Arriving to Mérida (Mexico) and a daytrip to Dzibilchaltun

Downtown Merida (Mexico)

“Mérida, Mérida! Mérida, Mérida!” were the many shouts coming from a man on the streets of Valladolid, trying to gather enough people for a transfer from Valladolid to Merida. I would join them, but I thought it could be uncomfortable trip if minivan is full and I am having my backpack with me. I decided to go with a bus, which takes about two hours.

It was a very warm and sunny weather. As we entered Mérida from the Eastern side, I noticed we are passing through some very poor neighborhoods. I didn’t expect this, and was wondering if the entire Merida would be like this. It wasn’t.

I arrived to ADO bus station at around 5.30 PM, and waited for my host in Merida to arrive. His name was Enrique – a person I’ve contacted on Couchsurfing. He picked me up at the station soon after I arrived, and then drove me around downtown Merida to get the feeling of the place, telling me about some of its history. On our way to his apartment we drove through a rich part of Merida, and he commented how the most of Merida’s money is here. The contrast between that area and the neighborhoods I’ve seen at the beginning was shocking, but later on I’ve seen such contrasts in other parts of Mexico too.

Enrique was a student of dentistry, and was fun to talk to about different subjects. He told me about his travels in many countries in Europe (and further East) during one trip, which lasted for half a year or more. My initial purpose of coming to Merida was to see the Mayan ruins of Uxmal on one day, and several ruins of Ruta Puc (Mayas sites) on the next. The plan changed though as I was going through one of the Merida’s travel magazine that Enrique gave me.
“Wow, I didn’t know Dzibilchaltun is close to Merida!”, I said to Enrique. “Yep, it’s just outside the city”. This was a great news for me, because I would have miss this ruins not knowing they are close to Merida, and yet Dzibichaltun was a special place to experience due to it’s age (it’s thought to be one of the first Mayan site) and what is known as the “Temple of Seven Dolls” (it’s called like that because seven ancient doll figures were found inside). And so I decided to explore that place on the next day.

One of the squares in Merida

Main plaza (Zocalo) in Merida.

In the morning hours I took one of the bus-like vehicles to the city center. Like usually, I didn’t have to wait long for bus to arrive, because there are so many of them. When you see your bus, combi or taxi, you just need to hail them to stop, and they will. And so I reached the Zocalo (main square), where I’ve asked an elderly man if he knows how to get to Dzibilchaltun. He was impressed by my Mexican hat. He had one too, but of much higher quality. Knowing how to get to Dzibilchaltun, he took me to the place from where combi colectivos go to a town called Chablekal. He went out of his way to show me that, which was very nice of him – a thing that happened more than once during this trip in Mexico. As we were saying goodbye he told me where I can reach him if I want a high quality Mexican hat. I’ve realized that the more Spanish I learn, the more doors open up for me, and the more helpful people around me are.

Anyways, the price for transportation was around 12 pesos. Driving in combi colectivos with locals is a special experience. It’s hard to put it in words, but you really get a much better insight on how the life there is like. In some ways you also get to connect to those people around you, even though no words may be spoken.

And so after some 20 minutes drive we arrived to a small town Chablekal. From there I took a rickshaw motor taxi to the ruins, which I paid another 10 pesos or so. Well, I could have walked for that final kilometer, but it was extremely hot on that day (over 40 C) and what I paid wasn’t much anyways. Admission fee to the ruins was 60 pesos. Person at the entrance asked me to leave my backpack with food and water in the storage place, but I took water with me – it’s just not logical not to have any liquids on the grounds considering the high heat. Luckily it was only here and at one other place they demanded this.

The ancient Mayan sight of Dzibilchaltun is certainly in interesting place, very much worth seeing. Apparently it was considered as a highly spiritual place by the Mayas. To me the most fascinating thing that I’ve seen is a long avenue, at the end of which is the Temple of Seven Dolls. As I walked towards it I only saw two people leaving, and there was none other there. It felt pretty amazing walking on that avenue with no one around, going towards the temple which I see in the distance. Few weeks earlier there was a big event here for the Spring Equinox, when the sun, as it rises, passes exactly through the opening of that temple. The Mayas aligned this temple to this celestial event, and now every year many people come to witness it at the dawn of the Spring Equinox.

Temple of Dolls. One of the oldest Mayan temples.

As I reached it, I stood in the shade of a Mediterranean-looking tree, and just marveled at the sight. It is a profound place to come close to. I don’t know what was happening there in the past, but there is a very strong energy surrounding this temple, making it a place of tangible peace and power. If going back the same avenue, on the left of it there are many structures that are thought to be ancient houses made of stone. It is a whole village-looking area that I would love to explore was it not so hot. It is the heat that made me looking for the shade again, and luckily I found the ultimate place for the break from the sun – the Dzibilchaltun museum. Like most other INAH museum in Mexico, this too is top-notch and very much worth visiting.

After seeing a museum I went to the part of Dzibilchaltun where most of its structures are, such as an amphitheatre, pyramid-temple, a church built by Spanish conquerors, and some others. As I climbed up the pyramid-temple I heard some people complaining how steep it is, and when I went down one of them commented “Oh, he is being ridiculous going down head-first!” This made me smile, because this was one of the easiest pyramids to climb in this entire trip. It seems to me that many people visit Mexican pyramids with already preconceived notions that all of them are extremely difficult to climb. Of course, some are difficult, and some are very difficult, especially if you are of smaller height and have fear of heights. What can be of great help when doing things like climbing objects is to have a good balance and concentration, which you can achieve with exercises such as yoga and meditation.

Main group of objects.

Pyramid of Dzibilchaltun.

Cenote at Dzibilchaltun.

Amphitheatre

At the end I went to the Dzibilchaltun’s cenote (sink hole), which is behind the last object and cannot be seen easily, but it’s there. My first intention was to go swimming, but I changed my mind when seeing that it is entirely out on the sun and that there is no shade. I still didn’t heal from the sunburns from Tulum, and my body was clearly telling me not to expose myself to direct sun. It was a nice cenote, but I prefer much more the underground ones. In the end of this ancient site exploration I walked along the top of the amphitheatre, enjoying the beautiful views of the site. The Temple of Seven Dolls and this walk was the highlight of Dzibilchaltun visit. I would very much recommend this place if you plan to explore Mayan ruins of the Yucatan peninsula.

Dario Papic, October 2015.