The one advantage of going to the Altabrisa branch at around 6:00 PM is I could take advantage of Sushi Nights at Sushi Co, where for pairs of eligible items, you only pay for the more expensive ones. Not quite two-for-one, but almost!

The first Sunday of the month, I did my first really big, multi errand run. I went for a swim, then headed up to Decathlon to get a backpack and then Chedraui for groceries, as well as some clothes shopping in the plaza.

In this pic, you can see the black insulated backpack that arrived at the end of the day, too late for this grocery run, but which has served me well since. It’s fantastic as it has a ton of compartments, so you can securely stow and organise all your food without squishing anything.

But more significant are the other two backpacks. I wanted a little nylon one like the purple that I could use as a purse, as it would not take up any space in my U1S basket. Such a backpack was like $500 on Amazon. I came out of Decathlon with the two backpacks and new swim goggles for about $400. This was my first bit of evidence that the U1S was going to save me money.

The folks at Pilates have been super thoughtful and leave the gate open so I can park in the entrance, avoiding me having to street park and fiddle with a lock.

I don’t just get produce from the frutería. Once a week, I like to pick up some pancakes (that come with honey and sweetened condensed milk) to have with some sausage or bacon. I used to order from a restaurant once a month, and that was like 5 times the price of this tray for practically the same thing.

There were a couple of days without fruit trays, so I special ordered one:

Here are the caimito I went out for on my first night of freedom:

Dodger decided to become a proper lap cat in March.

One Tuesday late morning, I was sitting at home thinking that I really wanted a BBQ chicken, then remembered it was Tuesday, when there is a promo. Not even 30 minutes from that thought, I was tucking into some chicken, after a short ride that is a very long walk. There’s no wait at the restaurant as it’s basically a chicken assembly line and they have your order packed by the time it’s paid.

Mid March, the much anticipated Fresko market by La Comer opened across from Costco. This is a high-end store similar to the old Superama that is now a Walmart Express. It is easier to get to on the U1S than Walmart Express, but the parking lot was unfortunately designed by someone who has never parked a car in their life. So that adds a bit of friction to shopping there, otherwise, wow, Mérida really needed this store. It still will never be the kind of store one would expect a city of this size to have, but the population that would shop here is small. They’re banking on getting some of the Costco traffic, for sure. This is why the reports on the produce section have all been one of disappointment. I certainly wasn’t expecting any improvement over any of the other stores when the Asianmart stopped stocking produce like bok choy because restaurants weren’t buying it since “the local palate doesn’t support it.”

So I was not surprised by the lack of basil in the fresh herbs fridge.

But I was very pleasantly surprised by the carefully curated international cheese selection. I’ve only captured a small sample.

Between Asianmart and Fresko, I’ve got everything but produce covered for international flavours. Asianmart has taken to stocking Indian ingredients, but I’m still going to be supporting G-Spice for that, as long as they keep delivering.

Like all supermarkets now, even my neighbourhood Super Aki, there is a section for specialised diets:

Fresko even carries some Costco items!

The cashews were a bit more expensive than Costco, but not enough to go across the street to pick them up.

These sacks of potatoes were perfect for one person who is happy to overdose on potatoes for a couple of weeks and not have potatoes again for the next year, and much, much less expensive than at Costco. They took up a lot of my precious cargo space, but were worth it! A friend had brought me poutine sauce packets from Canada and I get a fresh squeaky cheese from the frutería that is close to cheese curds, so I made poutine one night, such a treat!

The selection of fresh pasta was a bit posh, certainly more inspiring than at Walmart:

I bought a lot of these marinated, individually packed, chicken thighs, which eventually inspired me to copy the idea with milanesa-style chicken breast bought in bulk, and at the time of writing on May 4th, I have like 55 portions of chicken breast in six marinades in the freezer, ready for quick meals.

I appreciated that they had small carts, keeping me mindful of my cargo capacity. You can see some items from the deli, which is the kind of thing I was really missing at other stores, and which I pair with my chicken. I had a busy work week where I picked up things like mixed rice, beets with orange, and pasta to put together quick but still relatively homemade meals. The dog food was for some guests I enjoyed spoiling. You can also see some pumpernickel bread. The bakery at Fresko is like a dream. The Walmart bakery is decent, but the selection is small and you really have to watch the dates. Fresko had so many options, and the best part is they will slice your bread for you. I get several kinds and then freeze for future use.

