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I have a theory that perhaps the mysterious decline of the Mayan civilization was brought on by an unlikely contender, some sort of early prototype version of Mennonite warriors. I know it sounds crazy, but I keep spotting Amish people here. Correction: Mennonites, because they are driving cars and getting medicine from pharmacies, I assume you can’t be Amish, eating one’s cake and having it too. First, the two pregnant couples in Merida getting a list of medicines, and then the 4×4 truck guys on the way to Campeche, that apparently had some business in one of the little villages. More on this later…

Merida turned out to be a little too much hustle and bustle for my senses and allergies. Just after a night there my eyes were burning from the diesel pollution. And I don’t think you could fit one more person in this city. It’s difficult to walk down the sidewalk, and get anywhere. I imagine if you wanted to hit the museums or theater, or having shmancy nights out with your friends, this would be the appropriate city. Judging how long it took me to get into the city, I figured this perhaps wasn’t so good a base for visiting the Ruta Puuc ruins. So I decided to leave after lunch Sunday, and hit some ruins in the afternoon and staying in Muna or Ticul. On the way out I got lost immediately, and ran into one traffic jam and more roads with no determinate lanes or logic to them.

I decided on the Kabah ruins, saving Uxmal for the morning. It took a lot longer to get down here from Merida than was advertised, so I knew I had made the right decision. Kabah was small, but great, only one tour group and then it was practically empty. After Kabah I head into Ticul, once again getting lost as it gets dark. Was going to check into one of the two hotels in Ticul, but have second thoughts as I’m still some distance from the ruins and don’t want to get lost in the morning. I call Villas hotel which is walking distance from Uxmal and they have space. This chain has hotels at three of the archaeological sites in the Yucatan, I stayed at the one in Chichen, and it was awesome. Check in to a fantastic room, just in time for the Uxmal Pink Floyd laser light show, which seemed heavily populated with dumpy-bodied eurotrash types that smoke and wear lots of gold and have terrible haircuts. Next day I have Uxmal nearly to myself for an hour. Skipping breakfast was a mistake though, but somehow I clamored about the ruins until noon. The place was teeming with iguanas, and some even agree to pose nicely for me. Everyone wants to be a supermodel. Overall I thought Uxmal was ok, but there were too many ropes and signs and cement patches in non-photogenic places. It seemed like this was easier to get around at Chichen Itza. You can climb one of the temples though, a small one. Next I eat some tacos back at the hotel for lunch, check out and next hit Sayil, which was a lot of walking and ant attacks. Labna was also good, but then the ants tried to do me in for good, and that had me smacking at my ankles like nutter. Sun so hot it you feel like a mule carrying it around. That coke never tasted so good afterwards. Coke adds life.

The drive to Campeche is longer than I expected, but then I realized I took the long way of two ways, mistakenly. Pass through little villages along the way, repeatedly busting my and my rental’s ass on all the topes (speedbumps), which exist in ridiculous quantities, sometimes 10 in a small stretch of road. They must get a lot of laughs at the tourists that come flying through town, busting their heads on the car ceiling as they hit the topes at 40mph. Campeche is an old, walled and fortified city, all cobblestoned streets and old colonial style buildings with pretty pastel paint jobs. Lovely place. Arriving was very pleasant, the opposite of Merida, and I found the hotel without much trouble once finding the center, and there was ample roadside parking. I decide to not head to Palenque tomorrow but to rest a day and catch up on sleep and give the legs a rest. After check in, I head out for eats, and the central square is alive with families and people out and about. It’s xmas full throttle here too, with nativity sets and santa claus around every corner. The iglesia is hoppin on this Sunday night. They take their Jesus very seriously here, but it seems more honest than the way we do Jesus in America. There is a full-on orchestra of sombreroed and panchoed people playing classic Mexican folk tunes in the center of the square. Scattered about are tables with old folks playing bingo games (what is it with that universal?), taco stalls and various junk vendors, and my favorite, the corn on the cobb with mayo rolled in cheese crumbles with lime and chili. I forget what it is called.

Tomorrow I’m off to Palenque for a night or two, then the Rio Bec region for Calakmul and some other not very heavily trafficked places in the biosphere reserve of calakmul (aka, jungle.)