Izamal – The Yellow Town

Izamal – The Yellow Town Izamal, Mexico

Izamal, Mexico I left while my host is still asleep. He’s a night owl. He recommended I visit Izamal. Zocalo Tour. First, I went to the government tourist office ad took advantage of their free tour. I could have done without it. Basically, it took so much time, the guide talked too much – information overload! For a couple of hours, all we visited were the four buildings around the zocalo. I barely even remember any of the information he shared now! I do recall one most important trivia: the word Maya originated from the native response to the Spaniards when they first asked them the name of the place “Ma ya” I don’t know (or something like that), because the locals obviously did not understand the question. Izamal, the Yellow Town. After the tour, it took me a good hour or so walking around, and finding the bus to Izamal. It’s a second class bus. The guide said it takes 40 minutes, but that’s with a car apparently. By bus, it took 1.5 hours to reach Izamal. Again, without a guide book, I really didn’t know what to expect and where to go. Just followed my nose.The town looked like a movie set! It’s really yellow all over. I was greeted by the majestic yellow convent. Then I walked the calles and all the buildings were also various shades of yellow. As I walked towards the pyramid, I met Frederique, a 35-year old French lady. I ended up spending the whole time with her. She talked about how “sweet” the enrgy is of the place, especially on top of the two pyramids we climbed together. We took a break, as she was getting hungry, at Kinich restaurant, most popular in town. My first time to try the Lima juice, it’s like lime but with a unqieu tangy flavor. It was very refreshing and delicious!On the way to the bust station, I saw a group practicing Flamenco at this cultural building. I watched them for a while before I left and took the last bus at 7:30PM headed for Merida. On the way back to my host’s house, I unfortunately took the wrong bus. After almost an hour, the driver finally dropped me off on a corner. Called Daniel and he and his dad picked me up. It would’ve have been a nightmare finding my way around at 9PM in the dark streets of Merida, Mexico.
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