Here’s a meal from their fresh-prepared items, a lemon pepper chicken thigh with mixed rice. I’ve bought this item several times. It’s not seasoned, so I can finish it to match whatever I’m making. I love the raisins in it!

Fresko has these very convenient veggie trays. Definitely more expensive than the same thing at the frutería, but I still grab one if I’m there. The carrots promptly go into a five-spice beef stir fry, with the cucumbers and jicama becoming fridge pickles. This is the kind of thing I needed to make feeding myself well at lot less overwhelming.

My girls respect each other from a distance.

I was heading home from Pilates one morning and thought, ooh, I have some good bread, cheese, bacon, and vegan mayo. Then I had another thought: surely the frutería has a tomato that would make a decent sandwich. I would never have gone out of my way for a tomato, now, it’s easy to just pop in and get one. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a tomato sandwich and, let me tell you, they are going back into the rotation!

At the end of March, I rode up to Galerías to see the delightful “Project Hail Mary,” having my customary giant margarita and ribs at Chili’s first. I’m always impressed by how the margaritas look just like the marketing materials.

I usually go to the Platino theatre — the recliners are worth the extra money! I did something new on this visit. I almost never get food at the cinema since I eat before or after as cinema food is way too expensive for what you get. But I really wanted a coffee and was willing to pay the premium to have it delivered to me while I was sitting comfortably.  Aren’t my shoes adorable? I bought them last year, but they pinch a bit when walking, so I never wore them. They’re very comfortable for wearing when riding, protect my toes, and have since stretched out and are comfortable. Glad I didn’t donate them! I’m learning that my chancla size is not my closed shoe size — I had bought sandals by this brand that fit me great, so I never thought that the closed toe variety wouldn’t fit.

I came out of the movie feeling melancholy, on a bit of a high from the optimistic story, but also wishing that real life could make me feel that way. Little did I know, I had a week to go before my spirits would be lifted.

Walking home from a friend’s house one night, a neighbour called me over saying she had fruit. I got the last four caimito of the season for only $25. This is how I used to get caimito, from a neighbour on my Pilates route selling fruit from the tree in his backyard, but he moved. I’m glad to now have two sources!

I had another dentist appointment at the end of March, and, yep, the Francisco de Montejo location is much safer to get to. It’s also next to a great bakery and a branch of one of my favourite taco chains. Speaking of chains, I had trouble finding a spot to lock up and thought that I should get about a metre of chain to supplement the handcuff-style lock I got for my U1S. On the way home, I spotted an open tlapalería, so I popped in to ask if they could help me. The owner thought about my question, then said he believed he might have what I needed. After examining the contents of several buckets, he finally pulled out some standard silver chain and thought that might work. He had me make sure my lock could fit through the chain links, then cut me off a metre, all for only $35.

March closed off with a silly purchase, but could you have resisted LEGO sets that look exactly like your cats?!

As I pondered my getting-to-Pilates dilemma and started to price e-bikes, I thought, no, what would change my life here is a powered vehicle, something that would allow me to get somewhere on my own schedule without arriving soaking wet from sweat. I just could not imagine myself on a scooter or motorcycle, so that left me trying to figure out how to pay for a car, a purchase that would take months even if I had the cash.

I did not know there was another option, sitting between e-bikes and scooters like Vespas or Italikas, the Honeyway U1S:

The U1S is an interesting device, and there are no real comps on the market (although Kiwo comes close in design if not quality). It’s not an e-bike in the sense that there is no pedal assist. But it doesn’t have the road presence of a scooter or a motorcycle. It’s like a hybrid, best of both worlds where you get a a sturdy device that can handle the rough roads here and give you speed, range, and ability to carry cargo, but it can take bike paths is slow enough to feel safe. It was also 95.6% cheaper than the car I was looking at.

The weight rating for this unit is a surprising 150KG, higher than mopeds, so I can carry some cargo. I’ve calculated that on a full charge with a good road, I’ve hit about 25KPH, and I have a range of at least 35KM before I notice a decrease in power. All of this is perfect for my lifestyle, and this is the perfect transportation device for my part of Mérida, where there are tons of small side streets to avoid big avenues. 3KM suddenly feels close, and I can pop out to get a BBQ chicken or some Subway in a fraction of the time the same errands would take on foot.

I’m surprised by how quickly I was able to take to riding my U1S, quickly gaining confidence for longer and less planned runs. I’ve been from the northern edge of the periférico right to the bottom in the north and southwest quadrants, and have made a few jaunts into the north and southeast quadrants, but I don’t like going out there as much as the roads are less friendly for a small e-moto like the U1S. I take advantage of quiet Sunday mornings to explore that half of the city. I’ll give more details on these rides in future recaps.

