Hola!! Its been a while since my last post and thats because the group tour has limited my free time. But its been awesome so far. I haven't got my notes on me so will try and recap the last few days from memory.
We left Ciudad de Mexico and had a day trip to Teotihuacan which was one of my favourite places as it is where the Toltecs built the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon along the Avenue of the Dead - absolutely spectacular, and tiring, but we I picked up a couple of souvenirs. Despite the weary legs, some of us partied until 3am dancing salsa with Mexcican girls, and working up a thirst for Mezcal! (Is it Mezcal o'clock yet? hehe).
The next stop over was in Pueblo, another large town but much quieter than the capital. We had a good day cruising the markets, looking at art, and eating strange food (ok you could have told me it was pork foreskin before I ate that tortilla, hmm). We also bussed out to Cholula where an 17th century Spanish church was built on an ancient indian pyramid, and from the top you could see the smoking volcano in the distance. On the way down there was more strange food - roasted crickets in chillie (why is it only me daring to try this stuff?). Most of us were worn out so had an early night after eating in town, to the sounds of musicians at our al fresco tables.
The next town was Oaxaca a few hours away. This was in the middle of Chiapas State and has more resplendent markets and colour and foods, and our hotel resembled a Spanish palace complete with courtyard and pool. The weather has been wonderful and warm but we never got a chance to get wet this time. We had a lazy afternoon in the town eating and shopping, but partied hard till 2am at a bar with a young rock band blasting out some old favourites. The beer and mezcal kept flowing and the girls enjoyed 1 litre buckets of cocktails until we all sang classic Aussie songs down the street like the drunken tourists we were, hehe.
This made our next mornings excursion to Monte Alban a little blurry, but this was also an amazing old city built on a mountain top by the Zapotec indians many moons ago. Only 20% of the original city has been unearthed and the remains of other buildings still lie buried beneath vegetation and earth on adjacent hilltops. But I had to restrain my urge for fossicking for lost treasure due to time constraints. The remaining buildings include the arena where that ball game is played where you cant use hands or feet, and the winner is sacrificed to the gods for being such good sports! There was also some astronomical buildings used to tell the times of year for sowing and harvesting their fields by aligning Venus with the Sun at its zenith. They also had stone carvings of deformed people which I thought a bit odd, but they were believed to be special, and were kept alive, not killed at birth like some other cultures, because they could be studied by the scientists.
So after a heavy night and hours of walking in the sun, we all prepared for the 12 hour bus ride to San Cristobel. Now that was a ride! We were warned that the road winds its way up and over a mountain range, but not that the driver would take the hairpin bends at blinding speeds where the bus leant over as though on two wheels! Now I know why they took a video film of all the passengers before we left 'cos they never knew if we were coming back! hehe. But we arrived safely in the cold mountain air and recuperated for a few hours in our hotel, another lovely Spanish mansion with courtyard and pool. We spent a couple of hours walking around their amazing markets and this place is alive with more colour than any of the previous towns we've visited. The locals don't like tourists snapping photos so you hade to be discrete. But all the typical handcrafts Mexico is famous for can be found here.
We have another day here before hitting the road again, and we've got a horse ride planned up the mountain to an old indian village or ruin, I'm not sure which. Either way it should be an exhilerating look at the heart of Mexican indian culture.
Until then ... adios amigos!
