Blogs from Campeche, Mexico, North America - page 3

There is nothing like a great hotel to get your new town off to good start and Hotel Lopez did not disappoint. A newly renovated hotel in the historical centre of town that offered a great room with air conditioning and most importantly a pool. The historical district is a picture perfect area of Campeche with its multi-coloured buildings and its quaint tree-lined zocalo. Campeche was an important stop on the trade route between the new world and Europe and as such was not immune to the odd pirate attack or two during its heyday. Due to this the city has 2 forts on opposite hills about 4 kilometers from the centre that overlook the area and kept watch for those pesky pirates. On one day we headed out early to go to one of the ... read more

I had a rubbish night sleep in the cabin. It rained so much that I started dreaming about a landslide taking away my hut into the river. I even got up to check that the water hadn't risen up too much. It hadn't risen at all. I suppose, to have such vegetation, they must be getting a fair bit of water falling from the sky. So I eventually woke up for the final time at 5.40 and thought I might as well get ready. I was stressing about the buses, after having been told by one local than they ran every hour and took 2 hours (I knew that was wrong as it's more like 6 hours to get there), another who wasn't sure but thought they only ran at night and the last one suggesting ... read more

Auf dem Weg von Mérida nach Palenque mache ich in Campeche halt. Ein Zweite-Klasse-Bus bringt mich dort hin. Dieser ist um einiges guenstiger als 1. Klasse zu fahren und heute bin ich der einzige Tourist an Bord. Insgesamt ist der Bus etwas laenger unterwegs. Das liegt daran, dass der Bus auf der Strecke einige Leute ein- und aussteigen laesst und auch ein paar kleine Doerfer auf dem Weg anfaehrt. Der grosse Vorteil liegt allerdings darin dass der Bus auch einige Verkaeufer mit kleinen Snacks einsteigen laesst - so braucht man keinen Proviant fuer die Fahrt einzupacken. In Campeche angekommen mache ich mich dann zu Fuss auf den Weg in die Altstadt. Dort finde ich ein billiges Hostel direkt am Hauptplatz (ueblicherweise Zócalo genannt). Anschliessend gehe ich etwas durch die Altstadt, besuche einen botanischen Garten und gehe ... read more

(Day 776 on the road)After ten days in Mexico now, I finally feel that I have arrived. The first few days here had felt a little surreal somehow, but now that I have seen a bit more of the country and its people I got a much better feel for it. It just feels great to be in a completely different region of the world again - after almost 18 months in (south-east) Asia and and then six months or so in mainly western countries (Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the US), I am ready for some different experiences. New cultures and everything that comes with it await. How very exciting! As with most countries that I go to, I had very little real knowledge about Mexico, apart from the usual information one gathers over the ... read more

´S morgens vroeg opgestaan en direct vertrokken richting de ruines. Hiervoor moeten we nog 60 km rijden dwars door het oerwoud op een steeds smaller padje. de natuur is redelijk tot zeer indrukwekkend. Ook het tempelcoñplex tart alle verbeelding. Robuuste bouwwerken welke tot 35 m boven de bomen uitsteken. Bovenop zie je enkel bos, met slechts af en toe een andere pyramide. Luka geniet van de vogels en haar koekjes. 's middags rijden we door naar Laguna de bacalar. Een natuurlijk gevormd zoetwatermeer met wel 7 verschillende tinten van blauw. We vinden een huisje met keukentje voor een aanvaardbare prijs en besluiten hier enkele dagen te blijven. Luka trekt haar zwembroekje aan en vindt het allemaal fantastisch.... read more