Getting groceries used to be such a hassle, but now it’s an excuse for a ride. The U1S has a front basket. I added a soft trunk that straps around the rear seat (Honeywhale does not recommend a hard, lockable trunk like you see on motorcycles), and I got an insulated backpack, giving me ample cargo space for a week’s worth of groceries. My favourite errand so far was brunch followed by picking up a 10lb bag of rice at Asianmart, then going to Office Depot, for a ream of paper and a box of file folders. Might not sound like much, but I could tell I’d reach the U1S’s maximum weight rating!

What I think is super cool about the U1S is it has a key and alarm fob, so if you’re just popping into a store or you have eyes on it at a restaurant, you don’t need to use a chain because someone can’t just roll it away as setting the very loud alarm also locks the wheels. It is quite heavy so it needs at least two people to throw it into the back of a truck — I can’t even lift it over a curb. I do have a very good lock for it, but I’ve hardly ever felt the need to use it. One place I was glad to be able to lock up was Galerías as I was going for lunch and a movie. I was grateful they had a bike rack as so many places don’t.

At home, I have a carport with automatic doors, so it’s super easy to get in and out of the property. My garage door opener is finally getting a workout!

I really didn’t anticipate that I would be so comfortable on the U1S and that it would become my default mode of transport. I envisioned that I’d be a little fearful and just take it to Pilates and back. I’m writing this on May 2nd and have been riding since the start of March. I’ve taken an Uber twice in all that time, to take Dodger to the vet and to do a huge Costco run. I’ve also left the house a lot more than I would have if I was relying on Ubers.

The other way that the U1S blindsided me is that it makes my days feel so much longer. I can run errands in the worst heat of the day when the stores and roads are nearly empty because I catch the cool breeze even if the sun is nuclear. It used to feel that I was limited to going out very early or after dark. And that’s the other thing. I don’t like driving at night, but I’m fine riding my U1S after dark off main roads. I wear a high-vis vest and have a ton of reflector tape, plus a strong headlight. I’m so low to the ground and can slow down enough to see obstacles. I did get a taste of one limitation, though. We had some heavy afternoon rains recently that reminded me that I can’t get used to riding in the evenings. So I moved Pilates to 9AM, which works great now that I can leave at 8:45 and am back at my desk by 11:00. However, afternoon rains mean morning lakes. I was grateful when I first encountered morning lakes on my usual route to Pilates that there were high, clear sidewalks with on and off ramps on which I could walk my U1S back to dry road.

I’ve had a couple of tumbles, resulting in only bruises not the road rash I’d get from falling from a bike or a motorcycle, so it hasn’t been that bad! The turning radius on the U1S is terrible and it just took me a while to get used to feeling like I was on a bike but not having the manoeuvrability. It was nothing that made me fearful. I also haven’t really had any close calls worth mentioning with drivers.

I needed Pilates as the impetus for the purchase, but it would not have been the right device to go to the old studio. The gym with the pool is next door and I’ve only made it there twice so far. The route there is Not Good on the U1S, requiring me to take a very dangerous intersection that is tricky on foot. The best route is such a detour that I might as well walk. The ideal thing would, of course, be to go in the middle of the day, when my work schedule the past two months has not been conducive to trying that. But I’m keeping up the gym membership while I continue to search for the best slot in my schedule for at least one swim a week.

I really love my U1S and feel that for city life, it was a much better purchase than a car would have been. It’s so economical to run (one charge a week) and so much more nimble. I sometimes feel like I can do a quick round trip faster than it would have taken me to ease a car in and out of the carport!

My two biggest complaints about my life here were how much effort it was to eat healthily and access green spaces, with the traffic from poor road planning being a close third. I can run up to Costco or the new Fresko (more on that in a future post!) in about 15 minutes now, so I’m getting groceries in person more often instead of relying on delivery, meaning I can get more fresh items. The frutería also makes a big difference. I’m eating more fresh fruit in a week than I was in a month before. El pollo feliz restaurant has a great Tuesday promo on BBQ chicken that I can now take advantage of — it was quite a realisation coming out of Pilates one Tuesday morning that there was no reason I couldn’t detour to go pick up a chicken before going home! I’m still not making it to green space as much as I’d like, but one recent Sunday, I made it to the Paseo Verde. Tomorrow, I may try to find a route to La Plancha that does not require getting on big avenues. Being able to go walk around the artificial lake a few times a month would be lovely! And finally, traffic doesn’t seem so bad when I can go out in heat of the middle of the day and avoid it.

