One of the cool things we love about traveling throughout Mexico is exploring new towns but specially the acclaimed “Pueblo Magicos” (Magic Towns) which are our favorite.  We have seen our share of Pueblo Magicos and here is one to talk to you about.  Izamal is probably one of the oldest city in the Yucatan and not very highly populated as their population is about 15,000. We enjoyed walking around town and because it is a small town you can probably walk the town in one day and see all the main points of interest that are in Izamal.  The town is very unique with all the buildings painted yellow that it’s refer to as the “Yellow City” as well as other names, the locals refer to this town as City of Three Cultures and City of the Hills. The people here are the nicest you will come across and of course mostly all Mayan which I love! (I always ask them to teach me a word of two in Mayan language). 

One of the main reasons why we wanted to visit Izamal was not just to check out the town but to also check out the ruins.  We visited Kinich-Kakmo which is about 34m-high and you can still climb this pyramid but let me tell you it kicked my butt! Rudy was able to go all the way to the top but my poor corpse could not make it all the way to the top as I was nearly out of breath half way up. The other pyramid that we visited was Itzamatul which is located in the heart of the town just on a regular street, it is literally someone’s backyard! It is not as large as Kinich Kakmo pyramid, but it is one of the most preserved pyramids in the area and a lot easier to climb but the fear of anything jumping at me like a snake or tarantulas held me back from going up with Rudy. The only reason why is because of where the pyramid is located there are trees, bushes and debris all around it and the last time we were in Coba we came across a big tarantula. 

There are a couple good restaurants in town and a couple of small eateries (like mom and pop types) you will mostly find Yucatecan cuisines which are very tasty, my favorite is Sopa de Lima which is chicken broth, vegetables and shredded chicken. There is Cochinita Pibil which is slow cooked pork usually served with rice and tortillas. There are also tamales which we never got to try.  One of our new favorite dips is the Sikil Pak, a Mayan pumpkin seed dip it is delicious and better than hummus.  

Izamal can easily be a one day road trip and you can make your way to Merida on the same day.  Izamal’s uniqueness makes you feel like you are transported back in time.