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Valladolid

January 2024
A 30-day adventure by Jeff & Eileen Read more
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  • Valladolid
    1
    Day 1

    Travel to Valladolid

    January 2 in Mexico ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

    It was a long day of traveling. We left the house at 3:45am and didn't arrive at our destination until 6:00 PM (Central). We flew from Pittsburgh to Miami, then Miami to Mérida, México. After clearing customs and immigration, we had to decide on mode of travel, either ride share or bus. Since taking a bus required also taking 2 buses (first one into downtown Mérida to the bus station), we opted for ride share and decided to try DiDi, an alternative to Uber, which was also available. Didi was significantly less expensive. To catch a ride share vehicle, we had to walk out of the airport property to the main road. Our ride showed up about 15 minutes after ordering it, beginning our 2+ hour road trip. Our driver didn't speak English so it was a pretty quiet trip. We traveled through a number of small towns/ villages that appeared to be pretty poor areas. On arriving in Valladolid, we were surprised at the amount of traffic ... Truly a traffic jam.

    After getting into our 2 room apartment, we unpacked quickly and immediately headed out for dinner. We ended up at La Crujía, which turned out to be an excellent choice. We choose seating in the back courtyard which was full of trees and away from the noise of the traffic. Food was very good as was the service of Catalina. The price for dinner with 2 beers was the equivalent of $25.

    We then walked toward the main square / park, which is only a block from where we are staying. It was a hug of activity, with storefronts surrounding the square and numerous street vendors in the park. We ended up having a churro, complete with Hershey's syrup. We kept the walk short as we were both very tired and lights were out around 930.

    I was surprised at the number of tourists, including several tourist buses parked by the main square. Although, that location is likely the main tourist spot in town.    Read more

  • Valladolid
    1
    Day 2

    Day 1 - getting a feel for the area

    January 3 in Mexico ⋅ 🌙 73 °F

    Today we got a feel for the area around our apartment. A fair amount of walking, along with trying the food and drinks at some local establishments. We are asking for recommendations from the locals we meet.

    We started off with breakfast at Carolin Cocoa Cafe. It's less than a block from where we are staying and had an excellent menu: healthy, well plated, and very tasty. We got there at a good time, there was soon a wait for tables.

    After that, we did the 10:00 free walking tour. Stops included the main church and the public market. We did get to taste a few local delicacies.

    We chilled out for a few hours in the afternoon and then headed to La Joyita Cantina for some beer and tapas. The tapas were complimentary and very tasty. This place was a recommendation of our tour guide from the morning walk when I asked him where he would go. Locals outnumbered the tourists. The place was a dive bar that I am sure we will be back to..... Multiple times.

    Later in the evening we ventured out for dinner at NenaNena. We both had enchiladas and they were great. We sat out back in the courtyard after a few minute wait for a table. While you waited for your food they brought out a little game trip play. The loser had to drink a shot (some cherry liquore, not very good).

    We capped off the evening with another walk, venturing to streets we hadn't been to yet. We came across a bakery where we bought a loaf of almond bread for breakfast, along with a ham and cheese bread.

    Once home, we weren't long out of bed.    Read more

  • Valladolid
    11
    Day 3

    Convento de San Bernardino de Siena

    January 4 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    We walked to Convento de San Bernardino de Siena, a monestary completed in 1560. The route there took us along the Calzada de Los Frailes, a colorful street with shops, restaurants, and homes. .There were beautiful flower displays outside the monestary with a Christmas theme. The monestary property housed a water mill that was built over a cenote. Starting in the 1970s, most artifacts were recovered from the cenote, accessed via the water mill, which was much like a well. It is the round structure in the pictures. The grounds were also home to many lizards, much bigger than we are used to seeing.

    We tried to go to the restaurant La Tía for lunch, a recommendation from a local, but it was closed during it's normal hours. We ending up getting cochinita pibil, a marinated barbeque pork sandwich from a street vendor, el tigrillo . Lunch for the two of us was under $4.

    For dinner, we went to St. Patrick's, the local Irish bar. Not a lot Irish about it but it was a nice place and will probably go back Saturday with the hope of watching the Steelers game. The penguin game was on the TV as we entered. We sat outside and had wood fired pizza and a couple beers. I (Jeff) topped off with a couple shots of mezcal (mil diablos and 400 conejos joven).    Read more

  • Valladolid
    311
    Day 4

    Lazy Friday

    January 5 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    Friday was a pretty laid back day. We walked to inquire about a bike tour, bought some produce at the market, and stopped in a bakery. This was followed by reading in a park, visiting La Joyita Cantina, napping, and watching the audio visual presentation displayed at the main church.Read more

  • Valladolid
    1
    Day 5–14

    Bike trip to cenotes

    January 6 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    We took a bike tour to 2 cenotes and visited 3 villages/towns. There were two other people on the tour, Martin and Janet from the Netherlands. They are in their 30s (36,34).

    Our guide was Julian, a lifetime resident of Valladolid. Our trip was just about 20 miles. Julian liked to ask (very frequently) "how are you feeling, guys?"

    We were the only people at the first cenote, named xla'kaj, which was an open air cenote. It was a beautiful setting and the water was very comfortable.

    The second, k'om ha , was covered and you had to go on a small opening and proceed through a cave like entrance to get down.

    We stopped at the town of Chichimila for lunch after the first cenote. There were a number of outdoor stands, kind of like a food truck setup. We had tacos and empanadas. I think the tacos were from Julian 's uncle's stand.    Read more

  • Valladolid
    Day 5

    Steeler game at St. Patrick's

    January 6 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    The local Irish bar gave us a chance to watch the Steelers. We met ex-pats from Ireland, England, and the USA.

