Exciting and Historic Cities of Campeche and Merida

GPS info and map: Sebaplaya to Merida

I made a big change for this tour by adding video. These videos are typically less than 5 minutes and my idea was to add another layer to my story telling to give a different view of my travels. Video brings a more intimate and immediate view of what's happening. I've been using a Removu K1 video camera with a 3-axis gimbal and a Mavic Air drone as well as photos to make the videos. Video truly is a time consuming process but I've been enjoying the process. There's been a steep learning curve but, slowly and surprisingly, I'm figuring it out. I had to learn new video editing software (Final Cut Pro X), the Removu K1 camera, Mavic Air drone as well as how to tell a story through video. Unfortunately, what has been falling behind are my blog updates. I also enjoy doing these blog updates but they take me at least a couple of hours to complete. As a compromise, I going to make a change to how I do the future blog updates. In the past, I have always written up a detailed page about my rides, added GPS info and photos and then published when the page is totally complete. What I'm going to try now is to publish pages with GPS info, photos and video 1st and then go back later to fill in the details. Let me know what you think of this format.

On the Road to Campeche

Also, my Garmin bit the dust and so I'm using my phone to upload ride data to Ride With GPS. My problem is I tend to forget to stop and save the ride ending up with lots of extra miles as I walk around town or take busses to explore points of interest in neighboring towns. I'll probably replace my Garmin when I return to the US this summer but until then ....

I had a shortish ride from Sebaplaya to Campeche and found a hotel in the old walled city. Campeche is a UNESCO heritage city with a rich history of pirates.

Campeche on a quiet Sunday morning

Myrtle resting in the dining room at the hotel

My hotel in Campeche, $18/night in the historic area

Cathedral de San Francisco

Old Walled City Campeche is famous for

Statue showing a meeting of religion, Spaniards and indigenous peoples

Yellow Church in Old Town Campeche

Colorful historic Campeche

Templo de San Jose has a lighthouse in one of the steeples

Templo de San Jose at night

I took a side trip by bus to the near by Mayan ruins of Edzna.  I was able to take a local bus for less than $2 for the 30 minute ride. The bus dropped me right at the entrance to the site. These ruins date back to 400 AD. They were discovered in 1907 but the ruins weren't excavated until 1986. It is a fairly small site with about 10 buildings. Holy moly, it was hot walking around!

Edzna Mayan Ruins

Main Temple

Path at Edzna

Pirates and the Road to Campeche

Hotter 'n Hell in Campeche

Since there weren't any hotels within a reasonable distance of Campeche, I decided to take a bus from Campeche to Merida. Taking the bus continues to be a wonderful experience in Mexico. Buses seems to go everywhere, they are very inexpensive, comfortable and there is always plenty of room for the trike. No one has ever questioned me about bringing the trike on a bus. Someone is usually available to help me load the trike into the undercarriage and then, again, when I get to my destination. Having the bus as an option for transport has made travel stress free and taken a lot of pressure off me to make sure I find a safe place to spend the night. I love Mexico.

Myrtle's Maintenance Menace in Merida

No alcohol in public!

Shoe Repair

Gustavo expertly fixed my brakes

Street Art

Corner building with ceramic tile

Close up of ceramic tile.

Plaza Mayor Merida