Exploring the Yucatán interior
Climbing a Mayan pyramid is the easy part. Reaching the top of these structures constructed of stone more than 1,000 years ago on what is now the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico requires only stamina and determination.
Getting down is a different matter. The steps aren’t always uniform size, and the grades are deceptively steep. A grind going up, the steps can be unnerving on the return. Hand rails are not an option.
The views, though, often make the trouble worthwhile.
The Yucatán is better known to American travelers for the beaches on its Caribbean side. But the peninsula’s interior offers a number of interesting destinations — many of them Mayan ruin sites — all within short drives of one another. Between hiking around ruins and swimming in cenotes the region proved to be entertaining — even to a seven-year-old companion— without once stepping onto a beach.
On the Puuc Route
Our road to ruins began in the busy city of Mérida. The airport sits on the south side of the city, which makes for a quick exit toward Uxmal, an area in the lush Santa Elena Valley where settlers first arrived around 500 B.C. During the 9th and 12th centuries A.D. the region flourished with an estimated 25,000 Mayan inhabitants.
Unlike smaller sites nearby, Uxmal’s sprawling center is best explained and navigated with a guide knowledgeable about the Puuc architecture of the northwest Yucatán. Uxmal’s central pyramid is roped off, but many of the other tall structures are open and offer panoramic views of the site.
A word of advice: Locals in the tourism business will urge you to attend the nighttime program at Uxmal, which is included in admission price. Do not heed unless you have deep affinity for long, chintzy light shows, unforgiving chairs and mosquito bites.
Uxmal is a stop on the oft-traversed Ruta Puuc (Puuc Route), which includes stops at Kabah, Xlapak, Sayil and Labná.
Kabah is a smaller site, but worth a quick visit for the dramatic walls of masks that jut out from the stone. An easy day trip out of Uxmal includes a stop in Kabah on the way to or from the Ecomuseo del Cacao, a chocolate museum that includes several exhibits about the Mayans, their agriculture and the region. The tour also includes a demonstration of chocolate production, with a rich cup of hot chocolate at the end. The museum is less than a half hour from Uxmal.
Edzná is a Mayan site that can be visited on the way to the coastal city Campeche. Traveling from Edzná to Campeche via the small town Ciudad del Sol can add a couple of hours to the drive, but the coastal road — slow and winding — offers great views to the west.
Campeche bound
Campeche is a large city with a radiantly colored colonial historical district at its center. Pressed against the Gulf coast, it isn’t the easiest place on the peninsula to navigate, with dense traffic, tight roads and no discernible grid. In addition to its many museums it offers ample opportunity to be honked at by motorists.
The city also has much to see on foot. The buildings in the centro histórico make it a crayon box of color, with cobblestone streets and the occasional striking tall building like the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Purisma Concepción. The center of this part of town is the Plaza Principal Square, and many businesses there have doors and windows flung open, which can offer the opportunity to hear the thunderous sound and see the swishing colors of a local dance school.
Campeche was host to conflicts between Spanish settlers and pirates, which explains the baluartes — bastions or walls — around the city. Further from the city center is the cannon-rimmed Baluarte de San Miguel, noteworthy for its view of the ocean and the Museum of Mayan Art within. Food in the city is also quite good. (More on that soon.)
Chichén Itzá and beyond
The drive from Campeche to Chichén Itzá eats up most of an afternoon, but the most visited of the Mayan sites seemed to require a visit. Chichén Itzá is impressive (another one where a guide is worthwhile), though its proximity to Cancún creates a steady flow of tour buses dropping off thousands of tourists all day. The site is obviously worth a day’s visit, but it tends to feel crowded compared to the more remote destinations.
Ek Balam is a smaller set of ruins not far to the northeast of Chichén Itzá with a very tall central pyramid that is grinding to climb and terrifying to descend. The town of Vallodolid is a smart place to stop on the way to or from, with plenty of lunch offerings. If your seven-yearold is a girl and fashion-minded, the town is a good place to find dresses with hand embroidered designs.
Cenotes — water-filled sinkholes that serve as swimming areas — abound in this region. The Yokdzonot cenote just west of Chichén Itzá offers an opportunity to cool off in waters that could politely be described as brisk.
Missing from the map is a gorgeous detour between Chichén Itzá and Mérida. The city’s most striking feature is the Franciscan Convent of San Antonio De Padua, a mustard-colored structure that pops against the blue sky. The convent offers a light show of its own. We were disinclined to give it a go.
When a child mutters “no mas ruinas” it may be time to return to the city.
Back to Mérida
Mérida is large, for certain, but its grid is forgiving for first time drivers.
Two of the city’s two big draws — the Plaza Grande and the Paseo de Montejo — require quite a bit of walking, but a centrally located hotel just north of the plaza makes them reachable. Mérida has much to offer culturally, but after a week of walking around ruins, our child was more interested in chasing pigeons with local kids in the Plaza Grande.
We then moved north to see the beautiful old buildings that line the famed Paseo de Montejo, where, toward a street festival with live music, theater and dancers was getting going.
Ice cream is easily had around the Yucatan. That and a pair of cheladas for the adults proved restorative at sundown.
Eating around Yucatán
A few additional words on the cuisine: The food differs noticeably around the Yucatán. While in Campeche, try the salty pan de cazón, a dish with shredded dogfish and tortillas in a tomato sauce. Further north papadzules are essential: tacos filled with hardboiled egg and sausage and covered in a pumpkin and tomato sauce. They were particularly good at the restaurant Kinich in Izamal. Some street tacos in Ticul had a delicate medley of flavors anchored by a savory mystery meat. Longaniza sausages — similar to chorizo — are particularly good in and around Vallodolid. And Pisté, the town just outside Chichén Itzá, has numerous vendors grilling chicken on the street.
A common staple is the poc chuc, which is a citrus marinated grilled pork. I wouldn’t say any we had was transcendent, but it does provide something substantive for those who don’t feel adventurous.
But a little sense of adventure opens up the peninsula, whether it’s scaling a pyramid, jumping into a sinkhole full of water or eating a small shark. The pan de cazón was the most pungent of the dishes we tried, and the only one that prompted the child to ask for seconds.