I think the biggest indicator of just how much freedom I’ve gained is that I was sitting here one night when I saw a post from the frutería indicating that they had caimito, a local fruit with a very short season. I was out the door to pick some up within minutes, and then headed north from there to get nachos at one of my favourite taquerías, enjoying a cold passionfruit agua fresca and some Bon Jovi on the big screen by 7:30.

I thought I needed a car or even to move, maybe both, to gain traction in my life. No, I just needed a U1S!

First, obligatory cat pics.

And then a tale of woe about my dang tooth that I’ve talked about many times over the years. I’d had an inlay and root canal done a few years ago, but then the inlay suddenly fell out one day in February, just when my dentist had closed for a week of work on the clinic. He referred me to a colleague at another location who was able to take me promptly. Turns out that only part of the inlay had come out. To do the root canal, they had to drill into the inlay, weakening it. I take full responsibility for this as I resisted the root canal. Had I not, they would have done things in the right the order. The dentist said that the old inlay would have to be drilled out and a new one put in. This sounds so, so, so much worse than it was because, again, root canal! I never felt a thing. It was just uncomfortable. On my way out the door, she said to go to a bakery a little farther down in the strip mall to get a cinnamon bun, so I did!

I had to return about a week later (I was now at about ten days with a giant hole in my mouth) to get the new inlay put in. I was not satisfied with how it was fitting at that point, but I was told to give it a week to settle and we would make final adjustments. I was surprised that I was cleared to go have brunch after such a big appointment!

By the end of the week, I was pretty miserable with the new inlay. It just had a few peaks and valleys that I was not settling into. The dentist did not argue with me and continued to polish according to my feedback. By the time she was done, the new inlay actually felt better than the last one! The cost of the procedure was 6,000 pesos.

I wonder if anyone can guess what I had to do next. YEP. New top retainer! My usual dentist tried to save the old one, but it just never fit right, so he had a new unit made, so I had several visits related to that. We kept joking that I just can’t get enough of his office that every time he says I’m cleared for six-month visits, something keeps pulling me back. I’m grateful to have such fantastic care! The new retainer and all but one of the appointments surrounding it were free, for a total of 500 pesos.

One bonus cat pic for February, of my sweet Dodger apparently deciding she wants to learn my job!

And now, the bombshell.

My schedule is anchored by my Pilates practice. I fit work around it, not the other way around. I’d been with my current studio for two years and had started to think about making a switch when I learned from an Instagram post (bit rude; I think this should have been announced to the Whatsapp distribution list)… that the studio was moving across town, to a location I had no desire to find a way to. I had just finished my class package when I found this out, so that was it with them, so abruptly. Just walked out one night not knowing I wouldn’t be back.

I went through my options for a new studio. There was nothing within reasonable walking distance, so it was going to have to be wherever would be the easiest to Uber to. After much pondering, I decided that the one in my quadrant, 3KM west of me, made the most sense, and I knew from my demo class that I’d found my new Pilates home.

This new studio anchored me in my part of Mérida in a way that I’d been struggling to find since day one of moving here. Markets, fruterías, restaurants, and even a small grocery store were finally on my route.

The first few classes, I walked if I had time, discovering that one of my favourite fruterías was right by the new studio. It had been a dream for years to be able to stop there several times a week for fresh cut produce, juices, and basic grocery items. This was my haul one night, with some bonus tamales from a lady selling them in front of her house.

The only hiccup was this 6KM roundtrip walk wasn’t always going to be feasible. I did a few trips where I booked an Uber to and from, and I will say that stepping out of my house into a car, then out of the studio in the car, felt a bit luxurious, but it wasn’t sustainable. So even before my first demo class at the new studio, I’d been shopping, waiting to confirm that the studio was going to work out before I hit buy.

Still completely oblivious to just how much this purchase was going to turn my life upside down in the best way possible, February 18th, I bought some powered wheels.

But first, I made a triumphant return to bowling.

I’m the last row, 121 in my final game!!!

Tacos after, but of course. This order is always so pretty!

Obligatory cat pics.

Alma claimed this ledge behind the sofa, and it’s her favourite spot in the house now (ledge so the sofa back can come down flat to make a bed).

I found the furniture I needed to finish my downstairs, upgrades for cheap particle board equivalents. The first was “this I can’t believe it exists and I found it” huge solid wood shoe cabinet.

