07/14/2012, Oxaca and Mitla
So while we were at Monte Alban we met a couple students(from Tacoma, Wa of all places) who said that they were going on a tour to Mitla. We had heard about Mitla (another archeological site) but did not know how we could get out there and back as it was about 25 miles to the site. The students told us where to hook up with the tour for only $22 a head. After seeing Monte Alban we came back to the centro historical district. We walked for hours and saw another 5 churches. The prize winnner easily was St. Domingo's, walking into the church is nothing less than stunning. We felt immediately the need to sit and look up. The entire ceiling was coverd with gold leaf engraving. The alter must have been 40ft tall. Several smaller alters came off the main area to the left and right. It' s imposible to descrbe this. I tried to take a couple pic's but they just don't tell the story. While we were walking around looking for churches we came apon the mercado aka market. And this is where we found the grasshoppers for sale. Leiann is always talking about eating some of Mexico's exotic treats like Iquana taco's and deep fried grasshoppers. We had a very nice dinner at which Leiann was able to have a great chef salad, a first for Mexico. She also had a grasshopper with some guacamole. I declined the offer myself and also feel no interest in Iquana tacos. The next morning were up early and had breakfast in the town square (which in itself is amazing). We caught the tour at 10 am and were off to Mitla. On the way to Mitla we stopped off at a place that weave's authentic Zapotec rugs, some which are at the Smithsonian Museum! All of the dye used is made in the same way that it has been for hundreds of years, with plants and other natural sources. The wool is hand spun, dyed and weaved in the traditional manner. As a result these end up with many months needed to finish and their price reflects this. Next we were off to Mitla. Like Monte Albun Mitla dates back before Christ. Mitla was still occupied when the Spanish arrived the 1500's. To help illustrate to the natives their superiority they nearly destroyed to temple sites and then built Catholic churches on top of them. The decorative evgraving at Mitla was more detailed than at Monte Alban. We were even able to go down into a ancient tomb, not much air down there and very humid. The tombs had been robbed many years ago. Our stay at Mitla was only about an hour as we had to keep up with the tour. We then were taken to see the "Frozen Waterfall" or petrified as they call it. This was at a cliff side at which water drips constantly carrying salt and copper sulfate, which then solidifies into hardened rock that looks like a frozen waterfall. This is at over 5,500ft about 1500ft above the valley floor, so quite a view. The road up to (and down) was very remote and ROUGH and so took an hour (each way) to go about 20 miles. Finally we ended up the Mezcal factory. I use the word factory loosely. Mezcal is made in the traditional way here. It was interesting to see the processs. First cactus "agave" takes 6-8 years to bloom and then is readied to process by cutting off all the leaves and the bloom. This leaves something that looks like a giant pinapple. It is then put in a pit and cooked for 3 days. Then the pinapples are put in a concrete pit that has a big concrete wheel that a donkey pulls round and around. The mash is then stored in a large tub for several days to ferment. Then it is put in a "Still" heated, then steam cooled and out comes Mezcal. It is then aged for several years, the more years the higher the cost. Tequila is made the same way but with a different cactus. I have to say Leiann tried several different flavors and brought home some creamed flavors. That night we loaded up on the bus at 10pm and headed home. I mentioned that these buses are air conditioned and it seems that the drivers use it to stay awake as they keep the temp down around 60. So we froze our butts off trying to sleep. So between the temp and the curves and the speed bumps we got little sleep. Taking a taxi home we dropped into our beds and slept like the dead. So that's our little trip inland, we tried to see as much as we could. We plan to try and see some more pyramids in Chiapas right on the Guatamalan boarder. We are beginning to do some maintenence work on the boat and plan to put her back in the water September 1st. We will then stay on the boat in the marina until October sometime. As soon as we get the weather go ahead we will head out accross the infamous gulf of Tehuanapec, which is know for near hurricane force winds to kick up rapidly. With satellite and computer weather forcasting the crossing can be crossed with much more accurate forcasting of a weather window. We will wait until we have a good 4-5 day opening. Meanwhile we hope to able to do some day sailing and anchoring in some of the many bays of Huatulco. So stay tuned.
