I woke to deep, wet coughing outside my window at the fabulous Hotel Canto in Izamal Sunday morning. Apparently an old man with a serious lower respiratory situation was inhabiting one of the neighboring luxury suites. I took a shower and left promptly. By the way, it's really warm here... why is the water still ice cold? By the way... I ran into a travel writer named Bruce who was in Izamal doing research for the new edition of his book, Adventure Guide to the Yucatan. When I told him about my accommodations, he looked at me like I'd told him I had Ebola. I must say, though... for a crappy hotel, it could have been much, much worse. If you're coming to the Yucatan, Bruce's book is available a your local Borders and here.

"...and was immediately lost."
It was a fun hour-and-a-half bus trip to Merida, bouncing along on a second class bus. We got into town and ran smack into a huge traffic jam. We were just sitting for like fifteen minutes. So I thought I'd be the clever one and get off and walk. My top-rate orienteering skills estimated I was only 10-15 blocks from where I was staying. So after I persuaded a concerned passenger that it was ok to disembark on the street, I stepped onto the sidewalk and was immediately lost.

It's possible that I was only 10 blocks away, but I made sure to at least double that...

The Watchdog at My Merida Accomodations

in the heat of mid afternoon... through the market with lots of raw meat hanging around. It should've been very simple. The even streets go east-west. The odd streets go north-south. I knew which intersection I wanted, but couldn't seem to make the numbers go in the right direction. It was like a Rubik's cube. I'd get headed toward the north-west street... but when I then tried to start heading toward the east-west street, the first got messed up.

"The grimness that is the Hotel Canto."
After briefly losing my Mexico guidebook (which I was able to recover by asking around in Spanish), I found the place. A very nice two-room suite. Quite a step up from the grimness that is the Hotel Canto. They try to call it an efficiently apartment, but I think that requires a small sink and cooking equipment. There is none. But nonetheless, at $22 a night, it's quite a deal. A little pricey to do every night, but well within my budget.

It's New Year's Eve, with less than seven hours to go here in the Mexican equivalent of the central time zone. I'm going out with some people from where I'm staying. They say New Year's in Merida can be a good time. Certainly my first in a foreign country... unless you count Peoria, Illinois :-)