The Spaniards may have conquered the Yucatán with relative ease, but destroying the spirit of the Maya proved a far more difficult task. From the very beginning of the conquest and up into the twentieth century, the Maya fought back against their oppressors, bending but never breaking. The stories of their struggle are told in the Museo de las Guerra Casta, in the village of Tihosuco.
During our stay in Tulum's Akulik Hotel, we were invited to try out the traditional sweat bath called a temazcal. "That sounds pleasant," I thought, not at all anticipating the intense and exhausting cleansing of the body, soul and mind I had just agreed to.
Found forty minutes inland from Tulum, the Maya city of Cobá has become a popular destination for tours out of Cancún, and upon arriving, we were disheartened by the number of buses we saw in the lot. But the ruins are spread out across such a wide swath of jungle that the crowds never became overwhelming. This was the final archaeological zone we would be visiting during our 91 days in the Yucatán, and we greeted the milestone with sadness and a little relief.
Memorably set on a bluff overlooking the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, the ruins of Tulum are perhaps the most picturesque on the peninsula. The site itself is small and compact, and none of the surviving buildings are particularly large, but this doesn't make the place any less impressive.
Okay, so the ancient Maya site of Oxkintok is not "forgotten" in any true sense of the word. It appears on maps and in guidebooks, and there are people waiting at the entrance to collect your fee. But once you're inside, wandering about ruins half-reclaimed by the jungle, so distant from the next town, Oxkintok feels forgotten. And you're allowed to feel like the intrepid adventurer who discovered it.
On the way home to Mérida from Izamal, we swung by the small village and archaeological site of Aké. Requiring a long drive off the main highway, it's a town which feels forgotten by the march of time.
Just twenty minutes north of Valladolid are the ruins of Ek Balam, a fantastic archaeological site which boasts some of the peninsula's best-preserved Maya sculptures.
On a visit to Chichén Itzá, you're going to oscillate violently between love and hate for your fellow man. The mathematics, artistry and astrology involved in constructing these ancient buildings... people did this? People are awesome! But still, there's no way around it: people are terrible. Today, the site is overrun with money-grubbing locals, megaphone-wielding guides and sheep-herd tour groups. On leaving, I said to Jürgen, "The ingenuity and ambition of humanity is truly inspiring." And then: "I wish everyone was dead."
Most of the mansions along the Paseo Montejo have either fallen into a state of disrepair or been converted into banks. But the Casa Montes Molina is a fortunate exception. Owned by the Montes-Molina family for generations, visitors can today tour this amazing house, or even rent it out for special events.
Not only is the Palacio Cantón one of the loveliest buildings on Merida's Paseo de Montejo, but it's also home to one of the city's best museums: the Museo Regional de Antropología de Yucatán.
