mexican street art

Qq photos choppees dans les rues d oaxaca ou de san cristobal
Some street shots taken in oaxaca and san cristobal (special dedication to bruvioli and other graffiti fans)

chichen itza

templo de los 1000 columnas ----------------------el castillo de chichen itza



el caracol ----------------------------archeologists posing


ball court hoop ---------------------skull temple


one of our last days in mexico was spent in the mayan ruins of chichen itza. it was a three - hour bus trip there on one of the mexican busliners. it seems as though this is quite a ¨normal¨trip to make as there were so many people, just going for the day.

on arrival, i thought that perhaps we had confused our destination with disney as there were parking lots filled with tour buses. initially, i was quite disappointed as i have never found it too enjoyable travelling with a billion people. luckily, the park is really vast so it is not often that one is bombarded by the mobs.

archaeologists have said that chichen itza was inhabited before the 9th century and again in the late 10th century until about the 14th when it was abandoned for mysterious reasons.
the reliefs on the temples and structures are incredibly well-done with images of the rain god, chac-mool, and the plumed serpant, quetzalcoatl, almost everywhere.

el castillo is probably one of the most interesting as each stone that was laid is based on the mayan calendar. for example: there are four stairways which have 91 steps each, adding up to 365 - the number of days in the year.
the ball court is also impressive, probably the most amazing i have seen during this trip. in fact, it is the largest in the whole of central america. on either sides are two temples and towering parallel walls which have stone cement rings attached to them. along the walls are carvings of players. these hint that the game might have changed over the years as here they wear padding on their knees and elbows and some even are holding bats (players were then able to hit the ball through the hoop), a change from other courts we have seen.
these two were my favourites but of course, all of the other structures were incredible. each with their own characteristic.

On part decouvrir Chichen Itza pour la journee depuis Tulum. Le site ne possède pas l´atmosphère de Palenque (pas de jungle et du coup on se sent moins arqueologue aventurier) mais les édifices sont spectaculaires. Le caracol, temple d´observation du ciel et des astres, retient mon attention par sa forme d´escargot. Les mayas était passé expert dans l´observation des étoiles et déduisaient ainsi les périodes de moisson, de récolte ainsi que les éclipses. Ils ont également développé un calendrier solaire qui nous sert de base encore aujourd´hui moyennant une correction de qq jours effectuée sous l´ère gregorienne (1520).

Ils possédaient en fait 2 calendriers, l´un solaire sur 365 jours et l´autre plus ancien de 260 jours utilisé par les pretres maya du guatemala. Mélangés, ces deux calendriers donnaient les cycles de 18980 jours soit 52 ans solaires, ce qui est relativement court et ne permet pas de distinguer deux dates séparées par plus de 52 ans.
Ainsi ils ont développé un troisieme calendrier au compte long, sur une base de 144 000 jours par cycle (ou baktuns) et comptabilise depuis la creation (le 13 aout de l´an 3114 BC). Les anciens mayas croyaient que le grand cycle de l´age actuel ne durerait que pour 13 baktuns (13 cycles), ce qui nous amene en calendrier solaire au 23 decembre 2012.
Prenez donc note ! Les mayas prevoient de nombreuses morts pour cette fin de grand cycle. Mais tout etant du a un eternel recommencement dans cette culture (d´ou les cycles) , il ne faut pas trop s´inquieter...

Le court de pelote est vraiment impressionnant par sa taille et les anneaux dans lesquels il fallait faire passer la pelote de pierre sont encore visibles. Par contre, il reste encore une enigme a résoudre car plusieurs théorie s´affrontent quand au sort des deux équipes en fin de partie :
- est ce le vainqueur qui est sacrifié aux dieux en récompense
- ou est ce le perdant ???

On quitte Duarte et Marrianne après deux semaines de voyage au coeur du Mexique. Encore merci a vous deux pour ces aventures partagées et ces apéros endiablés.

