under four hours and costs about 20 euros (450 pesos). The road was mostly empty and it was easy, though pretty boring, to drive. I had only exchanged a little bit of Mexican pesos on arrival so we realized we had to stop in Valladolid on the way to exchange a bit more in order to even pay for the motorway tolls (only cash payments were accepted). It came out that cash was the most common way to pay in Mexico - most of the restaurants we ate at and even a couple of the places we stayed at accepted only cash payments and the exchange rate during our stay was about 22.5-23 Mexican pesos for euro. Also, while Cancun is in the Quintana Roo state, Merida is in Yucatan state and these two states have different time zones - so when Cancun was 6 hours behind of France, Merida was 7.

We had reserved a nice hotel called Casa del Balam in the very center of Merida. The hotel had a free car park - so we could forget about the car and discover the city on foot. Although being the capital of Yucatan, Merida did not have a big city vibe - it looked cute with its colourful Colonial style houses, our hotel being one of them. 

Our hotel Casa del Balam

 

 

The hotel had a lovely courtyard/reception/restaurant area

 

Our bedroom with two double beds

 

We were all quite hungry and decided to head to the main market in town that was supposed to have an upstairs area with small stalls offering authentic local cuisine. The market itself was buzzing with people going about their daily business, choosing between all the wonderful fruit and vegetables and other goods sold there. We had a nice although a bit spicy meal of real local food and felt ready to discover the town a bit more.

Merida market

 

 My veggie plate at Merida market

The city of Merida was founded by Francisco de Montejo y León in 1542 on top of an ancient Maya city called T’ho and the Mayan culture is very much still present in the daily life of the inhabitants of Merida. Merida is the largest city on the Yucatan peninsula with its population of around 1.2 million. Although Spanish is the main spoken language in Merida, about a third of its population still speaks Mayan. As the Yucatan is more isolated from the rest of Mexico geographically, it has created a unique culture mixing Mayan and Catholic traditions (for example the Day of the Dead celebrations). 

Merida center is very walkable - the streets are narrow and lined with colourful buildings and there are many pretty little squares. It is also said that Merida is the safest city in Mexico.

 

The main square - Plaza Grande

 

Town Hall building by the main square

 

 

A little pause with Indigo beer at Parque Santa Lucia, a few steps from our hotel

The famous "Merida chairs"

 

Although it was Friday night, the previous short nights and travelling had taken its toll on us and we had to call it an early night - only to wake up at 5am the next morning. We waited until 6 at our hotel room and then went for an early morning walk. The earliest breakfast places, including the one at the hotel we were staying at, opened at 7. We decided to have breakfast in the hotel (the breakfast wasn't included in the room rate) and we were happy with our choice - the food was very good and the price more than reasonable. 

 

Early morning in Merida just outside of our hotel

After breakfast it was time to pack our stuff and continue with the road trip. The weather looked quite cloudy and when we took off from Merida towards our next destination, it started to rain. Our plan was to drive to the Mayan site of Uxmal, about an hour and a half from Merida, visiting a couple of cenotes on the way. Cenotes are natural deep-water wells (sinkholes), which are fed by the filtration of rain and by the currents of underground rivers. Cenotes can be found all over the world but the Yucatan Peninsula and especially the Riviera Maya are completely unique due to the sheer number of cenotes. They were commonly used for water supplies by the ancient Maya, and occasionally for sacrificial offerings.

 

There are several cenotes between Merida and Uxmal. We chose to visit two that were only a short distance apart - cenote Suem and cenote Nah Yah. There was a small fee to pay for visiting the cenote, in this case it was 50 pesos (about 2 euros) per person. The cenotes towards the coast(where it is more touristic) cost more to visit but also better organized and more crowded. Here we saw only a couple of other people and changed in the car. There were steep wooden stairs to descend to a small swimming platform. Finally only Johnny decided to test the water - it had started to rain and the rest of us did not feel like jumping in the cold water.

Cenote Suem

 

Cenote Nah Yah

We continued towards Uxmal - a lesser known and visited than Chichen Itza, but still a very impressive ancient Mayan site. Uxmal, an UNESCO world heritage site, is an ancient Maya city of the classical period. It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture. Maya chronicles say that Uxmal was founded about 500 A.D. The city's dates of occupation are unknown and the estimated population (about 15,000 people) is a rough guess. Most of the city's major construction took place while Uxmal was the capital of a Late Classic Maya state around 850-925 AD (source: Wikipedia).