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Comments [2]
Sometimes photos don't capture it. So thanks for 'just' describing the Frozen Waterfall. A pic would've ruined it.
Keep posting! (You're being followed)
07/13/2012, Oxaca
After Ness and Benjamin's vist we planned to go inland and see some Pyramids and old Churches reported to be in Oaxaca (wa hock a). Getting to Oaxaca involved a 9 hour bus ride. While the buses are very modern (better then Greyhound), air, TV, restroom, the ride is tough in that the road is VERY curvy (Leiann has to take sea sickness meds) and additionally there are TOPES, AKA speed bumps, every 5 miles for 200 miles so what should take 4 hours is 9. The price you pay to be a world traveler. We arrived in Oaxaca at 6pm and hailed a taxi renting him for an hour which is our practice. We then asked him (he spoke good english,we had talked to several before finding an english speaker) to drive us around to find an "economical hotel" somewhere between dive and the Hilton. He took us to a few not up to "our low standards", one of which offered an hourly rate! Leiann was out the door before I could say no thanks. We finally settled for a small clean room that was (we found out that night) on a main trucking route so woke to horns honking loudly at 6 am. That night though was heaven in that is was cool, we even needed a blankie. The temperature is 20 degree's below that of Huatulco! The next morning we headed out with our backpacks looking for a little upgrade. We found a room in a hotel built in 1893, nice but not the Hilton, 600 pecos ($44) not bad. We then spent our first day exploring the churches we had read about. After looking at two both built in the 16-1800 period. To call these churches would be to call the Mona Lisa a painting. You just have to be there. Paintings so old they are turning black, detailed carved molding, statues, altars, amazing archetecture. We just happend along to find the Museo in which we spent a couple hours; big bang thru evolution, archeology thru political independence to space exploration. We found two more "churches" before spending the next 3 hours in the cultural museo, much more indepth archeological info on Monte Alban (the pyramids we came to see), and many many hyrogliphic rock panels, murals found in pyramids, spanish armour, church treasures and relics, they finally kicked us out at 7pm. We had avoided a heavy downpour while we in the center so it timed out well. We ate at a little local place (ie not a tourist joint) where we sat in little chairs like school chairs (wooden). We had a great meal for not much and headed back to our hotel exhausted having seen 4 churches, two museo's, moved to new hotel and not mention breakfast and lunch. The next day we had planned as our big and last day in which we would see Monte Albun and then see the remaing churches. Monte Alban did not disappoint. Started in 500 BC and with continous occupation thru 900 AD! Monte Alban (montie All ban) was the home of the Zapotec indians or indigenous people. Later the site was abandoned, then occupied by the Mixtec people, then again abandoned permanently. Like the great Myan ruins it is unkown why these ruins were abandoned but it is speculated that overpopulation and exhaustion of soils lead to starvation and migration to other areas. I found it interesting (Dave) to find out that like the name we (US citizens) know of the Aztec and Myan, but there are as many (most likely more) different names of mexican "tribes" or indigenous people than US Native Americans, ie: Zapotec, Mexica, Mixtec, Myan, Olmtec and many more not in the history books. Climbing ancient pyramids (the steps are VERY high and steep) and reading about the use of each was a unique experience that we both really felt blessed to be able to experience. Well after a few hours of exploring we sat atop one, had lunch and tried to imagine what this place must have looked like in it's hay day. Stay tuned for more from Oxaca!
