Campeche! I only knew the name from an old video game I had about pirates, but it turns out that it was a rather appropriate association. The town was quite the target for privateers and the like during the 1600s; so much so that they build a huge wall with cannons and forts to keep the buggers out. All the better for me since parts of the wall still stand, surrounding the restored colonial central town. The historic city has been repurposed for modern use but it definitely feels like you are back in time around here. There are few, if any tourist hordes and seemed a great place to recharge the batteries.
Kia and I stayed 2 nights at the Monkey Hostel overlooking the main square and were to leave Wednesday. We had decided to part ways and then meet up for Christmas and Belize. We had both had some bad luck and needed a break from Mexico. I was to catch a bus at 2pm for Chetumal and then south to the Belize border and she was catching one at 9:45pm for San Cristobal de las Casas and on to Guatemala, but it didn't quite work out that way. When I went to leave for the bus station, I couldn't find a taxi to save my life and instead of arriving early, I got to the terminal at exactly 2pm and my unusually punctual bus had already left. Sigh. I went to the ticket window and through broken spanish and a little bit of crying, explained what had happened. The lovely man at the window took pity on me and while I didn't get a refund, I did get a half priced ticket to San Cristobal. The Chetumal bus wasn't going to run again for two days and I didn't want to be stuck in Campeche with nothing to do.
San Cristobal will bring me close to Guatemala border, where I can cross into, then stop in Coban and Tikal before crossing into Belize from the west. From there I can head south and get back into Guatemala for my language course after Christmas from Punta Gorda, Belize via ferry. A little hitch in my itinerary, plus I am a few pesos lighter than I had planned, but not the end of the world. And if a bit of crying got me a cheaper ticket, I am sure womankind will survive.
