Mexico - Winter 23/24 : 2023-12-15 : Izamal

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Tip
Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Notes Actions
General Info Mayan Ruins outside of Merida AirBnB Host Recommendation: Mayan Ruins outside of Merida

Izamal		 $0.00
General Info The Bamboo Traveler Great blog about excursions from Mérida $0.00
Travel
Type Name Service Provider Origin Destination Cost Notes Actions
Bus Day trip to Izamal Oriente bus Merida Oriente Terminal Izamal Oriente Terminal $11.84 Two people, round trip.
Accommodation
Type Name Service Provider Confirmation Location Cost Notes Actions
Bed and Breakfast Casa Carmita AirBnB Merida $1088.79 Free cancellation before 15:00 on Dec 10
Check-In: 15:00, Check-Out: 12:00. Leave keys on bureau or put them on room door
Entry instructions and WiFi on AirBnB 24 hours before stay
Guest favorite, Superhost, Room plus private bathroom in home with shared spaces.
Luggage drop-off allowed. Pets allowed.


Trip Log

Notes Actions
A couple of days ago I asked Brent to help choose some excursions from Mérida. There are just too many choices for me to narrow it down. He found a really great blog (the Bamboo traveler), which describes the author’s 15 favorite excursions. From that he chose Mayapán for a Mayan ruin excursion, and we chose Izamal for a village and Homun for Cenotes.

We decided to go to Mayapán today and researched the the terminal and scheduled. This morning when we went to buy our tickets, the lady told us that Mayapán is closed for renovations. Dang! Well, good thing we had chosen a couple of other excursions so we could fall back on one of those. Since our AirBnB is a fair hike from the bus terminal and we weren’t carrying our swim/Cenote gear, the backup plan was to go to Izamal.

We were lucky enough to get on a bus right away and off we went. Izamal is one of Mexico’s magical towns, and is known for most of its buildings being painted yellow.

When we got there, we immediately gravitated to Convent of Saint Anthony of Padua which faces the town square and is impossible to miss. Brent also spotted the Pirámide de Kinich Kakmó from the ground and we decided that that would be our second stop.

When we climbed up the ramp to the convent, we were immediately approached by Mauricio, a local guide, who gave us a pitch to take a tour of the convent with him. We like to support the locals, we always get a lot out of the local guides, and the tour would include a stop at the baño, so it was a yes for me.

Mauricio gave us a very interesting tour of the convent, and then we went off to the pyramid and climbed up for a view. Then we had lunch at Restaurant Muul, which Mauricio had recommended. Then we went off to see the Pirámide de Habuk, which wasn’t really a pyramid so much as a collection of buildings.

It was at Habuk that I got heat sick for the first time on this trip. We cut it short and went to wait at the bus station. I’ve been doing reasonably well with a schedule of afternoon siestas, but with today being an excursion, a cooling siesta was not an option, and I quickly learned that I really do need to avoid moving around in the afternoon heat. Brent has taken to saying that we’re acclimatizing well to the heat. It seems he is, and I…. am not.


Photos

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