Uxmal and Campeche

We are now in Campeche, a lovely seaside town (although, extraordinarily, you cannot swim in the harbour due to pollution!).

We have travelled today from Mérida via the famous archaelogical site of Uxmal. Yes, I know: more Mayan ruins!

Jorge picked us up at 8.30 a.m. and it was about a 70-km drive, through some small villages including Muna which has very narrow streets and where the trike appears to be the most common form of local transport ('Mayan limousines' Jorge calls them!!); there is a 16th century church here.

We stopped along the way at a mirador owned by a friend of Jorge - Pedro - who is a local artesan. We bought something small: a ceramic bowl decorated with Chaac, the god of rain (pertinent to Australia?)!

Yes, you may well ask!

Jorge prattled on as he drove: the flu pandemic of 2009 (swine flu) which killed scores of people in Mexico, closed schools and precipitated an economic crisis. He also talked about the drug cartels and their influence in the recent shooting deaths at Playa del Carmen that I had read about just before we left Australia - 5 dead on Jan 16.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-17/mexico-club-shooting:-five-killed-police-say/8186566

And he told us that he'd been deported from the US after living there for 20 years ... He also had told My Friend that he'd made love to some girl at the top of the pyramid El Castillo at Chichén Itzá also (he hadn't shared that with me!).

Uxmal is a UNESCO protected site and means 'thrice-built' in Mayan, referring to the construction of its highest structure, the Pyramid of the Magician which was built on top of existing pyramids. In this case, five stages of construction have been found. Uxmal was one of the largest cities of the Yucatán peninsula on the Ruta Puuc (Puuc Route), and at its height was home to approximately 20,000 Maya. Uxmal and other surrounding Puuc sites flourished in the Late Classic Period (around 600-900 AD) before they were overruled by neighbouring settlements. Puuc architecture is easily identified. The lower sections of the buildings are plain, have rounded corners and are made of small arches or entrance ways. Upper sections are highly decorated and reflect a distinct layering of stone work. Ornate carvings include serpents, lattice work, and pillars.

We had a thorough tour and enjoyed the beautiful structures before it got too hot.

These are some photos of the restoration of the Governor's House on the site:

And we saw this cute bird (a Yucatán jay, I think) and the ceiba (or kapok) tree which is sacred to the Mayans.

It was about 180 kms further to Campeche where we arrived mid-afternoon. It was goodbye to Jorge who has been an excellent guide, time to change some money (the bank had better rates than the cambio de change on the street!), and try to see some of the town as we only have an afternoon here before we move on again in the morning. Our hotel is in an old colonial building just inside the city walls of the historic centre.

Campeche is very photogenic. The Old Town has gained UNESCO recognition for its colonial Spanish baroque architecture – a mixture of small two-storey houses and much larger mansions, built between the 16th and 19th centuries, now restored and painted in pastel shades of blue, ochre and the richer ox-blood red. The historic centre has kept its outer walls and system of fortifications built by the Spanish in 1686 to defend this Caribbean port against attacks from pirates.

We were a bit tired, it was hot, and we hadn't had lunch apart from a tiny snack so we were pleased to finally get to Chocol Ha (a cute little café tucked away in one of the many colonial style buildings that line the narrow cobbled streets of Campeche) - just as it re-opened after siesta at 5 pm - and we had the yummiest piece of carrot cake with a hot chocolate for me and cappuccino with caramelo for My Friend. The chocolate here is prepared with the purest form of organic cacao using Mayan recipes.

This fortified us for the walk to watch the sunset for which Campeche is well-known. The malecón (the palm tree-lined stone embankment along the waterfront) was busy with bike riders, joggers and walkers as well as sight-seeing folk like us. It was lovely watching the sun drop down behind the water and the sky turn a lovely pinky blue. 

We had dinner at a restaurant just around the corner from the hotel within the city walls. I had a traditional Yucatán dish called panuchoscon pollo (refried tortillas stuffed with refried black beans and topped with chopped cabbage, pulled chicken, tomato, pickled red onion, avocado) - very tasty; My Friend had some fish fillets. At the end we were given a yummy cocktail that was like a small marguerita and I think had cacao in it with possibly corn to thicken- nice and cold and the glass had chili powder on the rim - wow! Made my lips swell!