Chichen Itza

We drove two hours east on the bus for what was supposed to be the highlight of the trip, the Mayan and Totec archaeological site of Chichen Itza.

The primary pyramid here, known as "The Castle," has been called "one of the seven wonders of the modern world."

Unfortunately, fame has its price. The location is two hours from Merida, and a similar distance from tourist locations such as Cancun and Playa del Carmen. It's an easy day trip from any of those spots, including those who only arrive by cruise ship to those ports. A single cruise ship can carry thousands.

The place was packed, and our tour leader said that this was "a slow day!"

Our local guide was full of information, but most of it was either information we had heard previously at other sites, or trivia that was unimportant and that we already don't recall.

To make it worse, he seemed not to be able to walk and talk at the same time, so the tour was painfully slow.

All in all, while Chichen Itza is certainly a fascinating site, Uxmal, which we visited yesterday, and Monte Alban, which we visited on Sunday, were at least equally spectacular -- if not more so.

We were supposed to have lunch at a local restaurant. But Balam, our tour leader, arranged for us to dine with a Mayan family in their home. The home-cooked food was spectacular and it was a true cultural experience.

Upon returning to Merida, the bus brought us to Montejo Street. This is an area that flourished in the late 1800s and early 1900s, prior to the Mexican Revolution, when a small number of elite families dominated the local economy by operating huge plantations still operated with slave labor.

Although the plantations were scattered across the Yucatan, the families tried to out-do one another by building mansions in European style along this street to use when in the city. Most of these are now converted to museums, restaurants, or other businesses.

Also in this area is the "Monument to the Motherland," which tells the story of Mexico's history in Mayan style, even though it was constructed in the late 20th century.

While some remained on the bus, a number of us walked from here back to the hotel, just to get a feel for the city.

In the evening, our tour leader offered to show us some of the night life of Merida. We walked to a bar La Negrita Cantina where a live salsa band would be playing.

The place was packed, and we were lucky to get a table, even though there were only four of us. Although we only ordered beer, they kept delivering snacks to the table.

The band was just warming up when we arrived, but as soon as they began playing, people were up and dancing in the narrow spaces between the tables.

There was a group near us of one man and four women -- one of whom was apparently his wife -- all about our age. They were out-dancing the younger folks by a mile!

Night life people that we are, we were out of there and back in our room before 8 p.m.