Yucatan Road Trip: Izamal (the Yellow City)
After a few nights in Valladolid, with day trips to Coba and Chichen Itza, it was time to move westward to Merida. Our tour guide at Chichen Itza told us that a stop in Izamal for lunch at Kinich - one of Mexico’s top-rated restaurants - was an absolute MUST on our way to Merida. With GPS set for the scenic route, we rolled through several small colorful towns on the road to Izamal, stopping in Dzitas for some snacks and photos.
Izamal
A town cannot get much more welcoming than Izamal, with its sunny yellow walls, bright tropical flowers, and the clip-clop of horse drawn carriages! Izamal was unexpectedly delightful — thank you, Mr. Tour Guide!
Click any photo for larger size slide show.
Izamal Town Square outside Convento de San Antonia de Padua
Izamal has been continuously inhabited since 700 B.C. and was likely a rival-town of Coba in size and importance by 600-800 A.D. It was (of course) conquered by the Spanish in the mid-1500s and the town today is anchored by a huge 16th century Franciscan convent built on top of the Mayan temple acropolis. Convento de San Antonia de Padua is still open to the public after nearly 500 years of ongoing Catholic ministry and is a pilgrimage site for the veneration of Catholic saints. Its atrium is rivaled only by the Vatican in size!
Restaurant Kinich and Mayan Foods
Kinich was chosen among the top restaurants in Mexico by the Mexican Culinary Guide. This spacious restaurant has the feel of an open air garden, with hanging plants, a water feature, and space to wander. On the walls are family heirlooms and works of art from local artists. Behind a row of pretty tropical greenery, a grilling area and table piled high with freshly-made tortillas.
The menu includes an extensive variety of authentic Mayan foods, but is renowned for the Poc Chuc (slow roasted meat in a citrus marinade) and Relleno Negro (a poultry soup with a black broth made from charred peppers). In addition to these, we also ordered Longaniza de Valladolid, a sausage that tastes just like a slim jim, and enjoyed endless tortillas served with out-of-this-world salsa. And the price? Very reasonable, considering the reputation of Kinich!
After this hearty meal, we needed to awaken from our food coma. We wandered around the town, eventually making our way to the barely-excavated Mayan ruins. We climbed to the top of Kinich Kakmó, the great pyramid of the Mayan Sun God, and enjoyed the expansive view of the yellow city below.
