We set off from Mérida on a two hour ADO bus ride to Campeche. It’s a direct bus and I’m happy for a little rest as my tummy is a bit fragile today after some over indulging since arriving in Mexico!!
A quick geography lesson as to where we are, in particular relative to the water around us. As you can see from the map below, the east side of the Yucatan, from Cancun down sits on the Caribbean Sea and the west side sits on the Gulf of Mexico (potentially soon to be renamed by a certain incoming US president … oh I don’t think so!!!). So when we were in Playa Del Carmen we enjoyed swimming in the Caribbean Sea but now we are in Campeche, we will be on the Gulf of Mexico.
The bus leaves us a few kilometres out of town but as we only have backpacks we are happy to walk into the centre.
Campeche is one of the 32 states that make up Mexico. Campeche city is known for its preserved baroque colonial buildings, military architecture and walled historic district. In response to pirate attacks, the city was fortified in the 17th century and much of the walls remain in tact. It was declared a world heritage site in 1997. The historic old town, where we are staying tonight, lies behind these walls.
There were just two gates into the original old city – one facing the land and one facing the sea. We enter from the land side although not through the original gate and walk through the amazing streets to the sea.
You could spend hours (and we did) wandering through the streets admiring the small homes and businesses, realising some buildings are just facades with nothing behind but ruins or overgrown trees. It’s a fascinating little town.
We sit for a bit looking out to the water and then cross the main road back to the old town and admire a very cool mural.
It’s around 2pm so we walk toward our hotel, which is beside the Governors palace, an interesting building built in the 60’s but with a Mayan take on it and it also has some interesting murals. Our hotel is called Castelmar and we are really impressed. It’s a gorgeous building. We drop our bags, get settled in our room which looks out onto a small pool and has a tiny bed compared to our giant king+ we’ve become used to!!!
We have no time to waste as we only have today and tomorrow here so we start exploring. It’s going to be a high step count today (23,000!). We walk to Campeche cathedral built between 1540 and 1760.
There’s a black Jesus here, he looks like he’s ready to be placed on a float for a Semana Santa (Holy Week) procession. I am always fascinated by the statues… check out this one of Our Lady of Lourdes (that’s fairly standard and they haven’t put a wig on her thankfully!) but what’s the story with the doll at her feet!!!!
We walk to the bastion of San Pedro which was built at the end of the 17th century as part of the defence of the city. It held gunpowder and ammunitions and saw many battles over the years. At one point it housed the Court of the Holy Office of the Inquisition,
There are a number of statues dotted around, this one being a bit like our Molly Malone (without the bosoms)!
Next we pay a small fee to walk the walls of the city.
There is a great view of all the small streets and buildings from up here.
The man who unlocked the gate to let us in told us to ring the bell when we are finished and want to get out!! We really like it here, there are barely any tourists!!
We decide it’s time for some refreshments so we stop into an old cantina for a lemonade and a load of snacks are set out in front of us!!
I really do like the streets in this town…. they’re so colourful and picturesque. This street is pedestrianised for eating… it’s very quiet!
Molly Malones cousin!!
After a short rest at the pool we walk along the waterfront to a restaurant that Shelagh and Fernando recommended called La Palapa Tio Fito which apparently has amazing stone crab. We see the end of a pretty sunset as we walk the 2.5km stretch.
We order the crab claws which are served with garlic butter and they are really tasty. I think we are one of the last customers as the restaurant closes early and the waiter brings us a second portion for free. Shane has a shrimp soup which must have a dozen and a half prawns in it so by the time his octopus main arrives he’s struggling! I have some very tasty fish tacos!
Today is January 6th which is the Feast of the Three Kings so there’s a party atmosphere around town. We watch a cool water fountain show where a lot of locals have gathered.
Further along the waterfront, past the large El Ángel Maya statue, we see the Campeche sign. You really can’t go anywhere these days without a place name sign – the Mexican ones are particularly colourful.
Next morning we are up early and we walk to Museo Arqueológico de Campeche which is 4km from our hotel. On the way we stop to check out the local cemetery.
The museum is housed in the Reducto de San Miguel, a fortress built in 1801 with a small drawbridge.
The inside has a really pretty courtyard and the museum artifacts are housed across nine rooms off this courtyard.
There are some very interesting statues dating back to the 11th century so 1,000 years old! A lot of the statues we see were funerary offerings. The depicted face could be a faithful portrait of the deceased or have attributes of certain deities. They were manufactured with carved mosaics and joined on wood or stucco molds, using materials of symbolic and prestigious value, such as jade, shell or obsidian, to highlight the investiture of the wearer. Most of what we see were found in tombs at Calakmul. Unfortunately we don’t have time to visit the Mayan ruins at Calakmul.
On top of the fortress….
As we leave we see an iguana on the move.
We walk back along the seafront and see lots of pelicans diving for food. It’s really cool to see how they soar and then dive for the kill!
We stop at Parque San Roman which has another beautiful old church…
…. and see another black Jesus.
Back in the city, we go back to the cantina we visited yesterday and have some lunch. Again they bring us all the free stuff with our lemonade and then our actual lunch. This might be the most colourful meal I’ve had so far in Mexico!
In order to get to Bacalar we have to travel back to Mérida so we get a final night with our friends which is a real bonus. We leave Campeche on the 7pm ADO bus and Shelagh and Fernando pick us up from the bus station. Even though it’s nearly 10pm when we get to their house they treat us to a home cooked meal and we have a chance to chat over a farewell drink. We even get to meet the dog Dallas! If you’re reading this, thank you both for being the most amazing hosts!
