This morning at 10.30 we drove out to the Hacienda Yaxcopoil. We spent an hour and some walking around the grounds. We ran into the owner and about 50 other happy people. I have never seen it so busy. The restoration is 90% complete. I did not take a lot of photos of the interiors because I prefer the house before the walls were restored. I´m sure after 3 or 4 years of humidity and neglect it will look like it´s 111 Years old again. The house has been in the same family since 1836 and the henequen factory was built in 1906. That must have been the same period the house was painted and decorated. If you can only visit one hacienda in the Yucatan…this is your hacienda!
Then we took off for the hacienda Mucuyche where I went and wrote about only a few days ago. I wanted my friends to see it and I had meant to take my subaquatic camera…forgot that at home. Need to go back soon. It´s a wonder place with the most pristine cenote I have ever seen. Even my Yucatatecan friends were amazed by the cenotes. If you can only visit one cenote this is the one to visit.
We went to lunch at the Hacienda Ochil. It was a weekend so there was a buffet. We had to wait twenty minutes but the only other option was to return to town or head over to Sotuta de Peon 30 minutes away. I´m glad we waited. Many of my guests this winter have told me they had good meals at Ochil and so did I. Everyone went back for seconds as there are so many regional dishes to try. I am happy to report that even the fish was good. I guess the workshops are seldom open but the little folkloric museum was open. The James Turrell amphitheatre is built around a cenote and the only way to really appreciate it is during a concert in front of the cenote. I saw Phillip Glass and Micheal Nyman in performance here but missed Laurie Anderson.
Then I came home and took a nap before going out to a party in the evening. It wasn´t easy to find a restaurant open for lunch on New Year´s day but we did have a nice brunch around noon at Casa San Angel.
The Best of Yucatan Guide 