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06/30/2012, Huatulco
Yes I know I am a bit behind on part 2. What can I say except that I am extremely busy sitting at the pool and just being retired. It's hard work let me tell you! So back to Nessa and Benny......the visit is coming to a close and we are all trying to pretend we have all the time in the world but we know we don't. We decide to go to the waterfalls or Cascades as the locals call them. We got on a van with 6 other adults and a little girl and off we went for our next adventure. We drove on winding roads for a little over 2 hours and got to know our fellow passengers and driver along the way. The other folks were actually on their holiday or vacation as we call it. None of us had any idea what we were headed for. Vanessa saat next to the two Claudia's and their laughter rang throughout the van the whole trip. those were two of the happiest people I had ever seen. The road we traversed was quite interesting due to the recent rains. These are not paved roads but dirt and when it rains you have a road that suddenly has small valleys in it. Was it bumpy? Oh yes and then some. It seemed like we were out in the wilderness and yet at the same time every so often we would come to a town filled with houses, stores, schools and more. How could this be? We are in the jungle for heaven's sake. Yet here was proof that there were actual communities in the middle of nowhere. Yes with electricity, phones and cable T.V. Our driver Francisco was a very good guide and proved to be even more so once we reached the waterfalls. He would stop and show us different things along the way such as the coffee trees that were actually plantations but to us looked like they were growing wild. Finally we made it to our destination! Well I should say the parking lot. Now we hiked. Not far but it was uphill and a trek especially with a baby on your back. Well Dave's back. This is a very popular spot as we found out once we reached the pool area of the falls. Lots of tourists had already beat us there and were playing on the falls and in the water. There was a rope swing too. guess who went right to that? Nope not me but Dave was on it in a flash! You'll have to check out the photo gallery for more shots of that. Dave talked Ness into walking up the rocks beneath the falls to swing off them. She did but they weren't through yet. Francisco talked bth of them into walking up the rocks to the top of the falls where apparently another pool is. Not a biggee except I kept waiting for them to come down and swing off the rope like they did before. Made me a tad nervous when they didn't come back into view for over an hour. Finally they showed and I could breath. Of course while Benny and I were waiting for them all the Hispanic people loved to go by Benny and touch him. I think they thought he was made out of porcelin since his skin was so white! We left the falls and went down to the restaurant and had one of the most fabulous meals in Mexico that we have had. We had chicken mole, BBQ'd pork, rice, beans, fresh homemade tortillas and even tequila! Ok some of us had tequila. And we could eat as much as we wanted. Then we went and watched the coffee beans roasting before they took us to taste test the flavored tequila. Actually it is Mezcal which is the first distillation of the agave plant. Soome people think it is the rotgut tequila but I am not a tequila drrinker and I actually like it. They had cafe, fruit and coco. I tried them all....of course it was a quarter of a shot so not too much. We also bought fresh coffee to take home with us. Then we were off for our four wheeling trip home. Oh but wait we stopped along the way and tried bananan bread with hot chocolate, or sugary tortillas if you preferred. Needless to say this was money well spent. Since Nessa and Benny were going home in two days we decided that the next day will be a stay at home kind of day. Of course it was a great decision given the fact that Hurricane Carlotta was heading our way. Some of you may remember in our previous posts that we already had Bud, he landed way up north though. Dave and Nessa decided to jump in the car and head out by the water to see what they could see. (Nope no blind mice). The we were all just hanging out at the casa waiting, for what we weren't sure, when the electricity went out. Whoops no candles or flashlights. Dave jumped in the car and headed out in what was becoming quite the storm with the wind picking up and the rain stating to come down in buckets. We were a little worried while he was gone but he came back with candles and we were all safe and sound. He had seen trees coming down and people hanging in the grocrey store waiting for the downpour to let up so they cold get home too. The electricity came back on and Dave checked the weather only to find out that Carlotta wasn't landing where we were but further north. So no worries except would Nessa and Benny get out the next day? The airport (60 miles north os us) where they were leaving from was right in the path of Carlotta. We tried calling to find out but had to go through Whitelock Travel to get info on what was transpiring with the flights. For those of you that aren't familiar with that travel service it is my brother Kevin....he was awesome! Kept us updated that day and the next. So we decided to head out the next morning as they were telling us the airport was open. Dave even went to the bus terminal to see if the roads were open as Carlotta hit about 10 miles from the airport. They said it was a go. We all got up early and got in the car and headed out not knowing what to expect ahead of us. The roads were open but it was an obstacle course to the airport and as we got closer to the airport it got worse. Power lines and trees down all over the road making it a one lan road most of the way. This was nothing compared to the devastation of family homes alson the way and plantations of bananas and palms comletely razed to the ground. The hard thing to see was that these poor, and I mean poor, people had nothing to begin with to speak of and now they were left with nothing. It was a sad trip not only because Nesssa and Benny were leaving but nature had taken from those that shouldn't have been taken from. We got Nessa and Benny to the airport finally only to find out that the flight had been cancelled and they might or might not get on the 3pm flight. So we hung out waiting to see, part of us hoping that they didn't get on and the other part knowing that they needed to get home. 3pm and they got on the plane. :( Bye Nessa and Benny. It was a wonderful time had by all.
