So, you're still basing your Mayan Ruins tour out of the Flycatcher Inn in Santa Elena, state of Yucatan, on the Yucatan Peninsula, just east of the ruins of Uxmal and about 56 miles south of Mérida on Highway 261. Time for you to take a quick day trip further along Highway 261 to the Gulf Coast town of Campeche.
I've often mentioned how terrific the roads are throughout the Yucatan Peninsula. Finally, here's an example of what I mean. It cannot be a nicer piece o' cake:
The roads get a little bit rougher once you cross out of Yucatan state and into Campeche state - you'll know when you cross the state line because you'll drive under a tall stone arch! The difference between Yucatan and Campeche roads is similar to the way the road surfaces change when you drive from Arizona into California. They're still easy traveling, never fear. The view along each side of the highway in Campeche state is more agricultural and less jungle than you have seen in your travels through Yucatan state. You see more open fields, livestock, and machinery.
We made a mistake visiting Campeche city as a day trip. We should have spent at least 3 days there; it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We discovered many enticing sights we had to bypass due to lack of time: churches and cathedrals, the old walled city center, museums, and monuments. Here's just one such monument to Campeche's workers, a guy rising right out of the pavement in the middle of one of Campeche's many arterials. Occupy Campeche!
Having only allotted part of one day, we had just enough time to visit Fort San Miguel and its excellent museum, and grab a nice seafood lunch at the popular shoreside restaurant on the Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche where Mel Gibson hung out with his crazy beard while he was filming Apocalypto.
Fuerte San Miguel is Campeche's Colonial fort. The Spanish first landed here in 1517, but their reputation had preceded them and the local Mayans aggressively resisted them for the next 23 years. Eventually - having chosen sheer force of numbers over any kind of diplomacy - the Spanish gained a foothold on shore and in 1668 built the fort to protect their shipments of natural resources, gems and precious metals that they were taking out of Mexico, from marauding pirates. You know: the Spanish didn't want the pirates to steal what the Spanish had already stolen fair and square. This all means that today's Campeche has a very rich and action-packed history of conquistadores, pirates, and Indians. It's a little boy's trifecta of action heroes. And there's a fort!
The fort's period and architecture is similar to what we saw of the old Spanish fort at Portobelo, Panama; and to the photos I've seen of forts in places like St. Augustine, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico - dry moats, walled approaches, and upper levels with small cylindrical watch towers and slits in the parapets for cannon. Many of the fort's lower-level rooms now house the excellent collections of Campeche's archaeological museum. You will see jade burial masks, ceramics, sacrificial altars and other artifacts recovered from the region's Mayan ruins.
Campeche has so much going on, Mexican nationals from as far away as fancy-pants upscale Mexico City are attracted here for vacations. Take a cue from them: go for the pirates and the seafood restaurants. Stay for the jade.
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