The heat takes hold of 65th Street, the threshold of a labyrinth of Caribbean houses swollen with secrets. There are no people, no noise, except for the distant echo of a salsa song coming from a patio. A tropical bird seems frozen in the air, like the fan in the window and that man riding a bicycle. And suddenly, the breeze that seems to slowly erode the colors of the houses. Caribbean Blue, Lush Green, Flamingo Pink; the colors dance and become chips that stick to my shirt.
Mérida is like a great cauldron of colors and seasoning stirred by a Mayan matriarch. Sometimes she is seen dancing cumbia on Sundays in the Plaza Grande, other times wandering through the alleys wearing the huipil-typical Yucatecan garment-that reflects the whims of the sun. Lost in a kitchen from which the best suckling pig tacos sprout or leaning out on the balcony of a mansion on Paseo de Montejo. It is Yucatan in a single city and, spoiler alert, the best way to immerse yourself in Mayan territory.
“The entire social subsoil is deeply penetrated by the Maya; in all the acts of life it springs up suddenly: in a tender habit, in a gesture whose origin is unknown, in the predilection for a color or a shape.” (Notes, by Octavio Paz, 1937)
When the men of Francisco de Montejo, el Mozo, arrived at the Mayan settlement of T'ho in 1542, they noticed the similarities between the stone and lime mortar dwellings with the Roman framework of the Spanish city of Mérida. This certainty, that invisible line across the Atlantic, today explains the impulse of Mérida as the cultural capital of Yucatán and a particular magical back room where the Mayan and the foreign come together, sharing a contradictory legacy, like the flower with thorns of the henequen, typical nopal cactus. from the area.
You discover it when you start the route at the monument to the Fatherland, Mérida's main artery, and go down the Paseo de Montejo at the level of the carriages -among which the electric ones, without horses, begin to proliferate -. Old residences of the local elite, such as the Cantón palace or the neoclassical charm of the El Minaret mansion, an artistic center that today houses the Yerba Santa restaurant, bastion of chef Nidia Sánchez -although they do not detract either the tacos of the most spontaneous La Exquina, a few meters away.
Paseo de Montejo introduces us fully into the heart of Mérida, where craft shops intermingle with mezcalerías, tradition with tourists, and a palm tree sprouts, an aroma of coconut, fried foods, copal, all together. And you arrive at the Plaza Grande, where Montejo's house seems to converse with the Cathedral of San Ildefonso de Yucatán, the oldest in Mexico, while history hatches between bustle, rhythms and snacks.
Little marquesitas stalls, a crepe stuffed with Dutch ball cheese that here is the closest thing to religion. Or a panucho, a corn tortilla stuffed with strained beans, to take away and enjoy before visiting so many must-sees, such as the Great Museum of the Mayan World and its more than 1,100 rescued objects. Sitting (or dancing) in the Santa Lucía park, which in Mérida is also a large garden and almost always festive. This is confirmed by the orchestras that play on Sundays and the dance of a couple who look at each other with that contained sexuality that the city exudes at all times.
You know you've reached another microworld when you come across one of the last three Mérida arches, which act as dividers for the different areas. Arriving at the yellow Arco de la Cruz, the entrance to the La Mejorada neighborhood, another journey through time begins between pastel-colored houses overflowing with tropical gardens and old taquerías wrapped in a halo of magical realism. One world and many worlds, because Mérida not only invites you to stay, but also to discover the rest of the peninsula from the best starting point.
Unlike tourist strongholds such as Cancun or Tulum, Mérida is a destination that preserves the genuine charm of its heritage but, especially, the versatility of a 360-degree city from which to view the main charms of Yucatán.
If you are looking to enjoy the cenotes -iconic underground sinkholes-, in the Mérida area we can visit many of them in the same day. For example, you can hire a tour to the La Mucuyche hacienda, a lavish colonial construction where you will find three different cenotes. Hire a taxi for 400 pesos and connect the three cenotes of Cuzamá (51 kilometers from Mérida) in a single day with hardly any travelers until you immerse yourself in the blue eye that shines down there, as if still awaiting the ancient Mayan sacrifices. And there, just 3 kilometers from Cuzamá, the ring of cenotes invites you to dive back into Homún among as many blues as there are different dives.
For beach lovers, the Progreso area, 30 kilometers from Mérida, reveals a Gulf of Mexico that is not comparable to the waters of the Mexican Caribbean but does offer the desired summer postcard through its promenade and the supervised canoes by pelicans.
In addition, from Mérida we can even consider a route through the main historical charms of the peninsula, including the yellow city of Izamal (71 kilometers), the colorful Valladolid (162 kilometers) and its close access to Chichén Itzá.
Or stay in Uxmal (83 kilometers from Mérida), one of the best-preserved Mayan sites in the Puuc area. You will discover it when you look up at the Pyramid of the Magician, the thatched-roof huts and the ornamentation based on feathered serpents.
A journey through time and space that always culminates and begins again in Mérida, where the dance of colors evokes a sprouting blue bird, an ancient aroma. The skin to which all the colors that the Caribbean breeze brings.
