Hacienda San Jose and Hacienda Temozon
Author: Ilze Aizsilniece0 COMMENTS
A Yucatan peninsula in Mexico is a well-known and an extremely popular tourist destination. Most often it is associated with Cancun, Cozumel and other beaches, as well as Maya's pyramids. It's hard to imagine that about 40 years ago only dense tropical forests were stretching instead of the hotels and beaches of Cancun. Until the 50ies of the past century Yucatan peninsula was cut off from the rest of Mexico and the only available transportation, to get to other countries or other Mexican provinces, was ships. Thanks to this isolation, Maya peninsula has managed to preserve its very own and peculiar culture and traditional mode of life. To get an idea of what the life was there, before the big boom of tourism started, it's worth visiting some of the haciendas, currently turned into hotels, with swimming pools and spa, surrounded by wonderful gardens. A couple of such hotels are located not too far from the capital of Yucatan, Mérida. The hacienda San José is located between Mérida and the Chicen Itza pyramid, but the hacienda Temozon, in its turn, on the way between Mérida and the Uxmal pyramid. The hacienda Termozon has been restored and adapted to the hotel needs, trying to preserve for its visitors an ambience of the ancient times. A restaurant, a library and guests' rooms are all located in the original building. All-in-all there is 28 accommodations and most of them have small private gardens and even plunge pools. The hacienda's interiors successfully unite modern items with those of the ancient times. In the hacienda Temozon there is a big swimming pool but the old henequen factory has been turned into a spa. Furthermore, in the darkness of night, entire garden glitters with glow-warms or some similar creatures, living in Yucatan. While standing in the garden, it seems like stars are twinkling all around you, not only in the sky, but in the grass and the surrounding trees too. A glittering is accompanied by cicadas' song, casting a spell of obliviousness and letting oneself to feel as a tiny part of this magic world.
Mérida, the largest city on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, is located some 40 km to the north. The precise year of its foundation is not known, as Europeans started to settle there in the XVI century, but before that there was an ancient Maya city. In the early 20th century, the area surrounding Mérida prospered from the production of henequen and thus attracted lots of investors from France. That explains why its architecture is so different not only from that of Mexico but from that of whole Yucatan as well.
30 km to the south from the hacienda is located the Uxmal pyramid. It is well preserved and not so frequented by tourists, as it is situated quite far from Cancun and the Caribbean beaches. Still some 15 km farther to the south one can visit Grutas de Loltun, the largest caves in Yucatan peninsula. There are provided daily guided visits of the caves, as going alone might be dangerous. Approximately 500 meters long path takes between one and a half and two hours of time. At Loltun, a visitor has a wonderful opportunity to learn about the history within a 10,000 years period, to see several Mays' underground temples, as well as to refresh oneself. You might want to grab some warmer garment, before entering the caves, as it is quite chilly there.
SHARE:
ABOUT US • CONTACTS • RSS • FOLLOW US: 
ENG LAT
© anothertravelguide.com 2015
Anothertravelguide.com is an internet resource for independent travellers. All addresses listed on anothertravelguide.com - hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. have been tested and evaluated by our authors. All opinions are subjective and anothertravelguide.com takes no responsibility if any of these locations don't live up to your personal expectations, taste or mood, or has undergone serious changes since visited by authors and experts of anothertravelguide.com.