 

The tickets of the sites in Mexico are pretty expensive and the rates are different for foreigners and locals. Uxmal entrance costed 495 pesos per person, for children under 13 the entrance was free (so Martin still got in for free). 

The fact that a lot is still not known about the culture and a way of life of Mayas, made it even more interesting and mysterious to us. It is impressive how such great structures were created with so much skill and prescision so long time ago.

The main pyramid - The Pyramid of the Magician

 

The Ballcourt for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame

 

It had started to rain quite heavily when we reached to Hacienda Maria Elena near a small village of Ticul, about 20 minutes' drive from Uxmal. A hacienda is most easily defined as a large estate, mostly seen in the countries that were the colonies of the Spanish Empire. A lot of haciendas were used as mines, factories, or plantations, and some combined several of these activities. The one we stayed at was tastefully renovated (but still keeping the old architecture) with nice rooms, pretty gardens and a good restaurant. It is also possible to have just a meal or a drink in the hacienda without spending a night and there are many scattered around Yucatan.

 

 Late lunch at the hacienda

 Shame for the rainy weather - we didn't get a chance to take a dip in the pool

 

After a hearty breakfast at the hacienda we took off towards our next destination, the town of Xpujil in the state of Campeche. It was going to be almost four and a half hours of driving small country roads so we made sure not to leave too late. We had driven about 10 minutes whan we spotted a Mayan site of Kabah and decided to stop and take a look. Kabah is connected to Uxmal by a 18 kilometres long raised causeway five metres wide with monumental arches at each end and is the second largest ruin of the Puuc region after Uxmal.

 

Ancient site of Kabah

 

Calakmul, Campeche

After a brief stop at Kabah, we headed off towards Xpujil. In our experience, in Mexico, there is a police checkpoint when crossing from one state to another. So we were not too surprised when we were stopped by the police at the border of Yucatan and Campeche. It was a small road, we were the only car - although we did not break any rules, we were an easy target as tourists. The policeman did not want to give us back the car documents and Johnny's driving licence after checking them. After a little payment of 400 pesos (approx. 17 euros) and the policeman sent us off with a big smile. It was not the first time we have had to bribe the police during our travels and will probably not be the last...

Our destination, Xpujil, was a small town, but it was quite well known for the tourists who wished to visit Calakmul. Although the site of Calakmul was more than an hour and a half drive from Xpujil, it was the easiest place to stay for Calakmul visit. For the following two nights, we had chosen to stay in a small family accommodation called Ecohabitat - it was a family house that had a couple of separate cottages on their land. Our cottage had a bedroom with two double beds, a bathroom and a closed terrace with a fridge and a small dining area. It was very nice and clean and a good filling breakfast was included in the price.

 

Outside of our cottage

 

Breakfast on the terrace

Although Calakmul might be pretty far from the usual tourist destinations of the Yucatan peninsula and it takes a bit of organizing to get there, it is definitely worth a visit and was our favourite site in Yucatan.

 

Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Peten Basin region. It is 35 km from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands. Calakmul itself is estimated to have had a population of 50,000 people and had governance, at times, over places as far away as 150 kilometers. There are 6,750 ancient structures identified at Calakmul, the largest of which is the great pyramid (Structure 2) at the site, that is over 45 metres high, making it one of the tallest of the Maya pyramids. Like many temples or pyramids within Mesoamerica, the pyramid at Calakmul increased in size by building upon the existing temple to reach its current size. The size of the central monumental architecture is approximately 2 square km and the whole of the site, mostly covered with dense residential structures, is about 20 square km. (source: Wikipedia). 

 

For the Calakmul visit it is important to start early. We had breakfast at 7 and took off at 7.30 am. It is necessary to bring all the snacks (or packed lunch) and water as there are no shops, bars or other vending points on the site and the nearest town is far away. It took us about half an hour to get to the Calakmul entrance point. There are two tickets: entry fee and national park fee, total of 130 pesos. At the entrance there was a small shop selling snacks and water for those who have not taken anything with them. From there it takes about an hour (60 km) of a small road through the jungle to reach the site so it really is situated in the middle of nowhere. The jungle road was beautiful, it felt like driving through a long green forest tunnel. Unfortunately we did not see any animals, but we saw many colourful South Mexican wild turkeys walking by the roadside. 

