yucatan

Mérida, Yucatán, México

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Mérida is the capital of Yucatán, in itself twice an independent country (together with QR and Campeche). It’s somehow called the “white city”, despite the Maya majority, so probably had nothing to do with race.

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It’s hot with an enormous amount of mosquitoes. It’s a nice enough place to be, but it’s mostly used just as a base for day trips to the Maya sites.Mérida is the capital of Yucatán, México that became the first American Capital of Culture and was the first to win the title twice. Owing to it having one of the highest quality of life in Mexico and being one of the safest cities in the Americas, it has a significant population of American expats.

The Spanish founded this city as the “White City” – that is, a city for white people. Prior to colonization, the Maya had a city here, but it was abandoned.

Mérida is the capital of Yucatán, México that became the first American Capital of Culture and was the first to win the title twice. Owing to it having one of the highest quality of life in Mexico and being one of the safest cities in the Americas, it has a significant population of American expats.

The Spanish founded this city as the “White City” – that is, a city for white people. Prior to colonization, the Maya had a city here, but it was abandoned.

Mayapan, Yucatán, México

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Mayapan is a small walled Maya town in Yucatán.

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It’s not very well known, and the bus there was infrequent. I went as it ranked up high on TripAdvisor, and I understood why people liked it.

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Even though it was nice, the structures were beautiful and you got the sense that you had the whole place to yourself.

Chichen Itza / Valladolid, Yucatán, México

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Chichen Itza was a great Maya city that is today one of the top tourist attractions in the country.

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The principal pyramid, El Castillo, has been listed one of the world’s new wonders. It’s amazingly photogenic (á la Machu Picchu) even when the weather wasn’t exactly great.

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The old observatory.

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The site was filled with tourists and vendors blowing the thing that produce the dinosaur monkey sound. Scary.

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There are many, many cenotes in the region which are signs of the creator of the massive meteor that allegedly killed all the dinosaurs. People swim in them but I didn’t.

Valladolid is a city near it that’s a typical Mexican town with a cenote. Not that special.

Chichen Itza is a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the world’s New Seven Wonders, initially built as a Maya city dated almost 1,300 years ago. It became a powerful city-state until it was conquered by Mayapan. When the Spanish arrived, they named it the royal city and, countering no resistance, began to divide up the land among soldiers. The Maya later expelled them.

Valladolid is a small city and magical town in Yucatán, Mexico. It was founded by the Spanish in another area and was moved to an abandoned Maya settlement due to the unsanitary conditions and diseases the Spanish found themselves in. It was where Mexico’s first steam-powered fabric factory was founded, and thus is seen as the cradle of the Yucatecan industry.

It’s a place of revolutions, being a part of the Republic of Yucatán as well as the Caste War. The Mexican Revolution, while not strictly started from here, saw its first spark in this town.