Campeche

Campeche is what I expected Merida to be. It is a really nice colonial city with brightly painted buildings reminding me a lot of Cartegena. I immediately wished I had more time to spend here. Unlike Merida I immediately found many things to photograph and little museums that I wanted to see. A few kilometers out of town are two forts that I'd like to visit too.

Campeche was a walled town although it took the Spanish long enough to finish the fortifications. Campeche has the distinction of being the most pirate-ravaged city of the New World. Although the wall has mostly been replace by a ring-road the bulwarks and a couple wall sections remain. Now the bulwarks contain museums and I visited two after checking into Hostel Monkey. The hostel has the perfect location in the Old Town right on the main square. Really it couldn't be more perfect.

For dinner I enjoyed a local speciality of layered tortillas and shredded shark and finished the night with some octopus ceviche - raw with a lime and cilantro marinade. All good stuff.