Under the Sea

While here on Isla Mujeres, we have had to embrace our tourist identity. People think we are honeymooners and almost everyone uses English with us. We especially enjoy the guys in front of stores who say "shopping" as we walk by. As if we were wandering around looking for a place we could do this so called "shopping" and just needed someone to tell us where. Other favorite shouts are "Mexican food" and "tequila amigo". The only really annoying thing is when they quote prices to us in US dollars. 

To further our touristyness, on Wednesday we shelled out a decent chunk of cash to rent a golf cart for the day and explore the island. Now I have driven a lot of carts in my day, but never on streets being passed by taxis and trucks. It was good fun. Despite the island only being about 10 kms from north to south, there are numerous little sights to visit and things to see. We did some off-roading on a sandy peninsula, checked out a turtle sanctuary that also had a dolphin and some sharks, walked around the rocky southern point, did some snorkeling at Garrifon de Castilla, and ended by eating a really good burrito and quesadilla from a local place. 

                                             Me sitting in our sweet ride

                                                           Sea Turtles

                                                         Snorkeling

With our departure just 2 days away, we spent Thursday laying by the pool catching up on Internet things. We booked a place in Havana and backed photos up to a cloud some place. At one point, as I was about to jump back into the pool, I noticed something moving along the bottom. I proceeded to inform the waiter that there was a crab in there and he called some people. A man soon showed up with goggles and a toy racket. He dove in and scooped up the crustacean, announcing it was a Spider  Crab and that it was near death. Apparently they are not supposed to be in fresh water and no one really knows how it got there. They placed it gently in the grass and we like to think that it is now safely home with family, living happily ever after. 

                       

Fresh off my discovery, I grabbed my snorkel gear and headed out to the good spot by the big rock near our resort. It didn't take long for me to come face-to-face with my nemesis - a big sting ray. It was slowly moving along the sandy floor and I kept my distance. It was a lot bigger than I thought were in these shallow water. I briefly contemplated warning others in the area but it quickly moved out of sight when it noticed me. Although a little spooked, I continued to snorkel and enjoyed the big rock with very few other humans around and clear waters. 

                                 I stared death in the face... and it swam away.

                                                        Fish by the big rock

Friday was a lot like Thursday; sun, Internet and pool. Julia drank some water out of a coconut and we did our best to finish the food in our fridge. We also did 1 last big snorkel swim from the resort dock to the big rock. Halfway we ran into another sting-ray and Julia made sure to let me lead the rest of the way to spot the deadly beasts. We finished the day watching the sunset from the lounge chairs under palapas. 

                          Julia drinking out of a coconut with our resort in the background

                                                          Our last night

It is now Saturday, and I am writing you from the Cancún airport where we are waiting to board an airplane. We luckily received an email last night informing us that our flight was 7 hrs delayed. This allowed us to sleep in and wait till the last minute to checkout of our resort. We stored our bags there and walked around town to find lunch. We then retrieved the luggage and made the sweaty walk to the ferry. Upon arrival back on the mainland, we met a fellow American who was on his way to the airport as well. We shared a taxi (which he kindly paid for), and arrived at the airport 6 hrs before our departure time. 

After easily finding the immigration office and paying our tourist tax, we discovered that with only 1 flight a day, Cubana Air doesn't man their counters until about 90 minutes before takeoff. And when the workers did arrive, they announced that our plane would be leaving Mexico City shortly, bound for Havana, and was due in here around 1 or 2 AM. On the bright side, with the additional delay, they gave us each 200 pesos (about $13) in meal vouchers to spend as we please. This led to a glorious feast at a 50's diner themed place called Johnny Rockets. Big hamburgers and large helpings of fries, we felt like we were back in the good ole U.S. of A. When you factor in that it was completely free, it ranks as one of the more memorable meals of our trip. 

What comes next, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, is the part of the trip I have stressed about most. I am led to believe that Cuba is more expensive and not as easy as any of the other countries we will visit. Entry is a little trickier and we will need to purchase medical insurance upon our arrival. Word is that US credit cards don't work so we have stocked up on Mexican pesos to exchange. Also, there are rumors that the glorious Internet we have grown to love, is very scarce and pricey. That being said, we have also heard it is a magical place with beautiful cities, clear waters, great music, and amazing food. We also love danger and want to see it in it's current state, before our leaders have made peace.

