Apr 25th, 2013 at 1:00PM:
I was in Mexico last December, just before the 21st of the month. The date would come and go without catastrophe, of course, but the fringe theories had brought Maya culture to the forefront of the media and I took the opportunity to learn a bit about the ancient and modern Maya myself. My time spent in Merida was grueling, but rewarding. My room at Hotel Dolores Alba, which was located near ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
destinationyucatan posts
Riviera Maya: An Accidental Honeymoon
Apr 25th, 2013 at 1:00PM:
I was in Mexico last December, just before the 21st of the month. The date would come and go without catastrophe, of course, but the fringe theories had brought Maya culture to the forefront of the media and I took the opportunity to learn a bit about the ancient and modern Maya myself. My time spent in Merida was grueling, but rewarding. My room at Hotel Dolores Alba, which was located near ...The Dzilbilchaltun Ruins: We Come In Peace
Feb 28th, 2013 at 10:00AM:
It's nearly impossible to avoid Maya culture in the Yucatan, particularly during the month of December in 2012, when conspiracy theories detailing the "predicted" Maya doomsday were running wild like a pack of wolves through the Internet, dirtying websites with their footprints. When you can't beat them, you're instructed to join them. And so I went to Mexico in December alongside the wolves ...The Beaches Near Merida: Progreso And Chicxulub
Jan 8th, 2013 at 9:00AM:
The nearest beach to Merida, Mexico, is Progreso. The ancient Maya frequented Progreso to collect sea salt from lagoons near the coast. Salt was a valuable product for trade for the ancient Maya – so valuable that many Maya made the trek frequently, despite its semi-arid obstacles. And so, after walking around on the beach via Google Street View for a while, I decided to make the ...More Than A Market In Mexico: Merida's Sunday Market
Jan 3rd, 2013 at 10:00AM:
A marching band, or what sounded just like one, woke me up on Sunday morning. I'd celebrated my husband's birthday with him in downtown Merida the night before and although the brassy wake up call was early, I was happy. We'd been serenaded by a beautiful Spanish-style guitarist and classical singer at a restaurant just hours prior. When the waiter realized it was my husband's birthday, he ...Cenotes And The Maya: When Sinkholes Become Sacred
Dec 31st, 2012 at 10:00AM:
The Yucatan peninsula lies on limestone bedrock. Water erodes passageways through limestone in a sporadic sort of way in this area. Andrew Kinkella, a Maya archaeologist, describes what happens as a "Swiss-cheese effect underground." Some of these eroded passageways have ceilings that eventually collapse after enough of the limestone beneath has been etched away. From land-view, they're ...The Stray Dogs Of The Yucatan
Dec 27th, 2012 at 4:00PM:
"Dog!" I exclaimed to my husband, who was driving our small rental car along a toll-free road that meanders slowly through the towns of the Yucatan, slowly meandering much like the many stray dogs along these roads. Sometimes the dogs would sleepily walk into the road and stop, find a warm spot and lay down in the sun. These dogs don't know about time; their previous moments determine their ...Failed Doomsday Prophecies From Around The US
Dec 21st, 2012 at 4:00PM:
The world didn't end and we knew it wouldn't. Here we all are on this planet and it's still spinning the way it should spin and we're all still online with working Internet connections, just as we should be. Cue Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place."
Now that the unfortunate chunk of history wherein we misinterpret the Maya people and make their culture popular for all of the wrong ...Business Fuels Doomsday Prophecies In Mexico
Dec 20th, 2012 at 1:00PM:
Every other billboard seemed to mention 2012 as I drove along that famously flat stretch of road from Cancun to Playa del Carmen. I was on my way to spend a couple of days relaxing at Grand Velas Riviera Maya, but the easiest way to reach Riviera Maya is via Carretera Federal 307 and 307 is ornamented with billboards, as anyone would expect. Riviera Maya is a popular vacation destination, and ...Photo Of The Day: Cenote Suytun
Dec 19th, 2012 at 5:00PM:
I visited the Yucatan recently and stopped into Cenote Suytun when I was passing through Valladolid, Mexico. Photographer Ben Britz was with me and, without my knowing, he snapped this photo of me in the cenote. The natural reverb in the cavern was majestic. The sound of trickling water was the only sound reflecting that reverb. The water was aglow with a crisp blue-green color and we were the ...Why The Modern Maya Don't Think The World Is Ending
Dec 19th, 2012 at 11:00AM:
If you want to meet Maya people, go to the Yucatan. More specifically, go to the city of Merida. Merida's population is nearly at a million and 60% of all inhabitants are of Maya ethnicity. Roughly a third of the population of Merida speak Mayan - the Yucatec Maya language. Fighting for space for my body on the crowded sidewalks and space for my car on the congested streets, my time in Merida ...December 21, 2012: An Introduction To The End Of The World
Dec 18th, 2012 at 12:00PM:
A charismatic and talkative man of Maya descent approached me one lively Friday evening just outside of La Plaza Grande in Merida, Mexico. With infectious enthusiasm, he discussed the history of the Maya in the Yucatan and Merida with me; his face gained color and animation as each topic rolled over into a new one. My Spanish isn't very good, so my husband, who is half Mexican, translated that ...
