the plan for Monday had been centred on a potter around the bits of San Cristobal that we hadn’t visited and then a lunch before catching the bus to Merida at 16.30. Rainy season caught up with us and we only managed to leave the hostel for a couple of Minutes to collect some snacks for the bus journey. The 16 hour bus journey which ended up being 17 hours long because…we have no idea why because, it just was. But it was a comfy bus and we even managed to sleep for a few hours. We’d have slept for longer if we hadn’t been woken up twice to show our passports to people who may have been officials or who might just have been wearing uniforms to look official.
Chiapas, the region we had been staying in makes its own rules especially in the autonomous areas. Tourists are not in danger but they can be fair game for paying an additional tax to get through check points. That sort of thing is more likely to happen on chicken buses or the more local buses. We were travelling with ADO and no one asked us for money. But we’d already agreed that should we be asked we would just pay up and not quibble.
Black skies and rain followed us all the way to Merida and we grabbed a taxi at the bus station. When we checked how much the taxi would be the driver quoted us twice what we expected. Being seasoned Spanish speaking travellers we argued this and the driver nodded patiently, opened the taxi door and repeated the amount. Welcome to Merida gringos. We had the choice of getting soaked or spending a couple of quid extra so being the chicken-livered gringos that we are we said muchas gracias, paid up and managed not to add a tip.
Mérida is another old colonial town which under normal circumstances would be really pretty but they’re rebuilding the main square and consequently it’s not as lovely as usual.
on Wednesday we did one of the tours for tips which concentrated more on the Merida and Yucatán history which was really interesting. After the Spanish arrived they used stones from Mayan buildings to build the cathedral.
On Friday we travel back to the Caribbean and it will be our last long bus journey (6 hours). A couple of nights in playa del Carmen then take a ferry to Cozumel island. Evidently the snorkelling is spectacular off Cozumel and we’re hoping for, if not sunshine, then a few hours without rain. After Cozumel we will spend 4 days at the hostel in Playa where we were in January - it feels like a good way to end this trip.
Bummer about the main square in Merida, when I stayed there many years ago it was really lovely! (But Playa del Carmen is also supposed to have its charms…)