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Breakfast out on the veranda today and it was already warm. We all slept well last night. Hotel Chablis is very well appointed. Quiet aircon, ceiling fan and comfy beds. All were revived. Our trip today is not far out of town. The Palenque Maya Ruins are set in the jungle and fairly recently explored. Rather Indiana Jones! Only 5% of the area has been excavated and the restrictions on preserving the flora will make it difficult to progress in the traditional way. The archeologist who discovered Pakal’s tomb took 3 years to dig down into it. We saw the actual death mask in Mexico City. There are quite a few buildings and we were fortunate to see a new one that has only just been revealed.

Francisco our guide was passionate about the Mayan history and we learned so much. Pakal ruled for 68 years!

Howler monkey –

Endangered species

We saw these in the trees near our hotel. They sure leave a huge plop of faeces!

Francisco used the Mayan calendar to identify our astrological sign characteristics. I was a Mol:Mayan for Jaguar , power, colour red, pampered and centre of the planets. Peter was a musician and craftsman. Anne was the Kankin tree of life, and grounded.

We returned to the hotel all just grease spots and somewhat dehydrated. It was 39C and cooler in the shade, but nonetheless quite drained. We tried the local Pineapple and chaya (tree spinach) which was very reviving. Up to our room to cool down wash our sweaty clothes and change into our swimsuits for an afternoon cool down!

Oh my what a torturous drive to start the day! As a group everyone is very well organised and we were away on the dot of four. Anne hadn’t slept well because the 3.00 get up had played on her mind. I had slept/ dozed and didn’t feel too bad. Off we went into the dark, now quiet streets. This town parties long into the night it seems.

The road was very winding and we passed many small settlements. This meant traffic humps in every town of at least 3-5 at once at the beginning of each town. In the back of the van it was super bouncy. We needed to get through the first two and a half hours which covered all the villages threatening to blockade the highway. The stop start , bounce bounce began to take its toll on me. I tried to sleep but the motion of the car made it almost impossible. Soon I was feeling sick. Fortunately I had a thick plastic bag that I had put my bathers into for later at the waterfalls we were eventually visiting. I extracted the bag and had somewhere to vomit. I didn’t want to stop the bus because it was dark, no verges to speak of and it was imperative to get through the towns. I felt a bit better once I had vomited.

As the sun rose we could see men gathering and large rocks and rubble ready for blocking the road. The men are Zapistas. They are trying to force the government to give them better and more schools and other services that are part of basic human rights. They are very poor and some of the houses look no better than a stable.

Once we had got past and were able to stop for a break I felt better. Suze our guide was very relieved. If we had been caught it could take 10 hours to go an alternate way!

The country is jungle like and mountainous a bit like Mt Tambourine in Queensland. The villages are mostly rough dusty collections of houses.

Eventually we ended up at Aqua Azule Waterfalls. They are a cluster of cascades and the water is clear and aquamarine. In the end we decided not to swim because the appealing pools were roped off and the swimming area was a trifle uninspiring. I did have a paddle though which was refreshing.

Leaving the falls we continued along a less winding road through banana plantations, date palms, and mango trees. Finally we arrived in Palenque where our hotel pool was soon filled with the intrepid group. What joy, what relief. It was 39C and our welcoming drinks disappeared in a gulp. Our rooms were not ready as we had arrived much earlier than expected so we hung by the pool till they were. While sitting at the table a large iguana strolled past!

Palenque is just a stopover and the town is small with the main purpose to support visitors to the nearby Mayan Ruins.

It is still hot but the hotel is comfortable and clean and has a pool. Rob and Julian enjoying the water.

This morning we had an early start to visit a woman’s textile and weaving co-op in Zinacantán. The young woman who gave the demo was only 17! It was beautiful work and I succumbed again to temptation and bought a beautifully embroidered turquoise shawl, taco/tortilla warmer and small purse. They then showed the weaving method which was a narrow loom stretched by the weaver around her waist while kneeling. It takes a week to set up the fine warp. We were then invited to a toast of pox,(pronounced poche) an alcohol made from corn and sugar cane in 20 ml glasses. These toasts are part of the hospitality of the people. Pox is also used in Mayan rituals. Potent stuff! After browsing we were invited into the kitchen for fresh cooked tortillas and hot local coffee sweetened. Very tasty.

