At the time the Spaniards arrived, Merida was a large Mayan city called T'ho.

The Spaniards dismantled all the pyramids and used the huge stones as the foundation for the "Catedral de San Idelfonso".

Merida is a colonial city. You can visit many old buildings, churches, palaces and museums. The charm of this old city will leave any visitor with lasting memories.

I would strongly recommend you tour this city walking and with a good guide book in hand. This will be sufficient for wonderful sightseeing.

Below are some comments and probably some answers to your questions: "How did we travel to Merida and Uxmal, then return to Playa del Carmen, in one day?"

Our decision to came to this city was made after reading "Fodor's" guide. The day before our adventure, we prepared our food for the next day's early breakfast (...beaverup!). We picked up the rental car the evening before at 8PM to return it at 8AM the morning after. We rented a Nissan from Hertz for $60US.

We left Playa del Carmen with our good and adventurous friends Richard and Jeanette at 4:00 AM. We used highway No.307 to Tulum then turned west to Coba. This part of the highway required special attention because of the many potholes. The first signs of sunrise started at 5:30AM and most of our driving was done during the day. We traveled via Chemax and Valladolid and arrived at Merida at 8:30AM. We took the "libre" Highway #180 that is paralleled by the "toll road" Highway #180. The toll would have equaled $60US and the time saving would only have been an hour or so. We did a fast stroll among Merida's major landmarks and were on the road again arrived in the famous and beautiful Uxmal at 11:30 AM.

After 3 hours of sightseeing at Uxmal, ( to 2:30PM) we left to return to Playa del Carmen. Rick used his excellent driving skills, to make good time and we returned shortly after dark. We even had enough time for shopping in some small villages. We bought many woodcarvings done by local artists.

In Playa del Carmen we arrived at 8 PM ready for dinner, having driven close to 850 kilometres. We gained many pleasant and lasting memories.

PS. A word of warning while driving rented cars in Mexico. Your rented car is already marked, because of the orange color at the bottom of the licence plates. Drivers in Mexico are generally confused (and do not cooperate) about changing high to low beams after dark. The lights generally look no different anyway because they are not properly set. On secondary roads and while driving in villages or towns be very careful - the bumps in the streets can wreck your car,slow down to 5km/h. After dark many cars on the secondary highways are without tail lights! Do not stop or pickup any hitchhikers. Avoid accidents, be a defensive driver. The police will never listen to your story, they will always take the side of the local driver. Remember - you are a walking dollar and they have the time it takes to get your money.

To view pictures please visit:http://community.webshots.com/album/23909015wzUAHueEwh