December 6, 2021
Day 12: Izamal to Merida
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I went out "late" last night to check things out, and found all the action still ongoing in the square and in the Church. I picked up some "tortas" (sandwiches on a crusty bun with chopped meat) and juice from a square-side stall. The little restaurants and stalls were all still on the go, as were the groceries. One addition was a heavier National Guard representation. It strikes me as a good job - fancy trucks, uniforms, big guns. The only downside would be getting shot at or killed. Fair trade?
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By morning the square was totally empty - no people, no stalls, no nothing. And the food stalls, which were open to who knows how late, were now empty and scrubbed clean. But wait, a fair handful were already starting up again. We have very much noted and appreciated the amazing work ethic of the people here. And while we're at it, we would like to say that 99.44% of people have greeted us so sweetly, and most waving or speaking to us before we can even wave or speak to them. Some have even called out to us with a "buenas dias" from a back yard. (It's not 100%, in honour of two surly hotel clerks, one in Tulum, one in Izamal).
I professed an inability to stomach another OXXO microwave burrito, so we went into the market and urged a nice vendor to hurry up and finish cooking his chopped meat mixture, to make us sandwiches. We had to wait 5 minutes, but he was not about to serve up an underdone product.
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Then, with some final glances at the yellow city (and ok, a brief stop at OXXO for coffee and hot chocolate) we were off.
Quite quickly we were back out in the country, and our road was what we have come to expect - small, not much traffic, passing through small towns, really good!
Of course on a road like that you get to see lots of natural and farm stuff. First up were fields of agabe, from which tequila is made. The man in the picture below had been cutting the spikes with his machete. We exchanged a semi-decent conversation about where we had started and where we were going to. He then jumped on an old push bike, said "vamanos", and took off toward town much faster than we can usually go!
This left us free to look at the cows, whose job seems to be to weed the agave.
This is likely to be a tough one. Lots of trees hereabouts feature some sort of hard fruit or seed. They must have no commercial use, because we do not recognize them at all. Here is one sample. Below you see the whole tree, and the fruits. We have two very active plant and animal identifiers out there - any ideas Bill or Scott??
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If so, it's edible!
2 years ago
2 years ago
Sometimes it is tough to be sure.
2 years ago
Along the way were several towns, all sort of similar to us (though not to the residents of course!) Let's have a quick look at Cacalchen.
Cacalchen had a large square, lined with food stalls. We were able to score some ice cold orange juice, and some peeled mandarins, topped with chili.
Although this certainly is not Germany at Christmas, there is a bit of decoration around, notably in the town squares. "Frozen" does seem out of place under the broiling sun however.
We watched these moto taxis coming and going from the square. Many a granny came and sat down, and from what we could see, the drivers knew where to take them, and were soon back.
At this season there seem to be a lot of small religious parades. The Virgin of Guadaloupe seems to figure a lot. I'd like to get one of her tee shirts. But this parade had a different virgin:
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After passing through one or two more towns we arrived in the outskirts of Merida. Merida is guarded (from cyclists) by a busy ring road. To cross it, we took the lane and made our way over an overpass. After that was a fair distance of quiet but nondescript "suburbs".
Merida is arranged on the same model as Valladolid and Izamal, with a twin towered church looming over a central square. And typically for us, our hotel is on or near that square. I didn't actually know or remember that Merida does have twin towers, so when I spied only one tower it was a little disappointing.
Our hotel turned out to be the San Jose, where we had stayed before. That time we were unimpressed to be stashed at the back by the laundry. This time they did offer to put us upstairs (up a long flight of stairs, that is), so we insisted on our traditional position at the laundry! It took some Tetris to get the bikes in the room, but in the end all was well.
We set off to see the town, and of course my first stop was the bakery. This one had impressed me before for having tiramisu in a cooler. Somebody ought to inform Steve that he is not in Europe.
Now we could form a general impression of Merida. First off, it is very much like a "real" city, with quite dense numbers of people on the sidewalks, and "real" stores, like boutiques, lined up one after another. However the traffic, though a bit wild, remains low, and the vibe remains laid back.
The city is also very Spanish colonial, with buildings around the square from the 1500's. One that we spotted is very famous, or infamous. Called Mantejo's house, it was built in 1540. The surviving facade shows some conquistadors stomping on suffering Mayas. Very nice.
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As with the other cities, the square was truly a city centre, with lots of people enjoying the environment. However in this case there was no ice cream or crepes (helado, marquesitas) on offer, and no BBQs on the perimeter. Maybe the fact of this being a bigger city does not allow for such ad hockery. Still, we liked the Christmas display!
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Our main objective for the evening was to visit the Chaya Maya restaurant. The reason is that the guide book Eyewitness Travel Top Ten in Cancun and Yucatan identifies this place as the possible originator of Poc Chuc, and it also claims to be the home of a wide variety of regional specialties.
So off we went and arrived to find a quite large restaurant, stuffed with clients. We got the only available table. I had misgivings about the crowd and the ventilation, But we didn't come 6000 km to be put off by such trivial concerns!
One of the little features of the restaurant was a lady sitting and making tortillas by hand. Later, some of these showed up at our table, and they really were a cut above the manufactured type.
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2 years ago
On the extensive menu they had a four items for two people Yucatan sampler, that Dodie thought could broaden our scope. But the conservative Steve came for a full Poc Chuc and would not be deterred. One thing - looking for a possibly more tender experience, I went for the chicken, vs. the traditional pork. Left to fend for herself, Dodie chose Relleno Negro. Now that is one you won't often see in a standard local restaurant. It's turkey in a spice blend made from charred chilies and herbs. It's usually served at weddings, and is one of the oldest recipes of the region.
These dishes were both priced over 200 pesos, and juice was 40 pesos. Translation - double prices! But hey, we're in here risking our lives for research, who is going to quibble about a few pesos!
Dodie's dish was black, black, and contained two mystery things that were not turkey. We think they were eggs. Dodie found the dish to be "good" but rather charred, and she says she would not really order it again.
The Poc Chuc came on a searing hot cast iron plate, a nice touch. And indeed, all the expected elements were present. The great big swimming pool of brown sauce was actually a saucer sitting in a bowl, so not really a swimming pool.
One comment that I have made about all the Poc Chucs so far is the meat has had good flavour - of sour orange and charcoal. But surprisingly in this case, sour orange was missing. And the whole thing was overwhelmed by the saltiness of the meat - a dead giveaway for the use of tenderiser. Yes, it was very tender, but reminiscent of low quality, doctored chicken stuff that you might find at Denny's. Folks, the search for the ultimate Poc Chuc goes on!
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2 years ago
We headed out to observe a cultural exposition happening in front of the city hall. It started at 9, which seems quite Spanish. When we arrived, we found most of the crowd held back behind quite distant fencing. Quite aside from the dancing, this afforded us some entertainment as a "Karen" undertook to prevent people from crowding up to a section of fence, so that people who for some reason were standing further back or who were seated on a wall could see. "Karen" approached us, and because this is not our country, we moved away. But the next guy just told her in Spanish to piss off. Next a couple arrived at the fence, and Karen did her thing. The couple had the same reaction as the guy. So Karen flounced off and came back with a policeman, who took her side. Some others joined the fray, and for a moment it looked like an entertaining fist fight could break out. But in the end, the couple flounced off. The original guy stood his ground.
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So how about the presentation? Certainly not Mayan - more like post colonial square dancing. Kind of boring. But one item of interest - all dancers wore face guards.
Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 535 km (332 miles)
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Leslie
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