More about Izamal

The village square in Izamal is not as grand as the one in Merida but again has a colonnade on three sides. Unfortunately the ambience is ruined by 15 huge North American RV’s parked on two sides completely obscuring the shops and cafes. Apparently this is an RV owners’ version of a cruise. They each drive their own RV in convoy around Mexico, with a leading guide car and a security car following up behind. There is obviously fierce competition as to who has the biggest and the best RV as most of them are enormous and glistening in the sun shine. There is one ramshackle little one that is built on the back of a pick up truck, which boasts a sign on the side advertising that it comes from Tennessee.

The third side of the square is lined with horse and carriages, just as in Merida, although here they are not in such good condition and some of the seats in the carriages are worn through to the stuffing. The ones that have managed to afford new seats have learned a lesson from Chinese restaurants and covered them in plastic. As the temperature is well into the 80’s, the thought of sitting on plastic is about as unappealing as the idea of sitting on the dilapidated seats so we decide to forgo the pleasure of a ride.

We have lunch in a tiny restaurant just off the square. We decide to sit outside at a plastic table supplied by the restaurant.There is no sidewalk, so we are actually sitting in the street. But the cars and scooters seem to avoid us quite easily.

Thanks to Joany’s breakfasts we are not hungry and I just order guacamole and chips. As we are sitting there eating, a teenage girl comes and stands between our chairs right at the table looking longingly at the chips. She is not poorly dressed or particularly thin, so I have a hard time inviting her to help herself. But she is clearly not going to leave until I do. Finally I break down and offer her one. A rather dirty hand then buries itself into the pile of chips and pulls out a large handful. She runs off laughing while I sit and look at the remaining chips which I have now no intention of touching