Day 197: Merida – Mexico – Dec 31st

 half the day wandering around the town of Merida, and the other half at the hostel researching our adventures. Being in a laid back part of Mexico, most shops were closed by 1pm, and even a lot of restaurants didn’t even open for the day! The ones that did though were jammed and we ended up having the hardest time trying to find a dinner spot. After wandering the streets of Merida for about 1hr and several closed restaurants later, we finally stopped at a cafe that had several people dining at.

Glancing through the window, there was even a TripAdvisor sticker, which (so far) has been providing us with pretty delicious meals, so we quickly parked ourselves into the mostly empty cafe. After ordering several overpriced dishes, the food came and we quickly understood why there were so little people…. It was just horrible. The first thing that came to mind half way through the meal was to leave as quickly as possible, find a convenience store, and drink a can of Coca-Cola to wash off the taste.

It was 10pm, with two hours to go before midnight, we arrived at the centre of town awaiting the arrival of 2013. There were about 50 people in the whole square, mostly foreigners idling around trying to waste time like us. In the end, we somehow managed to wander around in circles for an hour before giving up and headed back to the hostel. We counted down in the lounge area of our hostel, sleeping on a hammock and getting constantly bit by mosquitoes!! Happy New Year!!

Apparently here in Merida, they spend the night with family members, then after midnight they light fireworks and start going to the houses of friends and families, where a drink is offered and when the “real” party begins. Since this only applies to locals, tourists will have to watch from the balconies of their hotels like us. =)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!