Wild turkeys

It was about one kilometer hike from the parking lot to the site itself. There were some other cars in the parking lot, but as the area is huge we were mostly by ourselves. During the walk we heard a rustle in the trees above us and saw a troop of spider monkeys crossing the jungle just above our heads. Calakmul is one of the few sites where it is still possible to climb the pyramids (at one's own risk, of course, because there are no safety barriers and the steps are uneven and thousands of years old - main structures of Calakmul were built between 550 - 300 B.C.). The site had a tranquillity and spirituality about it, at least we felt it and it was amazing to see how the jungle has taken over this aincient Maya city. We did climb the highest pyramid, the Structure 2, and although scary, the views from the top were so worth it. We also heard and saw several troops of howler monkeys, their loud howls echoing back from the jungle.

Structure 2 - one of the highest Maya pyramids

 

 

A howler monkey

 

It was a long day as the area is pretty big, so we were all exhausted in the car on the way back. We stopped in Xpujil center to buy some fruit for snacking in the bungalow later and for some early dinner of delicious freshly made guacamole (the best we had during the whole trip) and some pizza. It was our last night inland, the next morning we were heading back towards the coast.

Quintana Roo - Bacalar, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Cancun

We woke up early to the sound of heavy rain, decided to have a quick breakfast and take off towards Bacalar early. I had decided last minute to include a stop in Bacalar to our travel plans, instead of staying in Tulum. I had read that Bacalar was what Tulum used to be 15-20 years ago - a small laid back town with great relaxing vibe and it is also situated by a beautiful laguna - The Laguna of Seven Colours. Bacalar is really the southern end of Mexico, the border of Belize being only about 10 km away. It took us about an hour and half to get there from Xpujil, meaning that the room in our hotel - Oasis Hotel & Suites - was not ready yet (as we arrived at 10 in the morning). As we got closer to the coast the rain stopped and it was a beautiful day for us to enjoy the laguna. The hotel still let us change at the changing room by the pool and we headed straight to the laguna, only a short walk downhill from the hotel. There is no sandy beach at the laguna, but the water has a beautiful shade of blue. 

 

Swimming at the laguna close to the hotel

 

We were really happy with the choice of the hotel - close to center (although Bacalar is quite small and nothing is too far from the center), and the room was beautiful, consisting of a big bedroom with one double and two single beds, a saloon with kitchen corner, two bathrooms and an outdoor terrace - everything was modern, spacious and very clean. We asked from the hotel where would be the nicest spot to enjoy the laguna - they recommended the Cocalitos Beach Club and it didn't disappoint. It was a bit further from the center so we went there by car. Fortunately the parking fee at their parking lot was included in the entrance price (50 pesos per person). There was a simple restaurant on site and some hammocks and swings in the water.

 

Bacalar really exceeded our expectations and we would have loved to spend more time there. The town center has a cool vibe, with lots of colourfully painted houses and many good and very affordable restaurants. We loved Enamora for breakfast - delicious food and lots of vegan options.

 

 

 

Cauliflower tempura tacos for dinner

The next morning we took it easy, went to the local market to buy some fresh fruit to make smoothies at the hotel (the kitchen in our room had a blender among other things), took another dip in the laguna and then took off towards Playa del Carmen. It was going to be a long trip (over 3 and a half hours) and we decided to stop somewhere half way to swim in a cenote. The cenotes on the coast are a lot more organised and expensive as they were inland (Cenote Zemway costed 90 pesos per person). I did some research online, as i did not want to end up in a hugely popular crowded place like the Grand Cenote. We finally decided to go to Cenote Zemway near Tulum and were very happy with the choice. Although there was all the modern comfort available - changing rooms, toilets, jumping platforms - it was not crowded at all and at one point we were the only people in the water.

After a refreshing couple of hours we carried on towards Playa del Carmen. I had reserved a two bedroom/two bathroom apartment in Playa del Carmen for the next two nights. The apartment was a bit outside of the town center and in the beginning a bit complicated to find. It was in a super secure gated residence and we had to pass two security checks to get in. The city center was about 10 minutes by car, but it was pretty easy to drive there and we never had any problems to find parking in the center. After many days in the nature and in laid back small towns it felt overwhelming to walk the crowded crazy Fifth Avenue of Playa del Carmen - shops, restaurants with shows, nightclubs - it seemed like a place of endless partying. We headed to the harbour first to buy the tickets for the Cozumel island ferry for the next morning, as we had planned a snorkelling trip there.