So we venture on; our guidebook loaded onto our tablets, our pockets full of pesos, our skin dark from the Caribbean sun, our Spanish weakened by tourism, hoping that the effort and stress is all worth it. Now you may not hear from us again until April 30th, so please don't worry and definitely do not call the authorities. Just know that we are probably having the time of our lives in the forbidden land of cigars and good baseball. 

       

La Isla Bonita

We have temporarily given up the lifestyle we have grown accustomed to over the past 3 months, but it's been a good trade-in. We are currently living it up at Mía Reef Resort on the northern tip of Isla Mujeres, a 30 minute ferry ride from Cancún. Before too much detail, I'll catch you up on the past six days. 

Thursday, as Micah mentioned, we had plans to swim in another Cenote. The day started with a hot breakfast at the market, before we rented two vintage bikes- basket on the front, back pedal to brake- and set out in the 90+ degree weather to cycle the 7 km. After a slight detour from a wrong turn (shockingly, I wasn't the leader) we paid 65 pesos each and entered Cenote Samulá. This Cenote was more the cave setting I expected originally, with one small opening of paved stairways leading you underground, and another opening where the earth caved in and roots from a tree could still be seen. The water was chilly but refreshing, the fish were a bit larger than desired to swim with, and the large branch that fell through a hole into the water was a bit scary. We swam and practiced tight-rope walking on the thick rope that cut the water in half before we rode home. Back to the market for another authentic Mexican meal and then we were back to our hostal for the night.

                                                          Cenote Samulá

                              Making good use of the tripod for the camera

Friday morning, we were prepared for a bit of a fight. We paid for 4 hours with the bikes and were told we'd be reimbursed if we returned early. We pedaled our hearts out to make it home in 3 hours and were therefore owed 30 pesos. That's $2, which doesn't sound like much, until you realize that's the cost of 4 tacos, or 2 orders of churros or a very large bottle of freshly squeezed pineapple juice. When we asked for our refund, we were told 4 times to come ask in another hour when "el hombre" got back, until finally we were told we would get our money Friday morning. So we walked downstairs with our room key as hostage and finally got our 30 pesos. We set off for the bus station, bread and fresh mango in hand, and spent the next 3 hours on a comfortable bus that eventually arrived in Cancún.

In typical fashion, we began walking with our packs to find a place to stay. After walking in to 4 places and turning around after seeing the price, we found a place that appeared decent enough for a fair price. I have learned not to judge a book by its cover since we began this trip; "decent" turned in to glorious, with an extremely comfortable bed, good water pressure and AC. As much as we didn't want to leave that temperature controlled room, we set out with a list of things to accomplish that evening. Dinner was at a large outdoor quesadilla joint, where we each tried a new local deep fried dish with generous bottles of tea and juice. The next thing to check off our list was to find a travel book for Cuba. We looked In a used book store with no luck and ended up in Walmart. Mexico Walmart isn't much more exciting than American Walmart and their book selection is nearly non existent, but we did end up purchasing two nice sets of snorkel gear which have already come in handy. How we're going to fit them into our overflowing packs is not yet determined. We walked home from the store, through a park with a concrete stage and a large, flat viewing area. There was a talent show of dancers on the stage and little kids driving mini cars nearly clipping adults in the viewing area, both equally enjoyable to watch.

After tortas for breakfast on Saturday, we began the trek to our resort; one collectivo, a two story ferry ride and a taxi later, we were standing in front of the large tower of the Mía Reef Resort. Sweaty, stinky and with large packs in tow, we checked in, feeling slightly out of place. (We apparently aren't the only ones that thought this; yesterday we were walking near the restaurant, heading back to our room after picking up all of our clothes from the laundromat. The bartender motioned "no" to me, so I walked over while Micah kept walking with the pack full of laundry. When he realized I had a wristband that all occupants must wear and that we weren't trespassing, he exclaimed "oh, you're staying here!" and waved us on. After a few warm showers, good nights rest and clean clothes, we should start to blend in.)

               Ready to be on the ferry after standing in the sun for 30 minutes

                                                      View of the resort

Our itinerary during our week at the resort is pretty simple: do nothing. We've stayed right on track. Saturday we walked along the beach, ate tacos at a local stand in town, and bought groceries. Sunday we tested the water in the pool, glanced at the menu of the swim up bar and watched golf. Monday, as we felt our bodies still adjusting, consisted of dropping off our laundry and snorkeling for an hour. Since the resort is located on an island all of our own (there is a wooden bridge linking the small northern tip where we are to the rest of the island), we are surrounded on all 4 sides by water, and all sides are within a 5 minute walk. The western side is a long, sandy Carribean beach with views of Cancún; the others are reef. Monday we snorkeled on the more popular side, with large rocks of reef and a sunken fishing boat. The fish, although lacking in vibrant colors, were friendly and fearless. We were both amazed by the amount of fish we saw and how close they would swim to us. We also saw a sting ray, but fortunately for Micah we weren't in the water at the time. 

