Merida Cathedral
After having so much fun with Gabriel and François in Guadalajara we took off for Merida. We’ve never heard about this city before, but has more than 1 million inhabitants and is located in the Yucatan Peninsula. We flew to Merida using Viva Aerobus and despite the crazy line at the check-in, it was a nice and cheap way to travel large distances in Mexico.
Ghost like Altar
We got in Merida on October 31st to stay for the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) that happens officially on November 2nd. But as we arrived, we learned that most of the festivities have already occurred with only one tiny festival remaining that same night in a place called Dizibilchaltun, 30 minutes north of the city.
Most of the people who choose to celebrate go to the cemeteries during the day and night, building altars with things the dead person liked: food, drinks (even alcoholic), toys, person objects, pictures of the dead and lots and lots of candles. The altars are quite pretty and Catrina, (for lack of better way of describing her) is the patron saint of this holiday although is just a skeleton. Imagine the Grateful Dead Skeleton but in a dress; she is everywhere in Mexico this time of the year.
Catrina
Merida is a cute town, but there is not much to do there and it was raining again quite a bit, so we headed to Chichen Itza. For those who don’t know this place, besides being a Unesco World Heritage Site, it was also chosen as one of the Seven New World Wonders. The Kukulkan pyramid is by far the most impressive building, but this place is packed with tourists even though it is low season. Our guide said that it was empty with probably around 2,000-3,000 people, but during high season this place sometimes has up to 10,000 tourists taking pictures and learning about this special place for the Mayas.
Kukulkan in Chichen Itza
We are now spending some time in the Riveiera Maya, just south of Cancun . Weather is great. To see more pics take a look at this link.