It was my first time on the Mexican Gulf Coast. Campeche is a town that's been around for over 400 years. It was frequently raided by pirates in the 1600's. After a particularly brutal invasion in 1663, Spain decided to build a wall around the town. Much of it is still standing. The town is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I stayed in Hostal del Pirata. It has a nice terrace with a kitchen that I liked to chill on. I went looking around town for some beer to throw in the fridge. I couldn't get a straight answer as to where to get some. After much searching I find out that stores aren't allowed to sell beer in the centro part of town. I had to go outside the wall to the MEGA. Not a far walk. I met a lot of cool people at the hostel. I explored the town on my first day there. The sun is brutal and humidity seems to be at 100%. I got to walk atop some of the walls.
Edzna
On my second full day in Campeche, I grabbed a beat-up bus to Edzna. It's an hour ride with a couple stops in small villages along the way. I was the only Gringo on the bus. I open the window wide to let the sweat dry in the natural AC and watch the countryside slide by. It's much nicer in this part of Mexico than the northern part of the peninsula. Many ranches and orchards and a few hills here and there. I walk from the bus stop to the ruins, happy to see only two cars on the lot. There are three people hiding from the glaring sun in the shade of the ancient grandstands on the site and a couple on the Acropolis. The three people leave and it's just the three of us left to share the site. There were never more than six people there until I was on my way out and ran into a group of 8 two hours later. I go out to wait for a bus and a car pulls up. The driver rolls his window down and asks, "Campeche?" I look inside to see a school girl and a young man with a red Campeche Tourist Board shirt. Looked safe enough so I took the ride. He drove like a maniac with his Mexican polka turned up full blast. I saved half hour on the ride back and found out he was charging for the ride. Only 5 pesos more than the bus though. Almost would've rather taken the bus but "a bird in the hand..." ya know. Bus service can be irregular at times.
Calakmul and Balamku
After looking into renting a car, I found it to be more appealing to take a tour to Calakmul and Balamku, ruins 3 hours out of Campeche. All I have is a debit card and they want credit card for car rental. There are two young guys from Mexico City on the tour with me. We take a nice 4-door VW out of Campeche before sunrise, watching the full moon set into the mists as we head out on the new freeway. Beautiful sunrise burns off the mists of the surrounding jungle. Only one of the city boys talks a little English so we mostly speak Spanish. We get to the turnoff for Calakmul 3 hours later. We go through the park gate, paying a road maintenance toll, and ride another 35 miles down a narrow, paved road into the jungle to the parking lot, where there is one tour bus and a few cars. It's a one kilometer hike to the ruins. I get to the first pyramid and climb up. On top are a lot of the tourists. Not a typical tour group. It's mostly grey-haired German hippies meditating and absorbing energies in various poses. One man is telling someone his fortune while looking at an egg he had broken into a glass. Pretty earthy bunch. I look across the tree-filled plaza and see two more giant pyramids sticking out of the sea of green. I end up climbing both of them. I sat on top of the biggest one, only two Romanian ladies for company, and had a picnic on top of the world, jungles spread out for miles in all directions. We had three hours to explore here.
We got back to the main road and got to Balamku soon after. We just took 45 minutes here, the main attraction being a well preserved stucco freize inside one of the pyramids. Caretaker had to unlock the door to let us in. The driver had a challenge riding home, but did a great job. He had to drive into the setting sun for an hour, then look out for bicyclists and people after dark. They appear quite suddenly out of the dark. I didn't see a single reflector on any of the bicycles and many of the walkers dress in dark clothes. Mexican fatalism to the extreme. Almost took out a lady crossing at an angle in front of us on her bike, making no effort to avoid being hit. I think 50% of the drivers would have hit her under the same circumstances. Made it back to Campeche, exhausted after 7:00pm.
