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Published: February 20th 2009
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February 16th, we left beautiful Isla Aguada and moved on to the city of Campeche. We would have liked to have stayed at Isla Aguada a couple more days but a 17 rig Fantasy caravan had rolled in. Since we all are following Mexico 180 and there are only a few campgrounds, we wanted to stay ahead of them. Again, we are glad we are not traveling with a group like that. One of the caravaners told me that many in the group had gotten upset with two rigs because the drivers had gotten lost. The rest of the group was required to wait half an hour for them to catch up. There goes the myth that folks participate in these caravans for the camaraderie.
The roads were good and most of the drive was along the shoreline of the beautiful Gulfo de Mexico. Aside from a few coconut plantations and some sugar care, there was not much agriculture. We did see our first sheep. The sheep, which appeared to have been recently sheared, were small with dark wool and almost black undersides.
We passed up on Campeche’s only campground because it was located several miles out of
Campeche Church of San Francisco
Church undergoing the major interior renovation town, opting to park on the grounds of hotel and spa resort that was suggested by the Church’s guide as an option for smaller rigs. The staff was very welcoming and allowed us to plug our power cord into the hotel’s outlet. We caught a taxi to the city center for a mere 30 pesos (just over two dollars).
Campeche, too, had had it problems with European pirates. Fuerte De San Jose El Alto and bulwarks from the old city walls remain. The tourist bureau map listed seven cathedrals and churches in the city center. It is hard to understand why a city of this size has so many large churches within a few blocks of each other. We visited two of the churches. One was undergoing major interior restoration. A crew of young people was painstakingly removing white paint from what we believe is gold leaf underneath. The alter and one floor to ceiling panel were complete. They were amazingly beautiful. There is much more work to be done.
In the city center, Campeche’s streets are laid out in a nearly perfect grid with odd numbered streets running north and south and even number streets running east
and west. Too bad that didn’t catch on everywhere!
February 17th, we crossed into the Yucatan. Guards at the border wanted to see Rambo’s importation paperwork even though we had the required hologram prominently displayed on the windshield. They also asked us if we had any chicken or pork. Ray lied and told them “no”. We do still have a little bacon and a few chicken breasts left. Fortunately they didn’t inspect. In any case, I’m not sure how our few items could contaminate their food supply.
We spent one night in an RV park on the outskirts of Merida. The campground was pretty rustic but it was the only one near the city and it was on the bus route. That’s all that matters. As soon as we got settled we caught the bus into town. Merida founded in 1542, has a population of about one million.
My Choose Mexico for Retirement authors say that Merida has an English speaking expatriate population of about 3,000 and that the city has the lowest crime rate per capita in Mexico. Residents call Merida the “Paris of the West” because of its wide tree lined boulevards. The city is
also known as the “white city” because most of the buildings are of limestone construction and because of the city’s cleanliness. Merida uses the same street numbering system as Campeche.
The AAA guidebook states that by World War I, Merida claimed more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world because a tough, thorny plant called henequen thrived in this area. Henequen’s fibrous leaves were made into twine, burlap sacks, furniture stuffing and hammocks.
We visited the Catedral De San Ildelfonso, which according to our Let’s Go guidebook is the oldest on the continent and contains the world’s largest (20 meter high) indoor crucifix. The cathedral was completed in 1598. We also toured the Governor’s Palace, completed 1892 and walked along Paseo de Montejo which is lined with mansions belonging to the henequen plantation owners. Many of the mansions have been converted to hotels and museums.
A number of women were wearing the traditional mumu like dress called huipil. The dresses are made of a light weight white cotton fabric and have embroidery trim. I would have loved to have gotten a picture one lady I saw wearing one of these dresses while carrying food
Merida's Catedral de San Idelfonso
Oldest chruch on the continent with world's largest crucifix (20m) on her head. We also saw several mothers selling their wares on the street while carrying small children wrapped up in slings around their necks. One mother was walking along nursing her baby while her arms were loaded with hammocks and belts. Now, that’s multi-tasking.
A young man hustling for a restaurant told us that he had lived illegally in Los Angeles with his grandmother for nine years but that he had come back to Mexico because his children are here. He said it is hard to get back to the U.S. The pay may be low here but everybody seems to be working. Unlike San Francisco, where bums are primarily working age men, practically all of the beggars we’ve seen are old ladies and disabled people. We understand that Mexico has no welfare per se but they do have some sort of Social Security system and while medical care and medical insurance costs are very low compared to ours, there is no free socialized medicine. (Choose Mexico writers state that the cost for the government medical plan is about $300 per year and that it provides total coverage which is described as “no frills” but “adequate”.) There is
Catedral de San Idelfonso
Bell tower. Our pocket size Canon can not photograph large structures at the close range required in most cities. a tremendous amount of hustling going on. Most restaurants employ people to stand outside and try to bring patrons in. Vendors constantly accost tourists on the sidewalks. It gets tiresome but a polite “No gracious” is enough.
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