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2024 Uxmal Travel Guide: Must-see attractions, popular food, hotels, transportation routes (updated in December)
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【Mexico】 The sparsely populated yet more intriguing Uxmal.
🪄As a UNESCO World Heritage site, Uxmal is less accessible due to its remote location, and is not as famous as Chichen Itza, which is also on the Yucatan Peninsula and a representative of the Maya culture. The architectural complex of Uxmal is actually better preserved and allows for climbing to get a panoramic view. Standing atop, one feels like Columbus discovering a new world, which is quite impressive👍
🪄The first thing you see when entering the ancient city is the tallest Pyramid of the Magician, named after the legend that it was built overnight by a magician. It stands 35 meters high and has a rare elliptical shape. It was built around 700 AD, which is later than Chichen Itza, and is the most beautiful I have seen in Mexico, but climbing is no longer allowed🥀
🪄Another noteworthy structure is the Governor's Palace, whose facade is made up of intricately carved stone blocks forming the mask of the feathered serpent god🎭. It is said that the mask appears over 150 times without any discrepancy, isn't that cool?
🪄Funny enough, because the steps were so steep, my legs turned to jelly while climbing. I had to crawl up on all fours, and when coming down, I was so dizzy😵 that I had to sit on the steps and scoot down one by one, fearing I might tumble down and make a fool of myself. It turns out that even I, who have bungee jumped off the Macau Tower, can have a fear of heights, haha.
🚌If you come to the Yucatan Peninsula, I strongly recommend spending a day at Uxmal. It takes about 2 hours from Merida, and don't miss your stop at Uxmal. Also, I highly recommend the ADO bus🚌 for travel in Mexico; it's cheap and has many departures, and you can buy tickets directly on their website.
⏰A reminder for those on a self-driving tour in eastern Mexico: you may often be stopped by police👮 asking for money. Besides the language barrier making communication difficult, if you don't pay, they might take you straight to the police station. This is something to be especially aware of when traveling on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Merida travel guide.
Mérida, Mexico Business trip sharing. Merida is the capital of Yucatan, the birthplace of Mayan culture, and is full of Mayan civilization-themed souvenirs and clothing.
Merida itself is a small city and is said to be the safest city in Mexico.
There were literally police everywhere (Figure 5).
It was also my first time on a business trip to Latin America to wander around alone at 22:00 at night.
In the past two days, I only took a quick tour of the city.
We recommend the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, a Mayan-themed museum in the urban area, where you can gain an in-depth understanding of Mayan culture.
Tickets are 150 pesos.
Tips: It is recommended to download Google Translate in advance. It will be faster to directly translate the image and read the introduction.
If you are traveling here, it is recommended to book a one-day tour.
(Around 1,000 pesos), nearby attractions include: Cenote,
Mayan civilization ruins Uxmal, Mayan pyramid Chichenitza.
Hotel Hacienda Merida
The Hacienda here is a special hotel (Pictures 8 and 9).
Very local style and nice environment.
It is within walking distance from the Grand Square and 3 kilometers from the Convention and Exhibition Center. The hotel does not have toothbrush and toothpaste, please bring your own.
Micaela Mar & Lena (Picture 1, Picture 2)
Ordered the Octopus and Shrimp Taco, both dishes were good.
The octopus is paired with sweet potatoes, which is sweet.
La Parrilla | Colonial (Picture 3)
The name of the dish ordered was Molcajete Yucatec. Molcajeje is a container used by locals to make sauce.
This dish contains grilled bananas, onions, grilled meat, avocado, radishes, and sausage.
The taste is average, the best thing is the grilled banana hahahaha.
Museum of Yucateca Gastronomy Museo (Figure 4)
A restaurant with a museum of Mayan food culture.
It seems that the Mayan people's cooking is average, and the meat is very poor.
After the meal, we visited the museum and bought local honey as a souvenir.
The Breath of Antiquity, Uxmal Ruins.
The Zona Arqueológica de Uxmal in Mexico is a place where you can directly experience the grandeur of the Mayan civilization. It is famous for its intricate carvings and unique architectural styles, especially the magical 'Temple of the Masks' and the 'Second Temple,' which boast overwhelming beauty. The ancient history and culture felt throughout the site deeply move visitors. The vast grounds, combined with the scenery that blends with nature, make it an ideal spot for photography, and guided tours offer more stories to enjoy. Ultimately, the experience here was a special time that made me feel the greatness of the Mayan civilization once again.
I'm about to go to the pyramid|But the first time did not leave to Egypt
|But the first time did not leave to Egypt.✓First of all, strongly push 'Revelation' if you like Mayan culture
✓Uxmal is the first stop of the Puuc Route
✓It's also the first time I've climbed a pyramid in my life
【Uxmal】
The meaning in Mayan is 'three times construction', in fact, Uxmal has been built five times to reach today's scale.
Uxmal was built in AD 600 and was abandoned until AD 900. The preliminary judgment is drought, because the local water shortage was considered when it was built, so there are a large number of reservoirs Chultun in the ruins. After Uxmal was abandoned, the Xiu Dynasty moved the administrative center to Mani, 50 kilometers to the east. There is a small town nearby called Mani.
【House of the Sorcerer】Casa del Adivino
Also called the Magician's Pyramid, it is 39 meters high and is a rare elliptical section. It is said to have been built by the high priest overnight.
【Quadrangle of the Nuns】Cuadrangulo de las Monjas
You can see the rain god Chaac with a curled nose and glaring eyes in every corner. But experts still can't guess what this building with 74 rooms is for.
【Feathered Serpent】Kukulkan
The gorgeous exterior walls all have the appearance of the feathered serpent god. The Totonac of the Mexican plateau and the Mayan feathered serpent god Kukulkan or Quetzalcoatl.
Totonac in Mayan Nahuatl dialect means 'People of hot land'
Quetzalcoatl 'Feathered Serpent God Kukulkan' also comes from the Mayan Nahuatl dialect, Quetzlli green feathers, Coatl means snake
【Governor's Palace】Palacio del Gobernador
The Governor's Palace is also known as the 'Ruler's Palace', I think it is the most beautiful in the Uxmal ruins, after the House of the Sorcerer, the most representative is the magnificent relief exterior wall that is one hundred meters long.
Mayan scholar Michael D Coe called the Governor's Palace the most superb architecture and the peak of Puuc style.
The whole brick wall plus the broken brick relief base layer, smeared with limestone thin brick, plus cement repair, full of stylized and symbolic rain god Chaac, scroll decoration, geometric design and so on.
【Great Pyramid】Gran Piramide
Only the north side has been repaired, the other sides are all unbearable dirt slopes, further west is the group of tombs, but they have not been repaired.
【Dovecote】El Palomar
Standing on top of the Great Pyramid, you can see the Dovecote to the west, 9 arches like a Catholic church bell tower, standing on the hillside, it is said to have been a small part of a square building.
【Turtle House】Casa de las tortugas
The northwest corner of the platform under the Governor's Palace (Ruler's Palace) is the Turtle House, named for the image of the rain god Chaac turning into a turtle on the eaves. In Mayan mythology, when people encounter drought, turtles also suffer from drought and will pray for rain to the rain god Chaac.
#holidayvacation uxmal has one of the largest Mayan pyramid in Mexico and the site is way less touristy than Chichen Itza, entrance fee is 435 peso per person and 80 peso for the parking.
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