welcome to e by the travel channel for foodies also today we're bringing you to the first
pueblo magico de mexico izamal the yellow town of yucatan if this is your first time joining us
we just traveled across veracruz and now we're in the state of yucatan looking for a place to live
so if you want to join us in our journey make sure to subscribe hit the like button and hit
the bell just so you can follow along if you have any questions for us on how our journey
is going during this pandemic also comment down below we are enjoying our time in mexico we hope
you enjoy the ride with us now let's explore this beautiful yellow town of isa malikatan
this convent was built in the 16th century and it was built right over what used to be a mayan
pyramid and they used the very same rocks after knocking down that pyramid to rebuild
this comment and then painted it yellow as beautiful as this is it's also a heart-wrenching
reminder of the oppression and the erasure of mayan religion that used to stand before here the
town does its best to preserve what they still can but these are still important pieces of history
and they are beautiful so we're here to enjoy it as much as we are to enjoy the mayan culture
today it's safe to assume that most of isamal's 16th century buildings were built from maya ruins
some establishments are in pain and yellow and they are left that way to admire the mayan stones
they will build from so why is izamal yellow join us on this carriage ride to find out let's press
the carriage ride includes a tour of the city visiting pyramids and climbing pyramids
the weather was easily 105 degrees so after a couple of minutes we were ready to cool off
drink beer to cool off
is
tour guide let us stop and climb the biggest pyramid in isaman this is
which is dedicated to the god of the sun it was built somewhere between 400 and 600 bc
it's known to be one of the oldest structures in the americas that still stands today
one of its most notable characteristics are the large rocks that are one of the most
impressive characteristics are the large rocks that were used to build the pyramid
so to think that this has stood for thousands of years it's really impressive i think
from what we've read they've only begun restoring it and preserving it
starting in the 16th century and it's a really good thing that they did because uh we also read
that this is one of the most important structures in mesoamerica very cool love me a good challenge
in
i don't think you should climb it like that
this has to be the tallest point in the city if not maybe that tower at the church but man what
a gorgeous view no entrance fee you just get to come in and enjoy this beautiful structure
i feel like i should have made it
awesome i think we're really lucky to have pyramids preserved like this because there
are so many that were torn down by um spanish conquistadores so it's super interesting to
see how some get to survive whereas others have been transformed into christian churches
okay that was fun but we're still wondering why this town is so yellow here's what we learned
from our tour guide after the spanish built the convent in 1562 the community of isamal decided to
paint the comet yellow and white to pay homage to the mayan god of corn the entire town was already
yellow when the pope arrived in 1993 which brings us to our next theory the second theory is that
the arrival of john pope ii in 1993 prompted the community to paint the comet yellow to honor the
colors of the vatican flag some isamal locals disagree with this theory but do acknowledge
that the arrival of the pope helped izamal become the first pueblo mexico of mexico in
on our way to lunch we noticed some interesting carvings on some of the buildings we thought it
was art but it turned out to be a little bit more than that before they established a numerical
system for the streets in izamal they used to call this street las quina del gallo apparently here in
izamal there's a couple of streets that they still hold to that to those identities there's like a
delgado as far as we know so far so if you're ever walking around in samal and you're you're lost so
you're looking for a specific place ask anybody and they'll point you in the right direction
it is a restaurant almost at the very end of this we decided to come out here to avoid the big crowd
at kimich the most popular restaurant but we've heard great things from the local people around
here about la conquista so we're gonna check it out but i do recommend that you either a
take a taxi if you're trying to come here at midday because we've walked from the centro
it's like eight blocks but it's so hot someone bear me let's go check it out
they recommended la carne yucateca reminds me a lot of the carnegie from veracruz except this one
is marinated in a very special orange it's an orange that only cultivates here in the
yucatan peninsula it is the sour orange if you ever watch sweet sour and acid and on netflix
there's a whole special on yeah this is the orange that cultivates here in the yucatan peninsula and
it gives it a good taste because it's something i've never tasted before i've tasted the orange
itself and it's unbearable but when you marinate it with the meats it gives it a really good taste
and of course the staple of the yucatan peninsula the cochinita pevil which is pork marinated over
hours fried and it gives it a red little sauce kind of like carnitas would be to the northern
part of mexico except again they use the orange the sour orange to give it its taste and flavor
and distinctive from everywhere else and you have to have it with this pickled albanero red onion
that gives it his distinct taste a little bit of this tomato sauce
let's see how it is i normally don't eat carnitas i'm a huge fan but
so based off my experience the reason i like la cocinita is because i'm a big fan of
barbacoa and the cochinita tends to be for me it's like a blend of guadalajara
and carnitas so the taste of the barracuda and the carnitas tastes
really good and it's really juicy so that's why when you're here you have to try it
fun fact this restaurant used to be a house it's so gorgeous check out the outside
they remind you of like arabic structures in a way
more and more we're noticing a particular type of arc in the architecture that is
more commonly seen in the middle east or in arab cultures and i started wondering
if this perhaps has something to do with the lebanese migration in the late 19th century when
people from back from the ottoman empire were migrating escaping religious persecution
migrated to mexico and were known as arabs or perhaps turkish but just in spite of that
there were many people who adapted really well to mexican culture and many
became many successful businessmen actually kevin mentions this in our previous episode of the cafe
so if you haven't checked that one out that's a really good story to learn more about
the migration and the blend of cultures of middle east and mexico so more research we
would have to do more research to find out if that's really what i think it is but i think it's
really cool that that pattern is definitely here there's definitely some sort of middle
eastern influence here in the architecture in addition we're on top of the colonial structures
what a day walking around for a couple hours in this hundred degree weather definitely takes a
toll on your body my mouth is so dry and i've had beers ice creams great food i can't even tell you
how much fun i had here we highly recommend isamal especially to escape merida from all the traffic
it's a beautiful town to come reflect and just hang out and listen to the loud birds
and enjoy the architecture i mean it's gorgeous let us know down below what you liked about isamal
let us know what you think about the first pueblo makiko have you ever been to isamal
or what else would you like to see while we're around yucatan area this is only our
first real tour of the city that will definitely be coming back so if you have been here let us
know what you recommend or restaurants to try all the time and you know we love to eat
also don't forget to hit that subscribe button and for now i have to go shower so
hang on