Today was the second half of the Ruta Puuc archaeological road trip to the more popular sites of Uxmal and Kabah. An older Japanese guy from my hotel was also on this trip. We also had Raoul as our guide who was with me yesterday for Ruta Puuc day 1 (see previous entry).A good description of the Ruta Puuc can be found here http://www.choco-storymexico.com/uxmal/ atractivos_en.pdfThere was a trio of older Americans so more English speakers on this trip. We also ha...

Today's route would take me along the eastern side of the Ruta Puuc. This is an archaeological trail south of the city of Merida. Originally planning I didnt think this was possible with little information available for tours online.The route is a loop that can be done in one or two days depending on pace. The western side has the more popular Uxmal and Kabah with better road highways. The eastern portion has the Loltun Caves, Labna, Xlapac, and Sayil with more r...

This afternoon was to the main highlight with a visit to the Mayan city of Chichen Itza. Entrance ticket was 232P ($17) not included in the tour price.The first thing that strikes you is the immense crowds and commercialization none of which was visible in any of my other visits thus far with all the visitors coming from Cancun on the east coast.The paths were crowded with tourist stalls. This opened to the main field with the grand pyramid.Climbing to the top ha...

Today was the first of the bus tours arranged by my hotel. Yesterday's tour to Mayapan and Mani was thru an online booking site Viator but the hotel ran the remaining more popular tours so I booked the rest with them.I always worry waiting for hotel pickup when they dont come on schedule but eventually he came 20 mins late. This time it was a van with a few other passengers not a private car like yesterday.We drove to the Hyatt hotel in the posh part of town then...

After the morning visit to Mayapan next stop was to a nearby town of Mani. By now the midday heat was getting intense for the high of 36 degrees.Mani is home to the 400 year old Monastery of San Miquel. It was built with bricks from Mayan sites.When the Spanish brought Christianity Europeans and Mayan were still seperated in Church, and further segregations by class and sex. This undermines the notion of equality and has left lasting effects in society today.To t...