Campeche, Mexico on the Maya Tren

Mexico hasn’t had passenger trains for a long time. Even worse than the US, trains began to die out with the rise of cars and freight trucking. Passenger train infrastructure is expensive and needs to be backed by a government that understands the importance of good transportation. It was not a priority for past Mexican governments, even though there are a lot of people in this country that do not own a car. The intercity bus network in Mexico has taken up the slack, and is one of the most used systems in the world. There are many different bus companies and most of them have really nice newer buses with many having TV’s and onboard wifi. But Mexico’s last president “AMLO” really wanted to build a high speed rail system that would be his “legacy”. He promised that by the end of his presidency in 2024 that there would be a high speed rail that would connect the poorest states in the country in the South. He hoped that intercity train connections would help give tourism a boost in the Southern Mexico states and make a dent in their poverty rates.

Construction was set on the fast track because AMLO really wanted it done before he left office. They did not wait for environmental reviews and many of the lines were built over the fragile cenotes and jungles of the Yucatan peninsula. It has been very controversial. There were many construction problems and delays but a portion of the network did manage to open this year. Many stations, overpasses, computer systems and train support structure are not ready… but there are some trains running. Our itinerary has us going through many of the new stations so of course, we wanted to give it a try. Our first opportunity was the 220 mile section from Palenque to Campeche.

The ticketing website was not super user friendly (like most train websites) and only has schedules published for a couple of weeks out (unlike most train websites). I managed to buy tix a few days before the trip for about $30 each. Very affordable for us, and tickets are a lot cheaper for Mexican citizens, which ended up being most of the passengers on our train. The stations were mostly built on the outside of all the towns on “cheap” land to make it more affordable. Unfortunately, that means you need a taxi or bus to get to the stations which adds on to the cost and overall travel time. We took a $10 taxi to get to the Palenque train station an hour before the only train of the day left at 9am.

The waiting area was filled with Mexican tourists who were very excited to be in the brand new train station. One of the officials got on the mic and talked for 20 minutes in Spanish about how great the new train is and how it is going to kick start the economy. This train has been running for months and I’m curious if this guy makes this speech every day. The crowd loved it and clapped when he was finished. Many selfies were taken as the train was loaded and people found their seats. I theorize that this is the first train that most of these people have ever been on. We were happy to see such excitement about trains. Our train car was filled with Mexican nationals except for us and a French couple. It is encouraging that this environmentally risky train was not filled with rich foreigners.

The train did get going pretty fast at times but it also had to slow down a lot for crossings that were not fully built out. Overpasses and underpasses that are yet to be built should hopefully make this route a bit faster. It took us 4 hrs and 45 minutes to get to Campeche. Not really a “high speed” train. We then had to find a way to get from the Campeche train station to our Airbnb in the center of the old colonial town. We followed the signs to the buses and taxis but found nothing there and we were all alone. We had a security guard call us a taxi that we paid $12 for a 20 minute ride to town. We realized later that the city buses did not leave from the bus platform, but instead picked people up in the parking area. Somehow all the Mexicans already knew that. I need to not believe signs all the time.

Overall we enjoyed our experience and loved that everyone was so happy on this trip and proud of what their country has done. But, we will probably be using buses on our upcoming segments to Merida and then to Valladolid. The buses in Mexico are fantastic and are very competitive on travel time as well as price with the Maya tren. The bus stations are in the center of the towns and are easier to navigate transportation to our Airbnb’s on both ends. Convenience wins over my love for train travel. In a couple of years this system hopefully will iron the kinks out and be much faster and the last few mile connections should be improved.

We were now in the beautiful Spanish Colonial city of Campeche where we get to spend 5 nights. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site due to isn’t fantastic colonial architecture inside of a stone town wall that was built in the 1600’s to deter pirate attacks. Many of the famous pirates plundered this town during early days, and pirate decorations is the main theme of the tourist section of town. Today it has a population of 200k with the big industries being agriculture, textiles, tourism and off shore oil drilling. We had a great time wandering the safe quiet streets inside of the old town taking a lot of pics.

The town has worked very hard to make it a tourist friendly town but it really wasn’t that busy. It didn’t feel like some other colonial old towns that we have seen this year (Antigua Guatemala, Panama City Panama, Willemstad Curacao, and Cartegena Columbia) because their wasn’t the crush of tourists. We are in shoulder season right now in Mexico and it could be different next month. We didn’t see many Americans and the locals tell us that most of the tourists are European (German, Italian, French) or Mexican. There were a few large bars on the pedestrian street but they were mostly empty at night. At night, everything seemed really peaceful and it was fun walking around the old town that felt really safe with decorative lighting everywhere.

So what did we do for 5 days? Campeche is on the water, but there aren’t any beaches within walking distance. There is a great Malecon (waterfront) with a 7 km path next to the water. We tried to only walk in the morning or after the sun went down because it was so hot. We took a 45 minute tourist trolley on the first day to get our bearings. There aren’t many attractions. We saw all 3 small museums (history, maritime, and Mayan), we walked the ramparts of the old city walls, saw the cathedral, and we ate a lot of good food. The restaurants were a good mix of local specialties, international tourist food and good old fashioned Mexican street food. Many more options than what we had in Palenque or Villahermosa. There was a fountain light show on the Malecon every night but we managed to keep missing the timing on that. We mostly hung out at our excellent Airbnb that came with a small pool. We really recommend staying in this place if you make it to Campeche.

Campeche was our 14th Mexican state and we are now off to our 15th state- Yucatan. We are scheduled to spend 4 days in the large city of Merida where we hope to see some more Mayan ruins and maybe some cenotes. We have the option of a 2.5 hour Maya Tren ride or a 2.5 hour ADO bus ride. We are choosing the bus that is much cheaper and goes from city center to city center.