Today was mainly a day of travelling. We had breakfast and left the hostel at 9:30, as a shrunk group of 3 people. The rest of the group finished their journey in San Cristóbal and took a plane back to DF today, some to stay there for the last week, some to go home. Iratxe, Susana and myself were the only ones going on to Yucatan.
A taxi took us to the airport of Tuxtla from where we flew with a slight delay first to Mexico City and then on to Merida in Yucatan. In Mexico City, we doubled our delay but we still arrived at 7, which was okay.
We took an Uber to the hotel, looking forward to get to know the “white city”. Imagining a beautiful city painted in white (which was what people had told us), we found out that the city was called “white” because of the lower criminality here and not because of the actual color. My first impression was that of a pretty ugly city with a nice central square and not much more. Many buildings were empty, the architecture was colonial but it seemed like nobody had taken care of it in the last 50 years. Also, and despite of what people had told us, we didn’t see many tourists.
Our hotel reflected exactly that. I was strongly reminded of the movie Grand Budapest Hotel. Our place is a pretty big but also rather empty old hotel in colonial style with 3 floors, two big patios and a swimming pool with some palm trees in one of them. The lower floor and patio are filled with prints of paintings of Frida Kahlo and has chairs and tables for dinner and breakfast (empty). Everything is a little old, a little outdated and little taken care off, although not dirty or broken. You can still feel the glamour and luxury it once had (in the 30s or so). Since then, apparently no one has changed anything. There is that certain atmosphere that makes the place very surreal but fun, like being in an old movie.
The hotel as well as the city are exactly how I imagine Cuba to be. Going out for dinner and walking a little around the streets underlined this impression. Everything is a little cheep, a little old, a little broken, a little poor but with a shadow of former glory. Architecture is or colonial or communist-ish. Many buildings are empty and broken, with the painted facades still telling the story of its former utility.
We went to a vegetarian restaurant with a beautiful patio with a little pool and nice plants and trees and had a good dinner, still stunned by this absurd city and making some plans for the next days.
We also found out (okay, this is a little embarrassing) that we’re actually not in the Carribean, what we had thought; but at the Gulf of Mexico (which I believed to belong to the Carribean…hrm). This also means that my plan of diving with colorful fish and corals is not realistic anymore, as we have discarded to go to Cancun which had originally been planned. Nevertheless, I like the vibes of this weird place, of the hotel, and the fact that it’s hot but not quite as hot as I had imagined. I will have to come back for the Carribean some other time.
