Our stay in Cuidad Del Carmen was over, it was time to travel the 206 km to Campeche, courtesy of the Mexican bus line ADO. Arriving in Campeche, this historic fortified Spanish city, it was off to catch a taxi to our hotel. We used Booking.com to make our reservation at the Hotel Maya Ah Kim Pech, centrally located within Campeche’s historic walls. We had 9 days booked in Campeche, this fortified Spanish city. Like most places we had booked on this part of our Mexican journey, the stay would be longer than needed, but we have learned to make the best of it by learning more about the culture and history.
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Historic Campeche is a beautiful fortified old Spanish city, with lots of history complete with the magic of real pirates that tried to besiege the city. Making a point of visiting both of the Spanish fortified forts located within the city, San José el Alto, and Fuerte-Museo San Miguel. Furthermore, the historical artifacts that visiting these two forts offers, to me, are amazing. There is little history to be visited in Western Canada; it just isn’t there.
San José el Alto fort
We head out from our hotel toward San José el Alto fort; it turns out to be a 1 1/2 hr walk. In addition, there are many other interesting views along the way to San José el Alto fort, which are interesting. San José el Alto fort itself was fascinating, complete with structures, artifacts of the time, and canons everywhere. Furthermore, there is a museum that you can walk through, which is fascinating and well worth the time.
Fuerte-Museo San Miguel
The next fort on the list to visit was Fuerte-Museo San Miguel. We had heard that this fort was closed for renovations, but we could not confirm that it was indeed closed after looking online and talking to the front desk. We decided to check it out for ourselves as we had lots of time on our hands and nothing else to do. So off we headed in the direction of Fuerte-Museo San Miguel. The walk to Fuerte-Museo San Miguel was an hour and a half.
Arriving at Fuerte-Museo San Migu, we did indeed find that the fort was closed for renovations. Disappointed that we could not enter the fort, we thought that we could tour the outside of the fort since we were here. We took advantage of the fort as a backdrop and took lots of pictures. The forts themselves are truly awe-inspiring; they allow us to glimpse the past. Maybe for a moment, imagine what it took to build these fortresses and then occupy them in defense of a city; it truly makes you wonder what life would have been like back in the 1500s.
Both of these forts help make Campeche a fortified city that could protect itself from the constant threat of Pirates.
Cristo Negro de San Román
On our trip to Fort of San Miguel, we passed by the church of San Roman, the church associated with Cristo Negro de San Román (Black Christ). This story/legend is truly amazing.
Our hotel was a half block to central park, a place for everyone to meet up. Moreover, it was an excellent place to grab our morning coffee and a pastry, sit and watch the people pass by. Not only this, but pigeons frequented the park in large numbers waiting for a child to throw food out to them or play a game of tag.
One of the things about the central park in the historic district is that they have a video presentation depicting the area’s history, a must-see, in the evenings at 7:30 ish. YouTube, Campeche, Mayan History, Spanish Arrival, Day of Dead and Mardi gras
Edzna a Mayan Ruin
Our hotel had a small pool to lounge around. One hot afternoon while at the pool, we ran into a couple of other Canucks from Golden, BC. (Larry and Carol Lindequist). Larry and Carol are winter snowbird travelers as well. Being that they had just returned from touring Edzna, a nearby Mayan ruin, and were overwhelmed with the number of structures and lack of tourists. It sounded great, so we decided we would have to go and see for ourselves. Additionally, they told us how and where to catch a collectivo to Edzna. The entrance fee was minimal compared to the more popular Mayan ruins.
Edzna is truly a must-see, as it has many awe-inspiring structures. Because of this, we took many pictures using the Mayan ruins as our backdrop. As a matter of fact, another great part about this site is that there are very few tourists, which is great for taking pictures and enjoying the solitude of it all.
Mercado
Just outside the historic walls of Campeche, we found a large Mercado with shops and food vendors. In fact, we had a couple of breakfasts there, delicious. To say nothing of the tamales as they were delicious and inexpensive. As a result, we enjoy seeking out the small local spots.
One afternoon while walking inside the historic center, we found this quaint local bar. For every round of beer bought, you got a round of very tasty appies. This place was inexpensive and had a real, local flair to it.
There are many other sites to see, such as small and personnel museums and murals on the walls.
Final Thoughts On Campeche
- We enjoyed our stay in Campeche, as there is a lot of Spanish history associated with this city and Mayan. The Spanish forts were a wonder to see, and a trip out to the Mayan ruins of Edzna was amazing as there was no one there, had the place to yourself. We overbooked our stay nine days when 4 days would have been lots.
Our Positives
- Spanish forts San Miguel and San José el Alto.
- The proximity to the Mayan ruins of Edzna
- Historical city
- Mayan museum
Our Negatives
- We overbooked our stay, nine days when 4 days would have been lots.
Would have, Could have, Should have
- Should have stayed another day.
- Taken in the sunset tour
Next Stop
Well, we are off to Merida for three weeks, two weeks outside of Merida at an Airbnb with a pool that should be nice just to lay back and relax. This followed by another week in Merida experiencing the city itself.
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Recommended Travel Essential
Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic so with this lifestyle, we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.
- Travel Packing Essentials to help organize and make this task less stressful
- Travel Safety Essentials to make your life on the road a little safer, giving you peace of mind
- Living Essentials to make life a little more comfortable, be this resting, working, or playing.
Accommodation Options While Traveling The World
- Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
- Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
- Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well
Travel Insurance
We always travel with some sort of travel Insurance be it just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find their costs reasonable. Remember don’t travel and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.
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