Showing 1-15 of 15 results
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Mayan Hill Country – Ruta Puuc, Yucatan State, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 21 October 2010
The so-called Ruta Puuc includes five Mayan sites (Uxmal which we’ve covered in a previous post, Kabah, Sayil, Labna and Xlapac) and one unusual cave in the Puuc region of the Yucatan Peninsula . Puuc is the Mayan word for hill and even though Yucatan State is almost pathologically flat there are actually rolling hills in this area. “Southern Mexico is lousy with Mayan sites,” we hear you say.
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Hacienda Has-Beens – Yucatan and Campeche States, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 15 September 2010
Our previous post was all about five haciendas which were built during Mexico’s sisal boom in Yucatan and Campeche and have been restored and turned into luxury hotels known as The Haciendas, part of the Starwood Luxury Collection. But for every hacienda that gets rescued and resurrected there are scores that remain abandoned and in ruins.
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Hacienda High Life -Yucatan and Campeche States, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 14 September 2010
Starwood Hotels owns or operates more than 1,000 hotels in more than 100 countries. Fewer than 90 of those are part of the hotel giant’s elite Luxury Collection and only five of those are part of The Haciendas group in southern Mexico (read our full profile of The Haciendas for iTraveliShop). These hotels are housed in what were once the grand homes of the owners of sisal farms and factories which supplied natural plant fibers to the rope and twine making industry in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
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Thank Chaac! – Uxmal, Yucatan State, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 13 September 2010
Some Mayan sites we’ve visited have had no rhyme or reason–no layout or order that was recognizable to us.
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Horse-Drawn Trains, Cenotes, Mayan Ruins and One LOOOONG Pier – Around Merida, Yucatan State, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 9 September 2010
The town of Cuzamá is the starting point for one of the most unique journeys we’ve taken in Mexico. For 200 pesos you can rent a cart (plenty of room for four people and a cooler) mounted on railroad tracks which is then hitched to a horse the size of a large dog which then pulls said cart along said railroad tracks out to a series of three stunning naturally formed sinkhole swimming spots, otherwise known as cenotes. The small-gauge railroad racks are leftovers from the days when this area was booming with sisal plantations feeding a very hungry market for rope and twine.
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Hacienda Hotels: One Historic, One Hip – Merida, Yucatan State, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 8 September 2010
Our time in Merida was book-ended by stays at two extraordinary—and very different—haciendas that have been turned into luxury hotels. Rosas y Xocolate (pronounced chocolate) on Paseo de Montejo is a brand new modern creation in side the stately bones of a colonial mansion. It’s an architectural fantasy—all angles and contrasts and color (mostly pink). For more, read our full profile of Rosas y Xocolate for iTraveliShop.
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Pride and Prejudice – Merida, Yucatan State, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 6 September 2010
Merida is known as “The White City.” Some say the city earned this romantic nickname because it’s so clean and white that it sparkles. There are certainly a lot of white buildings but there’s a lot of color too and Merida actually struck us as dirtier than we expected. Merida was settled on the site of an existing Mayan village in 1542 by Francisco de Montejo “el Mozo” the son of infamous Spanish conquistador Fancisco de Montejo.
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Where Mayans and Popes Mingle – Izamal, Yucatan State, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 31 August 2010
Residents of Izamal, a small, tidy and charming town near Merida, are very, very fond of yellow (as the photos, below, prove). So much so that Izamal is known in Mexico as “the yellow town” since so many building are painted yellow to match the central church, Monastery Basilica of San Antonio de Padua.
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Rocks For Sale! – Chichén Itzá, Yucatan State, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 30 August 2010
When our friend Pancho told us that he knew the family that “owns Chichén Itzá” we thought something must have been lost in translation. After all, nobody owns something like Chichén Itzá, one of the greatest Mayan cities ever built and one of the most popular archaeological tourist attractions in the world (it’s the second most visited archaeological site in Mexico), right?
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Flamingo Fever – Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, Yucatan State, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 26 August 2010
Long-legged pink birds greet you in the town of Rio Lagartos even before you hit the water. We’d come to town on a day trip from Valladolid and it was clear from the moment we arrived that the quiet, dusty town had one claim to fame: flamingos, which explains the plastic versions that decorate the main drag into town. We veered off and head for the water determined to see some of the thousands of flamingos that come to the protected Ría Lagartas Biosphere Reserve to feed, breed, nest and rest.
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Ancient Mayans and Black Jaguars – Ek’ Balam Ruins, Yucatan State, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 24 August 2010
Less than 20 miles from Valladolid lies Ek’ Balam, a rich but only moderately visited ancient Mayan city. There are more than 30 Mayan languages. In the local Yucatec Mayan language the name Ek’ Balam means “Black Jaguar.” It’s a fittingly imposing name for a city which is believe to have been large and prosperous. Most of the structures of Ek’ Balamn date back to the Late Classic period (600-900 AD), including an impressive tomb.
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Base Jumping – Valladolid, Yucatan State, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 23 August 2010
Located about midway between Tulum on the coast and Merida inland, Valladolid is perfectly situated to serve as a base for day trips to plentiful area attractions including the Mayan ruins of Ek’ Balam and the flamingos of the Biosphera de la Reserva Ria Lagartos (more on those sites in our next two posts). Valladolid is also perfectly situated to sizzle—smack in the hot zone of Yucatan State without the benefit of cooling ocean breezes. It was so hot when we were in Valladolid that the toilet water was steamy.
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Scoop Scoops: Our 5 Favorite Ice Cream Treats in Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 1 July 2010
July has been National Ice Cream Month ever since Ronald Reagan made it so during his presidency in 1984. He also decreed that the third Sunday in July is National Ice Cream Day. Anyway, to celebrate we thought we’d share the scoop on the best scoops we’ve found during our 14 months of road tripping through Mexico. We’re not even dessert people, but here in Mexico they definitely scream for ice cream. In no particular order, here are five of our favorite finds. 1. Every region of Mexico is known for some sort of signature food.
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GOOOOOOOL!!!! World Cup Report #1 – Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 18 June 2010
We watched Mexico’s first 2010 FIFA World Cup match (against South Africa) in the bar of the Hotel & Bungalows Mayaland in Chichen Itza and it was awesome (even though the match ended in a tie). Yesterday we met some new friends (hi John and Tom) at a Brazilian-owned bar called La Choperia here in Mérida and we all settled in with some lovely Modelo Chope beer on tap (a rarity) to watch Mexico’s second World Cup match, this time against France.
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A Little History…Chichén Itzá Maya Ruins
Blog: A Little Adrift - A RTW Travelogue - 9 March 2010
The ruins of Chichén Itzá were my first stop on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. As my first set of Maya ruins of this trip, I have to say, they’re quite a bit different from the temples architecture of Asia – and a good thing too because I got really “templed out” by the end of my time in SEA and India. The Maya ruins are a whole different ball game though; the history behind the temples and the sacrifices and religious ceremonies held at Chichén Itzá are incredibly different from ...
Showing 1-15 of 15 results
