If you are traveling through Yucatan by car, it is impossible to avoid one of the most vibrant cities of the peninsula and the capital of the state – Merida.

How to Get to Merida

It is very easy to take an ADO bus from Cancun (ADO buses are “inter-city” buses, which have air conditioning, bathrooms and even food service). But our road trip was by car.

How to rent a car in Cancun, I explained in detail in my post All You Need to Know (Borders, Documents, Insurance, Safety Tips and More) to Rent a Car in Cancun and Drive Through Mexico (Including Chiapas), Guatemala and Belize.

Traveling by car, I was sure happy that Highway 180, the road from Cancun to Merida, was a great highway all the way. It had good rest areas with clean bathrooms, convenience stores and international eateries, such as Subway.

The highway was a toll road and was pretty expensive though, a lot more expensive than any other paid road of this part of Mexico: there are two tolls along the 300 km stretch, one charged 305 pesos and the other one 175 pesos – all together equivalent to US $28!

Mexican Police Encounters

Exiting from Cancun and entering Merida you have to go through police checkpoints. They are located at exit or entrance of every major city. At the exit point from Cancun we experienced one of the well-known Mexican police scams. Even though we were creeping a lot slower than the other cars, once we went through the point, the policeman showed us to pull over. “We have just a little problem”, – he said. I just love how they use the word “problemita”, haha!  Many people fall victim of this common trick, but there is a way to get out of it.

First if all (and it is true for the whole trip!), don’t look rich, wear common clothes and no jewelry. Even if you speak Spanish, pretend that you can only speak a few words. It will make it harder for them to explain anything to you, and eventually they will just give up. Just agree with everything and say that you will be glad to pay a ticket, but you don’t really have cash, only credit cards. “Yes, I understand, we made a mistake, please, by all means, issue us an official ticket and we can pay it wherever we must”. We said it in the most broken Spanish we could get away with!.

Do your best not to give your driver’s license to the policemen, show it to him from your hands. You can also ask for the policeman’s badge number. We’ve never done it, because we figured they wouldn’t give it anyway, but it might be worth a try as the last resort. After about 10 minutes of such conversation, the policeman made us promise that we will never speed again and let us go. This tactic worked the second (and the last) time we were stopped, entering Campeche. Do not argue with the cops, by any means, I have heard stories when an American lawyer started defending his rights and ended up in jail for three days!

Merida

We arrived to Merida on Sunday afternoon. Streets were narrow, mostly one-way and full of pedestrians. Several roads were blocked due to Sunday markets. It took us a while to find our hotel, but once we safely parked the car, we gladly immersed into the city’s lively vibrant atmosphere.

It’s no wonder why Merida is so loved by expats. It is relatively close to the Cancun International Airport, and is surrounded by good highways. But it is not at all as touristic as the Riviera Maya and prices are a lot lower.

Rich in culture and history, it is possibly the most cosmopolitan and happening city in the region, full of trendy cafes, world-class restaurants and bars. Square-shaped parks are scattered all over downtown, offering free live music concerts every day, a different park for each day of the week. That weekend there was a fiesta at Plaza Grande, and even though it was sprinkling all evening, people got up and danced to an energetic local live band.

Dinner at Chaya Maya

One of the highlights of our stay was having dinner at Chaya Maya: a beautiful restaurant that offers Yucatecan and Mayan cuisine. Do you think, Mexican cuisine has only tacos, burritos and fajitas? How about Yucas? It has nothing to do with yucca vegetable. Yucas are bowls of different meats, such as pork and turkey, with traditional Yucatecan sauces. Some of them seem to be bean-based, but the spices make them taste totally different, almost curry-like.

Another delicious surprise became my new favorite – Chaya drink – chilled “tea”, made out of a Yucatan-based” spinach tree”, with lime. The taste reminded me of Japanese matcha, but lighter. Chaya tree is considered Mayan superfood. It is rich in essential nutrients, it is believed to heal numerous diseases, from diabetes to arthritis and circulation problems. It is interesting that you cannot eat fresh Chaya leaves– they contain hydrocyanic acid and are toxic. Cooking it, however, removes the toxin. Mexicans eat Chaya leaves in a variety of ways. They mash the leaves into Chaya cream soup, saute them with eggs or vegetables or make Chaya juice, like the one I tried at Chaya Maya.  Learn more about Chaya and other important Mexican drinks!

Celestun

Merida is not located directly on the coast, but just a short drive and you are at the Gulf of Mexico. One of the nearby towns, loved by both tourists and locals, is Celestún. The highway that goes there is narrow, but very good. We arrived in the evening and found the town pretty desolate. We roamed around in search of any place to eat, but everything was closed. The only place with food that we’ve found, was a small food stand and local guys, making tacos Al Pastor. And I have to tell you, for 15 pesos per taco (less than a dollar!), those were one of the most excellent tacos we’ve ever tried! They were full of toppings and with double tortillas !  

During the day, the town blossoms. Tourists occupy beautiful white sand beaches and the restaurants are vivaciously inviting them for lunch. Boat drivers offer tours to see pink flamingos, which Celestún is famous for. (There are two known flamingo preserves: this one and the second one is to the north from Merida at Laguna Rosada, near Telchac Puerto).  The number of flamingos varies from none to several thousands, depending on weather and the time of year. We were not too lucky 🙁 ,only saw five in the distance. But even though there were not many, it was interesting to see them in their natural habitat, and not in a zoo. Besides, there is abundance of other sea creatures – pelicans, cormorants, even crocodiles (not to mix up with alligators)!

Then the boat slowly makes its way into mangroves and you are in a totally different world – red soil makes water look bloody and totally surreal, and intertwined branches of large mangrove trees, towering over your head, form natural tunnels. It feels like you are on another planet.

There are several routes from Merida, covering a lot of Maya sites, scattered around the region. Since we didn’t have too much time left, we chose the most popular route, called Ruta Puuc, leading you through 5 ancient cities, including one of the jewels of the area – Uxmal. Read about how to do the Ruta Puuc the right way; so you can enjoy it to the fullest!