Mérida

We got the first of many Ado buses to Mérida. They're comfy and spacious and if you're into badly dubbed TV shows, entertaining too.

The city of Mérida would be our only destination in the Yucatan state. Its architecture is European in style but mostly one story in height. Its incredibly safe, the police don't even carry guns.

I had unknowingly booked a hotel, Palacio Secreto, which was Irish owned. We spent the afternoon chatting with the daughter of one of the owners, Anita, who was pregnant with mexican/Irish twins. Her mother and step father had set up the hotel 4 years ago just as Mérida was becoming popular amongst European tourists. Anita had introduced her parents to airbnb for a spare room they had and from that they were inspired to buy and set up a hotel, completely from scratch. The site was little more than a ruin when they bought it and they had transformed it into a really beautiful building, with stone pillars, intricate mosaics and full of stunning antique furniture. 

Later Paul arrived and joined us and Anita. Like Anita he was thrilled to have Irish guests, it had been a while. We were fascinated with their story. Paul is a roscommon man who had owned a popular nightclub in Carrig on Shannon. After the economic crash, and many personal injury claims in the nightclub resulting in sky high insurance, he'd had enough, sold everything and they came to Mexico he told us. He was particularly fond of the lack of a compensation culture in Mexico 'in Ireland if someone sees a hole in the ground, they'll jump into it and it will be the councils fault. In Mexico, if you fall in a hole in the ground, you're the idiot for walking into it!' 

He invited us to come to the Irish Bar 'Kennedys' some evening with him and his partner Martina. He even tried to get them to open early the day of the All Ireland Final but sadly they couldn't. 

Our time in Mérida was spent wandering the streets, parks and markets. The beautiful architecture making everything fascinating. The restaurants are all superb too, specialising in Yucatan dishes. There's many stunning abandoned 18th and 19th Century buildings around the outskirts of Mérida. The rope was made from the henequén plant. Exporting it to Europe made the settlers in Mérida and the town very wealthy, resulting in the stunning homes which can still be seen in the city. At the turn of the 20th Century it was said that Mérida had more millionaire's than anywhere else in the world. The invention of nylon saw the rope industry crumble, and with it the buildings. 

The people of Mérida are incredibly proud of their city. Locals on the street would welcome us and advice us on what to see and do in Mérida. One man told us he was happy to see tourists back, they had stopped coming for a while. He presumed it was because the pandemic was so bad in Europe, they didn't get many North Americans he said. 

While there were plenty of lively bars and restaurants to visit, they had to close at 10pm because of a covid curfew. One we particularly enjoyed was called Negrita, it had live music, a great food menu and mescal tasting. Halfway through a mescal tasting session, complete with orange slices and crickets, I spotted a man sitting on his own not to far from us. Blondy red hair, pale, wearing a mexico football Jersey, bootleg jeans and runners, I was convinced he was Irish. 'I dare you to ask him' I encouraged Jonny. 

He did, and, he wasn't. Kevin was from Virgina but lived in Texas. After an awkward introduction, Jonny invited him to join us. 

Kevin was traveling alone, often came to Mexico and could work from here on his laptop, had no solid plans or return date. 

We spoke about maybe visiting the flamingos on a tour, Kevin was going too, but he had a car and could drive us. 

So the next day, after recovering from our Mescal hangover, we met Kevin and drove an hour to the town of. Where we did a boat tour to see 100s of flamingos feeding, swam in some hot springs and floated through some mangroves. It was a lovely day. 

We had met a German and Spanish couple while waiting for our tour, they had got a slow local bus there and wondered if Kevin could give them a lift back to Mérida. So they joined me in the back of the car. They had met backpacking at the start of the year and had fallen in love. They had returned to Europe together when the pandemic hit and isolated together in Spain for a while where there love blossomed. And now they were in Mexico to spend Christmas together and to visit a friend. 

We were having a pleasant trip home until about 20 mins into our journey I began to feel weirdly car sick. When we got to a federalli checkpoint I asked if we could pull in just after it so I could swap seats with Jonny who was sitting in the front. Kevin did, but as I opened the car door I felt very dizzy. In my mind, I was walking through a shopping center, going up an esculator and the colours blue and yellow were very important. 

To everyone else, I had passed out. 

From Jonnys account, I opened the car door, stood up, said something about feeling sick and then slumped down into the seat. He tried to hold me up. I came to for a few seconds (I don't remember) but then passed out again and fell to the floor. Then made some horrible gasping noise and went rigid, 'like rigermortis'. 

Jonny thought I had died. 

Suddenly I could hear Jonny screaming my name, which was weird because I was having such a lovely sleep. I opened my eyes to see an utterly terrified Jonny over me and a night sky behind him. I had no idea what was going on, he lifted me and hugged me. I did not feel well, but was also suddenly aware of the Mexican police, staring at me with their blinding flash lights and the Spanish girl trying to negotiate with them. They thought I was on drugs and wanted to call an ambulance. I wasn't fully alert but knew we had to get out of there. I insisted I was fine, and we all piled into the car and drove away. We made it about 200 metres before having to pull in again for the first of many vomits on the side of a dark Mexican Highway. The drive home was horrific, I remember little, other than the vomiting and alot of discussion as to whether they should be driving to a hospital or not. 

Ive no doubt our new couple friends wished they had gotten the bus. 

Jonny was frantic, Kevin was very calming. 'it happens in Mexico, it happened to me on a hike once'. I insisted I just wanted to get back to the hotel. 

Many, many stops later, we made it, I crawled up stairs, past a panicking Jonny who was trying to negotiate with the night porter about a pharmacy or hospital or doctor. One reassuring phonecall to Chris, our doctor friend in Australia, and Jonny reluctantly decided I could stay where I was. I was sick for a few more hours but eventually fell asleep. The joys of traveling in Latin America! 

We spent the day in the hotel room recovering, me from sickness, Jonny from shock, Paul brought me a light breakfast in bed. I blamed the flamingos for the mystery sickness. The last time we tried to see flamingos together, in Colombia, we were both struck down by food poisoning the night before. 

Paul and Martina were keen to get us to Kennedys for our last night in Mérida, despite last night's drama. I rallied and went, though stuck to safe sparkling water for the night. Kevin joined us too, God knows I owed him a pint. 

Paul and Martina told us of the St. Patrick's Day parade they had that year. A sizable affair by all accounts. That evening the chief of police popped by Kennedys to congratulate them for it. 'How many Irish are in Mérida anyway?' he asked there table of 5. 'You're looking at half the population here!' they laughed.

The chief of police in Mérida has managed to keep it a cartel free zone, Martina told us it was one of the many reasons they'd settled there. They'd explored other parts of South America, and Mexico before deciding On Mérida.

 'And the health care system is very good in Mexico. Its far better than in Ireland' 

 Paul had a triple heart by pass a few years ago. 'If I had gotten sick in Ireland, I would have died.'

They also told us of their brush with Covid. They had both caught it, and had been worried, what with Paul's heart. 'it was nothing though, just a bit of conjunctivitis, hardly sick. I've had Dengie fever, malaria, you name it, covid doesn't compare to any of them. People are so scared at home, it's a bit much, I mean, most people that catch it are fine' Martina told me.

They both spent alot of the night trying to convince us to move to México, and Mérida. Best decision they'd ever made, they hadn't regretted a day. I have to say, they painted a pretty amazing picture of their life there, from the weather to the relaxed way of life.

I left Jonny drinking shots of Mescal to the early hours of the morning with Paul, sneaking off to get a few hours sleep before our bus to Tulum the next day.