 

 Playa del Carmen center

 

 

Evening walk on the 5th Avenue

Fortunately we were still used to waking up early due to the time difference with France. Our Ultramar ferry to Cozumel was leaving at 9 am. We wanted to park the car before (in a small parking lot not far from the harbour) and be in the ferry terminal half an hour before departure, so we had an early start. It was cloudy, not too warm and drizzling rain so I was wondering if maybe our snorkelling trip could be cancelled. The ferry trip took about half an hour, but the sea was pretty rough and all the passangers were asked to stay inside. I was actually feeling quite seasick when we arrived and needed to gather myself on the park bench just across the road from the ferry terminal when we finally arrived. 

 

A rainy morning

 

On the ferry to Cozumel

 

Cozumel was pretty and very touristic - mostly souvenir shops and bars in the center. It was easy to understand that it was a popular cruise port with several ships already there and excursion groups walking around. We also had some time to walk around, as we were meeting a representative from Cozumel Cruise Excursions, where we had booked a trip, at 11 am at the harbour. I had booked the snorkelling trip following the Tripadvisor reviews (the trip costed 50 USD pp) and we were happy with our choice. We met the representative and he said that the boat was on the other side of the island (he would drive us there), where the sea is much calmer and it was ok to snorkel. At the description of the tour it was mentioned that the tour would be for max 10 people - we were six - four of us and two Americans from the cruise ship. The snorkel masks and fins were included in the price. We headed to the Palancar reef first and had an amazing experience seeing beautiful corals and a lot of different fish, next stop was El Cielo with white sand and lots of starfish. We ended tour the at a beautiful beach where we saw a lot of stingrays. The boat crew cut us some fruit after the snorkelling to get rid of the salty taste in the mouth and just before heading back we got some freshly made guacamole and chips with beer and/or soft drinks. Although the weather was cooler than usual, the sea water was very warm and we enjoyed the snorkelling very much.

 

 Walking around colourful Cozumel

 

 

 

On the boat to our snorkel location

We had a great day, even though the weather was not on our side

For the last four days of our holiday we had decided to relax and enjoy the luxury of a five-star all inclusive resort. There are lots to choose from in Cancun (and the price/quality ratio is great), but we wanted a resort with big grounds, lots of restaurant options, many pools, beach and stuff for the kids to do. We finally decided to go for Moon Palace the Grand. We never left the resort during our stay, because it was huge, had an amazing choice of restaurants, lush gardens, excellent pools and lots of things to do. They even organized a huge American-style garden party for the Superbowl night. What did we love about this resort? Excellent service, huge bedroom with a jacuzzi for two people, large terrace and very comfortable beds, restaurants (Asian Fusion, Lebanese, Italian, Mexican, Carribean, Steak House etc.), the quality of food and drinks, free huge games room (air hockey, Mario Kart and many other interactive games), mini golf, water park (although smallish), free bicycle rental, swim up bars, great entertainment. It never felt crowded (apart from the Superbowl night), there was space for everyone (no problem finding free sun loungers or getting a table in a restaurant).

Hotel beach

Coco Bar at the beach, serving fresh coconuts all day

Several pools, many of which had also a swim-up bar

Unique Day Club - adults only pool area with bars and jacuzzis

Lounge bar

Tapas selection in the Spanish-themed tapas bar

Asian Fusion and sushi restaurant

 

Lebanese restaurant

 

 

Selection of cakes at Boulangerie - a pastry shop and creperie open all the time

 

Super Bowl night

 

We were thinking that relaxing in this great hotel was a perfect end to our holiday, although the journey home was going to be long. We did not imagine just how long it actually would be... The flight from Cancun to Mexico City was ok, but then our flight from Mexico City to Madrid kept delaying - first it was supposed to leave at 8pm, then at 10 pm, then at midnight. Finally a bit after midnight we were told the flight would leave the next day and were sent in a hotel at the airport. At least it was a 5* hotel with breakfast included (courtesy of Iberia Airline).

 

 

The flight finally left at 1pm the next day, meaning it was delayed for 17 hours. We arrived at Madrid early in the morning, rushed through the airport to catch the flight to Barcelona and made it also to our final flight to Nice. Unfortunately none of our suitcases made it - three of them were delivered the next day to our home and the fourth one was missing for four days. What an ending to a holiday!

 

We still loved Mexico a lot and would definitely return - it is a huge country and there is so much left to discover.