So what are your thoughts about our $16.50/night per person hotel in Merida? (pictured above) We think it's a bit of alright! LOL The last photo in this line up above is of a little woman who was making tortillas at the restaurant we went to for lunch/dinner when we arrived in Merida. After I showed her the photo I'd taken of her she smiled and offered me a hot tortilla right off the griddle. It was sooo hot I could hardly hold on to it....and it was also delish!
But I'm getting ahead of myself so I'll go back a few hours to the start of today while we were still in Campeche... Sitting in the bus station waiting for our coach to Merida scheduled to depart at 12:30. We thought for sure there would be somewhere to grab a bite before getting on the bus but...we were wrong so have had to settle for the snack counter in the bus station. You may not think that's such a bad thing unless you've had a packaged sandwich in Mexico. You know how packaged sandwiches are a last resort at home...well multiply how bad those ones are by ten and you're getting close. For those of you who have enjoyed bimbo bread...you'll understand when I say the moisture in the ham basically turns the bread back into dough! Creative Lynda had a good idea that helped us to get our 1/2 sandwich down...we had some potato chips with it to add some much needed texture. It's sad to have to say that the chips helped wash down the sandwich! I just ate mine really fast...kind of like pulling off a bandaid but almost paid a serious price for my haste. At one point the dough ball almost got stuck in my throat! Thankfully the chips helped move it along. LOL. Normally the food here is very good...I think it's just something about transit stations and pre-prepared food the world over.
The highway between Campeche and Merida is gorgeous! It looks like it's brand new or at least newly upgraded much of the way. There is absolutely nothing along it though...well...other than the massive prison we passed not too far out of Campeche! Our first sign that something different was coming up was the road signs showing guys with guns. Didn't know quite what that meant until we saw guys with guns on the side of the highway at a checkpoint where we had to slow right down to get through the checkpoint. The next time we had to slow right down for a checkpoint was when we crossed the state border from Campeche (state) into Yucatan (state). At that border the police/military had one vehicle stopped and it was being searched. Our bus was waved through with no problem as has been the case at every checkpoint we've passed so far on this entire trip.
As per the advice of our "friend" who offered a taste of his shrimp dinner, we caught a cab to the Ambassador Hotel and it is perfect. We were able to get into a room (#109) that has good strong wifi so I am happy. We will be here for 5 nights and I'm working two of the days that we're here so I need it for my facetime and skype calls. Even as I type that....I have to pinch myself as I am reminded of just how lucky I am to be able to continue to do the work that I love at the same time as I get to realize another of my passions...to experience the adventure and the diversity of travel.
I'd be remiss not to mention the elevator in this hotel...yes room 109 is on the second floor....and no...I cannot explain that! I almost have to turn sideways to get into the elevator door but turning sideways for me (given the size of my ample bust) is hardly helpful in trying to fit through a very small door! LOL Conjures up quite a picture doesn't it?! The elevator says it holds 4 people and in truth...it does because once you're through the door there is much more room that it appears to have at first glance from outside the doorway.
Our bellboy brought our bags and got us settled into our room and within seconds had his english speaking friend who is a taxi driver on the phone setting up a tour of the city for us tomorrow. We agreed to a 3 hour tour for $400 pesos for two people...it will be totally worth the $20 bucks each to be able to learn some of the history and get the lay of the land from our own private tour.
Once settled into our room we realized just how hungry we were...that 1/2 sandwich (as sticky as it was going down) wasn't sticking with us any longer so we took off to find somewhere to eat. We were just a few meters down the road when we heard another of the hotel bellboys calling after us to give us a suggestion on a nearby restaurant that serves good regional food as reasonable prices. We took him up on his suggestion and that is where we found the little lady pictured above sitting just inside the door making fresh tortillas for the diners to watch and as tortillas are served with most Mexican meals...her fresh tortillas were what diners were eating as well. Lynda and I decided on two appetizers that we could share. Panucho (which we've had before) and Pibihua (which neither of us had never heard of). By the end of it we were stuffed and so we washed it all down with a couple of mango margaritas. Yep....it's happy hour somewhere and we were ready for a drink!
On our way back to the room we had some difficulty in locating a little store where we could buy some water for our room. When we finally did locate one, I accidentally purchased two bottles of flavoured water (strawberry - ewwww!) Within seconds of paying I realized that it was the wrong thing and walked right back into the store to trade it for regular water (that was in fact cheaper!) But...no way...that was simply not possible. The result therefore was that the clerk in the store would be taking home two huge bottles of strawberry flavoured water and I got to pay twice for the water I wanted!
Once we were well sated and had water in hand, it was back to the room to really get settled in, unpack some stuff, get caught up on email, replenish our common pot of $$ (we find it easier to just run off a common pot of $ when we travel), and gather whatever needed to go into the safe at the front desk. On that topic, this is the safest safe I've ever used! It is actually a safety deposit box where the front desk has a key and I have a key for the box that has just our stuff in it!
As soon as all of our 'business' was taken care of it was time to hit the streets again so off we went in the direction of the main zocalo. Three blocks down and one block over. We were met with a festive sight as there was a pretty substantial performance underway with at least 20 dancers (in full costume) and a full orchestra (brass and string). Chairs surrounding the performance area were all filled and people stood beyond that at least 4 or 5 deep. We watched about 1/2 hour of the show and then moved on to just enjoy the music from a bench a few meters back in the middle of the zocalo.
From there we moved a little further away and found a little restaurant that had "real" coffee! Lynda has been looking for a cup of good coffee for days now and she finally found one tonight. She can now go to bed a happy girl dreaming about the coffee that actually tasted like coffee. It's actually been a bit of a puzzle for us as Mexico grows really good coffee and so having coffee that looks like coffee but tastes like coloured water has been odd to say the least. Ah well, perhaps we've come to the end of the watery coffee region. LOL
Before I close off tonight I must tell you about a most interesting young man we met in a Mayan Co-operative store tonight. His name is Rumueldo and he is from a village about an hour from here. He and his family make hammocks which is just one of the items that was on display and for sale in the co-op. Rumueldo was passionate about explaining whatever we'd like to know about any of the products regardless of whether they were from his village or another one and he was extremely knowledgeable! I wish I could have bought one of his hammocks - they were so well made but...my carry on is pretty full! Both Lynda and I did decide that we could find room for a cushion cover though and we're both thrilled with our purchases. The cushion covers are a work of art and everything in them is handmade...right down to the dye for the fabric being from natural sources. The red colours come from an insect that lives in the plant they get the fibres for much of the fabrics they use from. The blue is from indigo, the yellow is from a flower and the brown is from a certain type of nut. The purple is a combination of the insect and the indigo along with white that comes from a specific mangrove tree. Our visit with Rumueldo was wonderful and we were so thankful that we'd decided to stop into that little co-operative. The bonus is knowing that a good chunk of the money from the sale goes right back to the village/artists.
Well...for a first night....that seems like a lot so I'll say adios for now. Hasta luego, L & L
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