Since we arrived in Progreso we’ve been taking the local mini buses. We ride with families, couples and the most fun, a group of kids coming home from school who called out “Alto” in unison each time of their friends reached their stop.

Yesterday we decided to go to Merida after exploring Chelem. It was a cool windy Saturday and we thought it would be fun to spend the night in the city. We didn’t know it yet, but our adventure would begin with a stranger paying our bus fare and then the discovery that it was Nuit Blanche in Merida! We were in for a magical evening…

Waiting at the station in Progreso, there was a big line which seemed to grow by the minute. Passing time, we “chatted” with the man in front of us using gestures and the odd word we could muster in Spanish. After about 20 minutes our turn to board came and we squeezed into the mini bus with about 15 or so others, but we didn’t know how much to pay the driver. Scott used his best Spanish trying to sort out whether the cost was 16 pesos for one or two of us. Then the man we’d been chatting to in line gestured to the driver that he was paying both our fares. Such kindness from a stranger.

In our few days in Yucatan, people have often gone out of their way to help us. Their kindness has touched our hearts and made us feel so welcome. Can you see why I’m falling in love with the Yucatan, Mexico?