This is a photograph of the hotel rooms, looking up from the gorgeous pool at the Presidente Intercontinental hotel in Merida. This very nice hotel is located very close to the Paseo De Montejo and a slightly long walk from Centro.

Post – Processing Notes:
I shot this image in RAW mode and used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.7 for my post-processing. After importing the photos into Lightroom and keywording them. I played around with the clarity, vibrance, exposure and curves settings for this photograph.

This is a photograph of the gorgeous pool at the Presidente Intercontinental hotel in Merida when we were there in December. Located very close to the Paseo De Montejo and close to Centro, this hotel was quite nice.

Post – Processing Notes:
I shot this image in RAW mode and used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.7 for my post-processing. After importing the photos into Lightroom and keywording them. I played around with the clarity, vibrance, exposure and curves settings for this photograph.

We stayed at the Presidente Intercontinental hotel in Merida when we were there in December. One night, we decided to walk to the nearest Italian place for dinner. We walked down and along the Pases De Montejo. The street was lit up with Christmas lights. Looking at this scene, I just absolutely had to try to make a photograph.

This photograph was made at the “Monumento a la Patria” looking out to the street.

More about the Paseo de Montejo from http://www.differentworld.com/mexico/areas/yucatan-and-campeche/merida/guide.htm: “This major boulevard is Merida’s answer to the Champs Elysées in Paris. Magnificent mansions, built at the height of the henequen industry, line the broad streets – many are now banks or offices. Remember that good road and rail links to Mexico City were not fully completed until the 1960s and you’ll understand why trade with Europe influenced architectural styles and fashions so much here. One of the most beautiful mansions (the Palacio Canton) houses the Museum of Anthropology. Its contents are well worth a look, though not as comprehensive as the one in Mexico City.”

Post – Processing Notes:
This photograph is a blend of two exposures. With my camera on a tripod, I shot one frame for the center lights – and underexposed

This beautiful church pops out of nowhere in Eknakan. It was dark by the time I shot this photograph. I am so enamoured by this church that I wanted to know more about it. Here is what I got after trawling the web for information:
From yucatan.gob.mx/estado/turismo/haciendas/eknakan/eknakan.htm:
“It is on the road Acanceh – Cuzamá only 16 kilometers from the first.

Eknakán means “the dark house of the snake” or “four dark houses.” It was an important hacienda built with the intention that one day outside the village church and not only of the estate.

The church is of Gothic architecture, according to connoisseurs, classical Germany. It is considered a museum. It has many windows, some circular, where you can admire the colorful stained glass remains that allowed a surprising light.

The choir of the temple is a masonry balcony with white columns in protocols that are part of the majesty of the building.

The carved wooden altar, with ornament same as the interior columns of the temple, there are steps of granite. On one side, in a chapel, a table looks carved an image of San Francisco with hands, feet and side with the marks of crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

These images are brightly colored colonial rough and sometimes overly prominent features at the foot of San Francisco is a wooden horse is not known who could have been.

An oil painting perhaps five feet two representing the Virgen del Rosario and whose signature is hidden by a wooden frame carved with relief.

These are the windows of a beautiful old Gothic Church in the middle of nowhere in the Yucatan peninsula … at Eknakan. We happened to pass by the church on our way to the ‘Los Tres Cenotes’ and stopped here to photograph the church around dusk. The stained glass windows of the church were glowing with light from inside as darkness was rapidly falling outside. Just beautiful!

Post – Processing Notes:
I shot this image in RAW mode and used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.7 for my post-processing. After importing the photos into Lightroom and keywording them. I played around with the clarity, vibrance, exposure and curves settings for this photograph.

We wanted to visit the “Los Tres Cenotes’ in the Yucatan peninsula. A tourist information person in Merida told us that these three cenotes were a couple of hours away. We asked him to mark the route on a map and set out. We got lost once, and found ourselves on the right road again. As the roads became narrower and the scenery became rural, our doubts kept increasing – are we on the right road? We passed through a couple of villages and finally stopped to ask a person for directions – only, he didn’t know any English and our Spanish was extremely meager. But sign language and body language rule! We got our directions and we headed to the cenotes.

Only to find that it was crazily packed – a horse cart to take us to the cenotes meant at least a couple of hours of waiting. So we set out walking – an impromptu hike indeed. We reached the first cenote, where a boy sitting outside wanted to charge us money for entering the cenote – charge us and noone else. Well, that didn’t happen. We had a great time at the cenote. It was packed when we got there, but soon everybody left and we had the place to oursleves. After having a good time, we walked back to the car and started driving out.

On the way in, I had noticed this amazing looking – almost dilapidated awesome church. I convinced the other 4 people that it was a great idea to stop for a few minutes at the church so I can take a few photos….well anybody with a photographer knows how long “a few minutes’ really are. This village was Eknakan.