I may have a chancla problem.

This is the cheap one I replaced.

The seller of this cabinet was really hard to deal with. I have a guy with a trailer and muscles that I trust, so I finally called him and said, “Can you please deal with this woman and get this cabinet for me?” A few messages later, he said he was on his way to the seller and asked me to transfer him the cost of the purchase so he could withdraw cash as she would not accept our usual transaction of he shows up with a trailer, I promptly transfer money to the seller. Once on site, he messaged to say the item was in perfect condition and I should feel good about the purchase, so I told him to close the deal. You need a guy like him in your contacts!

The second purchase was even more miraculous. This was my old TV stand.

I really wanted a mid century modern cabinet for the new TV stand, to fit with the dresser in the dining room since it’s the only piece on the ground floor that isn’t dark reddish brown (which, by the way, is not really to my taste, but it’s what’s available here).

The TV stand search had been ongoing for years. I knew that if I searched long enough, The Algorithm would catch on and Meta would push the perfect piece to the top of my feed. Did it ever. This piece finally showed up as a first result on Facebook Marketplace. The listing had search terms I’d been looking for, but the ad was so old that the result was buried dozens of pages deep. I decided to enquire about it even though surely it had sold. Not only was it still available, the sellers were my literally backyard neighbours, and they had it at my house in under 20 minutes.

I had a VERY CHILLY beach day in January. My friend from northern Mexico got in the water.

I don’t known what I was expecting from a non-alcoholic piñada but this giant piña coladaesque slushy thing was not it. So good, and the perfect beach drink!

I switched out my freezer in January, going from a bottomless pit of a despair (chest model) to a tower of organization (vertical model).

Of culinary note, in January I learned how to make short crust pastry to cover some bangers in gravy. It was a success and so good!

Milk for browning!

It was so flakey. I reheated it in the airfryer.

One noteworthy thing that happened in December is I got started on a medicolegal report editing course, to add a new line of business in 2026.

I think the most important thing that happened in December is what I didn’t do — set up new systems for the upcoming year. It took decades, but it finally felt like I had my life together and lasting routines.

I did try to use Waze and Google Maps to get out of Playa, but gave up in disgust. I got this hilarious pop-up when I cancelled my Google Maps route!

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It wasn’t until I was about to get onto the carretera that I remembered to check the gas gauge. I definitely needed fuel and what was conveniently ahead of me? That cost me about $600, and the topup to return the car ended up being about $500, so not too bad at all for a week of having a car! I did lose track of how much I was paying for tolls, though. I just don’t fret about that sort of thing anymore.

It was a super easy drive into Mérida. The Chevy Aveo I’d rented is the first car I’ve driven that has a six-speed transmission, so it was fun to get into that gear when I was passing folks! What a treat it was to get a manual transmission. It used to be the standard (pun kind of intended) in Mexico, but it’d been a long time since I’d found a rental place that offered one.

Traffic coming into Mérida was, of course, terrible. I got stuck next to this beast for the longest time.

I landed at about 1:15 CST. My girls were happy to see me!

Here is my little bowl from Chichén Itzá next to a larger bowl that was a gift from Contessa (no, my walls are not neon green — my iPhone camera is a menace!).

It was a bit brutal to have to go right back to work, and you know it’s been BUSY that it’s Saturday afternoon and I still haven’t fully unpacked, but I’m glad I got to spend a day with friends and discovered Playa del Carmen. I’ll likely be back in February or March next year!

I kept the car to today, a full week, to be able to run errands with it, primarily Costco and Walmart. I find renting a car stressful, but the freedom of having wheels… A car is going to happen soon-ish. I just have a lot of moving parts!

I started by strolling down Playa’s tourist trap, 5th Avenue. It was hilarious, just the same chains and mass market crap repeating themselves ad nauseam.

My destination was yet another restaurant in a cave, la Cueva del Chango. It sounded super touristy and was right off the beach, so the reviews that claimed it’s a local affordable gem needed to be tested.

I was seated under a tent with a tantalising view of the jungle beyond. I’m pretty sure the cave wall behind me was not natural.

The very reasonably priced menu had many salsa options for their chilaquiles, and I chose xcatic chile with tomatillo, to which I added roasted habanero. I also ordered a passionfruit juice and an American coffee, which turned out to be just that, (excellent) drip coffee, and bottomless to boot! Anyone who knows me knows that chilaquiles + good bottomless coffee=favourite breakfast spot. I was a bit nervous when I saw that the chilaquiles come with chunk chicken rather than shredded — that usually means nasty dry chicken that tastes like leftovers, but these were juicy and seemed to have been freshly cooked.

