VINTAGE VENTURES: I write my travel journals to look back and remember our ventures. A secondary reason is to allow me to organize all my trip photos. I have thousands of photos. Organizing them into a cohesive story makes sense.

Izamal, the enchanting Yellow City Pueblo Magico (magic town).

DAY 23, Sunday, February 25, 2018

IZAMAL

We look forward to our breakfast every morning, and this morning, we were pleasantly surprised with an even more terrific breakfast. It was a variation of Huevos de Muleneos with a perfect fried egg on top of smooth refried black beans and large corn chips topped with a green sauce, a dollop of sour cream sauce and some crumbled cheese. That was the main course, and it was terrific. There was also a bagel and sweet bread (the best pastry we have had in Mexico); our espresso and cream coffee; a glass of hand-squeezed OJ; a fruit plate with papaya, mango, and cantaloupe; oatmeal; and strawberry yogurt.

Wow, the best breakfast yet.

After eating and gushing thanks to our Airbnb host for the fantastic breakfast, we flagged down a metro bus to the Izamal colectivo. The colectivo filled up fast, and off we went for just 31 pesos. 

Izamal is officially referred to as a Pueblo Magico (magic town). The magic town program is a Mexican program that promotes unique small towns. Izamal was one of the first designated towns in the program. Izamal is also known as the Yellow City for a good reason. Just about every building in Izamal is yellow. It is a clean, quaint, picturesque, laid-back small town. Like Campeche, it does not have abandoned crumbling buildings or litter. Although Izamal is historically old, it is nicely maintained.

Being relatively small, it is easy to wander the streets and see much of Izamal in one day. The colectivo dropped us off next to the market area. The center of the town is dominated by the Convento de San Antonio de Padua on a low hill overlooking the downtown. This complex has a yellow cathedral ringed by a yellow arched wall with a huge lawn in the middle. There is a plaza, Parque Crescencio Carrillo y Anacona, taking up the whole city block in front of the walled Convento and another large plaza, Parque Zamna, adjacent to the Convento. Butting up to the other side of the Convento is a large city market under a big roof. The market houses restaurants, fruit and veggie stands, a big meat butchering area, craft booths, snack vendors, and more. More vendors in outdoor booths were in the plaza facing the front of the Convento.

We started at the market and worked our way to the Convento grounds and cathedral. There was a little museum next to the cathedral that we quickly toured. There was an entire room dedicated to the 1993 Pope John Paul visit. We noticed a few nuns dressed in the old traditional habits and what looked like a chubby friar in a long brown robe wrapped with a white rope belt. I noted the crucifixes with black-skinned Jesus – unlike the typical Nordic Jesus we usually see.

We started our walking tour of Izamal at the central plaza and market. In the background is the Convento de San Antonio de Padua, the focal point of downtown Izamal.

The sprawling market surrounds the central plaza.

This handsome couple was showing off the great plate of tacos they scored at the market.

Part of the central market was this crude meat market.

The entrance to the Convento de San Antonio de Padua.

Overlooking the horse and buggy stand from the Convento de San Antonio de Padua.

Instead of tuk-tuks, the horse and buggy comprised the public transportation in Izamal.

Izamal has several Mayan ruins scattered throughout the town. The main pyramid, Kinich Kak-Mo, sat high on top of a Mayan-made hilltop. Just getting to the pyramid required toiling up several flights of stone steps. The artificial hilltop took up an entire large city block. Kinich Kak-Mo towered over this hill, and the view from the top of the pyramid was grand. The whole town of Izamal was laid out all around you. It was great for plotting out which parts of the town to explore.

The Mayan pyramid, Kinich Kak-Mo. We couldn't help but smile at the name 'Kak-Mo'. Two of my nieces, Kathleen and Maureen, are sisters nicknamed Kack and Mo.

Above and below: Other Mayan ruins in Izamal.

Above and below: The view of Izamal and the Convento de San Antonio de Padua from the top of Kinich Kak-Mo pyramid.

All the travel blogs and tourist articles raved about one restaurant, the Kinich Restaurant. Being named after the pyramid we were standing on, we decided to go there next. Kinich turned out to be a fabulous place. The entire restaurant is under several tall thatched roofs held up by thick wooden frameworks. Being as popular as it is required some waiting for a table to open up. Here is where the genius of Kinich starts to show. While waiting, they serve free all-you-can-drink beer and/or wine. The waiting area is comfortable, with sofas and many arts and crafts. After two beers for me and a wine for Wanda, our table opened up. 

The meats are all slow-cooked underground and wonderfully smoky. The tortillas are handmade right in front of us by two ladies. They flatten the dough into a thin circle and put them on a flat piece of iron heated up by a wood fire. We split an order of the house specialty, Papadzules Kinich. This was diced hardboiled eggs with smoky shredded sausage slow-cooked underground, wrapped in freshly handmade tortillas, and smothered in a traditional Mayan achiote sauce. WOW, it was awesome.

I also had a bowl of Sopa de Lima. This version of the lime soup was made with shredded smoky chicken meat, also slow-cooked underground. Wanda added an order of tapas that included fried bananas and giant homemade corn tortilla chips that were the best I have ever eaten, a black bean sauce with grated white cheese, and a killer habanero sauce. The whole experience was as good or better than advertised.

The spectacular Kinich Restaurant.

The kitchen staff pumping out fresh four tortillas.

After Kinich, we wandered the streets. We encountered another yellow church, Iglesia de los Remedios, and several craft shops. The crafts were advertised as authentic local-made traditional Mayan and Yucatán articles. I didn’t see one plastic 'made in China' trinket, so I believed the hype. One notable shop had crafts only made from Henequen, a fibrous agave plant used to make rope, hats, handbags, hammocks, and other crafts. Like tequila and mescal, both made from different agave plants, alcoholic beverages are also distilled from the henequen version of the agave plant. This shop let us sample 3 different anise-flavored liqueurs made from henequen.

Izamal is clearly the Yellow City.

Above and below: Examples of the laid-back art and craft shops.

They must have run out of yellow paint at the outskirts of town.

About ½ kilometer out of town is the Lakin-Ha Cave. We intended to tour the cave but ran out of time and had to catch the last colectivo back to Merida. We arrived in Merida just in time to hear a terrific band playing at the Sunday block party at Plaza Grande. The band was hot; the sound was perfect; the streets were jammed with couples dancing – just another Merida en Domingo.

Above and below: Merida knows how to put on a party. They do so every Sunday. The bands that perform at these block parties are outstanding.

Above and below: Some parts of Merida are grittier than others, but it is all bustling.

On our walk back to the Airbnb, we stopped off at Dulceria y Sorbeteria Colon on Paseo de Montejo for a sorbet. This place is a gold mine. They only sell a variety of sorbets, but they are always packed. The sorbet was delicious.

Dave and Wanda

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