Travel tip offered for those seeking cultural experience off the beaten track

I have a travel tip for those who long to go to some place fun, educational and different - especially for those who may be tired of just hanging around town yet are unable to afford Europe.

For $450 round-trip I just went to Merida, Yucatan. It is 1,800 miles by land, but Continental can get you there in one hour and 37 minutes, by cutting across the Gulf of Mexico. It is an easy city to get into and out of, or to find your way around since streets are numbered.

I stayed at the Gran Hotel, founded in 1901. Its prominent guests have included Charles Lindberg and Douglas Fairbanks. The rooms are spacious, and while there is no elevator, the stairs are very broad and hold many tropical plants. At its entrance, is a sidewalk café, complete with guitar and xylophone music. It is on a small square, but the main plaza is only one' block away. There, you find a huge, 17th century cathedral, many gift shops and a pharmacy that rarely requires a prescription. The rate at the Gran is about $55 per day, (negotiable) and you can have a room with a balcony overlooking the street if you desire.

Everything is so near that even a partially gimp geezer such as myself can reach it by foot. Still, there are horse drawn carriages and taxis eager for a fare. At a nearby sidewalk restaurant I fed the chicken from my soup to two hungry teenage cats and placed an order for tacos when the mother came around. I fed hundreds of pigeons from a bakery on the plaza and have pictures of 50 or so congregating at my feet.

The folks at the desk of the Gran all speak English and Roberto, on the night shift, speaks it like an Oxford graduate.

But for those who are indifferent to color and character in a hotel, there is the Fiesta Americana about one mile away. The floors are shiny marble, and everywhere there are glittering chandeliers. The lobby has classy shops like Sanborn's, and is totally air conditioned. The Gran, like many hotels, only cool the rooms.

There is an escalator which bears you to the door of a sumptuous buffet where a single fly would panic the staff. Wal-Mart is only one block away for eating on the cheap. Merida has many small travel agencies and I hired a private car and driver for $65 to take me to a hacienda that is now a museum. The advantage of private tours is that they end when you want them to end. The hacienda once employed 2,300 workers who processed "green gold" sisal before WWII and the invention of nylon.

I won't kid you, Merida is in the tropics and summers are the hot time of the rainy season. It is best to go in or near January.

In Cancun you see nothing but upscale hotels, restaurants, and Mexicans as servants. In Merida you are truly a part of Mexico, and within easy striking distance of the spectacular Chichen-Itza, Uxmal, or even the caves of Loltun with drawings 10,000 years old.

I wish everyone could journey at least once to Merida. I hope you make it and believe you'll thank me for recommending it. They need the tourists and face it, you can use the change.