Lowlands

Last half of the rushed update.

After a long and bumpy ride from Nebaj (they were literally building the road as we were driving on it), we arrived in the city of Lanquin to swim in the turquoise pools of Semuc Champey.

Surrounded by jungle, this area is known for it´s limestone rock formations, caves, and idyllic pools.

We opted to let our Hostal do the dirty work for us and went on a day tour that included caving, river tubing, and Semuc Champey.

The caves were fun and we found ourselves swimming through deep pools, climbing waterfalls and dodging rocks from above and below. A headlamp would have been a good thing to have, candles don´t do a great job of lighting the way.

Leaving Lanquin we took a ridiculous ride to the city of Flores, to get to Tikal. Between the vomiting, diarrhea (none of which was ours), yelling and deranged tourists, it´s a miracle we made it alive without somebody getting into a fight (or me for calling somebody a grandma).

Unfortunately we had to rush our trip up in the northern part of the country, but still our stay was special.

We spent a night in our hammocks in Tikal National Park listening to the howler monkeys roaring in the distance and watching troops of Codimundi (sp?) scavenging the jungle floor. They look like a giant raccoon with a really long tail, a ring tail monkey if you will.

We got up at 430am to walk to the tallest Mayan temple built and watch the sunrise. That was pretty awesome, watching night turn to day and hearing the jungle come alive. You can see forever in every direction, and the other temples reaching out of the jungle.

Click photo to enlarge:


Bottom view of Semuc Champey.








Top view of Semuc Champey. That shadow kills.







View from the Island Flores across Lake Peten.








Tikal. Temple in the Grand Plaza.










Tikal. View from Temple 5, second highest Mayan structure built.

Home Sweet Home

The bus ride from Puebla to Oaxaca was thankfully non-eventful and relaxing.

Oaxaca is a midsize city in the center of a valley, agriculturally fertile and rich in history.

At one time it was the center of the Zapotec civilization and was a hub for trade and culture, as it still is today. People from all parts of the valley come to Oaxaca to sell their goods.

The city itself is very colonial and charming, but is currently trying to recover from it's tumultuous past couple years. What started off as teachers protesting and camping out in the city center demanding higher pay and benefits turned into an all out war with the government. People died and the city has been battered and bruised and the scars from the conflict can be seen across city walls in the form of political graffiti, or the constant reminder of it under paint inconsistent with that of the buildings.

We ate good food, saw old friends and enjoyed the good nature and spirit of the Oaxacan people.

It's not uncommon to be approached by good intentioned Oaxacan's wanting to go on a walk and get to know you.

For the celebrations of Good Friday, the church squares were filled with live music, traditional dancing, and free drinks and ice cream, or as the call them aguas frescas and nieves. I must have drank my weight in jamaica, tamarindo, horchata, and cherimoya juice.

Click to enlarge photo:

Santa Domingo church. This is the Good Friday scene, maybe the biggest in the city, but could be found at any number of squares. People also prepared drinks in their house or business and handed them out to people walking by. We have enough trouble letting our kids take candy when Halloween comes around, I can't imagine something like this!


One of many stalls handing out aguas frescas.






Ruins of Monte Alban. Found on top of a mountain, this was the center of the Zapotec civilization where nobles, priests and other important people lived. They had to carry water up to the top everyday flourished, roughly, between 600-200 B.C.



Church, next door to which they sold wonderful ice creams. My favorite flavor being "burnt milk," leche quemada. In the photo is my wonderful traveling partner Marissa



Pedestrian street in Oaxaca city.