Visiting Campeche: Rainbow-Pirate Arches

“By far, the most frustrating things about visiting the United States is the immense material wealth and the utter lack of architectural beauty. Capitalist democracies are absolute shite at investing in urban splendor. Just a bit to the south, Mexico has entire towns flaring rainbow colors from their colonial days.” – Old Sean

Mexico Living

For the past month, a small, vibrant city on the crest of the Yucatan Peninsula has been my home.  Merida has treated me well these past few weeks, giving me a place to fortify myself before attending my first semester of online classes.

My last couple of weeks in Merida have been calm, peaceful and productive.  I’ve taken long walks throughout the city, sent in my ballot for the upcoming American Election (2020), restocked on important supplies, earned and saved a bit of money and checked out some local museums. 

I’ve met a few new friends, including a girl named Lu who is aghast at my poor Spanish navigation abilities. Around sunset, I’ve often peered at the numerous bats found flitting around in the evening. 

I’ve also visited regal buildings, abandoned train yards where droves of huge lizards rest on the sunny tracks and urban dump zones where furniture has been overwhelmed by tropical flowers.

Merida is good, and generally, I’ve stayed at rest aside from some walks around the city.   I’ve also wandered off into the jungles once in a while and found myself in fairly safe areas. 

Interestingly and annoyingly, there are unique leaves that stick to fabric in a strange way, clinging on like flypaper.  When I try to peel them free, the delicate veins tear and I end up with checked patches of green around my ankles until laundry day. 

But laundry hazards aside, Merida has been great. 

Mini-Vacation

However, I did manage to leave my small base of operations for a mini-vacation on the coast.  A three hour drive away, I lodged myself in Campeche, fondly known as the Rainbow Town.  The name is derived from the wide array of pastel homes lining all of Campeche’s streets.  Since this is a tourist town, the colored houses are kept in an excellent state of repair. 

Campeche exists on the leeward side of the Yucatan Peninsula, nestled on the eastern shores.  The streets in the old town area are beautiful for walking along, with solid pastel walls lining narrow, cobbled sidewalks. 

Ironically, the streets are too narrow to gain a great angle for photos and there are no alleys in Campeche; all houses share walls with one another.  Flat rooftops often sprout wisps of adventurous grasses and stylized iron bars crisscross over windows.

I arrived in Campeche rather late in the day, immediately hiking away from the bus station and into the old town area.  My hotel, the Baluartes, treated me extremely well.  I was granted a third story room facing the ocean where I could gaze out along the horizon and peer down at the thin lines of joggers tracing the seaside. 

Evening Explorations

However, in my rush to get to my room, I neglected to feed myself properly.  Propping open my notes on the location, I delved back into town seeking out the highly recommended La Maria Cocina.  The food was spectacular and I gorged myself on their specialty seafood tacos, artisanal guacamole and some crisp drinks I don’t know the name of.

Considerably rounder, I went lurking through the old town streets for dessert.  Throughout Campeche, I could see the city’s walls looming along the edges.  These great, pale barriers were chipped in places and brushed in others but they dominated the roads and allowed small gates for easy foot-traffic. 

It was at this point I bumbled through Plaza de la Independencia, a large greenspace ringed by some of Campeche’s most iconic features.  Most notable is the twin-spired cathedral known in English as “Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.”  A mere block away was the bright yellow Inglesia de el Dulce Nombre de Jesus, which boasted numerous bells glinting in the dense sunlight.  The actual Plaza itself is closed due to COVID, currently, but walking around its edges was allowed.

It was at this point I discovered the wonderful, tiny ice cream shop Holanda, which would be my eventual undoing.  I ordered treats from this tiny shop three times within the two days I visited Campeche. 

Forts and Hikes

Sweet tooth sated, I delved north hiking a long route to reach a special fortification of Campeche located around San Jose del Alto. 

Along the way, I dipped past small parks, spotted interesting little corners of public artworks (Flanders from the Simpson’s holding a bible that reads “Okay” in cursive), passed a large fishing cove located behind the Galerias Campeche Mall and slogged my way uphill. 

Amusingly enough, many of Campeche’s drainage areas include running water where tiny minnows and fish absolutely thrive, sometimes existing in numbers large enough to audibly splash away when humans approach. 

I’ve been calling them Gutter Guppies in my head, as they surged up and down their narrow rain-runoff streams.  I also passed Campeche’s stoic statue, a solemn figure called Viewpoint Benito Juarez. 

Finally, after sweating a solid half-bucket and fanning myself with my umbrella, I reached Fuerte de San Jose.  This structure is, as many things during COVID, closed to the general public.  But the outdoor area was accessible and very interesting to behold. 

The fort is a semi-subterranean creation, half-sunken into hilltop fortifications with a moat-like gap surrounding its cannon-covered walls.  The drawbridge and entryway to the hill is a curvy route preventing angles of straight fire and enemy soldiers would likely have to slog uphill the entire time to reach the base of the fortifications.

Coastal Walks

Pleased by the breeze atop the hill, I started picking my way back downhill, eventually reaching Campeche’s huge, extended marina area, Campeche Tarpon.  Large birds conglomerate on the road-peninsula and I was happy to find the Galerias Mall nearby for a brief rest while absorbing some air conditioning.

At this point, sunset was on the verge of beginning, so I started walking along the seaside towards Old Town once more, expecting to see some nice views.

I wasn’t disappointed.  Campeche is one of those magical seaside places scattered across the world where sunsets are a fabulous show all of their own.  Many people, armed with fishing rods dabbled near the water.

