I've been slacking on the blog like crazy, and for this I apologize. However, in the meantime I have been off having adventuring in all-night Mexican reggae festivals, spring equinox in a world wonder, and hanging with the hippies. Pictures are soon to follow... to subdue the excitement here is a photograph of Merida. No matter where my travels take me it is always nice to come back to a colorful city which I know and am coming to love.

 "Oaxaca en Merida" Oaxaca is another state in Mexico very different from the Yucatan. Please remember that Mexico is a country similar to the United States in that there are several states and regions, each with very distinct identities. Oaxaca has some special cuisines such as mole, queso, y chapulines. These are chapulines, which I had to try and were delicious! Chapulines in english? Grasshoppers.

Fuego Hombre

A friend works at a cafe that I frequent often. Not only that, but on the side he takes photos, goes to school, oh, and throws fire. He gave us a personal show one night. 

The cool cats I spend Wednesdays and Thursdays with... I work mostly with their mothers, but always find time to play too.

Celestun

We went to Parque Natural del Flamenco Mexicana (Celestun Biosphere Reserve) and saw the hundreds of flamingos that flock there every year. The flamingos here are some of the pinkest in the world due to large levels of carotene in the water. Flamingos are born white and in about a year and a half pick up the pink shades from the carotene and food.

met a nice man dragging a net for crabs

our boat took a sharp turn and we were suddenly engulfed in mangroves

inside the mangroves is this freshwater hole - ojo agua- where we jumped in for a swim. When you slap the water it fizzes from all the minerals in it - awesome!

Blowing in the Breeze

Arg! Pirata por un dia.

So we like Campeche so much we decided we needed to go back and explore the city through its history... by being pirates. We brought some rum, du-rags, and the desire to explore. We stayed at the Monkey Hostel, which has a beautiful rooftop balcony from which we watched the brilliant sunrise and stood in awe of the colorful buildings.

getting around was easy on the bikes that we rented

Ciudad de Tres Culturas

Izamal

There are 17 towns in Mexico that the government has deemed 'magical' and this is one of them. The entire town is painted yellow and incorporates three cultures - Maya, colonial, and present day. It is called the city of hills and is nestled in the center of the Yucatan Penninsula, thought to be the oldest city in the Yucatan. Maya temples are settled in between modern houses and buildings throughout the city. The best way to see this is through a tour in a horse carriage. Another claim to fame of Izamal is the 1993 visit of Pope John Paul.

This is the Fanciscan convent from when the Spaniards conquered Izamal and rushed to convert the population to Catholicism. The convent is built over a Maya temple, using the stones from the temple for the structure. They destroyed more than the temple as the monk Fray Diego de Landa who burned all indigenous scripts. Later he attempted to rewrite what he could of the Maya. 

Palenque + Campeche, the grand finale

On a morning walk in the rain we noticed the peculiarity of walking down to your house from the sidewalk.

Driving along the roads the scene changed within an hour from the rainy selva (jungle) of Palenque to the clear skies of Campeche, capital of the Mexican state of Campeche.

The town square was beautiful and all the houses are painted bright yellows, greens, purples, and more. The colors stand vivid in the clean calles of Campeche.

Campeche was pillaged by pirates and built a wall and forts to protect the town. Parts still remain to see today and imagine what life would have been like in the 1600s for this important port city.

Carnaval was still going on so Nadia and I had fun with the live band and body paint. We were the only white people there and children would dare each other to go up and splash paint on us. We left Carnaval looking alot different than when we arrived. It was a fantastic ending to a trip that had it all - mountains, pirates, Maya from the past and present, and body paint accompanied by large cervezas!

San Cristobal

The next day the landscape changed dramatically as we travelled into the highlands of Chiapas. Driving at sunset we were able to see the brilliance of the red rocks in the mountains, illuminated by the departing sun. 

On our way to San Cristobal de Las Casas we stopped at the side of the road for food. The pescado frito (fried fish) was INCREDIBLE. The area is fascinating, there are the bluest rivers and the grandest trees. People are not as used to tourists and people would ask to take pictures with us.

San Cristobal de Las Casas is a gorgeous town that I could definitely live in. The colorful houses are settled in the mountains and the streets are lively with vendors, musicians, and dancers. Our favorite place was Cafe Revolucion, where live music plays every night. We danced to live salsa music and when the band was finished went across the street for live reggae. Amazing! Despite all the available activities the town is incredibly tranquil, only open to tourism a few years ago. Also the area is where the Zapatista movement in Mexico started in 1994 when San Cristobal was taken over by Zapatists. 

During the day we visited the nearby pueblos of San Juan Chamula and Zinacantan. These are indigenous villages that have become tourist attractions as of the past few years. They are in an interesting place given this transition of maintaining traditional with incorporating tourism. The people of San Juan Chamula have come together to forbid taking pictures there. This is not enforced by Mexican police because the town voted against having them, instead it is enforced by local town members. 

The church in San Juan Chamula is incredible. It has no pews, instead a tile floor with scattered pines filing the church with an earthy scent. Altars are all around and families come to church together to sit on the floor. They bring chickens to sacrifice and it is common to see people eating or drinking together (yes, even alcohol). When we walked in a three man band was playing upbeat music as the families  lit hundreds of candles, illuminating the inside of the church while sending a blessing to the heavens. The church is a fusion of Maya beliefs and Catholicism brought over by the Spaniards. 

While we were there carnaval was going on and many people were dressed in ornate costumes dancing traditional dances, not for tourists, but for themselves. Visiting these offset towns in the mountains was truly a spiritual experience I am so glad to have, but I cannot help but feel a bit guilty for contributing to the zoo-like tourism that is taking over the towns, visiting to look at the "different" people. I wonder what they will be like in 15-20 years as Lonely Planet and others start picking up more on them.

Back in San Cristobal we saw this set of stairs during a morning walk. We knew we had to get to the top, so with very labored breathing we climbed our way up.

The view was totally worth it.

Driving out of Chiapas we were in the clouds, presenting a mystic fog for the one of a kind trip.

The Trip to Chiapas Begins...

Last weekend we visited Chiapas, another state of Mexico. It is about a thirteen hour drive in total, but as I would find out it is totally worth ever hour on the bus. Especially when you have a bus as cool as ours - look at the two doors!

the scenery throughout the trip changed dramatically and was incredible the entire way, even when it slightly resembled Iowa

The first town we stayed at was a pit stop - Villahermosa "beautiful city". We had an awesome rooftop pool though where we spent the evening after dinner. The city itself is pretty interesting too. In 2007 a huge flood hit and most of it was under water. The fact that the whole city is open now shows its strength. It is more "Mexican" than Merida however and we were told to not really go out or to go far. We had to see the city though and ended up eating at a taco stand in the market.

we also hit up a local club

The next day we went to La Venta museum/ park. It has stones from the Olmec, a Pre-Columbian people, as well as animals. The entire park is outdoors and has a jungle essence to it.

after that night we hit the road again for more scenery and awesome views to come