Mexico - Campeche

Campeche is a small colonial town on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. And where other town and city centres in Mexico can get ruined by traffic, they have managed here to keep traffic limited. Combined with the efforts to preserve the colonial buildings (including support for the inhabitants to maintain the colourful paintwork of their houses), this makes it a very pleasant town to spend some time. Which we duly did, wondering through town, having a look at the local museum which houses a beautiful collection of Mayan art, enjoying the fiesta the locals had put on in the elegant main square, in general wandering aimlessly through the picturesque village and taking full benefit from the pool in our hotel.

However, Campeche was also our point of departure for a two-day trip to Calakmul and the Rio Bec sites, two areas of Mayan sites deep in the Mexican inlands, near the border with Guatemala. This time we chose to go by ourselves, getting a car from the local car rental company. In line with our previous experiences (remember Malaysia's wonder of technology and our little chugger in New Zealand) we were shown to a Nissan Tsuru. Basically a model that either never made it to the European markets or if it did - our combined knowledge of cars does not stretch that far!

But not to worry, it fulfilled its duties without problems, covering around 800 kilometers in two days, even dealing effortlessly with the countless 'nopes' (traffic humps the size of a small hill) we came across. Another prominent feature of driving through Mexico turned out to be police and military control posts. Every entry or exit of a highway (don't be fooled by the name, this is nothing more than a two-way road comparable to a rural road in Europe) was manned by a group of serious looking policemen or soldiers, keen to have a look in the car and the boot. What their exact purpose was we never knew (our Spanish didn't stretch that far, neither did their English), but we decided to be safe and treat them with the utmost respect ('Si senor, claro senor!), so we made it through without any issues.

Our route led from Campeche through Edzna via Balamku (and others) to Calakmul. Edzna is an important Mayan site in the Northwest of the Yucatan. Here we tagged on to a group of Americans that were shown around by a guide (apparently the same guy that Mel Gibson used in his latest movie as director to get a better understanding of Mayan practices - he was able to enlighten us on the forms of human sacrifice: decapitation, tearing the heart out or being shot by a bow and arrow). The Americans were mainly there to do some hunting, so for them it was only a brief excursion into Mayan culture. Edzna was one of the prettier sites we had seen so far with a great pyramid, nice plazas, some massive underground caverns where the Mayans used to collect water (this is one of the driest parts of Mexico and there are no natural rivers) and a few striking cross-eyed masks depicting sunrise and sunset (apparently, deformation (elongation) of the skull and being cross-eyed were signs of beauty for the ancient Mayas). Also, this site was still inhabited, albeit not by Mayans, but tens (maybe hundreds) of iguanas, from little ones to ones measuring close to 1 meter/3 foot head-to-tail, sometimes fiercely fighting for their territory.

From Edzna the route continued along a long road to two smaller sites (Becan and Chincanna), where we spent the night for an early start the next day. For, the route from our hotel to Calakmul, one of the largest known Mayan sites with over 7,000 structures over 70 square kilometers, led for 60 kilometers through a jungle full of wildlife. There was even a possibility we'd see jaguars - unfortunately it remained only just that, a possibility. However, bright yellow-coloured toucans and hundreds of turkeys (not the ones that find their way onto the Christmas table, but the ones that are fodder for the hunting Americans, brightly coloured like a peacock) were out, so we had to slalom over the narrow road to reach our destination Calakmul.

This World Heritage Site has only 'recently' been discovered and opened up, with the vast majority of the 7,000 structures (say 6,975) still to be excavated. In reality this means that there are only a few structures visible and reconstructed, among which the highest pyramid in Mexico. With our keen ambition to climb everything that could be climbed we set off to the top, from where we had a great view over the jungle and into Guatemala (although admittedly it is hard to tell where Mexico stops and Guatemala starts). The way down, though, was less of a pleasant experience, but eventually we made it, JP on hands and knees.

From Calakmul we went back home via Balakmu, a small site where a well-preserved piece of stucco is the main attraction. Depicting jaguars, kings, fish, snakes and many, many more symbolic animals and references, this was one of the most beautiful sculptures we have seen, once more emphasizing the amazing abilities of these people.

Slightly 'templed out' we made our way back. Apart from nopes and soldiers nothing too dangerous crossed our way, so we set down in good time for a meal (JP's birthday meal) and Margarita on a terrace overlooking the Zocalo (main square), where the locals where enjoying a local band. A nice ending to a few great days in and 'around' Campeche....