What to do 24 hours in Valladolid, the quiet city of Mexico

Called “the Sultana of the East” for the beauty of its colonial buildings, the Mexican city of Valladolid is the perfect place to discover the essence of Yucatecan culture and gastronomy.

But it is also the ideal place as a base camp and to tour the ruins, cenotes, islands, salt flats, mangroves and jungles that abound in the Yucatan Peninsula.

6.30 Early morning bird watching

It dawns in the main building of the Hacienda de Temozón

(1)

, the bright green grass full of dew reaches the stairs of the main building making the red color of its walls seem even more vivid.

We could have taken the bikes to visit the cenote that is three kilometers away, within the farm, but we opted for the ornithological tour that the hacienda offers every morning.

Ángel waits with binoculars and a book by his former master ornithologist, Barbara MacKinnon,

Go Birding in Yucatan

.

MacKinnon was a pioneer of

birdwatching

in the Yucatan Peninsula. She guided the first tourists who came to observe the immense variety of birds that pass through the area throughout the year and has done great work throughout Mexico as a trainer of birdwatching guides. birds in rural communities that, in turn, have found in this practice a means of life and a way to preserve their environment.

Today we are in luck, a few meters from us the Cenzontle or bird of 400 voices is perched, due to its great ability to imitate the songs of other birds.

In another nearby tree the song of the Luisi Bienteveo joins in and, a little later, the multicolored Mamoto with blue eyebrows appears.

On the walk we tour this wonderful colonial-style hacienda, inside the jungle, which was one of the most important in Yucatan.

The Fourcroydes agave plant was grown here, from which the henequen fiber came, so precious for the manufacture of ropes used in ships and exported to countless countries.

These ships that carried henequen brought products that had never seen these lands, such as the curious case of Dutch Edam cheese;

products that were quickly incorporated into their traditional cuisine.

This mixture gave rise to the famous Yucatecan cuisine.

More information

Mexico City, the navel of the world

8.00 At the market

We took the car through this great plain that is the Yucatán Peninsula.

According to locals, this plain was created when a huge meteorite hit the Earth 65 million years ago, forming a crater 180 kilometers in diameter, which led to the mass extinction of animals and plants.

We have always heard this story, but we did not know that it was here, in the nearby area of ​​Chicxulub, where the impact occurred.

Along the way, towns full of life such as Hoctún, Tahmek or Kantunil, where their colorful churches are never lacking.

We arrive at the city of Valladolid.

This small town has changed a lot in recent years and it has changed for the better.

Many young artisans and entrepreneurs have found their place here to open a small shop, restaurant or accommodation, where priority is always given to the local and gives added value to a place that only increases its cultural and gastronomic offer.

The convent of San Bernardino de Siena, in the city of Valladolid.cristina candel

If there is something that characterizes Valladolid, it is its slow pace.

The city is so manageable that you can reach any corner in a short walk.

We go directly to the market

(2)

, to the fruit and vegetable area to learn about the ingredients of Yucatecan cuisine.

The pitahaya is one of the most characteristic fruits of Yucatan, which is used in salads and juices;

the cape is a type of white potato;

chaya, called Mayan spinach;

or chayote, a type of pumpkin, one of the many grown in Yucatán and throughout the country, which can be consumed both raw and cooked.

And to continue the gastronomic experience, what better way than to eat some tacos in one of the popular taquerias in the market.

The market also has a section of local crafts that is worth visiting.

10.00 To the cenote

Just two blocks from the market is the Zaci cenote (white hawk, in Mayan)

(3)

, with warm and transparent waters, surrounded by jungle.

It is incredible that such a place exists in the middle of the city.

The Xcanché cenote, near the Mexican city of Valladolid.Cristina Candel

If you want to continue discovering cenotes, there are countless options around Valladolid: the Chukum cenote

(4)

is inside a closed cave with stalactites;

the one in Xcanché

(5)

has a zip line included;

and then there is the most photographed, the Suytun cenote

(6)

.

