Entering the Yucatan

Leaving the glitzy holiday vibes behind us in the state of Quintana Roo, we crossed the border into a new state, Yucatan, and we were excited for our first stop (which wasn't originally planned) in Valladolid. I still can’t pronounce this.

Pristine Street near our Airbnb called Calz de los Frailes

Fruit for sale everywhere

Valladolid is the third biggest city in the Yucatan, although it still has a small town feel with a sense of community. We had not heard a great deal about the town, many tourists just stop off here or use the town as an entry point to the famous ruins of Chichen Itza, now listed as one of the great 7 wonders of the world. We were aiming to get away from tourists, and get under the skin of Mexican culture a bit more. We decided to stick around in Valladolid for a couple of nights, which wasn't actually long enough. Its a great place, full of colourful buildings, history, great food and friendly, hospitable people.

After jumping off the ADO coach into a wall of heat, we checked into our Airbnb down a wide and dusty street, in one of the residential quarters of Valladolid. It was a low rise building with a curly gate, and although all the other homes on the street were also on one level, none of them matched in colour or style. We were greeted with a beaming smile and a very American “Heeeeey!” from Sara our host as we tumbled our bags out of the taxi. Over the next few days we learnt that she’s a free-spirited, kind and eccentric lady from America, who moved to the town a few years ago to live with her equally eccentric Mexican counterpart, Mauricio. We sapped all the local knowledge about what the see and eat from Sara and Mauricio. They were so easy to chat to, and often the stories would run away with us, with tales of alligator hooked fishing lines and narrow escapes from sharks whilst swimming. (Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, neither of those two stories were ours.)

Stunned by the colours

Tasting Elotes for the first time

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon exploring Valladolid on foot, taking a thousand photos and tasting a couple of new things such as Elotes, and a Mayan chocolate drink served hot or cold. The drink was blended with cinnamon sticks, dark chocolate, cacao and water. It was fresh, frothy and the naturally sweet cinnamon spice worked well. Very refreshing on a hot day. The girl making the chocolate drinks brought us what looked like a homemade Jenga to go with the drink, maybe it was a hint that we should take a leaf out of the Mexican book and slow life down a bit. We decided to take the hint.

The next morning, Sara kindly made us breakfast which included some fresh tomatoes straight from her vines in the garden. Coffee (from Mauricio’s uncle in Veracruz no less) and Hibiscus tea known as ‘Agua de Jamaica’ in Mexico. Made by cold steeping the hibiscus flowers overnight, this was really refreshing in the morning. It has a sweet, sour and slightly tannin flavour similar to cranberry, and it’s packed with goodness. Although this meant most mornings I had 3 drinks on the go! You don't get that in a hotel do you?

We only had one full day in Valladolid, so we had be very selective about what we chose to do. In an attempt to minimise contact with bum-bag wearing tourists, we decided the unspeakable, not to visit Chichen Itza. Instead we would visit another Mayan ruin. Older, bigger, bolder - I'm not sure if all thats true, but it is older. We went to the Mayan site of Ek Balam, north of Valladolid, which was rumoured to be better by locals. There was also the bonus that you can climb the 32 metre high pyramid which is designed to look like a Jaguar’s mouth. You don't have to be a fan of history or architecture to be amazed in a place like Ek Balam. It is very well preserved, considering it was built in 300AD.

Ek Balam site

One of the smaller structures

We took the 17km trip to the Ek Balam site in a shared taxi with two backpackers who were also staying at Sara and Mauricio’s place. Charlotte and Josephine were 19 and 20, and on a break from University in Germany. Until they corrected me, I believed they may have been studying ‘non-stop-chattering’ as they and Louise didn’t stop the whole way to the site in the back of the taxi.

