Mérida Warnings Or Dangers

If you're not from Mexico, be especially careful when traveling to Merida and elsewhere in Mexico with what you eat and drink. Never drink the tap water-- even when brushing your teeth, it's best to use bottled water (agua purificada). Bottled water can be purchased very inexpensively at local grocery stores and convenience shops-- we found bottles for as little as 3 pesos (30 cents US!).

Be equally careful with what you eat. Specifically, avoid fruits that don't have peels and have been washed in tap water. Some restaurants specify that all foods are prepared with agua purificada, but others do not, so watch out. Avoid lettuce and other washed vegetables as well.

Don't worry-- there's still plenty to eat, even with these limitations. As tempted as you might be to eat a salad or some of the fruit, remember that it's not worth the risk-- take precautions when eating so that you're feeling well and able to enjoy your trip!

We wanted to see parts of the Yucatan other than Merida, so we rented a car and planned trips to Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Loltun and Celestun. Other than the route to Chichen Itza, which is along a modern highway (with no gas stations), the routes are not clearly marked and are confusing.

Before setting out, we tried to find a highway road map of the Yucatan. A road map? Get real. In your dreams. So, the best we could find was an itsy bitsy map from the tourist magazine in our hotel, with no detail. We also had a blackberry, but Yahoo and Google maps are not detailed in this area. Fortunately, our car had a compass, and as it turned out, that was our most valuable device, but even so, we got lost a few times.

Highways extend from town to town, but when they reach the town, they disappear, and it is a challenge to find the continuation on the other side of town. Some of these towns are quite large, like Oxkutzcab, Ticul, and Uman. The main route through town disintegrates into a jumble of narrow, one way streets with more bicycles than cars. Directional signs are spotty, missing, nonexistent or just plain wrong. Only with luck will you find the other end of the highway.

Unless you have a superb sense of direction, it is impossible to get a sense of north, south, east or west. The sun is directly overhead, or behind clouds or it is night. The terrain is flat, so there are no hills or moutains to serve as landmarks. We relied heavily on our compass to get us to the other side of town. From there we drove around until we found something that looked like the road out of town. Sometimes we were right. Sometimes we were wrong and traveled in circles. Sometimes the directional signs in town were right, but we had to be on our toes with everyone looking out for signs.

Find the best road map you can on the internet and print it out before you come. It will be better than anything you can find in the Yucatan. Also be sure to pack a compass.

This police section is completely dedicated to tourism in the city. They are a professional group of young men and women especially trained by the Yucatecan Police Department to assist all the tourists who come to visit Mérida.
They can easily be identified by their white and brown unifoms as well as the patch "Polícia Turística" hey wear on their right sleeve.
Most of the members can be found around the hotel zone and avenidas, such as Paseo de Montejo, Itzaes and Circuito Colonias, as well as on the road to Progreso (near shopping center Liverpool), where they offer maps and useful information.
Thei job is to offer their assistence and help free of charge, and also to advise tourists on all relevant tourist information you might need, such as where to find consulates and embassies, hospitals, drugstores, restaurants and more. Great idea!!!

In the zocalo, we noticed at one stage we were being scoped out by a kid who was clearly intent on emptying the contents of our pockets. Luckily for us at the time, our pockets were totally empty.

It is something to keep an eye open for, though. Take all the usual precautions: money belt, extra vigilance or if you have to, put your wallet down your undies. That'll save the crafty little thieves from making off with your hard earned.

If you're in Merida, chances are you'll find yourself checking out the local hammocks. Here's a general rule to keep in mind: colourful hammocks are worth more than white hammocks, no matter what the local shopkeepers try to tell you. Many will claim that their white hammocks are made from a certain local plant; however, this is an outright lie, as these plants have been driven to near extinction in the area due to their popularity as a thread and would fetch much higher prices than what they are offering them to you for. Instead, the white hammocks are simply a very thick cotton.

After we had bought some hammocks, we were approached by a man on the street who offered to trade our 'inferior' dyed hammocks for his 'high quality' white hammocks. Naturally, we told him we weren't interested. However, it's something to watch out for. Don't be tricked by the local salesmen!

When it rains in Merida, be prepared for floods. The drains system must be in a very bad condition, because all the water remains on the streets. If you have to go somwhere in that particular moment, don't wory; you'll surely be wet. Water level somwhere riches some 25 cm.

Even on a next day there are a lot of ''lakes'' left.

Before we started on this trip many people warned us about the need to use a good sunscreen everyday when out in the sun for long periods, like at Chichen Itza. They also said drink plenty of water and wear a straw hat. Heat exhaution can sneak up on you before you know it, I was told, & can last a couple days so drinking plenty of water is important.

I bought this straw hat in downtown Cancun for just $6.00 US. Many of the stores there had good bargains. I wore suncreen everyday & didn't get a burn at all. Also, carried bottled water & drank it regularly. Had no problems.

When shopping downtown watch your step and keep a hold of the children.
Although the crowd is the same as a crowd you would see in New York the street traffic is not as organized.
You have cars zooming 40 mph down these busy roads. Mixed with trucks, horses, bikes and people. It is too dangerous to enjoy the shopping. I saved most of my shopping for Progreso.