Yucatan: between Maya ruins, Spanish colonialism and... beaches!

CANCUN

Exhausted, we arrive in Cancun, a necessary but unwanted stop, and we immediately remember why. We stop for the night in a hotel near the bus station in Cancun city, and taking a walk we realise how a wonderful geographical area can be transformed into a concrete cemetery. Cancun Zona Hotelera is a wall of white concrete that makes even seeing the sea difficult...and throughout the area the prices seem like those of any Italian seaside resort......we can't wait to leave...

VALLADOLID

At dawn we take one of the countless buses that serve this immense country, and in about two hours, through the "countryside" of the peninsula, we reach this small village where you breathe a true and relaxed colonial spirit... Valladolid is beautiful, cheap and human-scale. To beat the heat of the early afternoon we go to visit one of the many Maya Cenotes found in this area, specifically Dzitnup, artificially lit and where you can swim among incredible blind black fish!!! Walking among smiling and cordial people is always a positive experience. Then you eat, you relax and you begin to realise that yes, we are finally in Mexico. The real one.

CHICHEN ITZA

Valladolid is an excellent base for discovering the wonders of Chichen Itza in a day. The buses to the archaeological site are fast and frequent and absolutely not to be missed. The advice is to arrive as early as possible in what was once one of the most important cities of the Maya kingdom. The coaches and the quantity of tourists with coloured bracelets on their wrists moving one after another is nothing short of embarrassing. But I repeat, Chichen Itza is unmissable. The pyramid, called El Castillo (and the fun staircase, both outside and inside, although the latter is much more "damp"...) the square of the thousand columns with its attached Templo de los Guerreros, the astronomical observatory, the Edificio de las Monjas, the great cenote...and so on one could go until becoming boring. The air you breathe here is a mix of the mystical and the incredible.

I'll say it once again: unmissable....not to forget the hundreds of "vendors" along the road of the archaeological site where you can make good deals and hope for a few clouds...the heat here is suffocating!

MERIDA

Always on coaches packed with people and animals we arrive in the capital of the state of Yucatan. Merida is big, polluted and full of people. But here too you breathe an air of real Mexico and the Spanish-colonial atmosphere reveals itself not only at the foot of the imposing Catholic cathedral, but in every corner of the city centre. It must be said that Merida is also rather expensive, but it was foreseeable for being in the largest city of the whole peninsula.

Eating and strolling through the Mercado de Artesanias is intriguing and discovering the many monuments such as the aforementioned cathedral, the palace of the Montejos, the first Spanish governors of the city, the theatre, the university, the headquarters of the anthropology museum...all obligatory stops.....and then in the evening you relax from the walking and the suffocating heat, watching the city move while sipping one of the very good batidos sitting at one of the countless cafes of the capital...

UXMAL

Still keeping Merida as a base, after a tropical downpour, still under a low and gloomy sky, this time we set off to discover Uxmal. A first-rate Maya political-religious centre. The bad weather gives us the chance to visit the city practically without tourists and its magnificence leaves us speechless. Here too the mighty Casa del Adivino, the Cuadrangulo de las Monjas, the Palacio del Gobernador and so many other wonders leave us once again breathless......we leave aware of having "strolled" among monuments of incomparable magnificence, and the thought of a clash not only cultural between Europeans and these populations so different from ours that occurred not too many centuries ago leaves a certain bitter taste in my mouth...

TULUM

Tackling the longest bus journey of this holiday, we arrive in the late afternoon in Tulum, a very small town, which became famous for its proximity to wonderful beaches and the Maya ruins... Having arrived at the bus station we head straight to the area of the "cabanas"...concrete huts 10 metres from the sea, immersed in idyllic tranquillity... In Tulum there isn't much to do, apart from "basking" in the sun, lying on white, very fine sand and passing the time relaxing... Of course the small archaeological site of Tulum must not be missed. Its position overlooking the sea more than its historical interest is its main attraction and the views possible from here leave you once again breathless......and here we stop for 3/4 days...how could you resist?!?

PLAYA DEL CARMEN

Even if reluctantly, we decide to spend the last day before returning to Cancun in Playa del Carmen, more to be able to say we've been there than anything else. A bit better than Cancun, but still a town full of extremely expensive hotels, restaurants and shops. It feels more like being in New York than in Mexico. People speak English and you pay in dollars. Not to mention the beach. Finding a free spot away from the paid deckchairs is a real undertaking... The next day, sad and tanned, we go back to the airport, and from there heading home.......it wasn't the first time I had visited Mexico, but once again its colours, its people, its history and its smells left one of those marks on the soul that will never be lost...