Campeche

I´m writing this in the quite spectacularly picturesque coastal city of Campeche (pictured), 150 miles south of Merida, which I finally managed to leave this morning after a recuperative day and early night yesterday.

Campeche was granted world heritage status by the United Nations a few years ago, and when the cash starts to kick in, to tidy up the frayed edges, I could imagine this being one of the loveliest spots on the planet. I´m writing this at a very nice and very cheap hostel (with free internet) called the Monkey. The view from the window is the first photo above, looking out over the town square. At the moment there´s some sort of fiesta going on down there, so I have music wafting in through the open window as I type.

Before coming here I´d been tempted to say that Merida was the most romantic town I´d ever visited. Horse-drawn carriages festooned with flowers clop along the cobbled streets and shaded parks on every other corner come complete with troubadors.

But this place is really special, without being twee.

When I first arrived I walked into a bar, purely because it had those swinging half doors you always see on cowboy films and I couldn´t resist bursting through them. It was a real spit´n´sawdust place, but there was a bloke with a guitar slung up to his chin singing the most wonderful ballads, while having his shoes cleaned by a bootblack. I took up one of the tall, thin stalls at the bar and ordered a beer. Quite soon the other customers wanted to know where I was from. As there was a bottle of Worcestershire Sauce on the counter it was easy to explain. My associations with ´La Salsa Inglesi´earned me two bottles of beer. It´s not often that an Englishman gets rewarded for his nation´s contribution to world cuisine.

I´m now trying to work out where to go next. I really like Mexico, but it´s expensive and I´m feeling money slip through my fingers at an alarming rate. So do I go to San Christobel de las Casas (where Mayans continue their ancient ways in their cool mountain villages) before going to Palenque (apparently the greatest of the Mexican Mayan cities) or do I go straight to Palenque and then take the river boat through the jungle into Guatemala? Or should I jump on a plane at Merida airport for about 200 quid and go and have a look at Cuba? I´d love to visit the place, but apparently it´s also quite expensive. Or should I hang the expense for a while and have a look at some of the rest of Mexico?

Any suggestions gratefully received.