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Published: October 14th 2009
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The city name of
Campeche is translated from the Mayan; 'Lord Sun Sheep Tick' a less appealing sounding destination. The guide book claims that it's an undiscovered gem'. It is certainly very charming with pastel painted buildings, all shorter than the cathedral. It had an air of Amsterdam on the Caribbean about it.
The claim that it was untouristy was true and that was because there was nothing to do. So instead we had a cook-off in the hostel. Gene making bruschetta and carbonara and myself whipping up a veg curry...it took a long walk to Walmart to find that curry powder!
The sun sets at 5.15pm and the malecon (waterfront walkway) becomes a haven for joggers, the first Mexicans I have ever seen exercising! The Caribbean waves dash the concrete where the defence walls once stood as protection against pirate attacks. The Fort of San Miguel stands high on a lookout over the coast, though trees obscure the view nowadays. Today the fort houses an archaeological museum displaying some stunning jade death masks used by elite families, I learnt that the life expectancy of the Mayas was only 35 years old.
The Nomads hostel in
Merida had
I'm on my way to Amarillo...!
Enjoying travelling like Queens in the bicycle rickshaw some of the best equipped dorms ever, including individual lights and fans full-length mirrors and a defunct exercise bike. The only thing that let it down was the ridiculous 'lights out and silence at 11.00pm' rule...I mean, it's a flippin' hostel not a boarding school!!
The day-trip to visit my first cenotes has to be on the list of the top best natural wonders I have ever seen. First we took the bus to Cuzama, where we negotiated a ride on a bici-shaw to the start of the trail, then haggled further for the price of the little horse-drawn train ride to the cenotes themselves. The three caves are accessed by wooden steps, once your eyes adjust to the dim light a secret underground world is revealed. The water was crystal clear and turquoise blue, cool to swim in and like being privy to a very exclusive resort or Batman's spa. Tree roots had forced their way through the rock and found the secret water source, some long and tough enough to swing from. These are not ordinary caves but form part of the huge impact crater of the K-T meteor that struck the earth 65 million years ago.
The massive fall-out from this impact was the trigger for the ice-age and the eventual demise of the dinosaurs. The crater runs partly across the Yucatan and partly under the sea, the whole circle can be seen via satellite imaging. The holes were known as wells to the Mayans and carry the Yucatan’s only water supply, being as there are no over-ground rivers here. They were also thought to be gateways to the underworld and divers have recovered many offerings from the depths. Explorers have only recently mapped the whole network in dangerous lengthy expeditions at risk of nitro-psychosis.
I don’t know what prompted the townsfolk of Izamel to paint everything yellow, but it works! The town is built around a convent and the remains of a pyramid complex and we sweated our way up one to see nothing but miles and miles of flat treetops stretching across the peninsular.
The Yucatan has some subtle differences to the rest of Mexico, the casual traveller will notice street names are replaced with numbers, plazas will be furnished with the same double concrete seats as opposed to the normal bench. A 10% tip is added to the bill here, probably
a knock-on effect of receiving a lot of foreign tourists, hostels also like to keep hold of your passport as security, not the norm elsewhere. Traditional village cottages are of an oval shape and built from cooling adobe, without windows just two doorways sited parallel to each other and a thatched roof.
We managed to find our way to Dzibilitun eventually despite not being able to pronounce the name of these ruins and being led on a merry goose chase all round town looking for the bus. This complex was actually built around a cenote where you are allowed to swim amongst the fish and lilies. One end sinks down to over 40m and here they have uncovered over 3000 offerings to the gods.
Every Sunday in central Merida they close the roads and locals flock to the plaza to gorge themselves on street food and watch the dancing. From 9-9 they dish out tacos, candy floss, hot dogs, elotes and tostadas, I can guarantee the tacos with creamy cactus fillings are excellent! The town has such a nice atmosphere at night because there’s so much activity, with food stalls set up and people just enjoying the cool
of the night in the open spaces. On Thursdays they have live music and traditional dancing set up on stages around town, even a huge downpour did not stop the activities, people were on the streets afterwards dancing barefoot in the grime!
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