Let’s face it. The US has done a really shitty job of controlling the coronavirus. The vast majority of the world has given the US the middle finger and closed their borders to us. The State Department has a Level 4 Travel Advisory: Do Not Travel advisory that has been in place since March, with instructions to “avoid all international travel due to the global impact of COVID-19”. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a bit claustrophobic knowing I can’t even escape to Canada if the need should arise.
Earlier this year, I was eyeing some very cheap tickets to Reykjavik and thinking it would be an excellent time to rent a camper and drive the ring road around Iceland when the country opens up mid-June-- a great time of year to go (20 hours of daylight!), less tourism than typical, taking advantage of being unemployed and slightly underemployed and focus on nature. But when the country opened up mid-June, US citizens were not allowed in. Since that time the US has done even worse with our COVID numbers, so it’s highly likely the world isn’t going to welcome us, idiots, anytime soon.
Despite the risk, there are a few places outside of the United States where we can still travel. Note- there are still restrictions on travel that should be researched. Many Caribbean islands are open for US travelers; Croatia, Mexico, and there are some indications you can travel to Ireland, or the UK if you quarantine for 14 days upon arrival---but that would suggest you are going on a very long vacation or returning home.
So, we’re going to focus on Mexico today. It might just be a good option to Canada should the need arise, say, mass hysteria after the election in November.
We spent two weeks in the Yucatan Peninsula some 26 years ago (yikes--we were so young, see below!) Get ready for some OLD crappy photos! We traveled on a bus, with goats and chickens and got our bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola to go, which entailed putting it into a plastic bag, stick in a straw, and then tying it up with a rubber band. Genius! You can imagine this was the opposite of luxury travel- it was backpacking, low to the ground, getting by on very little money each day- kind of trip. We were in the process of buying our first house together, so we were traveling on the CHEAP and this was exactly the right place to do that.
Our trip started in Cozumel with a direct flight on Sun Country. After a few days in Cozumel, we headed across the water to Playa del Carmen, then to Valladolid and Chichen Itza, Izamal, Merida, Uxmal, Campeche, Chetumal, and Tulum. We saw many different Mayan ruins, thinking at some point, we’d be tired of them, but they were absolutely fascinating, and we couldn’t get enough!
Cozumel, even decades ago, was very Americanized unless you went off the main drags and explored the island - which of course, we did. In Cozumel, we enjoyed staying in a casita right in the heart of the city and loved the vibrancy of the Plaza. We discovered Sopa de Tortilla (chicken tortilla soup) and proceed to seek this wonderful delight daily for the next two weeks.
South of downtown Cozumel, we spent a day snorkeling at an underwater “park” with sculptures and coral reefs. Chankanaab Adventure Beach Park is located inside Cozumel’s National Reef Marine Park. More recently some of the coral reefs have suffered from white band disease, which is killing the coral. Scientists believe the source of the project is wastewater from resorts and/or cruise lines. This area is near the cruise ship docks.
We sat through a painful timeshare presentation to get breakfast and a "free" scooter for the day and explored the rest of the island. “Sorry, we cannot commit to your timeshare, it sounds like an amazing deal, but we are in the process of buying a house right now.” We held to our “no” and walked out with scooter keys in hand and without a contract for a never-ending pain-in-the-ass, unsellable timeshare. Yeah! The island of Cozumel is 34 miles long and 11 miles wide, so perfect for a day trip exploring the largely undeveloped island. We saw endless white sand beach beaches, azure blue water, palm trees, and a few iguanas,
Just a quick ferry ride away is Playa del Carmen. Playa’s main street was even more Americanized than Cozumel, even way back then---but if you wandered off the main streets, you could find authentic Playa life and food. Our favorite meal was from an open-air place that had deliciously wonderful roasted chickens. You could get either full or ½ roast chicken. No sides, no menu, no sign, just follow your nose to the local place and order your pollo and Coca-Cola. It's probably a Starbucks now.
photo credit: Christopher William Adach via Flickr
After spending a bit of beach time in Playa del Carmen we were off to Valladolid—figuring out the bus system and feeling a little out of place with our white skin, my blonde hair, and towering over the small Mayans. With an average height for men of 5’-1” and 4’-8” for women, there were a lot of families where the mom, dad, and kids all seemed the same height. I’ve never really thought of myself as tall, but here, I was feeling it.
photo credit: Michael (a.k.a. moik) McCullough via Flickr
Valladolid is the sister city to the capital city of Spain, which shares the same name. This picturesque city is a good home base for a trip to Chichen Itza and is worth a day or two of your time. The Catedral de San Servasio frames the main square in town and is the heart of the city. The Convent of San Bernardino de Siena from the 15th century was located a short walk from the town center.