Villahermosa
After four nights in Campeche, it was time to move on. I get comfortable on the bus and prepare for the 6-hour ride. The first movie was "Hannah Montana - The Movie". I came close to throwing up in my mouth a couple times before turning on my ipod and getting into the passing scenery. At least it was dubbed in Spanish so it was harder to tell what a poor actor she is. We followed the Gulf Coast almost the whole way. Lots of undeveloped beachfront, small fishing villages, long bridges, and wetlands with grazing cattle accompanied by white egrets or herons. I arrive in the city at sunset. It's still light so I walk the 1km to the hotel area. I go like a juggernaut with my load. I don't run anyone over that's walking in front of me but some Mexicans who didn't want to give me space walking at me bounced off here and there. I learned it from watching them, man. The city is flowing with oil money so people seem pretty well off. I get a room at an old budget hotel on the main shopping strip. The old lady showing me to my room explains the nasty smell in the elevator. She points to the wall in the elevator at about chest height and explains that that's where the floods crested back in 2007 when Tabasco State got hit hard. Still evidence around town of buildings vacant and moldy near the river. I get in my room and turn on the TV. LFL is on. That's the Lingerie Football League. The announcers are doing color commentating in Spanish, but it's in America, LA vs Chicago. How long has this been around?
I spend two nights in Villahermosa. I explore the town and go to Parque-Museo Venta to see the Olmec sculpture garden. There is a zoo at the entry area. It reconfirms my dislike of zoos. Most of the animals look unhappy or downright crazy. The sculpture garden is filled with giant stone heads and other Olmec relics unearthed from areas to the west, dating 1200-400BC.
Palenque
I arrived in the town of Palenque on Sunday the 23rd. I turn on my TV and see the Chicago-Green Bay game is on. I go out to see if any bars are showing it. There are very few American tourists here so I don't find any bars showing the game. I get a big bottle of beer and bring it back to my room to watch the rest of the game. I watch news in English for the first time on this trip on CNN International. I decide to take a full day of rest on my first full day here. I sleep in while all my laundry is getting done and finish a book. I head out and get a haircut for 50 pesos and arrange a tour for next day. This is the first place I've been to previously that I've visited on this trip. The town is a bit less grungy than it was three years ago.
Yixchimal and Bonampek
I took a tour to some ruins on the Guatemala border yesterday. We took off before sunrise and rode the border highway about 100 miles to the border river. There were a couple of English people and two couples from Mexico City, one young and one about my age. I hit it off best with the older Mexican couple. He owns a bakery south of the big city. We catch a boat and go downriver, Mexico to the left and Guatemala to the right. We land 10-15 miles downstream on the Mexican side and go uphill to check out Yixchimal in the jungle. Haunting sounds of howler monkeys fill the air as we explore. Great carvings on stelae on the grounds. Much more hilly than other sites so far. Many buildings overlook the river. It takes a bit longer to head back upstream. We get to Bonampek after eating lunch back by immigrations. Bonampek has amazing artwork including paintings covering the walls of three rooms that are over 1200 years old depicting battles, rituals, and human sacrifice. They are pretty well presereved and very colorful considering they used just natural materials to paint with. I've never seen Mayan paintings before this site.
We passed through many Mayan villages on the road there and back, driving through them slowly because of numerous topes (speedbumps). Many of the villagers were waiting for the school bus on the way out. Many more were just hanging out on or near the road near sunset on the way back. Many of the youngest children wave as the vans go by. We follow another tourist van closely all the way back to Palenque. Safety in numbers I think. the driver was constantly on his CB talking, I think, to the driver in front of us. This is Zapatista territory so there are a few checkpoints on the road. I notice at each one that there is a thin wire on the road going into a box alongside the road. I look in the open end of the box as we pass and see a bed of spikes, the other end of the wire going to a sandbag emplacement on the other side of the road. One quick tug, instant road spikes.
We make it back in time for me to grab a big bottle of beer and kick back to watch the State of the Union Address with both responses. One response for normal people and one, coming from the representative of the area where I grew up, for gradeschool bullies who thinking learnin' is for fags. What a mean-spirited embarassment! The people who voted for her should be ashamed.
I'm off to San Cristobal de Las Casas tomorrow.
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