Merida
Ancient Cultures, Church, & a Colonial City
New Year’s Day, 2023 was a Sunday. We started our morning with a light, tasty breakfast of tropical fruits. We strolled past a 2023 sign and had our picture taken to commemorate the dawn of a new year. The walk to church was short. We found the North Mérida Iglesia de Cristo, and enjoyed worship with a spirited group of locals. After an uplifting Spanish language worship service, we headed back to grab our car and head out to Uxmal, another major Maya site. Stephanie picked up a few things from Walmart while we were there. We passed many nice older buildings, and the Monumento a la Patria. The downtown square was clean and picturesque. There was plenty of live music during the evenings, and the main street was lined with food, snack and, dessert vendors, making for a pleasant experience. It was quite warm, despite it being New Year’s Day.
The drive out to Uxmal was pleasant. The ruins are set in a lush, green, rural area surrounded by wineries and a few other upscale tourist attractions. I did not know of Uxmal before learning about it in the Great Courses offering on Maya and Aztec civilizations. When you come through the foliage and lay eyes on the massive Pyramid of the Magician – much steeper and a bit taller than the main structure at Chichen Itza – you realize that this place is just as magnificent. The light, rounded stones shine bright in the sun.
Uxmal is ornately decorated with Chaac masks and a lot of nicely preserved or restored art. The astronomical observatory remains in good shape. The drive out is between one and two hours from the central square in Merida. It made a perfect afternoon trip. We loved strolling through the beautifully decorated buildings. Piles of unidentified artistically decorated stones lie around for observation away from the better preserved structures. I was more impressed by the decor, size, and scope of teh Uxmal ball court than I was by the one we observed at Chichen Itza. Both cities are World Heritage sites. Both are jaw-dropping examples of the height of late Maya art and architecture. While I suppose folks who are not as enthusiastic about visiting historical and cultural sites might not feel inclined to stop at multiple ancient cities, it would be hard for me to imagine coming to the Yucatan and not visiting Uxmal as well as Chichen Itza.
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Stephanie and I freshened up momentarily in the room after arriving back in Mérida before heading out to sample some local cuisine just off the city’s main historic square. I stepped out on a limb and tried an unfamiliar dish. While the meal I had was not my favorite of the trip, the atmosphere was pleasant and we were not surrounded by tourists. Stephanie liked her food.
That evening, I nervously proffered a plan to my lovely wife. I had read of a huge, partially uncovered Mayan city in the farthest Southern extremities of the Yucatan, in the state of Campeche, within sight of the Guatemalan border. It was called Calakmul. We would have to drive several hours to a tiny town called Xpujíl that I knew nothing about, other than that it didn’t have any modern hotels. The whole project seemed like a real Indiana Jones style adventure. Stephanie must have felt my excitement. I don’t know what her level of trepidation was, but she agreed and we made plans to check out of the motel the next morning and set out for Xpujíl. We had a very nice room right on the square in Mérida, so abandoning that for the relative unknown of interior Mexico was a leap of faith on her part.
We left the comforts of Mérida after breakfast on the 2nd. There are ruins all over the Yucatan. I had no idea of their proliferation when I began planning the trip. We visited only a tiny percentage of them. Considering the pace we were on, it would have been difficult to squeeze in many more. We did manage to traverse one more site before departing the greater Mérida area. We spent a couple of hours on Monday morning exploring the late Mayan city of Mayapan. Mayapan looks something like a miniature version of Chichen Itza. It had many of the same buildings, but they were all much smaller. Much of the architectural style seemed similar, and the masks and art also bore similarities.
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The main pyramid was not nearly as tall as those at Uxmal and Chichen Itza. It was still a bit hard to climb. It was a bit steep and the tiny steps were often no more than about four to six inches wide. I was left with the distinct impression that there must not have been any Maya with feet the size of mine – at least none of them who spent much time ascending the temple steps.
Mayapan was an interesting stop. It was a good way to break up what otherwise would have been a long driving day. That said, if I had to drop one of our stops out it would have been this one. It was useful, though, to see how far the society had declined. It was apparent that by the time Mayapan was built, people knew what Mayan architecture should look like, but either lacked the resources or inclination to create the kinds of masterpieces that had been constructed during the society’s heyday. It was also free of crowds, and apparently seldom had enough visitors to bring any congestion.
After a couple of hours’ hiking and exploration we were back in the car making our way through rural Campeche en route to what turned out to be the trip’s most compelling adventure.
