We really enjoyed our time in Chiapas and now that we sat in one of the buses from Palenque to Campeche, we were curious what Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula had to offer next. We had decided to take one of the night buses to save money and time, but unusually for Latin America the bus was over-punctual and we arrived in Campeche much earlier than expected and didn’t manage to sleep much.

Campeche

It was 4 o'clock in the morning and both @bypaul and I were still very sleepy and weren’t very sure what to do next. All the hostels were still closed at this time and we had to wait at least until sunrise, until we could look for a suitable accommodation.

The bus station was quite far from the center of the city and with all our luggage we struck off. After walking for over an hour, we reached the seaside promenade near the center of town. The sun had not yet risen and since we were completely exhausted and tired, we decided to rest.

Seaside Promenade Campeche

As soon as the sun had risen and the city slowly came to life, we looked for a hostel and managed to catch up on sleep. When we woke up around lunchtime, we went out to get lunch and to explore the city. But not even 10 minutes later, we already were plagued by the stifling midday heat and looked for an air-conditioned coffee shop and stayed there until late afternoon. It had already been very hot in Palenque, but the heat in Campeche was unbearable! At least in the afternoon it cooled off and we explored the old town, the imposing city wall and the beach promenade.

Main Plaza Campeche

Old City Wall

Campeche is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and with its beautiful and renovated colonial buildings and cobbled streets it is definitely worth a stopover. Walks on the beach promenade at sunset are absolutely recommended!

Merida

From the same bus station, we had arrived from, we left Campeche and made our way to Merida. In just a few hours we reached our destination and, as always, we first set out to look for a suitable hostel and only after looking for quite some time, we got lucky. But the search had definitely paid off: right on the main square, in a beautifully restored colonial building with spacious and high-ceilinged rooms, a private balcony right on the main square, a luxurious kitchen and all for an unbeatable low price!

Right in Merida there is not much to explore, apart from some museums and the main square, but this city serves as a perfect starting point to explore the surrounding area. After a day's rest, we rented a car for the next day and set off to visit the Cenotes Cuzama and the Ruinas Kabah and Sayil.

Cenotes Cuzama

Only 50km away from Merida are the Cenotes Cuzama. These underground natural pools can only be reached on rails on small horse drawn carts. In total, there are three pools where you can swim. The car must be parked at the entrance.

Horse drawn carts

Ruinas Kabah and Ruinas Sayil

Since we had rented the car for a whole day, we wanted to use the time as well as possible and apart from the cenotes we also visited two of the ruins on the Ruta de Puuc. Here you can admire the impressive buildings of the Maya far from mass tourism and still get impressive pyramids and buildings to see.

Ruinas Kabah

Ruinas Sayil

Valladolid

We had initially planned to stay in Valladolid only to visit Chichen Itza. But when we heard about the excessively expensive entry fees and other travelers told us that the ruins were completely overrun by tourists, we decided not to visit Chichen Itza and instead explore the city of Valladolid. We had booked our bus in advance and only a single day in Valladolid. We strolled the streets, visited several parks and museums, and ended the day in one of the huge cenotes near the center of the city.

Cathedral of San Gervasio, Valladolid

Tulum

Tulum is considered one of the best beaches in Mexico and should not be missing on any visit to the peninsula. We arrived in Tulum late in the evening and, unlike normally, already had booked two dorm beds in advance in a hostel in the town of Tulum, not far from the beaches. Here we wanted to relax for a few days on the beach and recover from the intense last few days. The next day in the morning one of the shuttles took us out of the city and near the beaches, where we after we walked about 15 minutes to the beach, enjoyed the heat, the white sandy beach and the turquoise sea during the day and quickly forgot the strains of the last days.

Playa Tulum

Zona Arqueológica de Tulum

The last day in Tulum we used to visit the Zona Arqueológica de Tulum and admire the imposing ruins, which are located directly on the sea.

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Tulum was our last stop in Mexico and now we headed towards Belize - more about that in the next blog! I hope you liked my report and my photos! All photos were taken by myself. Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment, upvote, follow me and resteem!

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