Merida Pics

Just a few of the many photos taken around Merida.
I like black and white. With colours out of the way one can see to the bones of the structure. Shadow play. Form and function.

This was taken from a sidewalk cafe in one of the many little squares scattered around the central core of the town. Nice little restaurants. A church. An elegant theatre. Tourist office. Small shops. Sit all day sipping coffee and watching people being people. Two blocks from the Hotel San Juan where I stayed.

The courtyard of the Merida Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Ateneo de Yucatan (MACAY)

A Bit More Mexico

My daughter is a shoe nut. Not the travelling daughter, the other one. When I was walking through the street market a block east of the Hotel Catedral in MC I couldn't help taking this picture. If she lived here, there would never be problem finding cute kid stuff...


I found it interesting that in Mexico City and Merida a whole block of shops would be devoted to one type of product. For example, I needed to buy a memory stick for my camera. Lo! and behold, there's a camera shop right across from the hotel. Well, they weren't too sure if they had the right brand so, Lo! and behold...there's another shop next door. They were very helpful, had the right memory stick, showed me how to put it into the adapter and then into the camera. Even accepted my Visa card without additional ID. Then went for a walk and Lo! and behold, there are about ten more shops, all selling cameras, film, add-ons, developing film, photocopying services and the same memory sticks for anywhere from 20% to 30% less than I paid.

So, my advice is to really not buy something from the first shop, because there is ALWAYS going to be another one next door, and next door, and, Lo! and behold...next door!

The beads? Well, if I'd had a large suitcase instead of just carry-on, it would be filled with beads from all the bead shops located about two blocks north and one block east. Fantastic!

Mexican Holiday

This little guy must have been with another tour group!

The Yucatan Peninsula. Mayan ruins in the jungle. I think I was less than 10 years old when I first discovered National Geographic magazines. Since my eyesight was (and still is) very poor, National Geo's and LIFE Magazine's incredible photographic journeys and in-depth articles were, in a way the only way I could really discover this world and beyond. Since then most of my travels have been through books, magazines and films.

However, I have just come back from two wonderful weeks in Mexico and will spend a few posts sharing comments, observations and photos. I absolutely adore my little Sony digital camera! Went nuts and took over 400 pics...won't force you to look at them all. Promise. But I will show some with comments.

The iguana really appeared to be studying the information just inside the entrance to Uxmal, a World Heritage Site located about 80 km south the Yucatan's colonial capital city of Merida. Only a small portion of the site has been excavated and restored but what's there is exceptional.

Views of the main pyramid

I splurged and hired a tour guide for the day to take me south to Uxmal and west to Celestun where there is the Reserva Ecologica de Los Petenes. The tour guide, a retired hotel manager, had a car with a/c. When the temperatures are hitting the high 30s (celsius) and humidity is around 94% by 10 a.m. the a/c is a godsend. When we got out of the car at Uxmal my glasses fogged up!

Senor Castillo is very knowledgeable and his love of the archeology and his native Yucatan comes through. It is a more expensive alternative, but the personal tour allows for one-on-one discussion. Taking a bus tour would have cost much less, but then my time would have been more limited. This way I set my own pace. Let's face it, this is a world heritage site, its wonders cannot be absorbed in a quicky tour when you are sharing the ride and the tour guide's time with anywhere from 6 to 25 other travellers. Also, getting there early is a boon since one avoids not only the heat but crowds. Photography ops are better, too, when there are shadows to provide contrast. These pics were all taken before 11 a.m with a little Sony Cybershot. No tripod. No flash. Mostly just VGA quality. I'm happy with most of the pics.