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| arrival sign at Mexico City airport |
Our month-long trip to Mexico began by flying from
Reunion to Mexico City via Paris. After a night to recover from the 8-hour time difference we set off for the east coast, stopping at
Cholula for lunch along the way. En route we saw the country's three highest peaks, albeit from a distance!
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| cactus fruit for sale by the side of the road |
We soon got used to
topes (speedbumps) - they're everywhere on Mexican roads.
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| an unusually visible topes |
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| Pico de Orizaba (5611m) the country's highest mountain |
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| Popocatépetl (aka "smoking Popo"), the country's second highest peak |
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| church built on top of a pre-Hispanic pyramid, Cholula |
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| Cholula main square |
The next day we visited Pantanos de Centla biosphere reserve in
Tabasco province, where we saw crocodiles, turtles, iguanas, bats and herons amongst other things.
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| bats, Pantanos de Centla |
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| adult crocodile, Pantanos de Centla |
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| heron, Pantanos de Centla |
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| sunbathing juvenile crocodile & turtle, Pantanos de Centla |
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| iguana, Pantanos de Centla |
We then headed to
Chiapas, and the next day after breakfast we visited our first Mayan site: the former city state of
Palenque, which flourished up until AD 799.
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| Mexican breakfast! |
In the afternoon we saw
agoutis, butterflies,
piñatas, and a waterfall!
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| piñata |
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| Misol-Ha waterfall |
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| trilingual sign at Misol-Ha waterfall |
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| close-up of the French sign at Misol-Ha waterfall |
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| agouti, a type of rodent |
The following day we visited what turned out to be one of my favourite sites: the ancient Mayan city of
Yaxchilan, on the border with present-day Guatemala and only accessible by boat along the
Usumacinta river. We set off early and the river was still covered by morning mist before the heat the of the day. As we were amongst the first to be there we had the site almost to ourselves – apart from the
howler monkeys.
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| Travelling to Yaxchilan. Mexico to the left, Guatemala to the right |
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| turkey vulture, Usumacinta river |
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| Guatemalan border town seen from the Usumacinta river |
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| spider monkey |
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| at Yaxchilan |
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| at Yaxchilan |
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| at Yaxchilan |
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| at Yaxchilan |
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| at Yaxchilan |
The Maya site of
Bonampak is smaller and less important than Yaxchilan, 30km away, but it has some of the best-preserved Mayan murals known to exist, dating from the eighth century AD (depicting war and human sacrifice!)
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| at Bonampak |
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| at Bonampak |
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| example of the murals at Bonampak |
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| at Bonampak, looking down |
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| at Bonampak |
The next day we visited some waterfalls and rapids whose name (very aptly) translates as "Hidden Paradise".
That evening we stayed in a
Lacandon Indian village. Lacandon are Mayan peoples whose homeland is the Lacandon jungle.
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| little Lacandon girl |
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| the turkey that escaped Christmas! |
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| "Beware: jaguar crossing" |
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| getting a trimmer from A to B |
We were now in
Zapatista rebel territory!
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"You are in Zapatista rebel territory,
here the people rule and the government obeys" |
A
new Mexican President with a tough stance on drugs was sworn in about 5 weeks before our trip and we saw a lot of armed soldiers near the Guatemalan border, apparently for that reason. Our car even got stopped and searched on one occasion.
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| Lagunas de Montebello |
The nearby Las Nubes Ecotourism center is located in the Las Margaritas municipality near the Guatemalan border. The area features a number of turquoise blue waterfalls with bridges and lookout points set up to see them up close.
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| Las Nubes |
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here at Las Nubas we were actually looking down at
where we were the previous day ("Hidden Paradise") |
The final day of 2018 saw us in colourful
San Cristobal de las Casas. Further away from the Guatemalan border, it was state capital until 1892, and today is still considered the cultural capital of Chiapas.
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| Santo Domingo church, San Cristobal de las Casas |
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street, San Cristobal de las Casas |
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| Looking across the town |
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On 1st January 1994 San Cristobal was one of the sites of a
Zapatista rebel uprising, and the fight continues! |
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| street, San Cristobal de las Casas |
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| Cathedral of San Cristobal de las Casas |
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| Cerro de Guadalupe church (note bunting in the colours of the Mexican flag) |
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| another view of Cerro de Guadalupe |
On New Year's Day we visited Grutas de Rancho Nuevo Ecotourism Centre, a set of caves with stalagmites and stalactites.
