Michael Powell's Blog, page 95

Sayil

The third ancient city which we visited on our trip along the Yucatán’s Ruta Puuc was Sayil. Long since abandoned to the jungle, this extraordinary site still paying silent testimony to the magnificence of the Maya civilization.

Sayil rose to prominence from around 800 to 1000 AD, toward the end of the florescence of Maya culture. The city was completely desolate by the time the Spanish arrived in Mexico, but recent excavations suggest that at one time up to 10,000 people lived here.

Before our...

The Eco-Museum of Cacao

We weren’t sure what to expect from the Eco-Museum of Cacao, found between the archaeological sites of Labná and Xlapak. Apart from a flier we’d picked up in a tourism office, we hadn’t read a thing about it, which is usually a bad sign. But the museum turned out to be excellent, with nicely-presented information, a chocolate-making demonstration, animals and even a fascinating recreation of an ancient Maya ritual.

In a world of Hershey’s and fine Belgian pralines, it’s hard to remember that t...

The Ruins of Labná and Xlapak

Down the road from the Grutas de Lóltun, is the archaeological zone of Labná, the first of five ancient Maya sites we’d be visiting on our trip through the Puuc valley. Nearby we’d find Xlapak, a much smaller site whose name means “Old Walls”.

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The compact site of Labná was a great place to introduce ourselves to the Puuc-era Maya. Occupying a relatively small area, we didn’t have to walk far from the extraordinary palace, counting 67 rooms and seven patios, to the Labná Arch, which served as t...

The Grutas de Loltún

One of Mexico’s biggest cave systems is found just south of Oxkutzcab. With mammoth bones and other evidence of human presence dating back to the Pleistocene Age, the Grutas de Loltún (Caves of the Flower Stone) have long served as an important refuge to the Maya and those who came before them.

In order to visit the caves, you have to hire a local guide. There’s no set price for this service; instead, you’re asked to pay what you think is fair. So before we departed, and throughout the entiret...

Oxcutzcab and the Ruta Puuc

Some of the Yucatán’s most impressive Maya ruins are conveniently laid out in a row along the Ruta Puuc. Beginning in the village of Oxkutzcab, we made a rough semi-circle to the south and west, visiting caves, an eco-museum dedicated to cocoa, and five fascinating archaeological sites, among them the ruins of Uxmal.

The Puuc-era Maya flourished between 800 and 1000 AD, clustered around a fertile valley of the same name (which, by the way, is pronounced “pook” and not “pooch”, as we had been s...

A Tour of Mérida’s Markets

I’ve got one of those brains which appreciate order. I love numbers and logic, and anything organized. I always keep a list of tasks, and often an item on that list will be reminding me to make another list. For real. Don’t even get me started on jigsaw puzzles. The challenge of arranging the pieces into a coherent, perfectly-fitting whole? I’m happy just thinking about it.

So, I was a little troubled during our first foray into Mérida’s market. More like, freaked out. It was chaos. Mérida had...

Hotel Xixim in Celestún

The tiny Gulf Coast town of Celestún already feels incredibly remote, but to reach our hotel, we had to continue past the final shack, and along a ridiculously bumpy dirt road for another half hour. Hotel Xixim is truly the back of beyond, but on pulling into the parking lot, we immediately knew the wearying trek was about to pay off.

More than just a simple hotel, Xixim is like a reconstructed Maya village. Guests gets their own deluxe Maya-style thatch-roofed hut, complete with a hammock on...

Crocs, Snakes and Flamingos at Celestún

In the southeastern corner of the Yucatán is the Celestún Biosphere Reserve: a natural lagoon home to mangrove forests and all sorts of creatures. During our trip to the area, we took an exciting two-hour boat tour of the reserve.

While booking our tour of Celestún, we were the only foreigners present. Normally, this is something we’d be thrilled about, but today we were upset. “If only some other tourists would show up”, we wailed! We even waited around for twenty minutes, just in case. Of co...

After One Month in the Yucatán

Unlike a lot of the more uncertain places we move to, Busan or Idaho for instance, we were fully confident that we were going to love living in the Yucatán peninsula. It didn’t take anywhere near a month to confirm that. And life is even better than expected. In our first month, we introduced ourselves to the wonderful cuisine, explored Maya ruins, and even learned how to scuba dive. An eventful 30 days… and I don’t know whether to be excited that we’ve still got another two months to look fo...

Three Great Cozumel Hotels

As guests of Cozumel’s tourism board, we weren’t just exposed to a wide variety of sights and restaurants, but were also introduced to a few wonderful places to stay. Whether your budget is small, medium or large, one of these options should fit the bill.

Hostelito

Hostelito, or Little Hostel, welcomed us for three nights at the beginning of our stay. For budget travelers, this is a perfect option. Clean, affordable, and with a perfect location right in the middle of the city, Hostelito offers...