From here we moved across to Chamula and the church of Saint Juan. This is a very closed town that clings to its traditions and is very superstitious with a mix of Christian and nature/animist beliefs. No photos were allowed inside the church.

There were glass cabinets of many saints and rows of candles in front of them all. At one shrine the family was sacrificing a chicken! The whole place was alight with candles and people. There was a shaman conducting a ritual over a presumably sick child. The ceiling was painted with the moon and the sun and stars. Christ was also not in the centre of the alter but to the right of Saint Juan ( John the Baptist) who was in the centre. Most women were dressed in the traditional wrap skirts and blouses with a wide belt.

A priest is only called for baptisms and all other ceremonies are handled by the people. Even burials are simple affairs. A family just keeps burying people in the same grave and the colour of the cross determines who is in the grave. White cross for child or young person, green for adult and black for older people. They drape pine needles across the cross to purify the dead, so they can move to the next life as their spirit animal.

The town essentially governs itself. Police are not welcome. It is like a commune. As we were leaving we saw a group of Mayor Domos arriving. They were wearing the black mohair like shifts and big white cowboy hats. They were followed by a posse of men(want -to-bes). It looked like a showdown at the OK corral! No photos or they smash your camera.

This was fascinating. The people are fighting for equal rights but have chosen this exclusive way to maintain their rituals and society.

Returning to San Cristobal Peter Anne and I decided to grab a pastry and coffee from a French/ Mexican patisserie Friandes which was absolutely delicious. Best Escargot I have had for a long time.

Our next goal was the Jade museum but we just seemed to go round in circles and eventually ended up at Na Bolorn a museum of indigenous culture of the Lacandon Maya mountain people.

The house had been planned as a convent or other religious place but was bought by Frans Blorn as a residence and research centre for studying the Mayan Culture.https://nabolom.org/

By now we were feeling a little tired and headed back to the hotel. Pete’s knee was starting to twinge and Anne and I wanted to see the view from the hill over town (284 stairs)and I wanted a piece of amber.

Anne and I met up with Peter for dinner and the town was buzzing ( because it was Palm Sunday?). The rotunda was full of music.

We chose a pizza place which made the best huge pizzas that Pete ended up sharing with Karen and Amy. Anne and I opted for hamburgers and salad. Our salad was so big we shared that with Amy and Karen too. Just when Peter was complimenting me on my improved Spanish the waiter arrived with Sangria which we had discussed having but decided to just get plain wine. We said it wasn’t what we wanted – no fruit just plain wine. Translation was missed and he took it away. Peter said he would probably strain it and that is what he did! We laughed as it was pleasant on a hot night but not what we thought we ordered.

After dinner we watched a concert for a while but needed to be back.

The next morning we had to leave by 4.am to avoid proposed road blocks on our route. Farewell San christabal we have loved the vibe in this town. Old mixed with new, beauty and good food. Narrow streets colourful houses, interesting street art.

We departed early and started to climb the mountains again. The long drives are hard in the bus. It is very cramped for the guys in particular but for everyone except me of the short legs. It is really the only complaint anyone has. The aircon doesn’t work very well in the back either so you are very hot. The weather is in the mid 30s most of the time but our guide sat up there to give Rob, our tallest, a break up front. She soon realised it was not great. William the driver tried to fix it but it wasn’t a lot better.

We finally arrived at a huge town Tuxtla Gutierrez which seemed very modern with large new university and a huge cross on the top of the mountain looking over the city. This state of Chiapas borders Guatemala and we saw many refugee/migrants walking along the highway. The Guardia civil don’t stop them and seem reasonably welcoming. They only offer help of food and toilets/ showers though and the people are not returned to their country. They have to find work where they can to survive.

