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Yucatán (13 - 19 March 2026)

Spring break again (yet more school holidays; I vaguely remember those days), and it was back to Mexico to tick off some more Mexican boxes. This time it was road-tripping to a few spots scattered across the Yucatán Peninsular that we were yet to venture to. As I write this, every airport in the US is suffering through TSA staffing shortages thanks to a month-long government funding lapse (thanks Trump). The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) is responsible for airport passenger screening, and with about a third of their workforce either quitting or refusing to come to work without being paid, passenger wait times are outrageous. We flew out for this trip on a Thursday (a couple days before spring break started) because flights were cheaper and the scheduling was better. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time before our flight out of Austin, expecting security to be a nightmare. Well we were through there within ten minutes. However, come that weekend, we saw news reports out of Austin (and elsewhere) showing passengers lined up outside the airport terminal building almost as far back as the long-term parking lots with at least a 4-hour wait to get through security! We booked this trip well before any of this kicked off so we were just lucky the flights we opted for were on a quiet day. There's nothing fun about flying! Anyway, after two uneventful flights and a 2-hour drive, we made it to our first destination.

Larger versions of some of these photos and more are on Facebook here.

Destination #1: Bacalar, a small city of around 10,000 peopel about 40km north of the Belize border. We thought about driving across the border just for the hell of it to grab lunch one day, but it was going to be more dicking around than it was worth (to the point of fumigating the rental car haha!).

We spent our first day here checking out the wee town center. Seems pleasant enough! Bacalar was a city of the Maya civilization, and was founded way back in 415 AD. Shortly thereafter (about a thousand years or so in 1543), it was the first city in the region that the Spanish Conquistadores succeeded in taking and holding.				Imagine these two in a 4-hour line for airport security. Stuff of nightmares!

Fast forward to the early 17th century, shortly after the Spanish came and had their way with the place, pirates turned up and sacked the town. In response, the Fortress de San Felipe Bacalar was completed in 1729, to blow their asses out the water should they think about doing that again. The fortress overlooks the area's main attraction - Lake Bacalar.

Lake Bacalar (seen here on the left from the private dock out the back of our hotel room) is a long, narrow freshwater lake, fed by underground rivers. It's about 60km in length and 2km at its widest. On a clear sunny day, it's a beautiful blue color and almost crystal clear.				Yup, this one was not designed to spend 4 hours in airport security.

We spent our second afternoon sailing the lagoon on a private tour. Public tours are cheaper, but who the hell wants to go on vacation and hang out with the public (I don't even like to do that at home). We spent a few hours cruising down the lagoon and back, swimming, and eating guacamole.

One side of the lagoon is heavily populated whereas the other is completely uninhabited (by local law I think), although we did see one solitary cabin (more like a shack) where some old codger has apparently lived alone for countless years. He sails across the lagoon once in a while to raid the local market, then back he goes.

Also not designed for airport security.		On our last day here, we drove to the bottom of the lagoon where a short and very narrow section of it creates something of a lazy river as the current rushes through. Walk to one end of it, float along to the other, and repeat. Good fun!
Destination #2: Valladolid, home to about 60,000 people and also home to this thing - the Convent of San Bernardino de Siena, built in the 1550's and named after a Spanish saint (though Siena decided it was named after her). Doing my research on this, I've just now learned this is in the city's Sisal neighborhood, which is hilarious since that's our nickname for Siena (derived from Sissy) hehe. After standing here for almost 500 years, it could do with a good pressure wash, but she's impressive nonetheless.

"This is mine!" -Siena		If there's one thing Mexico does well (guacamole and tequila aside), it's color. Colors everywhere!