                                                Bar, pool, Carribean 

                                                  The glowing albino fish

                                              Little guy inside the boat

                                                   Churros made to order

Tuesday we walked across the wooden bridge to find breakfast and pick up laundry. Upon returning home and happily smelling and putting our clean clothes in drawers, we found our way back to the pool. Surprisingly, after staying in hostals without toilet seats but with Internet, our room at the resort doesn't have Internet. So we took advantage of the restaurant Internet to do some Cuba research while soaking up the sun. We then went snorkeling at Piscina del Rey or the Kings Bath, a natural pool located two minutes from our front door. We had the place to ourselves and again, swam right next to hundreds of fish that didn't seem bothered by us. There was more variety and color in the natural pool and a few sea urchins hiding in little coves. One of the workers told us she saw a large octopus in the natural pool a few days ago, which we would have liked to see but maybe after a bit of research on how aggressive octopus can be. We ran across the bridge to pick up burritos and tortas for dinner, and made it back just in time to see the sunset off the dock with a glass (or box) of wine in hand.

                                                    Piscina del Rey

                                                  Fearless fishies!

Today we plan to rent a golf cart- or moped, if I can convince Micah- to explore the whole island, including a turtle sanctuary. Then, we will resume doing nothing until Saturday, when we attempt to sneak in to Cuba.

Take Me To Church

It was nice in the cool mountain air of Guatemala and San Cristobol, we got to wear our long pants and shirts, plus we could sleep cozy under layers of quilts. Oh how things have changed. On the flat Yucatan penninsula, the sun shines fiercly and the heat rises from the busy streets. Sleeping has been more difficult and our dry-fit clothes are getting worn a lot. But you probably aren't here to read about our clothes and sleep habits so let me catch you up.

The bus ride from Campeche to Mérida showed we have gotten a little spoiled from the luxury buses here in Mexico. We rolled 2nd class this time to save $5 a person, and although the bus was decently comfortable, it stopped in every town on the way and each one had about 12 speed bumps. The 150 km ride took us over 4 hrs and our body's were a little sore. I had to keep reminding myself that it was still better than a chicken bus. 

Arriving on the Saturday before Easter, we again prebooked a hostal using booking.com and although a little more spendy than we were used to, they were right on the central park and they did offer a free breakfast buffet. They didn't quite have the room we booked so we ended up with bunk beds at a cheaper price. Not the most comfortable and really no where to sit in the room, but a decent discount and again... breakfast buffet! On arrival, we walked the streets enjoying the energy and activity of the holiday weekend festivities. We caught the end of a Michael Jackson impersonator performing on stage and later learned that he would be doing a full show in a theatre on Thursday. Julia really wanted to stick around but our schedule is a little tight. 

For dinner we found a Gordita place that cranks out a bunch of varieties and ordered 3 a piece. They basically just split open a tortilla and stuff it with the filling of your choosing. Cheap and tasty. Walking past the park stage again, this time a young band played "Sweet Child of Mine" fairly poorly and a decent rendition of Radiohead's "Creep". It is always interesting to hear Spanish speakers cover English songs and to watch the crowd.

            I ordered the Chorizo Papas, Chicharron, and Asado. Julia has some others.

                            Street music 

Sunday, after gorging on our free breakfast, we went to an English language church service that we had found online. Hosted in an old church just 2 blocks from our hostal, the congregation is formed from the decent sized expat population here in Mérida and it was interesting to hear a few of their stories. A sparse crowd since most go back to the states for the holiday, and mostly retired folk seeking a cheap life in Mexico not far from the beach and a short flight from family. One woman was a retired attorney from the Portland area who also worked for the state legislature in some capacity. Her name is Linda in case someone reading this knows her. 

The service was fairly straightforward, providing the classic "Christ, the Lord is Risen Today" to kick things off. The acoustics were pretty sweet with the pipe organ and the trumpet. We wore our Sunday best and really enjoyed the break from the somewhat dirty backpacker lifestyle. It is also probably good to get a blessing; it has been 11 weeks since we last attended church and I am not really sure how long those things last. 

