Campeche city, the capital of Campeche state, is a nice looking colonial city right on the Gulf coast, with its beautiful city center designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Leaving Campeche, I stopped the next morning at the ruins of Mayapán, another lesser known temple site that had some incredible structures.
(The main square in the center of Campeche.)
(Another side of the main square. If you're familiar with geometry, you'll realize that squares have four sides, so you'll just have to imagine the other two sides. If you're not familiar with geometry, you should really still know that.)
(Random street tacos covered in avocado. Good, messy and cheap. Exactly what you'd expect from street food.)
(Part of the city walls protecting Campeche. This was a popular stop for pirates, so the city had to try to protect itself.)
(Nice tilework on one of the downtown churches in Campeche.)
(Pastel colors and cobblestone streets always make for a pleasing walking experience.)
(Some of the many columns in the city center. Apparently the Spanish colonists really liked them.)
(Church bells.)
(Chicken fajitas in another tiny Mayan town square on the way out of Campeche state. This was actually the first or second time I've ever been given chips with a meal in Mexico.)
(The beautiful ruins of Mayapán. Anyone familiar with Chichén Itzá may recognize some of this, as some of the temples here are replicas of those at the more famous site.)
(Again, I was the only person at the site for a couple of hours, along with one of the workers mowing the grass on the edge of the entranceway. This was taken using my self timer and tripod.)
(During its heyday, this site was actually one of the more important Mayan strongholds, though it has not become as famous for tourists as many of the other spots these days.)
(I spent about an hour daydreaming, looking at the clouds, in the shade under the tree here, staring up the steep steps of the huge temple above. Finding untouristed temples is one of my favorite things and having the chance to lay out on the grass with puffy white clouds passing by the blue sky makes for a pretty perfect day in my mind.)
(And I even found a tarantula in the grass, though luckily this wasn't near where I was laying. This one was probably about the size of my palm. There were also quite a few iguanas wandering around the site, sneaking away into their holes in the rocky temples when they heard me coming.)
(Be impressed with this photo. I set the timer to 30 seconds (the max) and sprinted across the field and up the very steep steps to make it in time for the shot.)
(I also spent about an hour sitting on top of the temple, surveying the beauty below, imagining what this city must've been almost 1,500 years ago. Underneath the thatched hut below are some engravings and murals that are now protected from the sun.)
(The main square in the center of Campeche.)
(Another side of the main square. If you're familiar with geometry, you'll realize that squares have four sides, so you'll just have to imagine the other two sides. If you're not familiar with geometry, you should really still know that.)
(Random street tacos covered in avocado. Good, messy and cheap. Exactly what you'd expect from street food.)
(Part of the city walls protecting Campeche. This was a popular stop for pirates, so the city had to try to protect itself.)
(Nice tilework on one of the downtown churches in Campeche.)
(Pastel colors and cobblestone streets always make for a pleasing walking experience.)
(Some of the many columns in the city center. Apparently the Spanish colonists really liked them.)
(Church bells.)
(Chicken fajitas in another tiny Mayan town square on the way out of Campeche state. This was actually the first or second time I've ever been given chips with a meal in Mexico.)
(The beautiful ruins of Mayapán. Anyone familiar with Chichén Itzá may recognize some of this, as some of the temples here are replicas of those at the more famous site.)
(Again, I was the only person at the site for a couple of hours, along with one of the workers mowing the grass on the edge of the entranceway. This was taken using my self timer and tripod.)
(During its heyday, this site was actually one of the more important Mayan strongholds, though it has not become as famous for tourists as many of the other spots these days.)
(I spent about an hour daydreaming, looking at the clouds, in the shade under the tree here, staring up the steep steps of the huge temple above. Finding untouristed temples is one of my favorite things and having the chance to lay out on the grass with puffy white clouds passing by the blue sky makes for a pretty perfect day in my mind.)
(And I even found a tarantula in the grass, though luckily this wasn't near where I was laying. This one was probably about the size of my palm. There were also quite a few iguanas wandering around the site, sneaking away into their holes in the rocky temples when they heard me coming.)
(Be impressed with this photo. I set the timer to 30 seconds (the max) and sprinted across the field and up the very steep steps to make it in time for the shot.)
(I also spent about an hour sitting on top of the temple, surveying the beauty below, imagining what this city must've been almost 1,500 years ago. Underneath the thatched hut below are some engravings and murals that are now protected from the sun.) 
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