Uxmal Ruins, Mayan households, and a little, old sea-side town…

Waking up early, I draw myself from bed and meet the tour group to embark to the Mayan ruins of Uxmal – a 1.5 hour drive. We meet our tour guide and carefully dodge the sea of iguanas sunning themselves until we arrive at the main site – stunning, spiritual and very serene. Tall trees cast shadows around the area, and we are told that unlike Chichen Itza, there were no sacrifices at the Uxmal ruins, instead it was more of a spiritual retreat. The Mayans here favoured a more aesthetic approach to their architecture and stone carvings, with ornate edges and impressive columns and arches. Again, the symbolic snake makes many appearances through their artistic work – weaving its way through the designs, and forming part of phallic symbols of fertility and spirituality. The Uxmal site is large, and is home to several enormous structures, and dozens of others covered by vegetation, just waiting for archeologists to discover their secret past.

After lunch, Lisa surprises us to a visit to a traditional Mayan household. Here, the family lead a very primitive and self-sufficing lifestyle - a stark difference to the lives we lead back home. The Mayan family are welcoming and lovely, providing demonstrations of their daily tasks like producing rope from that native sisal plant, cooking tortillas, and collecting herbs and plants from their expansive garden. Their children skip around the grounds, and we treat them with Koala toys – Emma and I made a few new best friends that day!

A few hours later we arrive at the sleepy, colonial sea-side town of Campeche. The streets are made from stones, the buildings all drenched in soft shades of pastel – painting the most stunning visuals when you walk down the centre of the street. Our hotel is equally charming with high ceilings and large black and white square tiled foyers that lead us to our rooms. This town simply oozes old-fashioned style. At night, the main square is lit by round street lights, and an impressive cathedral that looks over the city. We dine at a seafood restaurant, and after picking around a whole fish (with a napkin draped over its fishy head to mask its vacant stare), we indulge in vino blanco overlooking the main square – perfect for people watching. This town closes early, and around 10pm Emma and I find ourselves wandering around taking photos of the stunning city in the warm, night air.