The restaurant was very crowded, so I only got a small taste of the jungle behind the tent.

It was then time to head to the beach down this pretty road.

I seriously want someone to make something like this for my yard.

I got the details for how to rent these beach-front cottages!

The blue sky was a trap!

We were getting into the heat of midday, so I headed back towards the hotel, with the plan to come out again in the late afternoon to find a cold beer. I also had a casual plan to find a juice stand on the way back to the hotel as la Cueva del Chango didn’t have the green juice I’d been craving.

It started to rain a couple blocks from the hotel, just as I saw a sign pointing down the alley to a stand offering juices, breakfasts, and lunches!

I took refuge under an umbrella, that, thankfully was all the shelter I needed.

The green juice was exactly what I was expecting, bit sweeter than I make it, and bursting with orange flavour. So good! It was just about here that I started to ponder how Mérida is a desert of bad food in the ocean of deliciousness that are Campeche, Valladolid, Cancún, and the Mayan Riviera, something I’ll have to explore in a future post. But I’m not crazy that Mérida is not like the rest of Mexico in regard to having a street food culture and an abundance of things like fruit juice stands just where you need them.

A growling stomach had me venturing back out around 3:00 p.m.

I did a giant circle around Romeo’s and ended up at the dodgy shack catty-corner from it. I never did get the name. It’s not on Google, and the September 2024 Streetview photo is of an empty palapa!

They only had three beer options, with thankfully Modelo Negra being one of them. I was feeling snack-ish, pondered the quesadillas, and finally decided to ask for them with shrimp, even if shrimp quesadillas are generally not great out here compared to on the Pacific. At one point, I heard the abuelita cooking ordering the sous-chef to add rice and beans to my plate because I was “nearly a Mexican and would expect them”! So my snack ended up being a giant platter of the best quesadillas I’ve had since I last had some in Mazatlán. :O WHERE did she find such sweet shrimp?! I was just missing pico, but there were plenty of delicious salsas to dress them up. I didn’t care that I paid $350 (including a very generous tip) for these, they were worth it and tasted like Home.

I thought of going to Romeo’s for dinner, but I’d spotted Bangkok Thai Restaurant in my wanderings, so its call was irresistible. I ordered a limonada and a tofu pad thai (no egg). It was excellent, better than any you’d find in Mérida.

I haven’t had good mango sticky rice in Mérida — the coconut milk here is always sour, so restaurants must be sourcing their cans from the same supermarkets I was until I gave up and starting making my own from powder. So when I saw the dessert on the menu, I was confident I’d finally get a chance to see what the dessert is supposed to taste like. Slight hiccup, they didn’t have mango! But as a substitute, they offered lychee. I’m pretty sure I’ve never had lychee before, so I said that would do. YUM. I loved everything about this, from the texture of the rice to the nutty sesame seeds to the (almost too sweet) coconut sauce to the delicately flavoured lychee that were not slimy.

It was well past 9:00 when I rolled out of there, so I headed straight to bed as I didn’t want to head home too late the next day.

This lovely day in Playa del Carmen really makes me eager to return for a longer stretch next spring!

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As it turned out, Shalala Cafe, a few doors down from Romeo, had an excellent Americano. This coffee might look too milky for my taste, but it was so strong it was perfect!

I had a pleasant day catching up with my friends and enjoying the rooftop pool of their rental condo. They are not in the tourist part of Playa, so it was great to see a typical neighbourhood.

For dinner, K wanted to take us to Alux, an upscale restaurant IN A CAVE. He’d been there years prior and it had really made an impression.

The venue is absolutely breathtaking, and one of a kind, and an absolute must if visiting Playa del Carmen. But it’s not just a gimmick. The food was sensational!

I started off with the pineapple, passionfruit, shrimp, and hamachi aguachile. So fresh and bright.

Picking my main was a really tough decision, and I changed my mind several times.  I ended up going with the poblano risotto that had all of the ingredients in traditional rajas poblanas, including corn, and then adding Parmesan for richness, but topped with a sweet, charred, tender langoustine tail topped with chimichurri. This meal was an excellent idea of how even humble everyday ingredients can be elevated.

For dessert, I had the mint chip and passionfruit topped vegan brownie with coconut cream and almond crumble. The white layer was very strange with little flavour, but everything else on this dessert was incredible. The brownie was almost like fudge and the coconut cream felt as decadent as dairy whipped cream.