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| Grutas de Rancho |
The next day my husband and I flew from San Cristobal to
Cancun in the
Yucatan peninsula, where we soon went diving. Our first dive was at the MUSA (
Museo Subacuático de Arte) which is the largest underwater museum in the world (500 sculptures, though we didn't see them all!). It combines art with conservation as it aims to save the nearby coral reefs by providing an alternative destination for divers.
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| © MUSA |
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| this sculpture is called "The Bankers" © MUSA |
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| Volkswagen car © MUSA |
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| © MUSA |
We then hired a car and headed inland across the Yucatan Peninsula. Our first stop was at
Ek' Balam, the seat of a Mayan kingdom until about 1100 AD.
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| some pink flamingos at Rio Lagartos |
We stayed overnight at Valladolid and visited our first
cenote the next day. Cenotes are limestone freshwater sinkholes only found in Yucatan.
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| our hotel in Valladolid was one of the prettiest we stayed in |
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| large signs like this can be found in every Mexican town |
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| in Valladolid |
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| Convento De San Bernardino, Valladolid |
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| Cathedral of San Gervasio, Valladolid |
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| Valladolid even has its own downtown cenote, Cenote Zaci! |
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| Cenote X'canche |
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| Cenote X'canche |
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| Cenote X'canche |
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| at Chichen Itza |
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| at Chichen Itza |
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| a well-camouflaged iguana at Chichen Itza |
At nearby
Merida the following day we visited the Museum of the Maya World (
Grand Museo del Mundo Maya) and Yucatan Museum of Popular Art (
Museo de Arte Popular)
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'Chac mool' sculptural stone altar, 1000-1250 AD,
with a flat surface on the belly to place offerings. |
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| Ceramic vessel for drinking chocolate, 600-900 AD |
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| Mask from 600-900 AD. |
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Stone jaguar throne, 1000-1250 AD, from Chichen Itza.
The jaguar symbolised nighttime sun, war, and sovereignty over land. |
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Mayan anthropomorphic figure dating from 1000-1250
AD, used to support a temple bench in Chichen Itza |
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| watch out for the jaguars at Yucatan Museum of Popular Art! |
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| at Yucatan Museum of Popular Art |
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| Façade of Casa de Montejo, built in the 16th century |
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| inside Casa de Montejo |
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| street in Merida |
Newt we headed south from Merida, stopping at Yaxcopoil Hacienda and two cenotes. Landowners in this region became rich growing
sisal (agave rope fibre) during the 19th century, and the haciendas date from this period.
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| Yaxcopoil Hacienda |
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| Yaxcopoil Hacienda grounds |
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| at Yaxcopoil Hacienda |
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| cenote Xbatun |
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| cenote Dzonbakal |
Sixty kilometres south of Merida our next Maya ruins were at
Uxmal, and are also UNESCO. They are considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Mayan culture, along with Palenque and Chichen Itza.
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| Uxmal |
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| detail, Uxmal |
After
Uxmal we headed to the coast to the small but rarely visited Mayan ruins at
Muyil. Muyil ("place of the rabbit") is a contemporary name for the site, and the original name is no longer known. Some buildings – once occupied by a prehispanic population whose origins date back to 300 BC – have been excavated, others give you the impression of still waiting to be discovered. We were accompanied by monkeys on our visit, and also got to see a small part of the
Sian ka'an lagoon (a UNESCO World Heritage biosphere reserve whose name means "Where the Sky is Born").
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| at Muyil |
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| at Muyil |
Fifteen kilometres further north we arrived at Tulum, which was to be our base for cenote
dives.
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| view from our hotel room in Tulum |
Doing cenote
dives meant overcoming one of my greatest fears as they're essentially underground cavern dives (think 'night dive' in an enclosed space!). The experience was beautiful, eerie, and almost primeval; not sure the photos do it justice. The cenote was called Tajma Ha (the name is a play on
Taj Mahal).
