After my short visit to Chichen Itza I had a day to spend in Merida so sent out last weeks blast email in the morning and then went for a wander around the city. It is relatively large, with around 800,000 residents, and is quite Spanish, at least according to The Lonely Planet.
Merida exemplified an interesting example of how Mexican history is recognised. They celebrate the Spanish conquerors of each region, (who mostly slaughtered and enslaved the indigenous Maya) in this case Francisco de Montejo, but also celebrate the leaders of the various Mayan uprisings (who were typically brutally and publicly executed when the superior Spanish military might subdued the unrest) as well as the humanitarian politicians who eventually granted the Maya slaves emancipation. All three are featured in a series of works hung in the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Areno de Yucatan.
Francisco de Montejo's house (and most of the other historic buildings including Central Americas oldest cathedral) all date from the mid to late 1500s and were constructed out of materials recycled from older Mayan temples and other city structures.
After arriving at a hostel from inland Merida to beachside Tulum, I was immediately welcomed into a group consisting of two American couples: Dea and Trevor from Washington State and Leslie and Steve from Colorado, plus a very funny Dutchman from Amsterdam called Jann. Oh, and the hostel's resident dog called Peso. I was then offered "a rum and coke ... but we're out of coke" which was the start of a very funny evening of tacos, beer and (lots) more rum that ended at about 3:30 in the morning at the local carnival (which was still rocking when we left).
Today was spent at the beach which is also the location of the Tulum ruins, so I'll add a few photos from both when I upload.
Later: For anyone in London or New York at present, yes the beach is as good as it looks.
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