             Julia and Micah after Easter service

Easter afternoon, we strolled the city park some more, which was filled with vendors and Mexican tourists. I sampled the corn dogs, we strolled the markets to buy food to cook for dinner, we attempted to FaceTime with family, and then cooked some ramen noodles to go with the wine the hostal owner kindly shared with us. 

Monday morning, we made the decision to search for cheaper (and quieter) accommodations. We haven't stayed in a true backpacker hostal in a while and weren't used to the long term residents who treat the place like their home and don't have much awareness of the ones around them. The past 2 mornings we were awoken before 6am by people talking outside our door. Combine that with the uncomfortable bunk beds, and we happily loaded up our packs and walked to a local place that charged $14 less per night and had a nice flat screen TV in the room (although we didn't get the National Championship game, which is probably good because I dislike Duke). 

With extra money in our pocket, that afternoon Julia bought a cheap dress and I bought 2 more dry-fit shirts for about $6 a piece (see opening paragraph). We also decided to hit a very popular local food establishment. The past 2 days we noticed this place had 15 people always waiting for tables, no matter the time of day. The rest of the restaurants on the same block were practically empty and we knew this had to be the spot. And it definitely was. We waited less than 20 minutes for a table and proceeded to indulge ourselves. Piña Colada for the lady and a Margarita for me, followed by Cochinita Pibil (slow-cooked pork marinated in citrus and a spice made from annatto seeds) and Papadzules (diced hard-boiled eggs wrapped in tortillas and topped with pumpkin seeds and tomato sauces). Both are classic Yucatan dishes we had been wanting to try. They come with corn tortillas that are made by 3 ladies sitting around the room by griddles. After a late filling lunch like that, we decide the only thing we needed for dinner was a brownie blizzard from the first DQ we have seen all trip.

          Cochinita in front, Papadzules in back.

Tuesday, we awoke very tired and sore from the extremely firm bed and pillows (at least it was cheap). Then hopped a bus bound for Valladolid, a city halfway to Cancún and a good jumping off point for some sites. Getting fairly good at finding cheap places to stay, we opened the door to room #6 at Hotel Sol Colonial and knew it was the one for us. It is big and light pours in when you open the wood doors onto a tiny balcony. Our first balcony is a special occasion and gives the feel like we live here, particularly when we hang our laundry up. 

Valladolid is a nice sized town and quaint despite the constant flow of tour buses heading back to Cancún. We spent time sitting in the lovely central park, watching the buses roll in and the tourists walk around taking pictures of the cathedral and fountain. We ate at the local food court where it appears vendors are not allowed to leave their stations because they compete by yelling and practically throwing menus at you. 

Wednesday, we tackled the biggest tourist draw of our trip, the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá, which apparently is one of the new seven wonders of the world. Large buses bring in tourists from cruise ships, but most don't roll in until around 11am. We hopped a collectivo and strolled through the gates just after they opened at 8am. It was nice. The vendors that line the paths were just starting to get setup so they left us alone. We had many areas to ourselves and felt free to attempt embarrassing selfies using my tripod. 

                Julia told me to think of new poses for us, it is a work in progress. 

Despite the fact the setting isn't nearly as cool as the jungles surrounding Palenque, the brick work and  designs are very intricate and well kept. Founded a long time ago, the city was once home to 90,000 people but was abandoned in 1224 AD. The main show piece is called El Castillo and it stands alone in the middle surrounded by dirt and brown grass. The 30 meter high pyramid has many interesting aspects relating to the Mayan astronomical calendar, like the numbers of stairs totals 365 and another design feature that totals 52. Plus a cool echo sound when you clap that reverberates down the stairs and makes you feel kind of funny. Other notable sites are the Cenote Segrado (big sink hole filled with water that they sacrificed people in) and the Gran Juego de Pelota (the largest ball field in Mesoamerica, I think they played quidditch). Please enjoy the following pictures:

                                                         Some temple thing

        A lizard of some sort on a temple thing

                  Stone column pillar things 

                                                      In front of El Castillo

                                                        The sacred Cenote 

                                                            The ball field

Back in town by mid-day, we grabbed a street torta before heading over to checkout a Cenote you can swim in that is in town. It is called Cenote Zaci and it was a good break from the heat. There are varying heights to safely jump from since the hole continues another 40 meters down from the waters surface. This one is half covered by the ground up high with roots and stalactites hanging down. There were only about 10 others swimming and we enjoyed our time before a large tour group wandered in to take pictures. 