After dinner, we took a tour of the massive cave complex. It’s just grotto after grotto, offering intimate dining experiences.

This area was clearly a cenote once upon a time.

Altar to the alux, mischievous Mayan nature spirits akin to Leprechauns.

The menu at Alux should have something for anyone’s palate and is reasonably priced for the quality and experience. Just don’t take the offered ride at the exit and get your own taxi (or walk, as I did) — 200 pesos was highway robbery!

It was a very easy and quick drive on good roads. Since it was Sunday, there was no construction.

I’d done my research and knew that parking in Playa del Carmen is a nightmare. The closest parking to my accommodation was all valet, which wouldn’t work for me as I was not allowed an extra driver for my rental car, plus the car maneuvering to get as many in as possible would increase the risk of dings. I couldn’t find a better option on my own, so in a fit of desperation asked ChatGPT. By scraping the web and not caring about ad revenue, it found on a blog a mention of a self-park parkade a 10-minute walk from my hotel that seemed like a better option. With the name of the parkade, I was finally able to locate it on Google Maps and know from the reviews that it was still in operation. I’m not sharing it because I don’t want the word to get out.

Navigating Playa del Carmen to get to said parkade was a nightmare of construction and one-ways. I had a vague idea of where I was going, but I needed help navigating, and Waze and Google Maps just made things worse, trying to one-up each other in finding the absolute most convoluted route just to make me “save” 30 seconds. It’s dangerous! If somebody is using a map app, they’re likely not somewhere that they’re familiar with. They don’t need to get 50 billion turns to maybe save a minute on the drive. They need to be directed to main avenues with minimal turns. I quickly turned them off and just used a static map to guide me, pulling over after few turns to make sure I was still on the correct route.

The parkade felt like an oasis, with plenty of space to maneuver and a convenient spot at the top of the first ramp. An attendant confirmed that I could park as long as I needed at a rate of only $200 per day or else I’d pay per hour if I was going in and out. I was happy to park until Wednesday morning, planning to walk and use cabs!

It was a pretty easy walk to my accommodation, tucked behind the Romeo restaurant. I’d been expecting a guest house, not to be led to a secret courtyard behind a business, with several independent suites off of it, like having your own mini apartment in the heart of Playa. Another booking.com GEM! The room had what I’d consider a full kitchen as there was a hot plate for cooking proper meals, tons of storage, and a clean bathroom. I’d definitely return here for a longer stay.

I’ve come to realise that I tend to eat locally for breakfast and often lunch as well, but then I prefer other cuisines for dinner unless I just want something snacky. This actually makes a ton of sense because the main Mexican meals of the day are breakfast and lunch. So staying in the heart of an Italian restaurant, a pizza craving after my long day made sense!

Romeo is one of the top-rated Italian restaurants in Playa and very busy, but I was quickly given a “reserved” table and told I would get 10% off my bill as a guest! I ordered a XX ambar and a Margherita pizza that was probably an 11 out of 10. So good!

I only had enough energy after for a quick walk around the block to a 7-Eleven to get some electrolytes and a chocolate bar, then I called it a night.

Driving a rental car I’d picked up the day before, I left Mérida early on a Sunday morning to beat the crowds and the heat, arriving to the entrance of the village of Pisté, gateway to Chichén Itzá, at about 9:30.

Cars were being stopped at the entrance. I cannot remember if it was police or regular folks with tourism badges, but they were directing anyone who was coming to Chichén Itzá, especially for the first time, to pull over and get instructions and directions, a free service. I did so and was promptly offered my own personal guide who would ride ahead of me on a moto, take me to parking, help me navigate the entrance, and then give me a personalised guided tour. This service was 900 pesos, in line with what I’d been told a private guide would cost. I was supposed to get free access to the site on a Sunday as a permanent resident, so my plan had been to see if that was the case, then get a private guide, and if not, I’d join a tour group at a lower cost. Since I liked the idea of being able to follow someone to the entrance, I decided to take a chance that my free entry as a PR would be honoured (many sites don’t follow this law) and accepted the guide, Pablo. As I was about to hand over money, I was asked if I’m a local, and, if so, to show proof so they could charge me only 700 pesos!

My instinct to accept the guide was spot on. Pisté was busy and the entrance road a bit chaotic. It was great to be able to focus on driving, not navigating. We went past several non-official parking lots, each one a bit more expensive than the last as we got closer to the entrance. At one marked 80 pesos, Pablo suggested I park instead of waiting in the queue to access the official lot at 120 pesos. I was a bit nervous about being boxed into a very rough-looking dirty and rock lot full of trees, but did like that I was being directed to park under shade. As it would turn out, these parking operators weren’t greedy and left plenty of space for folks to maneuver out safely.

