Yucatan Peninsula

 The Yucatan Peninsula is a mecca for tourism due to Cancun, which was built up in the 1990s to expand the tourist industry in Mexico, especially since Acapulco had deteriorated somewhat due to cartel expansion and infrastructure collapses. 

Cancun became wildly popular, growing faster than they could keep up with. If you've been to Mexico on vacation, it's likely you stayed in Cancun, in one of the full-service resorts lined up along the beautiful Caribbean beaches.

The city itself has little to offer outside the nice hotels and resorts. Best to stay in your all-inclusive resort and avoid wandering around other areas. If you want to go visit any ruins, such as Chichen Itza, book it through your resort and all will be well. 

A day's ride from Cancun, in the state of Yucatan, lies the city of Merida. This is a beautiful place and a huge favorite with expats and tourists. Just as Cancun is famous for its high crime rate, Merida is famous for its low crime rate, marked as one of the safest cities in not just Mexico but in the American continent. One can safely walk through these neighborhoods and parks without fear, day and night.

I did it. I took the horse and carriage ride through the downtown streets.

Forbes has ranked Merida three times as one of the three best cities in Mexico to live, invest and do business. In 2022, the UN-Habitat's City Prosperity Index recognized Merida as the city with the highest quality of life in Mexico.

It has a tropical climate, which means the summers can be unbearable for North Americans and Europeans, easily getting to 100 and over. Because of the city's wealth and tourism, air conditioning is widespread in even small stores and restaurants. Still, it attracts a large expat population who rent or buy homes and apartments. Really nice Airbnbs are plentiful. As well as very nice restaurants specializing in the local Mayan cuisine. Outdoor dining is popular.

The Yucatan peninsula was central to the ancient Maya lands and cities. Merida features their arts and crafts in overwhelming beauty and abundance.

Check out these ceilings....

Not far from Merida, are the pyramids of Uxmal and Chichen Itza, both very well maintained and major tourist sites. The whole of Mexico has ruins. Bruce and I have been to quite a few sites in both Mexico and Guatemala, Tikal being one of the largest in Guatemala. But none of them compared to the obvious financial support given to Uxmal and Chichen Itza, due to the huge influx of tourists that visit the Yucatan Peninsula year-round.

The large pyramid at Chichen Itza

Merida has gorgeous colonial architecture from the Spanish era, since it is the city where government officials came to live with their families. One can tour a reconstructed Spanish home from centuries ago. I could quite make myself at home here, living in luxury. No air conditioning though. They probably had servants fanning people with giant palm leaves.

That's it for Y. Tomorrow is the last day of the alphabet. Fortunately, Spanish uses a lot of Z words.

 I hope you have enjoyed touring through Mexico and other LATAM expat destinations this month. I sure have enjoyed sharing my experiences and appreciated all the comments and interest.