Next morning we are loaded up with chilli sauce to take home, some drugs in case of a dodgy belly and sandwiches for the bus journey. We have had such a lovely time here. Hasta Luego!
The bus journey takes five hours so we’ve booked the premium bus. The seats are more or less the same as the regular ADO bus but the key difference is the noise level. On the regular bus there is always a movie showing and the sound is so loud. On this premium service, everyone is given earplugs so it’s so much quieter – it is worth every penny as I was losing my mind on the first bus we were on!! The thing about travelling by bus here is that no matter what hour of the day it is, people just get on and go straight to sleep! In that sense I feel very at home here!!
We arrive to Bacalar and get a taxi to our “resort” which is called Bacalar My Love. This is our home for the next couple of days…..
……And where we had the tiniest bed in Campeche after the luxury of the giant beds in Playa Del Carmen and Mérida, we are back to the giants…. Fabulous!
Lake Bacalar or Bacalar lagoon is a huge fresh water lake approximately 60km long measured from north to south, and 2km at its widest. It is is renowned for its striking blue colour and clear water.
Our accommodation have bikes available for free and it’s about a 25 minute cycle into town. We grab a couple of bikes and cycle into town and stop at Museo del Fuerte de San Felipe de Bacalar
There’s a small museum inside the fort that gives some history of the area, a lot of which is about pirates. I read about Anne Bonny, an Irish pirate who moved to South Carolina with her family when she was young. Later she married a sailor and moved to New Providence where they met the pirate Jack Rackham, who apparently wooed her and although the arrangement remains unclear, when Rackham set sail in his sloop, both Anne and her husband accompanied him and over the following 15 months Anne participated in attacking various ships. Captured by government forces, her final destiny is unknown. 😱
We climb to the top of the fort for a good look around and also get our first proper view of the beautiful water.
It is known as the lake of 7 colours and while we might not be able to see 7 these days there are many beautiful shades of blue.
Before cycling back we find a bank so we can top up on some pesos and check out some restaurants for later. Of course we also check out the Bacalar sign!
Back at the beautiful “Bacalar My Love”, we have a little sundowner on the porch with a few chicharrones looking out to the lake.
We walk into town which is a fair old distance and takes us about 45 minutes and eat at a place called Op69 which oddly enough was named to honour Chopin’s opus 69, seems bizarre all the way out here but that’s what they say! We have a couple of very nice margaritas and an odd assortment of food including shrimp ceviche, melted cheese with some meat and a massive half head of cauliflower!!!
Next morning we are up for sunrise and it is beautiful down on our dock….
We grab the bikes and cycle to a restaurant we saw online which is reputed to serve the best breakfast on the island. I have the chiliquilles and they are really good.
At 11am we are going on a tour of the lake and the meeting point is the dock right next to our hotel – very handy. The tour includes a visit to two popular swimming destinations, a cruise to the Island of the Birds, a visit to Pirate’s Channel, a scenic and legendary waterway that once served as a pirate route and a view of the Cenote de la Bruja.
It is really stunning out on the water and the change in colours as we move around is remarkable.
It’s quite shallow in the swimming area which suits me just fine and we really enjoy bobbing around to cool down. There may have even been a sneaky beer involved!!
When we return back to the dock we climb a tower that gives us more amazing views of the water – it really is stunning here and again there are very few tourists.
It’s time for some lunch as we’ve rustled up an appetite being on the water, so it’s back on the bikes to find something, ideally not too far away. We find a really nice outdoor restaurant called Chiltepín Marisquillis. We have a beautiful shaded outdoor seat and order a couple of tacos each… we don’t account for the chips and dips (garlic mayo, chipotle, tamarind, and habanero btw!) and the fact that tacos here are quite big… not tiny like we were expecting. Really delicious though!
We enjoy relaxing for what’s left of the afternoon between our very comfortable air conditioned cabin and our dock and we watch a very nice sunset.
We tidy ourselves up and head out for a walk, this time not as far as town, we stop at a hotel restaurant called Los Aluxes and order a light dinner of guess what… tacos!! Well tomorrow we head for Belize and I don’t know when I’ll get my next Mexican taco!!!
Next morning we check out the sunrise again and it lights our little dock up lovely.
It’s time to get on the bikes again (I’m loving this!) and cycle to a small roadside restaurant for a final Mexican breakfast.
What a cute location for our final Bacalar meal – fresh delicious food served in idyllic surroundings.
Back to the cabin, pack, shower, check out, wait for taxi!
It’s about a 45 minute drive to Chetumal so we have booked a taxi and our lady driver drops us at the terminal.
We check-in leaving our bags so we’re free for a ramble around. It’s really hot along the waterfront and I notice they love a statue or a monument around here!
We go to “Vips”, an American style diner which has a bit of nostalgia for Shane and then it’s time to depart.
We board a “ferry”, well actually quite a small water taxi and set sail for San Pedro, Belize.
There’s a lot of hanging around waiting for this little boat to take off. While we are hanging around we see something that looks like a log in the water and then realise it’s a crocodile!
Eventually it’s time to go.. we are stamped out of Mexico and then walk back outside – clearly we are still in Mexico! Eventually we get the wave to board the ferry. Adios Mexico we’ll be back soon (in about 12 weeks!!)
odohertyelaine 
Nice post!! We are doing this exact journey tomorrow (to Campeche then after to Bacalar via a return trip to Merida). If you were doing it again, what would be your top tip?!? ☺️
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