6 Nights 9 Days Independent Trip to Mexico (#2/4 Merida & Chichen Itza Edition) | Mark Trip

In winter 2025, Mexico Trip #2 is the Merida to Chichen Itza edition. This is a report on a tour visiting Chichen Itza from Merida, on the opposite side of Cancun.#1 is here

Before talking about Merida, a side note.

I returned to Mexico City from Guanajuato on the evening of the previous day and went straight to bed that day. At this time, I booked a hotel near the airport, but it was a huge disappointment. The air conditioner's heating didn't work. There was no hot water in the shower. I couldn't use the hair dryer, etc. I eventually had the room changed, but I had to complain to the front desk many times, which was stressful. I learned throughout this trip that in Mexico, you basically shouldn't expect heating or showers. Except for the last hotel I stayed at, the heating and showers were almost always unsatisfactory. I wonder if it's a national trait. By the way, the people have a humble and kind, good impression.
The next day, the schedule was to sightsee in Mexico City in the morning and head to Merida on an evening flight. Since I am sightseeing in Mexico City on a later day as well, I will report on that together with this. This time, I will summarize the excursion from Merida to Chichen Itza.

Travel from Mexico City departing at 16:15 and arriving in Merida at 18:20.

I finished sightseeing in Mexico City at 13:00, returned to the hotel at 14:00, and took the hotel shuttle bus to Terminal 2 of the airport. I headed to Merida on the 16:15 flight. Arrival is at 18:20. Actually, I was planning to arrive earlier, but due to an Aeromexico schedule change (about 3 hours), it ended up being an evening arrival.
When I arrived in Merida, the temperature rose all at once. It's a climate where you can feel summer even at night. I intended to take a bus from the airport to near the hotel, but again, it's a "Mexico thing" where I don't know where the bus stop is. In the first place, signs weren't properly displayed or were only in Spanish, so it's a trap for first-timers. I asked people and found out where the bus stop was, but I didn't know when it would come. It was late, so I decided to use Uber here too. However, since they couldn't enter the airport, I trudged along, dragging my luggage, and walked outside the premises. After the usual brief misunderstanding, I was finally able to meet the driver. Please be careful, as picking up in places where Uber is prohibited is quite difficult.

I arrived at the address where the hotel should be, but...

I got in and arrived at the address where the hotel should be in less than 30 minutes. I got off because the address was definitely correct. The fare was 150 pesos (about 1300 yen), which is cheap. However, I couldn't find the hotel sign or entrance. When I checked on Booking.com, where I made the reservation, I realized that I had missed an email from the hotel confirming my arrival time a few days ago. Initially, I was scheduled to arrive 3 hours earlier, so I had communicated that time, but I forgot to inform them that the flight was delayed by 3 hours. The hotel was actually like an Airbnb, with no front desk, and there was no way to contact them. It had become a so-called "no-show" state. I was at a loss on a deserted street corner, but as a last resort, I tried calling the hotel? directly. Fortunately, the call connected. I desperately conveyed in English, "I have a reservation. I just arrived. Let me in." I was told, "Wait a minute," and after waiting a few minutes, the door opened from the inside. I was prepared for the worst-case scenario of having no place to stay, so I felt relieved. There are quite a few cases where you think it's a hotel, but it's not. I took to heart that I should not neglect to communicate my arrival time.

The problem of how to get to Chichen Itza.

I decided to go to Chichen Itza by tour, but actually, it was difficult until I reached that conclusion. I'd like to talk a little about that. At first, I intended to go by Maya Train or bus and collected information, but I couldn't book either online. For the Maya Train, for some reason, something like an ID was required at the final stage of card payment, and I couldn't purchase it because I didn't know what that was. As for the bus, I couldn't access the ADO company's site from Japan, so I checked locally, but for some reason, the candidate buses were not displayed at all. I might have been able to ride if I had gone directly to the terminal, but I wanted to avoid failing on a gamble, so I excluded it from my options. As a next measure, I thought of taking an Uber to the Maya Train station and buying a same-day ticket for the train. However, there were several concerns (risks) with this as well. One is that the train station is quite far from the city. Second, there is a possibility that I cannot buy a train ticket. Third, the number of trains is small. Especially for the return trip, there is no train after 13:00 until 18:00. While I was at a loss like that, I searched, thinking "there might be a tour," and found the perfect tour, so I decided to apply for it. I booked it just before boarding the flight to Merida.