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06/20/2012, Huatulco
The day finally arrived and we were off to the airport to pick up Vanessa and Benny!! Yeah! We got to the airport early and waited for their arrival discussing how it wasn't very nice that it was raining on the day they got here. But they tell us it is the rainy season. The big difference between here and the Pacific Northwet (yes I know I forgot the s) is that even though you might be caought in the rain it's still very very warm. They finally arrived and off we went to sit and have lunch down on the beach so Ness could rela a bit before pur drive back to Huatulco. Grandpa took Benny down to the water's edge and he wasn't too thrilled about the water or the sand. Uh oh we thought and decided to wait for more introductions to ocean and sand after a good night sleep since they had been traveling since 1am. Needless to say Benny was out for the count once we got back into the car and took off. It's been 8 months since we have seen them so we all had lots to talk about on our ride the next 2 hours. Dave and I decided that we would get a hotel room the first couple days that they were here so they could acclimate. There is definitely a difference so we wanted to make it a gradual climatizing. We also rented a car with air conditioning. We had a pool and we all decided to take advantage once we checked in. Dave went to the casa to get the stroller,baby bed, and spiderman floaty for Benny.Nessa was going to take a nap but changed her mind once Benny and I were ready for his first visit to the pool. Mama just didn't want to miss out! This was the start of Vanessa and Benny getting on the retirement schedule. Since we had a late lunch we had a late dinner and we introduced Ness to Tacos Al Pastor. We found out Benny likes 'em too. The third day of their visit we moved back to the casa and decided to go hang at our Beach Club pool. Benny got the works that day....pool and the ocean and loving every minute of it. We ate at our favorite neighborhood taqueira that night and the owner invited Benny to her niece Nadia's 4th birthday party on Tuesday. Then a liitle girl eating dinner with her family came over and took Benny to their table where he entertained them all. He is quite the social butterfly. Monday we spent the day trying to fax a form to the bank at home since someone had been able to access our account from Mexico City and withdraw as much money as was allowed. The night before at 2am Dave and I were at the bank to withtdraw what was left before they tried again. (2 hr time difference from home). Good news is we will get the money back, bad news is my card was cancelled and Dave's is at home waiting to be sent to us. Thankfully we have another bank sitting on the sidelines and our friend Jane came through as the hero in our crisis! Tuesday we went to Entegra so that Dave and Ness could go snorkeling. Benny and I played a bit in the water then hung out in one of the local palapas while they played with the fish. This is the same place Dave and I had gone when I used the board with the window so I could "snorkel" too. Dave and Ness came back in for awhile and then took Benny out for more water time and he got his first taste of salt water, handled it like a trooper too. He is now officially a water baby. Dave and Ness went back out to snorkel some more and none of us thought to put sunscreen back on our little white girl.....yes she got burned, poor thing. We then raced home, changed our clothes and took off for the birthday bash. We actually were the first to arrive and we were late. Soon the place was filling up and the festivities began. The kids had three pinatas filled with candy and they even asked Benny to try, he's still a bit little so he just watched on the sidelines. While the kids were batting away at the pinatas the grown up family memebers passed out plates eith a sandwich and their version of a corn dog. They had already passed put jamica to drink. (a water made with flowers) Then they started passing out more plates and these had a chicken salad with tostada shells. And if that wasn't enough the cake soon came after that and Dave and I aren't big cake eaters but this was without a doubt one of the best cakes we have ever had. Just when we thought it was winding doen they brough out a huge boxlike cration filled with balloons. The sides were made of cellephane and the kids hit at it just like a pinata. Inside were colored balloons but the trick was to get one of the black balloons which there were only a couple. Insideof these black balloons was an extra treat for whoever was the lucky one to reach it first. But wait after that is all over the kids line up in separate lines for boy and girls and Nadia's mom passes out bags with more treats. She then walked pver to Benny and handed him his own bag. What a wonderful experience we had being included with this family! We of course ate all our food but we noticed that most families wrapped theirs up to take home. Nadia received lots of presents but the one thing that