After bathing, around eleven in the morning is the time when we will find the streets of the city most alive, so it is the ideal time to get lost in its alleys, come across the church of Santa Ana

(7)

, the House of the Deer

(8)

or sit in the Francisco Cantón Rosado park

(9)

in front of the two towers of the temple of San Servacio

(10)

to enjoy the comings and goings of the locals.

The temple of San Servacio and the Francisco Cantón Rosado park, in Valladolid.cristina candel

12.30 Yucatecan food

It's time to eat and the choice is the Conato restaurant

(11)

.

Murals by Mexican artist Rafael Baca fill the walls and, in the background, a patio full of plants and with a set of mirrors that, when the light bounces, creates a magical and cozy space.

The menu includes any typical Mexican and Yucatecan dish that one has in mind and also offers an extensive menu of cocktails created with local liquors.

14.00 At the pyramid of Ek Balam

Visitors in the Mayan archaeological zone of Ek Balam, near the city of Valladolid.Cristina Candel

We left the city for a good reason and that is that just 30 minutes by car to the north awaits the archaeological zone of Ek Balam

(12)

, “dark-or black jaguar” or “star-jaguar” in Mayan.

This Mayan town whose history begins approximately 300 BC has one of the few pyramids that can be climbed today.

The view from above is incredible: a sea of ​​green where only the tips of some buildings of the archaeological site stand out.

It is advisable to hire a guide so as not to miss the history of the city, long before the famous Chichen Itzá, and with its 12 square kilometers of surface it was one of the most important on the peninsula.

17.00 Shopping afternoon

Back in Valladolid we headed to the most visited street in the city: Calzada de los Frailes.

This leads to the convent of San Bernardino de Siena

(13)

.

It is worth entering each small store that catches our attention, each one has its story.

Kutxal is a place with crafts of different styles where very good coffee is served.

In the Mazehual clothing store, created 10 years ago, Josué designs the clothes and 150 artists materialize them in his workshop on the outskirts of the city.

The store not only crafts each garment, but, as the woman who serves us proudly says, it has been recognized for the treatment and fair salary that each employee receives.

Across the street, Frailes Atelier is a family-owned antiques shop that has been open for three years and sells antiques, beeswax candles, or pieces from the artists and cooperatives they collaborate with.

Malvina Pérez, industrial designer, is today placing new acquisitions here and there and explains to us how such disparate pieces arrive at her store.

Bonito Mercado has gourmet

products

, local artisans: attention to

kombucha

and cakes.

A little further up, the Coqui Coqui perfumery brand has a tea room and a small accommodation with a garden and pool at the back.

Exterior of the Kuxtal México gallery, in Valladolid.cristina candel

Although the street has been filled in recent years with small restaurants, accommodations and craft shops, it is still the scene of everyday scenes starring the neighbors.

You see them when walking when the afternoon falls or at night, when many people sit in front of their house and greet everyone who passes by while the radio plays in the background.

At the end of the street we reach the convent esplanade, where every afternoon it is filled with street vendors and families who come for a walk or who are waiting for the light and sound show to begin that illuminates its walls every night.

18.30 Dinner with a view

For dinner we have chosen another Yucatecan restaurant: the Mesón del Marqués

(14)

, from whose terrace we can see from a bird's eye view the main square of Valladolid and its illuminated church on one side and, on the other, the beautiful patio full of plants, of the colonial-type building from the 17th century where this establishment is located.

20.00 To the hacienda to sleep

We could end the day in this same place, but although we are sad to leave this welcoming city, we do not want to miss what the San José hacienda

(15)

offers us .

Arriving at night and seeing only glimpses of the huge trees, the shadows of buildings here and there makes it even more magical.

When we wake up, we see how the immense roots mix on top of what was once a wall, the small square with its yellow church, the blue buildings where the guests stay or the swimming pool in the middle of the jungle.

All of this forms a perfect harmony between the past and the present with the smell of the corn cakes that María is already cooking in the garden for breakfast.

The Hacienda San José, in Valladolid (Mexico). Cristina Candel

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