In Valladolid, we purchased a traditional Mexican mortar and pestle. This sucker weighed over 6 pounds and Kevin had the good fortune to be able to carry it in his backpack for the next 10 days. He was a little upset to find out upon our return that you could buy the exact same mortar and pestle at the El Burrito Super Mercado that was about a mile from our house in St Paul.
Next, we headed to the famous Chichen Itza, a large pre-Columbia city built by the Maya people. The center of the site is El Castillo, which is the well-known pyramid-like structure. This is where I learned that Kevin is fearful of heights. We scrambled up the steep steps to the top, walked around a bit, and then continue to hang out for a very long time at the top. Finally, Kevin admitted he was nervous to go back down. The steps were so steep that they weren’t visible when looking over the edge. It wasn’t until an elderly Mayan woman clambered down the steps that Kevin felt he needed to nut up and do it too.
The sacred site is a UNESCO world heritage site includes the Great Ball Court, the Temple of Kukulkan, and the Temple of Warriors. Fascinating place that is worth several hours of your time.
Back on the bus, we headed to Izamal, otherwise known as the “Magical Yellow City”. All the buildings in the center of this small city are painted the same vibrant yellow. We were told that the town was painted yellow to greet the Pope who visited in 1993---but when I tried to verify this recently, it’s unclear if that is just folklore or is true. Either way, it’s quite a charming place.
We stayed one night in Izamal and checked out the two hotels in our price range (at the time $8/ night!). Neither of them was great, but we went with the least bad option and ended up with bed bug bites the next morning anyway. A quick look at hotels in Izamal now and it looks like there are now much better options and some available for around $25/night.
After staying in relatively small, quaint cities, Merida seemed like a bustling metropolis with noise, traffic, people, and too much dog poop on the sidewalks. For some reason, this city just didn’t resonate with us, but perhaps we just didn’t give it a fair shot. We did enjoy the markets where you could buy fresh fruit, blankets, and hammocks. We bought a double hammock and later, enjoyed the movie The Scarlet Letter at a movie theatre. Travel tip—to feel like a local, even if you don’t speak the language, check out the movie theatres where they just might show films in their original language (often English) with subtitles.
We weren’t tired of Mayan sites yet, so we toured Uxmal, Kabah, and Labna. All of these places were fascinating to us, with Uxmal having very well-preserved structures.
Back on the bus, we head to Chetumal, a city on the east coast bordering Belize. This working city is an important port for the region. Our time here was short before we headed up the coast to the Tulum area.
The Tulum area has been significantly developed in the last two decades, so the cheap cabanas we stayed in are now most certainly an upscale resort. At the time, our cabanas had sand floors, no electricity, and a toilet building a ways away from where you had to get a bucket of water to pour in and flush. It was like a hostel, only the setting was an amazing white sand beach with the deep azure water.
The cabana had some hooks that accommodated our double hammock- but when we blew out the candle (our only light), I quickly realized I hated the idea of swaying in the dark and not having the freedom to roll over. I chose the bed instead. The next day, the morning light revealed tracks made by some creature that circled the bed. The same thing happened the next morning. I was just glad I didn’t have to get up during the night and inadvertently step on the lizard or whatever the heck was making the tracks. After two nights and no relief from the sand, we left a day early and headed back to Cozumel, with a quick detour to another Mayan ruin site, Coba.
Our trip to the Yucatan was our one and only vacation that included beach time. Although we appreciate a good beach, beautiful water, and the time to catch up on a good read, we are much too restless to stay put. We had things to do and stories to make, so we were on the move. The time on buses was downright uncomfortable and awkward at times with chickens flapping in our faces-but we got a real taste of life in the Yucatan. The lovely people and wonderful food, along with the magnificent Mayan ruins made for memorable moments to last a lifetime.
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