Campeche

The colourful streets of Campeche old town are a sight to behold. With a history of swashbuckling pirates (though the Spanish translations make for interesting reading) and some very picturesque streets Campeche was another surprise of the Yucatan and it's definitely worth a day to explore.

Getting There

We decided to get the first class bus to Campeche, mainly to save time. They are a little more expensive at around 240 pesos per person from Merida, but they are direct and also have a toilet on board! You need to go from the ADO bus terminal which is a separate terminal to the second class terminal. It's just around the corner though so easy to find. It's about two and a half hours from Merida.

The ADO terminal is 35-40 peso taxi ride away from the old town.

Where we stayed

Hotel Maya Ah Kim Peche - Double room for 500 pesos, relatively clean, with high ceilings (which I don't think is good as you can't get all the mosquitoes!), air-con (if it works), a small pool, and the best bit is it's position right next to the Grand Plaza.

Journal

We got in to Campeche around noon. As the ADO terminal is quite far away from the old town we had to catch a taxi which was 35 pesos. We did contemplate walking but it really would have been too far. Driving in to the old town Kate and I were taken aback at how pretty it was. Leaving the main roads you hit a small area sounded by a fort which is lots of little one way streets with different coloured houses along them. Every now an then there is a pretty church, also often in a very vibrant colour.

Colourful churches are dotted around the old town of Campeche

The taxi driver got a bit caught up in the one way streets, but as they say "Three rights do make a left". We checked in to the hostel and then went to check out the main square. It's a very pretty squares with a pretty church on one end and pretty buildings around the other edges. We walked up the main street "Calle 59" which is a small cobbled type street without traffic. It has cafes up the middle which all vie for your attention with waiters and waitresses waving menus in your face every other step. We didn't succumb at this point, though we did get our favourite thing for lunch. Ice cream!

When we reached the top of the street we found the city wall which is home to a museum and also a ramp up to the ramparts which you can walk along for a couple of hundred metres. The museum is short and the signs that are in English aren't particularly well translated. But it's the first time we've even seen any translations so definitely points for effort. The Campeche fort appears to have been a bit of a hot spot for piracy around the 15th-17th centries. There were lots of models of pirate ships and what I found most interesting, all the different pirate flags. I hadn't realised the Jolly Rodger was actually the name of the flag that featured the skull and crossbones.

After the museum we went up on to the very, very hot ramparts. the view down some of the streets was great and we could see some of the larger Cathedrals and Churches that you couldn't see at ground level. We spent some time up on the ramparts admiring all the different colours and looking at some of the distant villages on the hills also with vibrant colouring. We walked along the ramparts as long as we could before the fort walls just stop to make way for the roads that enter the old town.

After the ramparts we kept to the shade down on the streets of Campeche and made our way to the seafront where we found possibly the calmest sea I've ever seen. The gulf of Mexico was barely rippling. We took a couple of photos before heading back to the hotel to decide what to have for dinner.

The Gulf of Mexico was barely moving

The options for dinner seemed to be slim pickings - at least in the centre. We couldn't find anything on trip advisor that wasn't a little bit more expensive or didn't look like a bit of a tourist trap. Eventually we decided we'd just go for a walk and check a few of the places out. We ended up back on Calle 59 which is the pretty street with the Restaurants on. We settled for pizza, but ended up sharing (which was more than enough) to keep the price down. It came to 200 pesos which was more than adequate.

While we were eating the sun began to set and we were treated to another very pretty view. We walked back down to the sea after eating to grab a couple of pictures, then we headed back to the hotel via the main square which was very nicely lit.

Back at the hotel, we took a quick dip in the pool (it would have been rude not to) before settling in for the night. We needed to be up early to get a 5 hour bus to Palenque!

We had a quick dip in the pool after our day walking round the town to cool off

Day 2

Not much to report on our second day. I went to pick up breakfast and coffee from a nearby place called cafe Sotavento. I got some coffees and fruit and crepes to take away which were both great for the morning. We got a taxi from the town square to the Bus station and caught the 11:05am ADO bus to Palenque.

One day definitely seemed to be enough time in Campeche - but I would still recommend going to see it!

Kate in our room at the Hotel Maya Ah Kim Pech