Merida, Mexico

After a very stressful 20 hours of traveling, we made it to Mexico. The signs all over Belize advertise a luxury bus that runs to Cancun or Merida every night. Of course the night we decide to take it, it's not running. Apparently, it's every night of the week some days of the week. That meant multiple bus stops and changes through the night. I have heard of people easily going from Cancun to Belize and back, but it hasn't been so easy for us.

Merida is only a four hour bus ride from Cancun. It has far exceeded our expectations. The food in the Yucatan has been great, we have enjoyed the colonial buildings, and Paseo de Montejo was very lovely. In the 1880's, the elite in Merida decided to make it the Paris of Mexico. Along Paseo de Montejo, they built beautiful mansions and parks. The avenue was really romantic at night.

Adam said this was the best taco al pastor meat he has ever had. That's quite a title since he lived in Veracruz for two years as a LDS missionary.

The ladies that made the tortillas at our favorite restaurant, The Chaya Maya.

We previously had called Tikal "Maya Disneyland," but Chichen Itza is more deserving of the title. There were thousands of people and vendors everywhere. It was the most crowded and loud site so far, and for good reason; the pyramid and the ball court are in excellent shape and are huge. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the New World.

After Chichen Itza, we stopped at one of the many cenotes (Ik Kil). Due to the large quantities of cenotes, Chichen Itza was thought to be the home of the water god. When the cenote was used by the Maya, they would have to climb down the tree roots to access it. Our tour was running late, so we could only spend an hour at the cenote. It was so relaxing and beautiful that we wished we could stay longer. The water is over 150 feet deep. We couldn't get a good picture of the Ik Kil so we used the following pictures from a travel site.

Uxmal is considered "baroque Maya" because it is so detailed. The site was quiet and peaceful with only a few other guests. The buildings and temples were the most ornate we have seen so far. Some of the buildings had a very Mediterranean feel. One of the thrones even contained Egyptian cartouches. A professor of Egyptology came to see the throne and verified that it in fact was Egyptian, but has yet to reveal what the characters mean. For those of us who have read the Book of Mormon, reformed Egyptian in Meso-america is no surprise :)