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| map of Tajma Ha cenote |
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| Tajma Ha |
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| Tajma Ha |
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| Tajma Ha |
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| Tajma Ha |
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| Tajma Ha |
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| Tajma Ha |
Tulum also has Maya ruins, and while they're not the most grandiose we've seen, they are very dramatically located next to a turquoise-blue sea and a beach of pure white sand. The site was probably a key Mayan trading port until the mid-16th century.
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| Tulum ruins |
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| Tulum ruins |
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| the Mayan god of diving, aka the Descending god |
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| picture postcard perfect view ... |
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... and the reality: the beach is covered by red sargassum. As
this is a turtle nesting beach, not sure what effect it has on them. |
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| sunbathing iguana at Tulum ruins |
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| a white-nosed coati, a Central American member of the raccoon family |
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| another coati, you can see the tail in this photo |
After two nights in Tulum we headed to Playa del Carmen where we had a stressful incident with Hertz and nearly missed our ferry to Cozumel, where we heading for several days' diving on the world‘s second largest coral reef.
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| Cozumel receives up to 7 enormous cruise ships at a time |
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| diving-related sculpture in San Miguel de Cozumel |
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| close-up of the sculpture |
After Cozumel it was time to leave Yucatan and head back to Mexico City, where we able to start visiting the city.
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| the La Casa de los Azulejos building is covered in blue tiles |
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| courtyard | of the Ministry of Education |
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| Vase in the shape of an acrobat |
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Stone jaguar sculpture. Sacrificial victims' blood and hearts
were deposited in the hole in the middle of its back. |
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| Olmec head carving weighing about 20 tonnes |
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Giant fountain in the courtyard, known as "El paraguas"
(the umbrella). Each side shows a different sculpture |
Outside the museum we saw the
Voladores rite being performed by the indigenous
Totonac people. It involves 'flying' round a 20 metre high pole while suspended upside down. Each of the four participants turns 13 times, making a total of 52 turns (52 being a sacred number). One of them was also beating a small drum and playing a whistle at the same time! In 2009 the ceremony was named an Intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in order to help the ritual survive and thrive in the modern world
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| this photo gives you an idea how tall the pole is |
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| close-up of two Voladores |
The next day we went to Six Flags amusement park, and one of the rides was reminiscent of the Voladores!
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| view of Six Flags Mexico |
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the park at night
(this was mid-January so the Christmas decorations were still up) |
The following day we went back to the city centre to visit
Templo Mayor, the main temple (and centre of the universe) of the former
Aztec city located on the site of present-day Mexico City before the Conquistadors arrived in the early 16th century.
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| wall of skulls at Templo Mayor |
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| at Templo Mayor museum |
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Monolithic stone carved with Tlaltecuhtli, the goddess of earth fertility,
unearthed in October 2006. |
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| Disc covered in 15,000 pieces of turquoise |
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| view of Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral from Templo Mayor |
At the weekend we headed out of the city to
El Oro, a former gold and silver mining town until the early 20th century.
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Inside the town's theatre. At the height of the mining boom El Oro
had the wealth to build it and attract top-level talent to perform. |
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| inside El Oro Town Hall |
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| El Oro street |
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Photos for a 15th birthday celebration
in front of the town's old mining tower |
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| in El Oro |
We stayed two nights in nearby
Tlalpujahua, (in
Michoacán state), which was also a gold and silver mining town until a landslide of debris effectively destroyed the mining industry in 1937. Today this small town (population of less than 4,000) is now a major producer of Christmas tree ornaments: the largest producer in Latin America and one of the five largest in the world!
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| inside one of the town's year-round Christmas decoration shops |
For our last full day in Mexico we visited the last (of ten!) but biggest archaeological site in Mexico:
Teotihuacan, a
Mesoamerican city that was active until 8th century AD, and is famous for the 'Sun' & 'Moon' Pyramids.
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Looking down the two-kilometre 'Avenue of the Dead'
from the Pyramid of the Moon |
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| Pyramid of the Moon with Cerro Gordo behind. |
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Pyramid of the Moon (left) and Sun (right) at sunset,
with the summit of Cerro Gordo (3050 metres) behind. |
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| "underground" restaurant at Teotihuacan in a cave |
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| handbag stands like these were everywhere in Mexican restaurants |
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chou-chou (seen here in Cozumel) originate
from Mexico but are "hairier" than in Reunion |
Further reading:
