Campeche Part III

The following 3 posts were started last year.  It's a rainy day here so a good time for memories.

Edzna

We signed up for a tour of Edzna. The ruins are outside of Campeche. We were the only ones to sign up for the tour so it was a private tour. A very amazing place. Pretty much all excavated and reconstructed. 

The main square pyramid. If we had been Mayans this is where we would have lived, no doubt!

The carving still has the paint and color on it. Pretty amazing after 1,000 or so years.

We think there were only a couple of people at the ruins besides us.

A jade burial mask found at one of the jillions of places we want to see, Calakmul.  Calakmul is a huge swath of preserved land in Mexico and Guatamala.  

This is a carved column. The rock is volcanic and since there's no volcanos on the Yucatan penninsula, it had to have been transported here. It probably cme from Guatamala or Hunduras. But, of course, the mystery is how was this 12 foot hunk of stone get moved? Ed says aliens!

Campeche Part II

When the wall around Campeche was built, as is reasonable, it was right at the edge of the water.   Since pirates no longer were a threat, the city started filling in its shoreline so that now it is about a quarter mile away from the wall.  It has a wonderful walking/biking path that runs along the shore for miles with statues along the way.

We went to one of two forts built by the Spanish to defend the city.  Ed is standing on the walkway to the entrance over the moat.

The well manicured moat with one of the several lookouts.

This fort holds incredible treasures that have been recovered from ruins in the area.  We can't remember how old this guy is but really, he's really old!  Trust us!

Add to your mental image of this lookout the probably more than 30 cannons and you can see the pirates didn't have many moves!

Campeche

Campeche

What a beautiful old walled city south of Merida on the Gulf of Mexico.  Most of the wall is intact and the remaining portions are being rebuilt so that at some point, people can walk around the city on the wall.  Our 3 days there were filled with seeing old buildings, doing both impromptu tours(an older man kinda kidnapped us taking us up to walk on the wall without the possiblity of our exit without him. It's complicated!) and organized tours (a trolley car tour of the city at sunset, nice!),  hanging out with clowns and eating some great seafood.

The main plaza in Campeche.  The church was started in the 1500's and was finished in the 1800's. The plaza is always filled with people sitting on shaded benches and kids feeding pigeons!

It truly is sparkling clean and colorful within the walls of the city.  Since it's a Unesco World Heritage site, building owners were provided the funds to paint their buildings.  Even vacant lots are bordered by colorful walls. 

We're talking friendly in Campeche.  This wedding shop owner and Ed became good buds after the owner showed Ed the caguamas (big bottles of beer)in his fridge!

Yes the street  IS as deep and narrow as it looks.  To get up on the sidewalk, there are stairs cut in the concrete at the street corners.  We'd like to see how the drivers get out after they park!

A bonus during our visit to Campeche was a national clown convention.

Our hotel was perfect.  Over 200 years old, with 2 foot thick walls, it is a cool retreat midday.  It was a military barracks in a  previous life.  We don't think that they had the cool pool back then though

The ceilings are probably 12 feet high  with  old beams that will probably last another few centuries! For some reason we didn't get a pic of the common areas but if you're interested, there are some good ones on TripAdvisor for Hotel Castelmar.

One of the gates to the city built in the 1700's.  Pirates were a big problem in Campeche.  All of the big names like Henry Morgan were regulars!

Merida and Mayapan

We have made a good start here after a hefty absence by remembering our blog address.  Although there has been so much to say, we've been silent.  Where to begin again?

We guess we'll just begin with our most recent story. We're back from a trip to Merida and while there we took an incredible tour of the village of Acanceh and the ruin of Mayapan. Here are some random pics.

Merida at night.

 One of our favorite statues in one of the hundreds of little parks in Merida.

 A protected fresco at the top of a pyramid in Acanceh.

 This pyramid is right in the middle of Acanceh together with the central market and the village church and chapel. So amazing to have life continue on around a structure over 2000 years old.

 This pyramid is in Mayapan.  Mayapan was about as big as Chichen Itza but as opposed to the throngs of visitors drawn by Chichen Itza, there were maybe 10 other folks at Mayapan during our time there.

 Ed has found another suitable throne!

 After Acanceh and Mayapan our guide drove us to a tiny village in the jungle.  When we arrived, a throng of very enthuasiastic little boys clambered around the car.  They each wanted to be chosen to guide us to a remote cenote.  The highlight of the day for Peggy was a swim in her "private" cenote.  Below is a picture taken looking into the depths of this sinkhole.  The source of light is actually a reflection of the sun in the water.  Amazing! 

 Although this cenote was about 50 feet down from the ground with no other light but the sun, look how bright it is.  Again, amazing!

Tis the Season 2013

First Norte

Yesterday you could see the weather changing. A Norte was coming in. Norte is what the Mexicans call a cold front from the north. Makes sense, doesn't it? A huge black cloud bank developed over the Yucatan and was moving our way. By evening it began to rain. Thunder and lightening! Howling wind really drove the rain. Lights flickered. Bright bolts of lightening. Loud claps of thunder. Temperature began to drop. All night the wind blew, rattling even thing that wasn't secure. Of course, it sounded a whole lot worse than it was. We closed all windows and doors. At midnight Ed realized that the shade sail was still up in the back. So, out he went and took it down. We slept under the comforter and by morning it was cold! That's 72 degrees! Down from mid 80's. Humidtiy had dropped to the high 50's. If it stays cold the Mexican folks will break out the wool stocking caps and down vest. Really. Nortes can be welcome respits from hot humid days. Unfortunatley it can cause good size waves in the channel and the Capitania de Puerto (harbormaster) will "close the port" which means smaller boats are not allowed out. No diving. No snorkeling. A day or so is fine, but if it lasts longer everyone gets grumpy. Divers who came to dive can't. Dive shops aren't making sales and no money means boat captains and divemasters don't get paid. So, it can get tense. But, for now we'll enjoy 70's with low humidity. Actually, Peggy will take the cooler temps any time! She just needs a little heat in the shower. Turn the temperature up on the water heater, Ed.

Tramite (Paperwork)

It seems that with some things down here, it is impossible to complete them with the first attempt. Especially anything to do with the government, utilities, etc.  And, officials don't give out complete instructions. Those are often given one at  time. Satisfying the first requirement means you get to do Step #2. And when Step #2 is finished, you get to go to Step #3. Ed went to pay our real estate taxes the other day. It used to be Peggy's job but now Ed can get a discount because he's a certified old codger.  He went with last year's bill and his old-age discount card. And, cash. After standing in a slow moving line, he was told that he needed two copies of his card and two copies of his passport. Why? No answer. Can't pay without copies and you can't get copies at the office!  So, off to our official copy provider who owns a little variety store.  When he sees us coming he knows to ask "Mas copias?"  Ed felt success at hand now that he had copies. But wait! Last year paying taxes was separate from paying annual garbage collection fees. Of course, no sign or notice indicating any change to that this year. So Ed went with only enough cash to pay the taxes. Again, long slow lines. Ed got his tax bill along with a garbage bill. Yikes. The cashier is at the next window. Both bills must be paid at the same time! Gratefully the cashier said she would set the bills aside until Ed walked back home to get more cash. Success at last! Three trips to pay taxes of $65 US and garbage of $30.  Now, hammock remembering that life is filled with unrecognized benefits - Ed got some good exercise, he got to practice his Spanish, our taxes are low and there's always the hammock out back.