                                                             Cenote Zaci

We finished the day with the best Chinese food we have had so far. Their sweet-n-sour chicken was spot on and what I have been craving. Plus more people watching from the city park which gets very noisy from all of the birds up in the large trees. It is actually a little weird and exotic feeling but it is tough to have quiet conversation. 

It has been fun checking things off our lists and then starting to look at what's ahead. Thursday (today), the plan is to bike out to some other more scenic cenotes on the outskirts of town. Then, we roll on in to Cancún by Saturday to check-in to our time share resort and enjoy a week of luxury and beaches. 

Until next time, this has been your friend Micah.

My City of Ruins

The past four days and two cities have been a whirlwind of Latin American history. Tuesday, we traveled five hours on a comfortable, air conditioned coach bus through valleys and jungles full of lush, green foliage. Mid-day we arrived in Palenque, described as an easy stopping point to access the ruins 8km away. Quickly, we found a cheap but spacious hostel for our next 2 nights. We explored the market, central park, and found the fried chicken we'd been craving for dinner. We settled in early for a good nights sleep, knowing Wednesday we had a lot of ground to cover and a lot of info for our brains to absorb. The turkey next door had different plans for us. Did you know turkeys gobble, similar to roosters cock-a-doodle-dooing, but even earlier than your typical rooster will for a wake up call? Around 5:20am, the turkey started in, and the rooster joined about 20 minutes later. So our Wednesday started early.

We caught a collectivo, similar to a large van, to Palenque ruins before 8am. The ruins didn't open till 8, but already there were tourists, buses and vendors swarming the entrance. We purchased tickets to enter and pushed our way through, walked up some stairs, along a well maintained dirt path with rocks on the borders, ushering us to this:

Worth it.

Here's one of many history lessons for the day.

Palenque was first occupied by the Mayans around 100 BC and later flourished in 630-740 AD under the reign of ruler Pakal, and then succeeded by his sons. At that time, hundreds of buildings were built over 15 sq km; only a handful of these have been excavated and restored. The current, preserved area is 2 sq km and was once home to 8,000 Mayans. Much of the history of Palenque has been reconstructed from reading the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the monuments. At the time of Pakal's ruling, Palenque was a political force of power with a strong army to back it. Residents lived off of local resources: mainly corn, meat from roaming animals including one breed of dog, and the arroyos- rivers- that wind through the mountainous land. Once it's resources ran low and stress from the wars increased, Palenque was abandoned.

The restored buildings that exist served four purposes back in the day: war, religion, power and residence. The grandest and most impressive buildings were devoted to power; they included living quarters for the ruler and their family, and halls and courtyards to host events. The residential ruins were reserved for the servants and lower class. The war temples seemed to be showcases of warriors that had been killed, often housing numerous carved tablets depicting the torture of the prisoner. Few temples still had the original tablets and carvings present on the walls but many authentic stone carvings could be found in the museum.  The religious temples were devoted to their many Gods and were places of worship.

Standing in front of Temple of the Inscriptions. In 1952, a stone slab was removed in the floor which revealed a passageway, eventually leading to Pakal's tomb. 

Pakal's tomb discovery (now located in the museum) is considered one of the greatest Maya archeological finds in history. His body was covered with cinnabar mercury and jadeite jewelry, the most famous piece of the offering was a handmade mask made from mosaic tiles of jade that covered his face.

The Palace.

This was the residence of the ruling family and his court. Since ceremonies and festivals were also performed in this space, this building had to meet the needs of all kinds of activities concerned with the ruler. This was the only building that we were able to explore thoroughly.

The Tower, in one of many courtyards of The Palace. Essentially, this was on the roof of the ruins.

Doing cartwheels in the other courtyard of The Palace.

Outdoor walkways in The Palace.

Above me and slightly to the right is the Temple of the Cross, built in honor of Pakal's succeeding ruler.

From the top of the Temple of the Cross, three temples devoted to their three Gods whose names are unknown so referred to as GI, GII and GIII. The Palace can be seen on the far right.

A replica stone found on top of Temple XXI.

Northern Group- the stairs were insanely steep and usually too short in width to fit your entire foot.

                                                        Micah, helping out.

On our walk from the ruins towards the museum, we passed a beautiful waterfall. After walking past it, we heard a howling noise coming from the waterfall area, which made us roll our eyes. We assumed it was coming from one of the souvenirs everyone was selling, shaped like a howler monkey that you could blow in to and it would replicate the call of a howler monkey. We walked 50 ft further before stopping on the trail where some locals were nonchalantly gazing into the thick jungle surrounding us. They walked away just as we spotted two howler monkeys jumping vines. We lost them quickly, but listened to them howl as we continued walking.

