Why this ride
A 226 km round trip from Mérida - roughly 3 h 44 in the saddle. It goes by way of Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal, Uxmal, Kabah and Sayil.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mérida day out · Sayil
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 226 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 44
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Mérida
Mérida is the capital of Yucatán and the cultural heart of the peninsula, a flat, hot, well-kept city of more than three-quarters of a million. It was founded in 1542 by Francisco de Montejo the Younger on the site of a Maya city called T'hó, and the Spaniards used the stones of the Maya pyramids to build their cathedral and houses. The cathedral, begun in 1561 and finished at the end of the century, is one of the oldest on the American mainland.
Read the complete Merida write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mérida is where the day begins. Next is Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal.
2. Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal
Uxmal is the most elegant of the Maya cities, and the quality of its stonework is the first thing visitors notice. Built mainly between the seventh and tenth centuries, it belongs to the Puuc region of Yucatán, named for the low range of hills that rise here, and its buildings show a style distinct from the temples of the jungle: smooth, flat lower walls topped by intricate friezes of stone mosaic, with lattice and serpent patterns and hundreds of masks of Chaac, the rain god, with his curling nose.
Read the complete Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal comes up about 82 km into the recorded legs. Next is Uxmal.
3. Uxmal
Getting to Uxmal is half the pleasure. Highway 261 leaves Mérida and runs south for about eighty kilometres through flat, green scrub, past haciendas that once grew henequen and small Maya villages with oval thatched houses and painted churches. The land is a limestone shelf, with a thin red soil, and then the Puuc hills appear, low ridges that seem tall after the plain. The road is good, straight and fast, with occasional topes at village entrances.
Read the complete Uxmal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Uxmal. Next is Kabah.
4. Kabah
Kabah is the sister of Uxmal, about eighteen kilometres to the south, and it was linked to it by a raised stone causeway, a sacbe, that ran straight through the forest. A monumental arch with a corbelled vault still stands at the point where the road once left Kabah toward Uxmal, a lonely frame in the trees, and it marks the start of a story about power and ritual that few visitors fully take in.
Read the complete Kabah write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kabah, about halfway. Next is Sayil.
5. Sayil
Planning note
Sayil sits at 129 km, about halfway. Next is back through Kabah.
6. back through Kabah
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kabah write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kabah comes up about 124 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Uxmal.
7. back through Uxmal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Uxmal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 147 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Uxmal. Next is back through Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal.
8. back through Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal, late in the day. Next is Merida.
9. Mérida
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Merida write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 226 km.
Leg by leg
Mérida to Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal
Mérida → Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Uxmal to Kabah
Uxmal → Kabah is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kabah to Sayil
Kabah → Sayil is 9 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sayil to back through Kabah
Sayil → back through Kabah is 9 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kabah to back through Uxmal
back through Kabah → back through Uxmal is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal to Merida
back through Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal → Merida is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.