Mehling.org: Merida, then Piste

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March 27, 2008

Merida, then Piste

3/27 (Thursday)

In the morning we got up early enough to join a walking tour of the city center. After signing in for the (free!) tour, we walked to the Ado window to buy our tickets to Piste. We joined the tour and walked around city center with the group. The tour took us through the building that housed the original (Spaniard) founders of the city -- much like the US, the cities and land was taken from the natives by Europeans. The front of the building (now a bank was charged with maintaining the historic structure) depicted large Spaniard soldiers and tiny Mayan "savages". The armored Spanish stood on the heads of Mayans. We walked through the modern art museum, the cathedral and the capital building (Merida the capital of the Yucatan.). In the capital building there's dozens of large canvases, each depicting period or incident in the history of the Yucatan. After the tour we headed back to the hotel to pack-up and check out. Juan was nice enough to arrange a taxi to the bus terminal, which gave us time to grab a snack at the Cafe Habana just down the street.

After the two hour bus ride to Piste we relaxed in a restaurant near the center of town, snacking and drinking for an hour or so... We then walked to a "Ciber" cafe to check emails and send a few. I downloaded putty, hopped on server at work, and then IRC to see if I could get some status on MMH's upgrade which was supposed to have finished in the early hours this morning. Pete said he thought all was well and I was relieved. (I later learned that the upgrade had actually been postponed by two days, so it hadn't yet happened... it went fine in any case.). While I was cleaning up my email, Hol went and checked on a couple hotels. Based on some higher rates for the generic hotels, we picked a very small posada called Flamboyens. They had three rooms total and a small Mayan ruin in the backyard. It was painted bright pink. The gentleman on duty was sweeping the tile floors. The rooms were simple, and you could tell were in a state of being fixed up little by little. I'm hoping that if we ever happen through Piste again the little pink posada will have gained rooms and the same inn keeper would be there fixing them up and sweeping.

After dropping off our bags and walked the town. It's a marvel to see the economy (or lack there of) of towns like this... Lots of tiny "tiendas" selling bebes and snacks, tiny restaurants and bars. The houses are mostly the same, one and two room cinder block structures with tin or thatched roofs. In many cases various "bonus" room structures attached to the side of the cement walls. Many with the black plastic water cisterns on the roof, but plenty with out -- no running water?. Some brightly painted, a few with little gardens or chickens clucking about, many unpainted and unfinished, with families living there all the same. It appeared that Piste was the original town to stay in when visiting the Chichen site, but now large hotels had sprouted up around the actual site -- adding insult to injury, the town had been bypassed by a modern highway that was more a more direct route to Chichen.

We stopped at the papeleria to buy a small pad (6 pesos) for Hol, after wards we stopped by David's hotel (where we were to meet up after parting ways more than a week ago), they said he had gone to dinner so we walked by the likely suspects. After another walk, we still couldn't find him so we left him a note at his hotel and headed back to our "favorite" restaurant (the one we had lounged at in the afternoon. After about 25 minutes he walked in (from the Sound and Light show at Chichen. We had dinner and drinks for a couple hours and headed to bed with a plan to meet back up at 8am.

Photo Album:
http://mehling.org/gallery/v/travels/2008_mexico/Day+14/

Posted by ben at March 27, 2008 10:00 PM


« Uxmal \| Main \| Ik-kil and Chichen Itza » March 27, 2008 Merida, then Piste 3/27 (Thursday) In the morning we got up early enough to join a walking tour of the city center. After signing in for the (free!) tour, we walked to the Ado window to buy our tickets to Piste. We joined the tour and walked around city center with the group. The tour took us through the building that housed the original (Spaniard) founders of the city -- much like the US, the cities and land was taken from the natives by Europeans. The front of the building (now a bank was charged with maintaining the historic structure) depicted large Spaniard soldiers and tiny Mayan "savages". The armored Spanish stood on the heads of Mayans. We walked through the modern art museum, the cathedral and the capital building (Merida the capital of the Yucatan.). In the capital building there's dozens of large canvases, each depicting period or incident in the history of the Yucatan. After the tour we headed back to the hotel to pack-up and check out. Juan was nice enough to arrange a taxi to the bus terminal, which gave us time to grab a snack at the Cafe Habana just down the street. After the two hour bus ride to Piste we relaxed in a restaurant near the center of town, snacking and drinking for an hour or so... We then walked to a "Ciber" cafe to check emails and send a few. I downloaded putty, hopped on server at work, and then IRC to see if I could get some status on MMH's upgrade which was supposed to have finished in the early hours this morning. Pete said he thought all was well and I was relieved. (I later learned that the upgrade had actually been postponed by two days, so it hadn't yet happened... it went fine in any case.). While I was cleaning up my email, Hol went and checked on a couple hotels. Based on some higher rates for the generic hotels, we picked a very small posada called Flamboyens. They had three rooms total and a small Mayan ruin in the backyard. It was painted bright pink. The gentleman on duty was sweeping the tile floors. The rooms were simple, and you could tell were in a state of being fixed up little by little. I'm hoping that if we ever happen through Piste again the little pink posada will have gained rooms and the same inn keeper would be there fixing them up and sweeping. After dropping off our bags and walked the town. It's a marvel to see the economy (or lack there of) of towns like this... Lots of tiny "tiendas" selling bebes and snacks, tiny restaurants and bars. The houses are mostly the same, one and two room cinder block structures with tin or thatched roofs. In many cases various "bonus" room structures attached to the side of the cement walls. Many with the black plastic water cisterns on the roof, but plenty with out -- no running water?. Some brightly painted, a few with little gardens or chickens clucking about, many unpainted and unfinished, with families living there all the same. It appeared that Piste was the original town to stay in when visiting the Chichen site, but now large hotels had sprouted up around the actual site -- adding insult to injury, the town had been bypassed by a modern highway that was more a more direct route to Chichen. We stopped at the papeleria to buy a small pad (6 pesos) for Hol, after wards we stopped by David's hotel (where we were to meet up after parting ways more than a week ago), they said he had gone to dinner so we walked by the likely suspects. After another walk, we still couldn't find him so we left him a note at his hotel and headed back to our "favorite" restaurant (the one we had lounged at in the afternoon. After about 25 minutes he walked in (from the Sound and Light show at Chichen. We had dinner and drinks for a couple hours and headed to bed with a plan to meet back up at 8am. Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/travels/2008_mexico/Day+14/ Posted by ben at March 27, 2008 10:00 PM		Bookmarks Ben's Resume Ben's Lists Mehling Photo Album Flickr Photo Album Recently Archived Cozumal and Playa Palancar Akumal Desperately Seeking Lodging See you in nine days Sian Ka'an Coba Ruins Tulum Ruins Finally! Background Micro Credit Archives August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 Etc. Search: