A trip back in time - Chichen Itza, day 22

Thursday morning we woke up early to catch a bus away from Tulum at 7.15. We left the white sands at 6.30 with a taxi, and caught some nice pictures of the sunrise on the way. The woman in the bus ticket booth tried to convince us to take the bus 2 hours later, a 1st class bus where we could reserve seats, but we decided that if it came to that, we would survive standing in the earlier 2nd class bus. While we waited we crossed the street to get some fresh fruit, and ended up with fresh blended orange-pineapple juices, croissants with cheese and ham, and big cups with fruit, yoghurt, and granola... Uhm, what a breakfast!

Safe inside the bus, on the front two seats (!), we left for Chichen Itza, the largest ruin city in Mexico, I believe. The trip took app. 2.5 hours, so we arrived at the site a bit before 10. A very nice time actually, not too warm yet, and not too many tourists. We fought our way through an army of vendors after passing the ticket-area where we deposited our backpacks. Then we got to to the main area of the ruins, and strolled around for some hours taking pictures and buying too many souvenirs, while it became warmer and warmer. When around 1 PM we had had enough of the place, vendors, and the heat, we went out to catch a bus to Mérida, our next stop. (Lots of pictures from Chichen Itza will tell the story in more detail than here! :))

As we managed to get into another 2nd class bus, the trip was a little longer than expected due to all the stops along the way. However we slept most of the way, so in the end it was ok. We arrived in Mérida around 5, and started walking on the way to the hostel located on the main square. Meanwhile we found a restaurant where we hung out in the bar with an only-Spanish-speaking waiter, who served us some dinner. Then we went to our hostel, checked in, took a cold shower (uff!), and went out in the city to enjoy the evening-lit area around the main plaza. We looked around for a bit in some shops as well, before settling at a restaurant where we got cheese- and chocolate cake... Nice, though expensive dessert! Then straight back to bed!