Campeche

A friend has loaned us her vehicle for a month while she is away and has encouraged us to explore the region, so we are on a 30-day circle tour in the states of Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo.

The old colonial city of San Francisco de Campeche, founded in 1540 by Spanish conquistadores and settled atop the pre-Columbian Mayan city of Ah Kim Pech with a population then of 3,000 people is our first destination.  It was the most important seaport of its day and the second biggest town after Merida.

A UNESCO World Heritage site on the Bay of Campeche, in the Gulf of Mexico, we are eager to explore her gated walls, built solidly, but a bit too late to repel all of the pirates and buccaneers.

Pirates hatching a plot

  

Caught!!

The Airbnb home that we share with our wonderful, warm host, Raquel, her niece from Venezuela, her houseman and guard dog Canello is perfectly located within a 5-minute walk of both old town and the Malecon.

A pussycat once he knows you

As we leave the house we decide to use the twin spires of the Cathedral to guide our way back home.  We later see the Cathedral lit up at night and it is beautiful.

Stretching our legs after the long drive, we can hardly walk the Malecon, it's so windy today. 

So we enter the historic fortified town of Campeche.

This is the main gate.  From here you can see straight through to the Seagate on the opposite end of the walled city.

Another gate

It's possible to walk some portions of the wall:

It's immediately clear why Campeche is also known as the Rainbow City. Many of its lovingly restored colonial homes are painted in a range of pastel hues:

Enjoying dinner on the Calle 59 (AKA the Tourist Street), it hardly seems touristy: no hawkers and restaurants and bars with reasonable prices being enjoyed by locals as much as tourists and a few shops with quality merchandise.

We are  near the yellow church which we later wander in to:

A floor tile

We catch some music from the Indie Music Festival:

 and on the way home in the plaza, enjoy song and dance performances by school kids and community groups.  Such energetic salsa dancing!!

The next evening we return to the plaza in the old town to watch the multimedia light show on the history of Campeche which is projected onto the very long library building.  Many local folks come too:

Back at the house, we share 2 bottles of wine, snacks and travel stories with our hosts until I can't keep my eyes open any longer.

Tomorrow is to explore the old town by the light of day, see the artisan fair and the museum.

A small entrance fee allows us to see this lovely colonial home that has been restored from the seventeenth century and is now a cultural centre (Casa 6).  Rooms are on display for a small fee.



Main Entrance

Master bedroom

Courtyard

Kitchen - 5 burner stovetop over the oven

Corner cupboard

Courtyard

 A must-see here is the archeological museum to learn more about the way of life of the ancient peoples:

Jade mask

2,000 pieces of jade

Wanderings bring us to a small art gallery.  Much of the art is in an open courtyard:

At different times we come upon a street with 2 blocks shut down for street vendors.  Outside a church is a little flower market.  This old city is clearly lived in and loved by the local people.

These pinatas welcome us inside an Artisan market that we saw advertised on a poster.  Slowly purveying the handmade goods we are the only potential customers the whole time.  We feel bad not buying anything.

Random photos from Campeche:

For Grinding Corn by Hand

The Library

A 45-minute drive takes us to the Edzna archeological site where the ruins are beautiful.  The word Edzna means "House of the Itzaes".  According to Wikipedia, Edzna may have been inhabited as early as 600 BC but did not become a major city until  200 AD.  Reasons for its abandonment in the 15th. century remains a mystery.  Discovered in 1907, excavations began in 1958, then proceeded rapidly in 1986 when Guatemalan refugees were hired to assist with the work.  This is the most beautiful site we have seen to date.

Random photos from Edzna:

The Main Temple

Well-preserved carvings

We arrive in time to participate in a ceremony where the Mayan people are asking Mother Earth to bless the ground where the new Mayan train will be built. 

Traditional foods are shared after the ceremony

Dancers

Everyone is happy here and I make a friend

As we explore a more remote ruin at Edzna we meet a couple who live near Grand Forks.  They have been travelling for 8 months each year for nine years now.  Now they are in a small van with a mattress and camp stove.  We trade travel stories for a couple of hours and hope that we run into each other again.

Raquel has advised that we need to see Hacienda Uayamon on the way back from Edzna.  In Mayan, the name means "Where the Spirit Descends".  It was a cattle ranch in the 1600s and plundered by privateers.  Several owners later the prosperous and diversified ranch functioned like a small city, with schools and hospitals for its workers and early introduction of electric lights.  Today it is an exclusive boutique hotel.  We enjoy lunch there.

A casita in the jungle

Beautiful landscaping everywhere

One of several ruins on site

A luxury spa - like a ruin on the outside - beautiful on the inside

Up to the restaurant - the main house in later times

Our final day in Campeche is casual: walking the Malecon, getting in some shopping and is topped off by Raquel inviting us to come along to a seaside seafood restaurant with her and her friends.  A good time is had by all:

The next stop is the little village of Chicxulub on the Gulf of Mexico, where an acquaintance has loaned us his villa while he is away.  The generosity of Mexican people is like nothing we have experienced.