Our destination was the gorge on the Rio Grijalva

Sumidero Canyon in Chiapas, Mexico

What a spectacular experience. The gorge walls were 1000 metres high and the water over 100 metres deep. We saw crocodiles and monkeys and many birds- egrets, herons , cormorants and the brown pelican. It was a wonderful relief to be on the water. It is a great boost to the economy of the locals because it is so popular with all tourists, Mexicans and internationals(not many).

From the river we returned to the road to continue the drive to San Christabal de las Casas. It was a steady climb but I missed most of it because I fell deeply asleep and only woke when we arrived at about 8 pm. It was a shock when we alighted from the bus to discover it was relatively cold at low 20s Centigrade. This town is above the snow line and gets down to minus 5C in winter. It is very quaint with narrow streets, colourful buildings and a bustling vibe. There are a lot more indigenous Mexicans everywhere and they speak a different language here.

Many of the hawkers are young mothers and it wasn’t unusual to see a baby at the breast while she walks around selling her wares. Lots of kids selling goods too. Bet they know their math tables! They are not insistent but always trying to sell their wares.

We left Oaxaca for our next stop San Cristabel bright and early because this is a huge day. Our first stop was El Tule, the mother tree. It is a giant cypress of such huge girth about thirty people are needed to encircle the base. It is the largest tree in Mexico of course and about 2000 years old! There is a game to see if you can see animal shapes in the tree. We were all very imaginative except Amy who said the branch root near the ground was just a log and not a crocodile shape. She has a very dry sense of humour and it was funny when we were all seeing lions and elephants and camels. Sandro is our young Swiss guy and not so given to flights of fancy and he just saw snakes! We all laughed and suggested he was missing his wife.

The town takes responsibility for the tree and as the town was growing in population it became evident that water use was impacting the tree. It was starting to die so they have made provision for its health a priority.

Next stop the Mezcal distillery. Peter found this very interesting because he dabbles in spirit making as a hobby. Christian our host spoke excellent English so it was very informative and understandable. This is an artesan distillery producing mezcal the traditional way. Hard work! They chop the leaves off the agave plants, dig up the roots, the piña, chop that into four pieces. It is all thrown into a cone shaped pit that has a wood fire burning. The fire is covered in volcanic stones , then the piña, then dirt and left to cook for a week before grinding into a mash. They use a horse and traditional stone grinding machine. Next it is fermented for a week or until the alcohol level reaches the desired percentage.

We tasted 12 mezcal styles and I was glad of my cooked breakfast! For every tasting there was a bawdy toast which added to the hilarity. Christian described his favourite which is infused with marijuana. It doesn’t have the hallucinogenic part and I really thought it was smooth. Supposed to be relaxing! He said their secret garden is not legal but no one cares!

Next stop lunch and weavers.

I was the volunteer to eat a cochineal plant , squash some on my hand to show the colour then add some lemon to change the colour to orange and then with ash to purple! The work was beautiful and vibrant. I restrained myself to a pair of red earrings. My hand was still purple though fainter for a day despite washing.

Our last stop were the ruins of Mitla. These were a central cross road for trade as well as ceremonial buildings. They were built with beautiful decorative reliefs. Some original colouring and drawings were also on the walls.

From here it was a five hour drive to our overnight stop at Salina Cruz on the coast (pacific). It is refinery town. It was very hot in the bus and very bumpy. The aircon was not very good at the back and due to the windy roads Anne and Shona felt car sick. Strangely I didn’t, but I tried to doze. It was an extremely long drive with only bathroom stops. So many small dusty hamlets and every town is preceded by road humps to slow the cars. Usually about 5 in a row. Maybe we should do that in Australia?

Lots of checkpoints ,for what I have no idea, but all manned by guardia civil.

Our first task on arrival was a swim! we were all overheated as it was 34 C .

Anne and I had a sleep in and went to breakfast with all the Mexicans. Peak hour at 9.00am. A different experience to our usual early starts.

We decided to go to the Botanical Gardens though we had low expectations after a brief glimpse through the gate the day before. What a wonderful surprise it turned out to be. So much interesting information about Oaxaca and the plants. This state is one of the most biologically diverse in the world. It was here that wild maize was domesticated by the women and began to be developed into the many different types of corn today. Also the origin of cochineal which provides red pigments for dyeing food and clothes. We got to squash a few cochineal bugs!