We climbed, we photographed, we sweated. We then rounded off our visit to Ek Balam with a visit to ‘Cenote Xcanche’, which was just a one mile cycle-taxi away. The Yucatan region of Mexico is famed for it’s cenotes, in fact we were told there are thousands here and yet barely any anywhere else in the world. We had read that cenotes are usually formed from limestone rock caverns that have collapsed, leaving behind large pools of fresh water that are sunken below the earth’s surface. They’re also clearly designed to evoke a lot of oohs and aahs. It was impressive. We also found out that back in the days of the Maya civilisation that these cenote sites were regarded as sacred and often used as places for human sacrifice. Nice.

Watching people zipline across the top whilst we played it cool in the water

Whilst the 3 girls were busy in the water, talking, photographing, chatting, giggling, Instagramming etc, I decided to leave them to it for a little while and give myself some ‘me time’. I could smell smoke, and in the Yucatan smoke means food is being cooked. Only a few steps from the cenote I came across a Mayan family who were living in a traditional hut with a straw ‘palapa’ roof. I stepped inside, into the smoke filled house, and there was a family of around eight women with children all of a young age cooking tamalitas. These are small corn tamales filled with shredded chicken, flavoured with orange and achiote paste. I managed to find this out with my hazy language concoction of basic Spanish, English and even Italian at points. I gestured that I wanted to come closer to the kitchen, and they welcomed me in. It was nice to know they weren't intimated by a 6 ft Englishman stood watching them - I was the one outnumbered. I shouted an echoing “Louise!” into the cenote as I wanted her to see the cooking in action, and about half an hour later she joined me.

The women of the Maya seem to be the cooks, so I found it interesting to watch them cook. The were using not much more than the open fire with a large comal, a large cast iron or sometimes earthenware skillet placed directly on the flames. This was ancient cooking, something you rarely come across and I was excited to be there. I think the combination of this and the smoke hitting the food can transform the simplest of dishes to something that just can't be replicated. The comal gives the corn dough, known as ‘masa’, a toasted crust and a crunch when you eat it, and the smoke adds another flavour element. I had a look out the back of the hut and they were growing some herbs and what looked like tomato plants in wooden boxes.

Mayan huts right next to the cenote

Family lunch of tamalitas cooking on the comal

That afternoon, we decided to follow up a tip off about a good place to eat in Valladolid. Whilst I was busy chatting away with Mayan cooks that morning, it turns out Louise had got chatting to an English food writer down in the cenote. Knowing we had little time here, she gave us one place we couldn’t miss - Yerbabuena. The name translates as peppermint. It was a cafe with a bohemian feel focusing on good, healthy food influenced from the Yucatan. It sounded interesting, and after being in a landlocked area for a few days, eating nothing but heavy corn based meals and meat dishes, even I was ready for a vegetarian meal.

The ethos of the place focuses on organic foods, good for mind, body and soul. I went with it, and it was a refreshing change. Louise tried an oat milk smoothie with banana and cinnamon, I went for a chilled coffee with ice. Our chirpy waiter recommended a couple of dishes to try and served them with a bottle of chemical free mosquito repellent to spray on our legs. After the lunch we said thanks to the kitchen and a man who seemed to be the owner. He noticed we showed interest in the water ionising tank at the top of the resraurant, which was filled with rocks and charcoal to cleanse, remove and add minerals back into the water before drinking. It wont be long until this catches on everywhere. Yerbabuena was a great place to eat a wholesome lunch, prepared by staff who cared about the ingredients. We went back the following morning before heading off to our next destination, Mérida, capital of the Yucatan!

Thanks for the tip off!

Wholesome, fresh and green! We tried a few new things here at Yerbabuena. The plate at the top was Maculam Tacos - soft corn tortillas with black beans, cheese and hoja santa herb inside. The bottom dish was a mix of 3; Flautas - a potato, carrot and cheese taco which has been rolled and deep fried; enmoladas - soft tortillas filled with avocado, cream and cheese and then dipped in a rich mole sauce; and lastly, sope - a thicker tortilla laid flat, topped with black beans, lettuce and fresh cheese on top. All the dishes could be customised, by spooning on any of the salsas, such as fiery habanero, tomatillo or roast tomato.