There were several steps to entering. The first is where you get a ticket. I showed my residency card and was given a free ticket without any fuss. I then had a stop where the ticket was verified and my ID checked again. Then my ticket was torn and I was given access to the site, where this immediately greeted me:

They call it El castillo — the castle — not the pyramid.

Pablo ended up being the perfect guide for my visit.

I already knew a lot about the archeology of these sites, and I wanted more context, so Pablo did a tour that had actually very little to do with the buildings themselves and a lot more to do with the history of Yucatán and the Mayan civilisation.

I learned how the Maya weren’t really an organised group the way the Aztecs and the Inca were, and that they were a lot more peaceful and weren’t really about expanding their territories through war, but rather more in search of agricultural land. We also talked a lot about the mixing of cultures and migrations and evidence of all of this in carvings around the site.

We went over the caste war for ages, as that is really significant in the history of Yucatán. He gave me some really good resources to really put everything together for me as I have these little tiny unconnected bits of the local history.

We talked about how the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs is what caused the formation of the cenotes here in the peninsula!

I’d seen several of these ball courts before, and he explained how the players were able to get the balls in these exceptionally high hoops using just a hip thrust!

But we did also talk about the buildings and their construction. He demonstrated a couple of spots with acoustic tricks. Standing here, he could yell and you could hear the sound clear across the ball court. This is not an echo but waveguide acoustics, the same principle as a “whispering gallery.”

This area would have essentially been spectator stands.

There are no eagles in Yucatán, so this carving is evidence of migration and intermingling of cultures.

This is a bit gruesome!

This is a side of the pyramid, and I believe where Pablo demonstrated the quetzal chirp, where the sound of clapping your hands works with the shape of the stairs to make a sound just like that of the quetzal bird. I don’t know what awed me more, that the Maya could build this without modern technology or that it still works today!

Pablo had a book of photos with him as well as a tablet with all kinds of videos and images. That was really impressive. He was able to show me representations of how the site was found when it was being reclaimed by the jungle and also what it might’ve looked like when it was built. He told me about how his family has been on the site for generations. We even talked about our Eurocentric history education full of lies and whitewashing, with him assuring me that what he learned getting his own BA in history here in Mexico was probably not that different than what I learned in Canada, something that somehow made me feel a little better. We also talked about the sad irony that the Mayan civilisation collapsed because they destroyed the environment, and here we are hundreds of years later, and they’re doing the same thing all over again in Mérida. This was a very well-rounded, informational, emotional, and even philosophical tour, and I was so grateful I’d been paired with Pablo.

After viewing all four sides of the castle, he lead me towards the observatory.

I thought this branch was a snake!

These holes would have been full of honey bees.

I think I found the observatory even more impressive than the castle, just for the unique round structure not that dissimilar to modern observatories! This building is also called the caracol, snail, for its equally rare spiral staircase. Pablo played a video showing how the observatory would have been used to study the night sky, including the routes of the sun and Venus.

Pablo then left so I could keep wandering on my own.

By this point, it was coming up to midday, the sun was beating down, the crowds were growing, and the touts were no joke. Soon as I didn’t have a guide, it was like they had been unleashed. There were all set up along paths, so were impossible to avoid. The problem with these vendors is their wares are all mass market junk you can get anywhere. It’s so hard to find genuine handicrafts now. There was just one older gentleman at the end of the long line of vendors who caught my eye because he wasn’t being aggressive. I bought a small bowl from him.

Right at the exit, there is a restaurant. I’d done some research and knew that it was well rated and considered good value for the location. I was famished, but despite that, I knew that if I got back in the car, I’d just want to get on to my next stop. So I was smart and got a table!

I ordered poc chuc, and my meal was, indeed, good value for the location. Not much meat, but it was tender and well seasoned. The tomatoes and onions were fresh, the creamy habanero salsa perfectly seasoned, resulting in very tasty tacos, all washed down with a tad-too-sweet-but-so-refreshing limonada.

With one more major Yucatán destination off the list, I headed back to the car, carefully maneuvered my way through Pisté where there were religious processions in the street, and finally returned to the carretera to continue on my journey back to the Mayan Riviera to finally visit the tourist mecca of Playa del Carmen to meet up with some friends.