Blogs from Campeche, Campeche, Mexico, North America - page 3

As our bus to Campeche was due to depart until 12 we had a fairly leisurely start to the day. A relaxed breakfast sampling the never ending supply of tropical fruit provided by the staff, a prolonged visit to the internet cafe downstairs and a final pack in our room. We took a taxi to the bus station were soon settling onto our comfy Primera Plus bus. The bus trip wasn't too long and by mid-afternoon we had arived in Campeche, taken a very short taxi ride to our 'Pirate Hostel' and dragged our bags into reception where we were greeted by a skeleton in a pirate's hat and a room full of seafaring memorabilia. After a couple of minutes we were also greeted by a member of staff who showed us to our room...across a ... read more

We pulled into the large clean Campeche bus stop just after sunset, and right outside the front doors we found two friendly and helpful cab drivers. They decided between themselves where the best hostel in town was, and asked us to hop in the back, they knew the way! Our cab driver navigated the busy and narrow streets like a pro and zigzagged back and forth until I was wondering which way was up! We then pulled into a magical lighted square in front of a postcard pastel cathedral, and he pointed at a welcoming staircase. Our hostel had incredible views of the lighted cathedral and park square, had free internet, and cost only 100 pesos ($8USD) a night! Angela and I immediately hit the streets to find food and beer. After a quick study of ... read more

Vandaag de provincie Campeche binnengereden richting de stad Campeche. Mooi stadje langs de golf van Mexico. Mooi, maar niet om te lang te blijven. Luka heeft vandaag een baaldag. Volgens ons begint het puberen nu al. Niets is goed en ze wil gewoon haar eigen ding doen. Best wel grappig. ... read more

Palenque, Chiapas, a 14 de octubre del 2009. Saludos a todos. Ahì les van unas fotos de las fortificaciones de la ciudad de Campeche, consideradas patrimonio de la humanidad por la UNESCO. Como durante la colonia varias veces la ciudad fue saqueada por piratas, construyeron este sistema de defensas. Los ingenieros militares que las diseñaron fueron italianos, ya que recordemos que, como las ciudades italianas vivieron de la greña durante siglos, ellos eran los mejores en este campo (y otras àreas bèlicas). Bàsicamente los edificios comprenden restos de la muralla, restos de los baluartes (fortificaciones a lo largo de la muralla, comunicadas entre ellas) y dos fuertes (al norte y al sur de la ciudad). Pueden notar como los fuertes estàn construidos sobre colinas, los cortes al talud de la colina, como serpentea el trayecto hacia ... read more

May 1, Friday Another pack the bike event, this time with lots of extra clothes aboard, and we headed north from Playa del Carmen looking for the cut-off road to the west so we could miss the snarl and mess of Cancun. After a short back and forth, we found the proper road, which looked originally like an entrance to an amusement park. This short cut began as a brand new blacktop road, and we whizzed along with almost no traffic. When we reached about 5 kilometers from the next main highway, the construction vehicles showed up, then the road turned to "under construction", then to gravel, then to dirt. It got narrower and narrower, and I started wondering if we'd have to backtrack the 20 some odd k's and go the long way around. Finally ... read more