Arriba Mexico!

I've always wanted to see Yucatan, so now is the time.
Together with colleague and friend Benji I take a trip to the culinary Mekka of South America.

Our route
• Cancún
• Cozumel
• Tulum
• Bacalar
• Campeche
• Chichén Itzá
• Valladolid
• Rio Lagartos
• Isla Holbox
• Puebla
• Oaxaca

Cancún.
Well, we did not really stay in Cancún or see a lot of the city. It was simply the place we arrived to as it has the biggest airport. We used the chance to "arrive" and get acclimated. And we used our time for a first dive in the underwater museum MUSA. May underwater sculptures which are colonized by fishes. Amazing to see.

Tulum.
Our first stop on this roadtrip was Tulum. Tulum has two VERY differnet sides. I actually enjoyed the "real" Tulum. We stayed in a hostel in the city center and there it was kind of great - exactly how I imagined Mexico. Eating tacos from a street food stand, riding bikes through the streets, etc.
The other side of Tulum is at the beach, I'd say it's the more touristy side of the city. There are fancy restaurants and resorts. It was nice but not the place why I would visit Mexico.
Coolest thing we did in Tulum was a Kayak Tour through the Sian Ka'an reserve. We saw a ton of birds and it was fun to paddle through the Biosphere.
The rest of our time in Tulum was all about eating Tacos and visiting the archeological zone and of course swimming in the cenotes, that's a MUST in Yucatan.

Dzibanche.
Our Roadtrip continues to Teh ruins of Dzibanche, and amazing ancient temple of the Mayas.
There was not even one other person, one can walk on every temple and it was by far the best of the Maya temples we saw on this trip.

Bacalar.
Wow. The lagune of 7 colors was really nice. During our stay there we took a trip with a sailing boat. It was just relaxing, drinking beer, swimming in the amazing blue waters and doing absolutely nothing.

Campeche.
Along we drive to the colonial city Campeche. The city is nice to see, especially the market, but I'm not sure if it was really worth the long drive. We had some awesome Margaritas though :D

Valladolid.
This little village I loved. It's so colorful and there were many many food choices.

Chichén Itzá.
Of course a visit to the by far most famous Maya temple in Chichén Itzá is a MUST. It's one of the 7 wonders of the world. We were there early in the morning when the opened and were one of the first ones to get it.
Over time it became super crowded so we were lucky to get up early.
Afterwards we visited the Cenote Secreto Maya, which was my favorite one.

Rio Lagartos.
Then we went up to the north. To Rio Lagartos, a lagune which was rather calm by the time we came. Almost no tourists, some bars, a couple of restaurants. The lagune though was absolutely beautiful. Ate the best ceviche there. Early in the morning we left for our boat trip. It was stunning and my favorite part of the Mexico vacation. Besides the many pelicans who used our boat as a taxi, we saw wild Flamingos, crocodiles and so many birds.

Isla Holbox.
Since a long time the island is not that calm and a perle anymore. It's actually covered with tourists. But we enjoyed it anyhow. We spent a day on the beach, relaxing in hammocks, enjoyed beach bars, had great food in the evening.
Holbox became a Hipster island over the years. Oaxaca.
The second part of our trip took us to the midland of Mexico.
We wen to the food Mekka called Oaxaca. First things first: the Tlayuda is amazing. Especially the vegetarian choice.
Oaxaca was very colorful, very artsy.
We did one excursion to the Hierve el Agua, a stony waterfall and on our way back we visited a Mezcal distillery.
Another day we spent with Miguel Alvarez on his farm and did a cooking class. We went to the market together and were able to make Tacos and delicious Mole and Salsa ourselves.

Puebla.
The last stop of our trip.
Puebla is quite different than the other cities we visited. The facades look almost european.
There were many really good coffee places in this city so I enjoyed our last stay.