The main central park of Valladolid, overlooked by the Cathedral of San Servacio. This is actually our second time here. Three years ago, we visited a cenote down the road a way and stopped here quickly before turning around and heading back to Tulum where we were staying. The girls waited in the car on that occasion while I quickly snapped a few photos. In my write up of that, I mentioned the city was originally established by the Spanish in 1543 at a lagoon some distance from the current city before it was relocated here (because, reasons). Well that lagoon was Lake Bacalar above, so there you go :)

A 45-minute drive from Valladolid is one of the most famous and most visited Mayan sites in Mexico - Chechin Itza! This here is El Castillo, also known as the Temple of Kukulcan (a deity of the day), which dominates the center of the site and is estimated to have been plonked here for over a thousand years. Back in its heyday, Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities, and if you're wondering what's in the temple room atop El Castillo here, check out this MrBeast video (spoiler alert: nothing).

The site contains many stone buildings in various states of preservation (or disrepair), and many have been restored. History buffs would love this place!		As for us, we're not really history buffs, we have two young and easily-bored kids, and it started pissing with rain, so we left after an hour.		Not designed for ancient Mayan times.

Destination #3: Mérida, the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southern Mexico with a population of about a million. These "You and Me Chairs" can be found elsewhere in the Yucatán but Mérida is particularly known for them.
Under a threatening sky we had a good meander around the center of the city. This is Mérida's main central park, Plaza Grande (or Plaza de la Independencia), overlooked by the Cathedral of Mérida, apparently the oldest cathedral in the mainland Americas after construction began in 1561 and completed in 1598 (that took a while).

Overlooking the opposite side of the park is the Municipal Palace, seat of the City Hall and Mayor's office. Mérida is apparently among the safest cities of Mexico as well as in the Americas. xIn 2015, the city was certified as an International Safe Community by some institute in Sweden no one's heard of for its high level of public security, and some other index no one's heard of recognized Mérida as the city with the highest quality of life in Mexico, so that's nice.

And it does indeed seem like a pretty cool place, at least based on the 48 hours we spent here.

Lots of parks, colors, architecture, monuments, and cathedrals. Good stuff!

The first of eight arches or gates (of which only three remain) with a bit of a racist history, erected in the 17th and 18th centuries by the Spanish to allow white-skinned Europeans into the city and keep the trouble-making indigenous Mayans out.		Also a common sight in Mérida (along with You and Me Chairs) is the Volkswagen Beetle, all in various states dilapidation. The bug was the unofficial taxi of Mexico City for decades until laws were passed to outlaw them in favor of safer, more fuel-efficient cars in the early 2000’s. Since then, they've migrated, with Mérida apparently embracing them. Many are lovingly restored by classic car enthusiasts, some with eccentric paint jobs like this guy on the right.

About an hour's drive from Mérida is the little city of Izamal, home to about 15,000. Small though it is, Izamal is apparently one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Americas as well as in the world, at least according to Wikipedia, so take that with a pinch of salt.

Izamal is known locally as the Yellow City because, well, see for yourself - most of its buildings are painted yellow. Why? Well the internet doesn't seem to know. Theories range from the color repels mosquitoes to the buildings were painted this color for the pope’s visit in 1993 (but again, why?). Either way, I like it, but don't touch; it may look like paint but it's some sort of powdery shit that stains your skin and clothes (ask me how I figured that out).

In the center of town is the 16th-century Convent of San Antonio de Padua (yellow on the outside but red on the inside). Apparently, this atrium of the Monastery is second in size only to that at the Vatican (again, so says Wikipedia).

We figured this would be a really nice spot for a family selfie, but when we arrived I realized I'd left my tripod at the hotel back in Mérida. Bugger! However, when we got back to the hotel that night, Siena said "Don't forget your tripod is here, Daddy!" as she got out of the car; the damn thing was in the car the whole damn time, left there after I'd used it the day before. Oh well. Jade took this photo of us on the right instead :)
We also took this opportunity (courtesy of new photographer Jade) to relive a moment from our time in Nicaragua back in 2012, almost 14 years ago to the day. I think we're holding up pretty well ;) And that was that for this trip. We were up at 3:30am the next morning for a 6am flight. Love that. Still better than 4+ hour security lines.

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