Vagabondette

Campeche, Mexico - A Little Pastel Paradise

by vagabondette on April 6, 2009

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A small city located on the Gulf of Mexico, Campeche looks like someone dumped a large bucket of rainbow sherbet over the town. In the central area, each building is painted a different color ranging from purple to yellow with everything in between. It makes for a very beautiful view as you wander the narrow, winding streets.

We stayed only one night so didn’t get to explore too much but I’d like to come back at some point when it’s cooler and see a bit more of the town. The main square, as with most, is surrounded by shops/restaurants on three sides and a church on the other. There is a stage in the middle of the main square where live music is performed and on the night we were there, a lot of people had gathered to listen and sample some of the cakes from the street vendors. With the lit up church and the light-draped trees, the main square is beautiful at night.

Just a few feet from the main square are some remains of the old fortress walls (they encircle much of the central area and in some spots you can walk along the top to get a better view of the city) and a series of fountains which were lit up in the evening and displaying different colors and water formations.

I didn’t get much sleep that night (see my review of the Monkey Hostel to find out why), so for the first time in a long time I sat up and watched the sun rise and the city come to life. I’d forgotten how peaceful a sunrise can be and enjoyed watching the color spread in the sky behind the cathedral. To further take advantage of the quiet (and cool) morning I decided to get my wandering in early and proceeded to get lost among the windy, pastel colored streets.

The buildings in the central area are beautiful. They each have something that makes them unique. Whether it’s the color, or the shape of the roofline, or the carvings over the doors and windows, or the texture of the walls, they each have something to show that it’s different from its neighbors.

There seems to be a lot of rehabilitation going on in the city which is nice to see. I came across one whole section of street which was several blocks long which was pretty much all under construction. I couldn’t tell if it was both external and internal but it was nice to see things being repaired. It fits with what I was told about the government paying to repaint the city with its unique colors each year.

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Monkey Hostel, Campeche, Mexico

by vagabondette on

If you talk to most travelers heading through Campeche they’ll tell you to stay at the Monkey Hostel.  While I can see the draw, for me it was the worst hostel experience I’ve had on this trip.

The hostel is in a great location, has a great view, a roof deck overlooking the Zocalo and Cathedral and has a nice common space, but it’s missing a key ingredient to being able to sleep:  Aircon.

I have no idea why a hostel in a place that reaches 90-110 degrees would not have airconditioning.  Instead, they rely on weak ceiling fans and cross-ventilation to keep the rooms clean.  This might work, except that the night we were there, there were people (including staff) partying and being loud in the common room until 5 am.  This meant that unless you felt like joining the party, the door to the room had to be closed.

At around 2 AM I finally gave up when I checked the thermometer on my bag and discovered it was 95 F in our room.  At that point, I took my sheets, my yoga mat and my pillow and went to camp outside on the balcony.  Said balcony was about 18″ wide and made of concrete so it was less than comfortable.  The only saving grace was that it was 20 degrees cooler out there.

The only positive thing about my experience at the Monkey Hostel was the fact that because I was forced to be awake all night I was able to see the sunrise from the roof and was up to wander the town before it got too hot.  Other than that it was a complete waste and I would not stay there again during the hot months.