On the north coast of Mexico, Merida is a good-sized town of perhaps 100,000 people. The city is modern enough if follows the US approach of square blocks with one-way systems running between them, making navigation both simple and complex. Of all the towns we visited, Merida is the most ‘normal’ in purpose and atmosphere.

Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

Centrally located, on the main square, the Cathedral is a large building, as you’d expect.

Archways

Along 59th Street, away from the main hussle and bustle of the town, bright yellow arches cross a few streets, adding a splash of colour to the roads.

Paseo de las Flores

One street is lined with flowers, a metal catwalk allows visitors to have a birds eye view of the display. During our visit the display was Christmas flowers. On the nearby plaza, young women practiced their dance moves.

Monumento Niños Heroes

A small plaza with a monument to the child herods of Merida.

Museum of Gastronomy

More restaurant than museum, the museum of Gastronomy is a small two or three rooms of tools and produces used in the history of Yucatan cooking. Discoloured cast iron pans on blue and white ceramic tiles stand proudly, shells filled with nuts and grains demonstrate the local staples and in a final room some local artworks can be viewed.

Plaza Grande

The main square of Merida has stalls selling various products, mostly clothes and toys; with a large central walking space, surrounded by the loveseat chairs that have become famous for the town. During our visit, Santa Claus was greeting children in front of a Christmas Elephant.

Parque Hidalgo

A small plaza in central Merida where you can find the statue of Manuel Cepeda Peraza, solider and later governor of Yucatan.

Café La Habana

Directly opposite the hotel, this cafe is open 24 hours a day, something some of our group made good use of when the bars started to close.

El Trapiche

The restaurant is a small local place, with some international offerings, but a focus on local Yucatan dishes. My friend and I got the sharing plate to try our a wider range of different foods.

Museo de la Gastronomia Yucateca

Dinner our second night in Merida was at the Museum of Gastronomy, a huge restaurant service only local Yucatan delicacies.I indulged myself with the Stuffed Cheese, a block of Edam cheese filled with minced port in a delicious turkey sauce and served with corn tortillas.

Marquestitas

A local delicacy of Merida, Marquestitas are crepes, wrapped around a filling like a burrito sold from carts from the roadside. The traditional filling is cheese and blackberry jam. Its an odd combination but quite tasty.

One thing that became immediately apparent when exploring the shopping options in Merida’s centre is the stores are not designed for someone of my size, let alone a larger American. As a group, Mexican’s are smaller than I, and the layout of the stores is crowded with products and narrow in aisle space, making me feel a little like Taylor Swift. Shoe shops about, there are more of them than almost any other item combined, but also common are large electronic boutiques selling a strange selection, including scooters and vespa.

Camera Shop

The Camera Shop was a bit of a lifesaver for me, giving me the option to replace my lost GoPro with a newer and nicer model, for a reasonably competitive price. The camera came with a bundle deal, though most of the bundle was of limited use.

Cenote Kankirixche

The first of the pools we went to, was a long way off the beaten track, hidden away in the forest down long bumpy roads. Staffed by what seemed to be a person or two standing at random, a wooden stairway takes you down into the cave. For those wanting to, a small platform allows jumping straight in to the water, or a step ladder with rope running along the wall allowed the more cautious to reach the far side.

For the bravest, a platform was right at the top of the staircase allowing a 2 metre jump into the crystal clear water below.

Sunlight forms a singular patch on the water, turning the dark water a clear crystal blue. Below water it is deceptive, the clarity of the water acting as a lens. Stalactites stand tall in the water, but when you try and put you foot on them to balance, they are far beneath you.

When done, we ate fruit local style, pineapple or Mexican Water Chestnut dusted with smoked Chilli powder and lemon. A surprising combination that is surprisingly good.

Cenote Yaal Utzil

Our second Cenote was somewhat more popular, still not one of the big ‘tourist’ ones, but a more common local spot. Unlie the first which was mostly covered by stone, this was a fully open pool. A long flight of wood stairs took you down, with a jumping platform half way at a similar hight to the higher platform in the first Cenote.

Or, you could leap from the very top, a ten meter drop into the water, easily long enough you have time to reconsider the wisdom of the choice you have made before you hit the water, soles of your feet stinging with the slap of the surface tension if you’ve not kept your toes pointed before you plunge down deep into the water.

I’d been holding my GoPro tightly, but the shock sprung my hands open and my GoPro was lost to the waters. Lacking a floatation device or a rope connecting it to me, I had no one to blame but myself. A nice man offered me his Snorkling mask, and I dove down as best I could, but was unable to see it. The bottom was easily visible, but entirely out of reach, a full thirty meters down. Incredibly, the pool is so deep an open water PADI licence is not enough to get you to the bottom, you need to take the advanced course.

Monday Night Dancing

Starting at 9 pm on Monday night, outside the City Hall, men and women in traditional costumes danced, as they have done for generations, the men in white with Panama hats, the women in dresses colorfully embroidered with ribbons in their hair, the whole experience is worth the time.

Pilgrimage

During our time in Mexico, a historic procession of religious people and icons was underway. Moving from town to town, people ran barefoot, rode motorbike with huge paintings of Saints or in the case of Merida marched a band through the city streets at midnight.