didn't happen was opening them at the party. I think this is a very respectful. This way the kids that can't afford extravagant gifts like some don't have to be embarassed by their gift being not quite as good as others. Wednesday we went to Copalita where they have a archaelogical ruins and a museum. When we got there a guy ws asking to be our tour guide and it was a bit more than we wanted to pay so Dave did the negotiating and we had our own private tour. Cornelia, our guide, proved to be well worth the money. He had a telescope and if we hadn't had him we would have missed out on seeing the pygmy owls, the toucan looking herons, the pink flamingo like birds and various other creatures. He was very thorough on his knowledge of the ruins and took very good care of us, even pushing Benny in his stroller once or twice. We were told by some other people that this place was just a bunch of rocks but we found it to be just the opposite. Of course if you aren't interested in history then it is just a pile of rocks. We went to the top of the cliff and had an incredible view of the Copaita river dumpng into the ocean and the surf pounding against the shore. Of course there was a storm brewing out there so the surf was more impressive than usual. Dave was keeping an eye on the weather as it was possible this storm could turn into a hurricane. June is rainy season in Hutaulco so it isn't unusual to have rain daily and we decided to continue our outings despite the rain. We were lucky during this outing that we had none. We left Copalita and decided to go to the Italian Coffee Company for a snack and one of their very close to Starbuck's frappucinos. In fact if you did a taste test you probably coudn't tell the difference. Stay tuned for part two or the rest of the story.
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05/31/2012, Arm Pit Mexico
Thought we'd take a trip down to Salina Cruz (uhg 'nuf said)! So we went to the bus station and bought our tickets for yet another adventure in this life of ours. While sitting at the bus station waiting for our bus the ground rumbled and people began scattering throughout the terminal. We thought a bus had hit the building but it was actually an eathquake, 4.2 on the richter scale. Kinda freaky I gotta tell you. Then it was over and people came back in and we all still waited for the bus. Have we mentioned that the roads are a little bit curvey and windy?? Some of you that know me well, and some of you that don't, know I have some trouble with motion sickness. Hence the sea sickness that follows me along the coast while on our boat. Well it happens on land too but never where I actually throw up, just get sick to my stomache and have to get out of the moving vehicle. Not going to happen on a bus though....so I threw up in a hankie (no bathroom on this bus) until Dave got the window open so I could spray paint the bus a new color. Thankfully it was only a 2 1/2 hr ride. Glad we hadn't decided to go to Oaxaca City which is an 8 hr ride! We arrived in Salina Cruz and were sadly disappointed in this Mexican town. Every town we have been to has had something to give it charm but sadly that is not the case here. We found a hotel and checked in. We thought it odd that the hotel staff had to lock and unlock the door each and everytime we left the hotel but after wandering around town we realized it was a good thing. We ate at Burger King, yep the same, and then went to our hotel for some air conditioning. It's hot in Huatulco but the heat in Salina Cruz with the refinery near by was oppressive. After a little air we decided to take a little stroll for ice cream. Instead we sat down at one of the sidewalk eateries and had a couple tacos, not the best, but we enjoyed speaking with a young couple who wanted to practice their English and helped us practice our Spanish. We opted to go buy an ice cream at the Oxxo (7-11) and went back to our air conditioned room and T.V. The following morning we got up and went and had a great breakfast in a little hole in the wall that the sign said breakfast in English. We were a little skeptical but it turned out to be one of the better places we've had breakfast. The only bright spot was The Italian Coffee Company where we enjoyed a frappucino that compared to Starbuck's. This is where we spent the rest of our time until returning to the bus station to go back "home" to Huatulco. Oh and we did buy some medication for my ride home so no throwing up on the way home, just a sleepy ride.
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05/26/2012, Hualtuco (La Crucecita)
Well our first hurricane (Bud) turns out be to the earliest hurricane to EVER hit the east pacific (I've never been lucky). But thanks to good planning based on recommendations to be out of the water before the beginning of hurricane season we were totally safe. But it is a little errie to be this close to a hurricane, the locals say no worries. One has to wonder about the next one as this area gennerally has 6 a year!
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