Cancún

Merida....a very different city to Oaxaca. A different fee, different foods, much more "gritty". Not far from the tourist main squares lots of roads needing redevelopment. Hotels, boutique and larger co-existing with more run down business premises.

Further out, absolutely humongous mansions belonging to mexican "old" money. Our neighbourhood, out of the tourist centre was great. 15 mins walk to everything but full of life and currently small hotels being encouraged to support local regeneration projects. Our street had a protest blockade, a kindergarten, a high school, a fruit peeling warehouse, a billiard hall and dogs and cats galore.

Local streets were a mish mash of upkept houses, derelict ones, hotelitos, a Michelin hotel/restaurant, shops. Great street tacos which we ate at lots. Cheap and delicious..why not. We had haircutsvand chiropractor appointments and shopped all the local food markets.

Unknown to us the annual Merida Fest started on 5th January so lots of performances in the street snd in local squares, theatres...all for free. A huge Chilean/mexican pop singer played a free gig as part of it....think like a Latino Taylor Swift gig, offered in the open air for free. Absolutely mayhem with queues and people😱🙈. We avoided the chaos and saw a mexican jazz/ska/reggae band in the music hall instead.

The cantinas were fab, the ones that don't officially exist were even more fun...we looked pathetic with our beer each, everyone else drinking by the bucket load! There were definitely some characters drinking in these establishments and we still can't find out why they have to hide their entrances when clearly everyone knows its s bar. Even my mexican friend and Google don't know.🤣

Loved it...not as much as Oaxaca but reasonable city prices, a great base for exploring this part of the Yucatan.Read more