My initial plan was to drive the Ruta Puuc and visit the sites Labna, Xlapak, Sayil, Kabah, Uxmal in 2 days.

Starting my drive from Merida in the morning, I drove to Muna, and then Oxkutzcab. Soon after, on my way to Labna, the road became beautiful. It was narrow with a lot of vegetation, sometimes covering the road, and I was alone on that road. With the right music, in the end of afternoon, with the sun rays playing with the trees, the drive became magical and I enjoyed every second of it (except the sudden potholes).

The enchantment was slightly attenuated when I arrived in Labna only to discover that the site is still closed due to Covid. Coming from Chichen Itza a few days earlier it was a bit strange to me as clearly there would not be as many visitors here! I continued the drive to Xlapak with little hope to see it open. And indeed, all sites on the Ruta Puuc were still closed due to Covid, with the exception of Uxmal.

So I arrived early at my hotel for the night in Santa Elena. The owner confirmed the sites have not re-opened and it’s not clear exactly why. She also told me that Uxmal was not busy. Therefore. The next morning, I didn't feel the need to be the first at the entrance. And indeed, there were very few people compared to other sites. Apparently still due to Covid, the areas we can visit are a bit limited in Uxmal, with some ropes to delimit them. I was impressed by the Cuadrangulo de las Monjas and by the Palacio del Gobernador (even if we can't go in front of it; may be due to some ongoing restoration?). Also the view on the site, near the house of the turtles, is very nice.

Overall, I found the visit interesting, even if shorter than for other sites.