It’s been a long, hot summer, but September gets us back on the road again! This little trip took us to the Hacienda Kitinché near the small city of Tixkokob. (Be careful of the spelling! There is also a Hacienda Kininché and some others spelled very similar to this one. See our YBR Theme Song page–it makes these very similar sounding names very clear!)
There are several ways to get there from Progreso; we took the one that avoids major highways as best we can. Even with these back roads, the drive takes just over an hour.
You see we took a different route back (the blue line) in order to have lunch at the wonderful Casa de Los Lotos (House of the Lotuses) Thai restaurant in Baca! A great meal there, with Pad Thai to take home for dinner. (Highly recommended but CASH ONLY.) Here’s their Facebook Page.
If you find the Hacienda on Google Maps, you’ll see photos of Mayan ruins. As best as we can tell, those are from places in the region (a couple look like Chichen Itza), NOT here at the Hacienda. There are also a few reviews that give the idea the Hacienda is open for tours and/or lodging; our only guess is these reviews are for the wrong place (probably Kininché).
So this is really not a hacienda tour at all; it is a walk up the road that goes off to the right side of the Tixkokob-Sotuta road. This photo shows the small shaded area where you can park.
The three photos below show the front of the main hacienda building that faces the highway. It looks like there has been some maintenance done, perhaps in the past few years. But there are no signs of life.
So from the parking area, just walk back on this obvious road. The walls may have once been adjacent haciendas or perhaps a road up the middle of the property, but it must be a public road now. Among other things you’ll find a vivero (plant nursery) a short walk up the road.
As you walk, you’ll pass a couple of large gates on the left. Don’t go through them; these are entries to private property.
Right after one of these gates, the road narrows to the trail in the photo below and to the right. (Actually, the maintenance as a driveable road appears to end here.) It really is a very pleasant walk from this point, taking on a more wilderness feel even though you’re barely a kilometer from your car.
We don’t know how far it stays like that, but the Google Satellite photo below looks like it probably becomes a road again and takes you back into Tixkokob.
So, is this a back road worth taking? We think so! It’s not a long drive, is an easy and pleasant walk with some good shade in some places (depending on time of day and year) and can be combined with that amazing Thai lunch in Baca either before or after! You could easily combine this with a trip to Ake just 13 minutes down the road, or start your trip in nearby Motul for breakfast of huevos motuleños at the original Doña Evelia Huevos Motuleños in the Central Market. Google Maps Facebook Page