Cochineal bugs provide red colour. Third most lucrative product after silver and gold in the 17 th and 18 th centuries.

Lunch was taken at a groovy little place called Boulenc Pan. We had to walk a fair few blocks but the city revealed more interesting buildings housing, art galleries, artisan clothing and goods, street art or cute bars. The food was contemporary with Mexican twist and satisfying. Peter couldn’t finish his baguette and without being asked they packed the uneaten and untouched remains into a takeaway box. We didn’t really want it but that was a good service. We gave it to a woman and child who were begging on the street.

Anne and I have been searching for painted hats we saw in Puebla but none have been as elegant. He who hesitates misses out! They were hand painted and gorgeous at a good price but because they were stiff we thought too awkward to continue with Dah! We could post them.

After lunch we visited the textile museum and while its exhibit was not of local indigenous weaving as we expected. There was a private collection of exquisite Japanese blue kimonos and jackets which had been donated by expat Americans who had settled here.

The other exhibits were of a local contemporary artist. Beautiful abstract work by Patricia Alvarez

We headed home for a swim and returned for dinner. The streets were thronged with locals and while searching for a silver jewellery store for Anne we discovered so many charming places. This city just keeps giving. It is the gourmet centre of Mexico and there are many places experimenting with developing modern interpretations of Mexican food as well as fusion of other cultures. We ended up at Cobarde roof top restaurant where the ambience was wonderful and the food was a fusion of Mexican and Asian. We only wanted light so Anne had Broccoli with honeycombe which was delicious and both Peter and I had Chicken Pho plus meszcatel cocktails.

This morning we visited a very special wood carving concern. Rosaria defied her father to become the first woman to carve. Women usually only paint. They use the copal tree which has male and female trees. The male is harder with a pink sap and fragrant while the female is white and soft. The timber pieces take a long time to cure and then are treated to protect against termites. Finally they are painted. This family do special spirit animals and so I decided to find out what was my spirit animal and my protector animal. I am a jaguar and iguana. They carve these beautiful wood into these imaginary mythical Alebrijes animals, and decorate with Zapotec symbols. I have ordered mine. It will take about 5 months!

Before she gave us the demonstration she had a smoking ceremony to purify our thoughts.

We later saw other examples of this woodcarving but we all believed her work really stands out. No one else does the spirit animals.

The rest of the day was spent exploring Oaxaca, getting hotter and hotter. We eventually ended up in the street art area and had the most delicious drinks. Mine was a local Tamarinde slushie. Totally reviving.

We explored the street art which was both humorous and charming. By the time it was four we grabbed a taxi to get back to the hotel. There had been an accident and the roads were clogged so our taxi driver took a diversion which brought us out to the road near the gates of the hotel but it was barricaded with police. He explained and they cleared the barricade for us.

Earlier in the day we had been held up by protesting taxi drivers and delivery scooters who were blocking traffic.

Back to the hotel for a quick refreshing swim and then back to town with Chris and Rob . We found a very cool place Hotel Indigo and enjoyed aperitifs until a light rain fell and they ushered us across the road to their roof top restaurant. Very contemporary food and atmosphere. Oaxaca continues to reveal many modern aspects. I am enjoying the experience.

Today was to be a huge ride over the Sierra Madre mountains, about 7 hours. Our first stop however was a church on the top of a hill on top of a pyramid. This pyramid is reported to be the largest base in pyramids in the world. It was a steep but steady climb up to the church of the Virgin of Healing to find a beautiful interior and extraordinary 360 degree view of Puebla and Cholula the area around the church. While ascending we heard fireworks continually. This is a local tradition for Saints days that happens at each church. Puebla is said to have 365 churches , one for every day of the year. From atop we could see so many dotted across the city we think it might be true! Inside there was holy water for sale in little plastic bags which I suggested Anne and Peter buy to heal their various ails. Surprisingly they were sceptical.

