Sydney and I woke up at around 4:30 Thursday morning to a light dusting of snow on the car and loaded our bags. After a short drive we picked up a friend that would drive my car back from the airport after we had been dropped off....thank god for friends! We decide to go light on this trip and both only had carry on bag so grabbing tickets and shuffling through security was a breeze. After a quick layover in SLC we landed in Mexico City for the longest layover that I have ever experienced. We had eight hours to mill about or we could get out into the city so we chose to check out the city.
We shuffled through customs and attempted to throw our bags in a locker but to our dismay they were all full so we headed out to the cab terminal and were soon speeding through traffic. The taxi drivers here have mastered the art of driving with one hand on the wheel and the other ready to hit the horn of anyone decides to try to merge...it was an exciting ride! After around 30 minutes we were in a nice plaza with street venders and lots of stalls with people selling lots of things. Going from below freezing to 90 in a single flight combined with a totally different culture was a wild ride and we decided we needed to get something eat so we sat down at on of the many restaurants bordering the walking area. We decided to sit at one of the tables right next to the walking area because it was one of the open tables and we also wanted to people watch. We quickly found out why those tables were left vacant...in he time that it took for us to sit down until we left people were trying to sell us things. I don't know much (any) Spanish but I can now say "No thanks" very well. A little while longer and one of Sydney's friends joined us to give us a mini tour of the area we were in. We checked out the outside of the Frida Kahlo Museum and the Leon Trotsky house before we big farewell and hopped in an uber back to the airport.
Flying into Merida just after midnight was kind of unnerving because we had booked an airbnb and I wouldn't blame the owner if they had already fallen asleep but after taking a cab to her house she ran outside and greeted us with the key and after quickly trying to explain how to get into the house and realizing we didn't understand anything she directed any and all directions to our cab driver who gladly took on his new role. After a quick "thank you!" we loaded back in to to cab and headed to the airbnb. The cab driver apparently had the inside knowledge on how to open the door but even then it took 5 minutes before it begrudgingly opened for us. We tipped him and gave a big thanks! I don't think we would have gotten in without his help.
The next morning we got some much needed sleep after such a long day of travelling but it also put us smack dab in the middle of the day walking around Merida which was even hotter than Mexico City...a balmy 100 degrees. We woke up and walked around until we couldn't any more and came back to the AirBNB and crashed hard before the first of the wedding obligations.
We were scheduled to meet up with a bunch of people that would be at the wedding in a little food venue that turned out to be a blast! Eating food and drinking beers with a bunch of fun people was awesome. The beers were ordered by the bucket and a good time was had.
The next day we woke up and hopped in our friends Brittany and Clives rental car to head out to take a tour of a Sisel plantation were we would be meeting with the rest of the wedding attendees. I had no idea of what to expect so it was pretty cool. Sisel is a plant that after a very long process can be turned into rope or many other items. We even saw a few shirts made from sisel in Merida.
The tour gave us an idea of the history surrounding sisel and also why it was so important to the economy of the Yucatan. The process looked to be very labor intensive and that is why the building around the plantation had lots of place for workers to live. At the end of the tour we had the chance to hop in a cenote which was awesome! A cenote is basically a place were freshwater comes to the surface and creates nice baths to cool down in. The one at the tour was in a cave that you had to walk down steps to get into and was very refreshing. Such a great time!!
Upon the completion of the tour we headed to the place that the wedding would take a place and that those in the wedding party would be staying, a large hacienda with a full staff of waitresses. It was one of the most amazing places I've been. Words can't do it justice so I'm going to leave a video of a little walkabout I did.
The rest of the trip was awesome as well!
-Owen
-Owen
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