Day 324 – Campeche
Edzna Archaeological Site
Getting to Edzna Archaeological Zone
Today we left our Airbnb, Casa minimalista recein remodelala 3 and walked towards the collectivo stand. It was another sunny day in Campeche. The collectivo stand is at the corner of Calle Nicaragua and Chihuahua (Coordinates of 19°50’32.0″N 90°31’54.6″W)
Here we saw the word Edzna on the side of the collectivos furthest from this intersection. The closet ones go to China, which turns out to be only 8km away from Campeche! Seat allocation cards we provided to us as we waited for the collectivo. A one way trip cost 40 MXN / $3.02 AUD per person (p/p).
Collectivo seat allocation tickets
We waited less than 5 minutes for the collectivo to arrive and 10 minutes later we were on our way. It left at 12.08pm. The collectivo’s seat were full and additional stools/ottomans were in the aisle as seating. When we were close to Edzna, the driver asked if anyone was getting off here (in Spanish) so it was a good thing that we kept our eyes on the map, to know where we were.
After we got out, the driver told us that a collectivo would return at 3.30pm and 5pm. We had arrived at 1pm so we were aiming for the 3.30pm collectivo.
Edzna Archaeological Zone
Entrance into the Edzna Archaeological Zone was 60 MXN / $4.53 AUD p/p. An English speaking guide approached us at the entrance and offered us a tour for 400 MXN / $30.22 AUD, which we politely refused.
The site is quite small compared to others. Besides the main plaza, most of the ruins are surrounded by massive trees. This was the first site where we saw large lizards everywhere…everywhere. Also there were heaps of mozzies buzzing around.
We started with an outlying building called Vieja Hechicera or the Witches Tower. The temple is mainly hidden by trees with only the bottom steps cleared. It’s an 800m detour off to the side, so I only recommend it if you have time, as there isn’t too much to see.
After this we went back to the main site aided by the Maps.Me App. All the buildings are relatively short compared to other sites, except the main building that towers over the plaza. The noteworthy items include the murals depicting the sunrise and sunset and the temple with mural stairs. Most buildings can be climbed except the main Temple.
The main temple is incredible. It towers over a smaller plaza with a massive comb on the top. The staircase from the bottom goes over two archways. I would be surprised if it’s not restored. The curved surfaces on the side of the building were unique compared to other sites we have seen.
We finished the site in 2 hours, and sat down to have some lunch, that we had packed as we waited for the collectivo. Then a lady who we had met inside the complex offered us a lift to Campeche. We accepted her kind offer. She was a friendly local from Mexico City, travelling around Mexico. We were dropped off at the ADO bus station, as we wanted to buy tickets to Merida.
After buying the bus tickets, we walked back to our airbnb. Along the way we bought some groceries from the Super Aki grocery store so we could make some dinner.