The approximately 12-hour tour is 10,000 yen per person.

What I finally chose wasthis tourand I booked it from Booking.com. The entrance fee for Chichen Itza is not included, but it is reasonable at about 10,000 yen per person, including round-trip transportation, lunch, entrance fee to the cenote, and sightseeing in Izamal. Since the Maya Train was 900 pesos (about 8,000 yen) per person round trip, it was about the same or cheaper. I had given up on the cenote from the beginning, but I was lucky to be able to see it unintentionally. As a conclusion, I think it was a good choice. Below, I will report on the experience along the tour.

The meeting time is 7:00 AM!

There are 3 meeting places, and the system is that the bus will pick you up in order if you wait at a convenient place. You will be contacted via an SNS called WhatsApp the day before, so it is OK if you tell them, "I will go here." We chose the tour company's office because it was the closest to our accommodation. It's a little over a 10-minute walk from the accommodation. When we headed there, many tour guests had gathered despite it being early in the morning. It seems there are various tours. When I told them my name at the reception, they said, "We will call you when the time comes, so please wait indoors or in front of the store." Before long, I was called and boarded. It is a tour of about 15 people. I chose an English tour, but it seems there are many people whose native language is not English.

Arrived at Chichen Itza in about 2 hours!

After stopping at the remaining two meeting places, they stop at a 7-Eleven. It's a break time of about 15 minutes to buy or eat breakfast. After that, we took a short break at a souvenir shop that also served as a restroom break, and arrived at Chichen Itza at 10:00 AM. However, there was a huge traffic jam with cars entering the parking lot, so we got off the car on the way and walked to the entrance. This kind of thing is the efficient and good part of a tour. If I had come by a regular bus, I wouldn't have been let off until I reached the parking lot. We arrived in front of the entrance about 5 minutes after getting off the car.

The slightly difficult ticket purchase

Tickets for Chichen Itza are separate from the tour price, so you have to buy them yourself. That said, the process involves lining up with the tour group and paying individually. What makes it confusing is that you need to make two separate payments: one for the so-called admission fee and another for a tax-like charge. According to information I had beforehand, I thought we would have to stand in separate lines, but this time we paid at two different windows while in the same line. Since the windows are lined up, the flow is to pay at one window and then pay again at the next one. The cost was 571 pesos (about 5,100 yen) for the admission fee and 100 pesos (about 900 yen) for the tax-like charge. Once you pay, you go through a simple baggage check and then you're in! By the way, be aware that there are several prohibited items, such as food and selfie sticks. You also need to pay an extra fee if you want to record video.

Enjoying Chichen Itza for about an hour and a half

Once you enter the park, there are souvenir shops lined up here and there. They call out to you, but they aren't too persistent, so it doesn't bother you much. The prices aren't that high either. Before long, the pyramid you've been waiting to see appears right in front of you. Chichen Itza is vast. We spent about an hour and a half listening to the guide's explanation, but it still felt like a whirlwind tour. It was winter, but the sun was strong, and there were times when a parasol came in handy. Heat protection is essential.

Visiting a cenote

I had given up on visiting a cenote due to time constraints, but thanks to joining the tour, I was able to go. However, since I didn't have a swimsuit, I just looked at it without getting in the water. Still, I was glad to see what a cenote is actually like. It's hard to tell in the photos, but the water was clear despite its depth, and I could clearly see small fish swimming. If you have time, you should definitely enjoy a swim in the cenote.

After a late lunch, we headed to Merida via Izamal

We spent about an hour and a half at the cenote. Since we didn't swim, our visit ended in about 30 minutes. After that, we had to wait until the meeting time. Unfortunately, it was an area with no signal, so I felt a bit restless. After that, we had a late lunch at 2:00 PM. We had a buffet-style lunch at a large restaurant nearby that seemed to be for tour groups. I had been looking forward to it, but unfortunately, it wasn't very good. I guess that's what you get with a cheap tour. After lunch, we headed to a town called Izamal and spent a little less than an hour there. It is a photogenic town where the entire town is unified in yellow. We left Izamal around 5:00 PM and returned to Merida before 7:00 PM, ending the tour.

Summary

This is what the one-day tour to Chichen Itza was like. Access from Merida was a concern to begin with, so I was very satisfied that I could easily make a round trip and also see a cenote. Considering the train fare for the Maya Train, the price was also a good deal. The next day, I will return to Mexico City on the 9:00 AM flight. In Part 3, I will report on Mexico City.