Back in Palenque town, we partook in the best tacos we've had yet and a little down time at the hostel. In the evening, we headed back out to find some dinner (pepperoni pizza) and then found ourselves amidst a large crowd of people at the central park for a show. Initially, there was a band of 5 hombres playing a variety of percussion instruments which then transitioned to a larger group of dancers in traditional Mexican dress. We enjoyed the festivities but called it an early night, knowing our turkey friend wouldn't allow us to sleep in.

Thursday we had an 8am departure on another classy bus. We were headed for Campeche, a colonial town on the Gulf of Mexico. Due to the heavy travel that occurs for Semaña Santa, we reserved a hotel on booking.com and checked in around 2pm, after walking 1.2 miles with our packs on in 90 degree weather. We hit the town to explore; we first quenched our hunger with a small serving of shrimp cocktail, followed by a few hours strolling along the well kept malecón, or esplanade. 

                                            We've missed large bodies of water

During our walk through town square, we passed a Chinese Buffet restaurant. Funny enough, we were discussing how our cravings for ceviche and seafood would be met in this town, but after seeing that we had the opportunity to not only eat Chinese food, but also satisfy our need to stay on budget (we were hungry, we could eat our monies worth at a buffet!), we decided to go for it. The sign out front said 90 pesos para adulto, and below that it read apartir de los 6:00, 65 pesos para adulto. Our mediocre translation skills led us to believe this meant if we ate before 6:00pm, we could save 25 pesos or roughly $1.66 each. We were in. We wandered back to the restaurant at 5:30, sat down, and then clarified: "65 pesos, si?" The hostess said a lot of words but si was not one of them and her body language told us we didn't guess the translation correctly. At this point, we were hungry (like, buffet hungry) and our hearts were set on Chinese. So we went searching for an Internet cafe to google translate what apartir de really means. We were unsuccessful in finding Internet, so instead asked a random local and with hand gestures and good examples, we understood apartir de means "at exactly". We sat on a bench in central park, conveniently positioned with our eyes on the door of the restaurant and within ear shot of the church bell that would ring when it was our dinner time. At exactly 6:00pm, we walked back in, trying not to look too desperate or needy. The waitress smiled and nodded as she said "65 pesos." Five plates and six drinks later, we got our monies worth.

  Micah would like me to inform you that they had sriracha sauce, first time we've seen it in Central America 

  Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Purisma Concepción

Today (Friday) was another cultural day, in our book. History Lesson #2: Campeche and pirates. Campeche was founded in 1540 and, obviously being located right on the Gulf, is a port town. In 1557, it suffered its first attack by pirates. The town began to develop strategies to protect itself, but every two or three years, it fell victim to another pirate attack. The defensive system of Campeche began in the late 1500s through 1684, when they built watchtowers, used churches and monasteries for safe havens, and created isolated forts and trenches. Between 1684 and 1710, a walled system was constructed that later made the city famous. An irregular hexagonal shape with a bastion at each corner, the wall had four main gates to monitor who entered the main center. By the time the wall was completed, Pirates had died out, as the countries that initially encouraged pirate activity then began to dissuade it and punish them. The wall still exists, surrounding an adorable but apparently relatively deserted downtown, with buildings color coordinated in bright pastels.

                  Walking on top of the wall

  The walking street in town center, consists of large statues and pieces of art all along the street

We spent an hour or more inside an informative and new museum devoted to sharing Campeche's history, after the town was made a World Heritage Site in 1999. Another hour or two were devoted to other less impressive museums, one of which was a home from the late 1700s preserved with most of its original European and Cuban style decorations and furniture, and another of Mayan history which in comparison to Palenque, didn't awe us. We also saw a procession near the main cathedral, with a group of young men carrying a statue of Jesus on the cross and a parade of locals following while singing and praying.  Other than that, we ate good food today and took advantage of the small pool that our most expensive hotel yet had to offer.

Tomorrow we jump onto yet another bus, heading for the large city of Merida. We plan to stay for 4 or 5 days, as it seems we've been switching towns every other day for awhile now. We look forward to celebrating the culmination of Semaña Santa on Sunday, and possibly a day trip from Merida to the ocean for a quick dip in the warm waters of the Gulf.