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One Week on the Mayan Puuc Route
January 2005
This was a fast week, our self-guided tour of Mayan sites inland on the Yucatan
penninsula. Among the sites on the "Puuc Route" are the major site Uxmal and
smaller sites like Labna and Kabah. But even before the "Hilly Route" there are
a lot of fascinating places to see.
Best things about the trip
Stomping around 1000 year old
pyramids playing archeologist
Worst things about the trip
2 hours to get through customs upon arriving in Cancun - too many flights arrive
at once.
Yucatan
highlights photos
Valladolid
Cancun to Valladolid
Hotel El Meson del Marques
Click to view full image
It's an easy flight from southern California to Cancun. Cancun is the busiest
airport in Mexico, and it's small! It took 2 hours to get through customs - the
line snakes around the shops in the middle of the building and then downstairs.
Apparently there were lots of flight delays so everyone arrived at once. Combine
that with an hour or so delay getting the car and we were going to arrive at the
Hotel El Meson del Marques late.
Good thing we had planned ahead emailed the hotel from U.S. that we would be
checking in late. The hotel was great and the food was Excellent - Pollo Pibil
was a big hit. We had a charming room over the courtyard, no sleeping in though
- the mornings were noisy. Bus tours have arrangements with this hotel and the
courtyard is the dining area. Tip: Plan on extra time if you are picking
up your rental car from an off-airport location.
Ek Balam, cenote Dzitnup, Balankanche Caves
Ek Balam sculptures
Balankanche Caves
Ek Balam is a small site but the sculptures are absolutely amazing, like nothing
I've seen before. It's a small site and even taking our time and climbing up and
down everything we were still done in about 2 hours. Some options in the area
were to see the Samula and Zaci cenotes, we skipped those and went up the road
to cenote Dzitnup. Dzitnup cenote is beautiful. You wouldn't want to miss it
when in this area. After spending enough time there we drove on up the road to
Chichen Itza to check out some hotels I was curious about last year--Mayaland
(very nice), Hotel Delores Alba Chichen Itza (not for us, but it IS cheap). On
the way back to Valladolid we toured the Balankanche Caves, like going into a
sauna inside a cave system, but I wouldn't have wanted to miss that one either.
Merida
On the way to Merida - Izamal
View of the Izamal monastery from another flattened pyramid
Click thumbnails to view full image
Merida is a 3 hour drive from Valladolid if you don't stop. We did a little side
trip to Izamal, another fascinating place if you know the history! Here's the
condensed version: the enslaved population were forced to dismantle the top of
their enormous Mayan pyramid and build a monastery and church on top.
Merida
Hotel Dolores Alba Merida was great -
close enough to the center to walk everywhere. We really enjoyed Merida,
it's a very nice colonial city and the capital of the state of Yucatan. While
walking up Calle 60 we came across a place called Ay Caray - free tapas with
your beer in the afternoon, all with great live music. Perfect to kick back for
while. Later on we headed out to dinner at Portico del Peregrino near the
University (Calle 57). The patio courtyard dining is delightful, but it's pretty
small so you should make reservations to make sure your outside not inside.
The Puuc Route
Uxmal
Pryamid of the Magician, Uxmal
Drive an hour and 15 minutes south from Merida and you are at Uxmal.
Uxmal is fantastic. There's a lot to see and it is big. We came back for the
light show at 9:00pm, which some people say is "cheesy" but we thought was a lot
of fun. For the next two nights we were staying at
Hoteles Mision Uxmal. It has seen
better days and bus tours book rooms here; breakfast was OK in the cafeteria
style restaurant, we looked elsewhere for dinner. On the plus side - I got my
reserved in advance top-floor balcony room even though it was a struggle - turns
out the bus tour people take all those rooms. It was worth it to gaze at the
Uxmal ruins in the distance from the room. Had a poor dinner at another
property, Hacienda Uxmal, the grounds looked very appealing though. Went over to
the Villa Arqueologica and had a wonderful desert.
Kabah, Sayil, Labna, Grutas de Loltun
Sacbe (ancient road) in Labna
We had one more day for the other 4 top sites on my La Ruta Puuc tour. All
interesting places to visit. First stop - Kabah with the famous Codz Poop.
Second stop - Sayil - could have spent more time in Sayil, but this site is very
spread out. Analyzing the time walking to time seeing ratio, we had to cut it
short - we didn't want to miss Labna or the last English tour of the
Loltun caverns at 3 or 4:00 pm. Labna was very tranquil, a small area
reminiscent of a palace compound. Not at all like the Uxmal metropolis! Loltun
caverns was an interesting tour with a personable guide.
Late afternoon dinner was at Los Almendros, famous for inventing Pollo Pibil -
but this dish really was much better in Vallodolid! Tip: Los Almendros is
no longer downtown Ticul.
Back to Merida
Yaxcopoil hacienda and Merida
Yaxcopoil Hacienda
Winding down the Puuc Route tour, there are options. Drive back to Merida via
Hwy 261 for a half hour tour of Yaxcopoil hacienda and more time in Merida, or
drive back to Merida via 180 to tour Oxkintok and the Grutas de Xpukil.
Plaza Mejor, Merida
We decided on more time in Merida and a visit to Yaxcopoil hacienda. This turned
out to be really interesting - first we were shown around the few rooms in the
hacienda and then left to wander about on our own. In the production plant we
were greeted by an older man who had worked there when the place was producing
hemp. He gave us a fascinating tour entirely in Spanish, which we were able to
understand with the help of a lot of pantomine.
Back in Merida we checked in, then took a taxi up to Museo Anthropologica to see
all the really fantastic artifacts that had been found at these sites we've
visited. After the museum was a walking tour back to the hotel.
We were ready for another great dinner so it was back to El Peregrino de Portico
again. Tip: Make a reservation for the patio.
Sauntering back towards the hotel after dinner, the free folk dance performance
"La Serenata Yucateca" was great. Merida is a very nice place to visit. When we
were back at the Plaza Mayor - I finally gave in to the all the guidebook
suggestions about doing a horse-drawn carriage tour up Paseo de Montejo. I'm
glad we did that, but at the same time I also felt sorry for the beast of burden
transporting us, the horse. He or she was so tiny!
Coba, Quintana Roo
Bicycling on sacbe, Coba
Merida to Coba
The drive from Merida to Coba was going to fill about 4 hours so before leaving
Merida, we had more sight-seeing to do. And purchasing - a great selection of
Yucatan books was available at a store near Plaza Mayor.
Merida to Coba was an easy drive. We stopped in Vallodolid for a late lunch at
El Meson de Marques (I mentioned the Pollo Pibil, right?) From Valladolid it was
only about an hour drive to Coba - the road was excellent.
Nohoch Mul is the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan
Coba
Coba is another fascinating Mayan site, miles and miles of straight sacbes
(sacred roads) going to other Mayan cities and jungle all around. At 140 feet,
Nohoch Mul is the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan! Its worth the view to climb up
to the top and see the tops of other ruins poking through the trees. You can
rent a bike at here - the only way to go - there's nothing like biking down a
1,000 year old sacbe (sacred road)!
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