    Today is the end of the Christmas season here with lots of celebrations around the 3 Kings.Read more

  • Valladolid
    Day 7

    Ek Balam

    January 8 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Today we went to Ek Balam, a Mayan ruin. The ruins were started around 300bc and peaked in population. around 1000ad. Eventually they were abandoned and over time deteriorated and were covered over. Excavations started around 1970. So far they have uncovered about 30 structures but you can see the piles of stone where there are more structures waiting to be uncovered. At Ek Balam you can climb on most of the structures. The biggest one was a palace for the noble and elite. Others were places of worship. This area was surrounded by walls to keep the commoners out. The entire area is surrounded by forest . We had an English speaking guide.

    Next we walked a mile to a nearby cenote. The cenote had cabanas where you could spend the night and hammocks to rest in. It also had a rope swing, a place to repel down and a Zipline to ride across the cenote. Much more touristy than the others we were at, but still very beautiful!

    Walking back, we stopped at a "food stand" for tacos. The lady made fresh tortillas and cooked them on a skillet over a fire. The beans were cooked with the pork and served in a bowl. The couple running the place only spoke Spanish. I am sure there were things said that we didn't understand, but we got the jist of things . The lady also had a homemade loom that she weaved hammocks on.

    We took a colectivo to the ruins and back. They are like a taxi but they wait until the car is full (ish) before they leave.

    When we got back, we realized we did not have the key to our apartment, but with a little help, we got back in.

    In the evening we went to a bar (Libran
    os del Mall, deliver us from evil) on our street for a beer, served in liter glasses!    Read more

  • Valladolid
    1
    Day 9

    Hanging out

    January 10 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 84 °F

    The last couple days have just been hanging out around town, walking, and reading. We did stop at a local history museum (all displays in Spanish) and another location that had murals depicting history.

    Brunch was at Loncheria Olich, a place recommended by multiple people. It had a nice outdoor space and the food was good and fairly inexpensive.

    Last evening, we had a delicious dinner at Restaurante de los Santo, a small, family run operation. It is one of the few places we have been without any outdoor seating. We followed that up with a trip to Idilio Folklore Cervecero, an at gallery/brewery. They had about 8 beers on tap. Would rate as "ok" for beer, but a beautiful setting. We finished off the evening with the light show / history presentation displayed on the monestary, first watching the Spanish presentation, then the English.

    We continue to ask our servers where they like to go to eat and drink.

    On both Tuesday and Wednesday, we picked a direction and walked to the edge of town. Tuesday, we went east and Wednesday we went south. We had been west several days ago. Generally speaking, the neighborhoods aren't "pretty" but there are some houses that look pretty nice. Most of them have walls and gates.

    The town is reported as being very safe and we have felt that way, no matter where we have been. We haven't been out much later than 10:00pm. People seem fairly easy going.    Read more

  • Valladolid
    1
    Day 13–16

    Enjoying the warm and not the snow!

    January 14 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F

    We have taken to a slower pace the last couple of days with lots of walks and plenty of chill time. We went on a bee tour. Mexico is the largest exporter of honey. They have 46 types of bees with 40 of them being stingless. The tour was in a dry cenote in a forest setting, perfect for the bees. Our guide explained the different kinds of bees, the different kinds of honey they make, and how the bees are moved to boxes and their honey collected. We got to sample various honeys and honey products at the end. Honey collecting has a lot of Mayan culture associated with it. On our tour was a brother and sister from Denmark. He was an exchange student in Mexico when he was in high school and they were back to visit with his host family. He visits once or twice s year.

    We have already taken a lot of neighborhood walks usually in the morning before it gets too hot. We either pick a direction or a place on google maps and start walking. We have seen a variety of neighborhoods this way. There are sidewalks most places, although many are uneven or in need of repair. We need to watch where we are walking. We have felt completely safe everywhere we have gone, day or night. When we get back, we jump in the pool at our building to cool off. Later we grab a coffee and head to the park for dancing entertainment, people watching and occasionally desserts from the vendors.

    We have also tried a few new restaurants and bars. When we eat somewhere, Jeff will ask the person waiting on us where they would eat or drink when they go out. We have gotten a lot of great suggestions this way. We have been to a rooftop bar overlooking the center park, a Harry Potter themed bar, another local cantina, and have eaten very well!    Read more

  • Valladolid
    Day 18

    Chichen Itza

    January 19 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    No trip to the area is complete without a visit to the ruins off Chichen Itza, one of the 7 wonders of the new world.

    We decided to take the first collectivo of the day, scheduled to leave around 7:00. I was amazed that we were pulling out with a full load in the van by 6:55. Eileen and I were in different rows in the van. I ended up sitting with a young couple from Amsterdam.

    We arrived before the gates opened at 8:00 and were close to the front of the ticket line. The process was the same as at Ek Balaam -- you had to buy two tickets, one from the state government and one from the federal. And there were two tickets takers, a rep from each. I guess there is no trust between the levels of govt.

    As the initial pictures show, it was rather foggy when we got there but the fog quickly burnt off. I think one of the things that amazed us as much as the building was all the vendors and the amount of set up they had to do. It appeared that every morning they had to set up their displays, including tables, tents, racks, etc from scratch. They were able to leave that stuff in the woods and just had to carry it up and assemble but they also had to bring in their merchandise and supplies. So many merchants, so much of the same stuff, not sure how they made any money. Lots of chants of "only a dollar".

    We spent about 3 hours wondering the grounds following a self guided tour we had found online. No guide like we had at Ek Balaam. One of the most interesting things was seeing one of the ruined structures being rebuilt. They take what looks a lot like a pile of stones and turn it into what the building is supposed to have looked like originally.

    Our take: we enjoyed Ek Balaam more than Chichen Itza. Ek Balaam was way less crowded, less commercialized, and you could climb on some of the structures.    Read more

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