Additionally, an occasionally vibrant wave would crush itself on the white-and-blue sea wall, tossing a mist of water in the air.  Oddly, the sea air only smelled slightly salty and numerous tiny trees grew in the low shallows where rocks made up the beach floor.  Sandpipers kept a cautious eye on walkers before scurrying along the generally soft, shallow waves.

The route I was walking is known as Malecon, and it’s actually three or four parallel trails following the seaside. 

First is where cars putter down the road, slightly further inland.  Right next to the sea is the walking trail where people rest on the cement sea-railing.  Slightly further in is a dusky-red trail of smooth cement where roller-bladders and joggers constantly patrol.  Even slightly further in is a separate trail designed for bikers peddling down the shoreline. 

The peaceful walk is far from dull, with numerous statues of features visible as bight-hull fishing boats lounge offshore.

Plaza de 4 Octobre has a touching series of statues atop modernist geometric shapes.  Novia del Mar shows an ocean-bound maiden staring westward atop a pile of boulders.  Obelisco a los Marinos is a proud white pillar with sunset-watchers roosting on its steps.  The Campeche Logo is a series of colorful block letters where a constant swarm of tourists snap endless photos.  Parque de Moch Couuh is a wonderfully quaint little park with sky-walkways, lounging cement couches and large green pools. 

Campeche’s sunsets are near-impossible to beat. 

Old Town Waddles

My peaceful and long hike completed, I waddled back into Old Town to seek out my dinner.  Tourists can’t do much better for food than the options found on 59 Calle, where options abound and shady outdoor seating is available.  Even better, live musicians dominate the street, the trumpets being my favorite. 

It was at this point I got a little turned-around an inadvertently visited ex-Templo de San Jose, which is a gorgeous structure, especially in the still-golden light of Campeche.  I eventually returned to 59 Calle, where I found La Choco, a dessert shop.  It was my least-healthy dinner in recent memory and I have no regrets. 

Tired from my long trip to Campeche, early morning work shift and subsequent hike, I decided to return to my hotel early, stopping only to purchase a real sandwich for dinner and spotting a clown dressed Dragon Ball Z’s Goku.  I finally got up to my room, stripped out of my sweaty clothes and planned to call it a fairly early night as I gazed off my balcony, listening to the night air.

But then the night air swelled and dipped as a great, smooth sound glowed in from my left.  Peering down the beach, I spotted huge arcs of water, lit by spotlights and purple tints as a water-show began in Fuentes Marinas “Poesia del mar.” 

Pleased by this welcome surprise, I nipped downstairs and gained my own little private over-watch of the event, lounging on the ocean’s edge as the show played classical music in tempo with the fountains. 

Day Two of Campeche

The following day, I made a point to slowly enjoy everything I missed.  Indeed, I barely got out of bed until 11AM for a coffee breakfast at Frappisimo. 

My first stop on my little tour was Bazar Artisanal Campeche, an artistic feature shopping area where local handcrafted artwork is displayed.  While it was open, this section of Campeche was hit extremely hard by the tourism diminishment. I had the entire place to myself when I walked in. 

A bit further inland, I discovered the best-defended garden I’ve ever visited in my life.  Jardin Botanico Xmuch’haltun is a small, quaint garden with numerous Mexican native plants protected by a towering thick wall of stone nearly 20 feet high.  I said hello to the guppies in the center pond, pondered at the strange, white fruit plants (Morinda Citrifolia or Noni), marveled at the airborne, tree-symbiotic cacti and went on my way.

For the following hours I would continue to trace the grid of Old Town.  I visited the refurbished example of colonial housing at Centro Cultural Casa No. 6.  I sampled local bread sources and bought myself more ice cream.  Best of all, I started making a point to visit the Baluartes, which are the various structures incorporated into the anti-piracy walls of Campeche.

Anti-Piracy Walls

Ironically, the famed Anti-Piracy Walls of Campeche were constructed in order to fend off pirates that so-often plagued this part of the world.  However, Campeche was a bit slow to the defensive punch, and piracy was already on the decline after the walls were established.  As such, the majority of actions the white fortifications have seen are tourist-oriented. 

I got very lucky at this point when I visited Baluarte de San Francisco. 

I had assumed, due to all the gates being locked, that tourists weren’t allowed on the walls due to COVID.  But upon visiting the far side of the city, I found that I was indeed allowed up.  After giving a nod to a large lizard basking on a prop cannon, I was allowed to the top of the city, where I gazed down rainbow streets and enjoyed the breeze.  I also broke out my umbrella since the sun was spearing down powerfully, despite a slight cover of immensely fluffy clouds. 

Confident I had seen all I could in Old Town, I returned to 59 Calle for lunch and decided to spend the rest of my time hiking southward towards the fort Fuerte de San Miguel.  While the walk was extremely pleasant and I got to see more seaside monuments and statues in Campeche, San Miguel is of the same brand as Fuerte de San Jose the north: A semi-sunken fortification embedded in a hilltop overlooking the city and sea.

Vacation Wind Down

Happy with my day and sore from the continuous walking, I realized it was time to start heading back to catch my bus.  I made it about halfway before an enormous shroud of dark clouds drifted overhead, sprinkling rain. 

Fortunately, the clouds never manifested into a serious storm and my umbrella was more than enough to fend off the water.  However, the narrow streets were quickly drenched and created strong funnels of water racing towards the sea, often rising over my shoes. 

It was in this slight slog I was forced to trudge back to the bus station, though the clouds and sunset provided a few truly stunning visages on my way home.

And thus ends my time in Campeche.  I caught a bus home that night and spent the next day lounging, writing, working and generally taking naps to replenish my strength.  I have another trip (hopefully) planned before my classes start in earnest, so until then.

Best regards and excellent trails,

Old Sean

Written October 19th, 2020

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