Mérida is a place less heard about on the backpacking trail but it seemed a logical place to spend a couple of days before heading closer to the Yucatán Coast. A planned couple of days turned into 8 days but for me it was a welcome retreat away from being a tourist. The hostel was amazing and gave me time to recharge. It included yoga each morning, cooking classes, night time serenade music, hammocks over the pool and a general great vibe to meet other travellers.

Arriving bright and early on the first day they allowed me to enjoy the breakfast. Straight up I met a lovely couple from Germany and Bulgaria, Marija and Georgi. The next football game was about to start so we were off to find a bar to watch Mexico against South Korea. After the game it was close to proper check in time at the hostel so I thought it would be polite to my new friends to head back to the hostel to shower and change as I will still in my clothes from the night bus. Meeting back up with them later they had been given some advice from Marija’s Spanish teacher about a local seafood restaurant Marlin Azul where we could get grilled fish, salad and rice for only $60 pesos. I went back 2 or 3 more times as it was so good. Prawn ceviche for only $100 and prawn tacos soooooo good! I would have walked straight past this place so it’s good to have some local knowledge.

It was often hard to leave the hostel but when I did venture out the streets were full of happy, friendly people and every night a different street was closed off and there was Mexican folkloric dancing all in the open air.

Meeting back up with Chris and Jo (some friends I met firstly in SC) we thought it was high time to explore some Cenotes. According to Wiki a cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes water underneath. Some are still partially covered, some are still cave like and some are completely open.

We got a colectivo to Homún and then a tuktuk took us around the area to 5 different cenotes all of which were completely different but all just as refreshing to swim in.

Making it back to Mérida, Chris and Jo had been told about a local restaurant called Eladios that served free food as long as you bought a drink! Obviously keen to check it out, it was a bit more of a walk than we anticipated but was well worth it and we got to try some interesting food that I wouldn’t normally consider ordering. Full to the brim with food and cocktails we made it back to main plaza for more dancing in the streets and then said our goodbyes and hoped to see each other further down the line.

On almost every corner you will find a street cart with a bright sign selling Marquesitas. At only $25 pesos and a Yucatán speciality it’d be rude not to try them. They are a crispy crepe with the perfect combination of sweet and savoury. The classic is Nutella and Dutch cheese called known as “queso de bola” in Yucatán.

As I said I ended up staying 8 nights in Mérida and when looking back I’m not really sure how I filled my days, maybe just a lot of this…

watching the world go by…

but all I have to say is I LOVE Mérida