Next stop a local food market where we purchased with our guides help snacks for the long drive. The vender was very happy for us to taste prior to purchase. We all bought some interesting treats.

From here we started the long , bumpy, exciting drive to Oaxaca.

What we learned:

That the Mexicans use every bit of space. Down the middle of the major road was a divided bike track and walking track on what we would be lawn. It was fenced off from the traffic and included trees and chairs and gardens yet to reach their full potential. The highway was not really very wide but very busy.

That they have built an aerial gondola system so people can get from one side of the neighbourhood to the other or cross the highway without using cars.

That road rules and lines are indicative. Drivers overtake when it is safe not when the lines indicate. Trucks and cars pull over to the far right or left depending on the direction and let cars overtake. Oncoming traffic just make room!

The highway is pretty good but also very bumpy and if I dozed I was in danger of getting a bruise across my nose from my sunglasses landing back on my face.

A community group were towing their local ikon of Our Lady of the? to another town behind a motorbike for her birthday and a significant number of the community were travelling in the back of a semitrailer with the door open.

The Sierra Madre mountain range we were crossing is rugged, dry and covered in cactus. Very inhospitable.

There are numerous toll booths along the way and some are centres for toilets and snacks but I didn’t see any petrol stations. The trucks just pull over and line the roads. Lots of Guardia civil and people in the back of open utes.

What was noticeable was a lack of road rage. People seem to be courteous even when honking horns.

Our eventual arrival in Oaxaca was a pleasure as we all headed for a swim in the pool to loosen up and refresh before heading into town for dinner band a brief orientation.

We headed for the pyramids of the Sun, moon and the rain god. What a massive citadel. The main walk along the pyramids was called the avenue of the dead by the Aztecs because of all the skeletons they found along the way. The Aztecs came much later to this citadel and added their own features. This place had excavations revealing the layers below. Incredibly interesting but once again hard to absorb the millennia taken to build it. If the prehispanic civilisations it was the Mayans who lasted the longest. Our guide was very knowledgeable and explained the philosophy towards life and death. Life was beautiful and death was a transition. In Mexico death is still seen this way as evidenced by the day of the dead celebrations. Skulls are everywhere and the Catarina ( woman with skull) was made famous by Diego Riviera( Frida Kahlo’s husband) in his history mural. She is also around as ornament.

After Teotichucan we moved to our gorgeous hotel at Puebla. The Palacio Julio is a gracious old home converted to a modern hotel.

Walking around Puebla was very reminiscent of Seville. We lived the place. Ate well at a more up market restaurant Casa Barroca

Today was the beginning of the tour and we started at the Archeological Museum an impressive modern building. It was incredibly interesting but very busy due to free entry on Sundays for locals. I have to admit I have found the prehispanic civilisations Zapecs, Mixtecs, Aztecs and Mayans very hard to grasp. They are Mesoamericans generically but different at the same time. They were a sophisticated society and flourished for hundreds of years over similar periods as the Egyptians. Due to a vision they founded Mexico (city) on a lake! A bit too many magic mushrooms I think because the city is sinking.

This explains the deplorable footpaths( an OHS hazard) everywhere and the number of leaning buildings. Many have been damaged by the earthquake of 1985 and combined with the slow subsidence they are abandoned. This city has 22 million residents and the pollution is pretty bad as well as the traffic congestion but it rolls along fairly amiably. No road rage we could see.

The city closes the main thoroughfare to cars on Sundays so residents can exercise. With free entry to museums and the avenue the city was bursting.

After going up the En Torre Latino for a view of the city we had to rush back to the hotel because we were going to the Luche Libre wrestling.

We made a fatal mistake of hailing a taxi in the traffic when we couldn’t negotiate properly and paid way too much. Pete’s knee was causing a problem so walking back was out of the question. C’est la vie!

What a hoot the wrestling was. It is a show rather than real wrestling but is hugely supported like our football! the kids dress up as their favourites and even adults wear the masks. The audience hoot and holler and boo and were as entertaining as the wrestling.

It was over by 7pm and we had dinner and off to bed. Tomorrow we visit Teotihuacán, the citadel ruins and Puebla.