Le temps passe vite et d autant plus vite que l´on progresse dans notre voyage. Les destinations défilent et il nous reste deux semaines pour rejoindre Guatemala city.

A nous le Belize....

tulum

view from the cabaña in tulum ------- sunrise



tulum ruins


fishing rods


fishermen in action -------------------------------catch of the day



caribbean seagulls -----------------tulum ruins from the boat



carlos, mario and the catch ------------------ karis and her new idol



baracuda feast -------------------------------family photo


who would have thought that water could be as clear and as mesmorising than that! welcome to the caribbean. we were in awe from the moment our (tanned, slip-slopped) feet hit that pure, white sand.we stayed in an ¨eco-chic hotel¨, or thats what they liked to call it, right on the beach with our window over-looking this amazing setting. funny thing though, the bed was hanging from the beams, so it gave us the hammock-effect...weird!

from the word ¨go¨, we were up and about; if we were not visiting tulum town and it´s ruins (meaning ¨wall¨of ¨fortification¨in maya), we were out with the locals fishing and snorkelling or lazing on the various hammocks attached to the palm trees.

the ruins were beautiful especially with the clear blue sea as the backdrop. unfortunately, there was not as much info. as we had hoped and the lawns were really well-manicured...just for the tourists, no doubt! however, we did manage to find out that they were inhabited in around 500AD, in the middle of the maya classic period, until 1544 when the ¨friendly¨spanish arrived and forcefully took it away.

our day out fishing and snorkelling was fan-ta-stic! the hotel manager´s husband took us out with his stepson (that looked the same age he did). once we had made it past the reef, it was extremely windy and the sea rough. we were given fishing rods with bait and were told to be patient and wait. so that´s what we did...after about twenty minutes, i felt a bite which caused much excitement only to find that either 1) it was my imagination (quite likely) or 2) it was caused from the energetic waves (quite probable). damn! just after that, marianne started to bellow and she had reason to. her rod was bending at such an angle i thought that it wa going to grow wings and fly away, fish and all. carlos - the husband - reeled and fought, fought and reeled until finally he landed a 10kg baracuda into the boat. with that the stepson knocked it out and did some other stuff, but by that stage i was no longer watching - distraught.
just when we thought that the action was over, seb caught himself a mother! same drama with the reeling and fighting. however this time the husband was shouting instructions, in spanish of course, and were were looking around anxiously for the beast to meet his once-brother and that he did! they must have been twins as they both were more or less, the same size and weight. wasn´t that (fishing, not fish) family happy (as luck would have it, we were invited to lunch at their place. like i said - happy, happy family)!!

so with the fishing expedition over, it was snorkel time. we were taken to a cenote where we snorkelled in magnificant clear water, passing tree roots and all kinds of marine life (mostly aggresive blue crabs and clear coloured fish). it´s amazing as this cenote has both fresh and sea water and one can feel the difference in temperature. snorkelling experience #2 was on the reef, but we did not see too much. the sea was agitated and the fish were all hiding. i begin to wonder if people did indeed see a turtle there the day before...

so lunch... REALLY funny experience. the four of us arrived at the family home with beers, wine and a bottle of coke (i know, i know but they really are fond of it) and we are told to sit at their diningroom table where there were only four chairs. feeling somewhat uncomfortable, we sat, chatted, drank and attempted to make conversation with the various people wafting in and out of the house. things were going pretty well until the husband puts on some house music. that would have been fine but he pumped the volume so much that it was pretty impossible to speak (perhaps that was his point?) so drinking and eating were the only options we are left with. perhaps in our state of nerves, marianne kept on knocking over her beer, seb and duarte had to get up and walk around as their bellies were too full and i was sitting on their couch (this is the part where we took turns at sitting at the table eating) laughing at the most extraordinary scene i was in. an extremely memorable day, indeed!

one thing must be said, tulum has some great restaurants and an even better italian ice cream shop, which we visited on a nightly basis. very often, we would have sundowners in front of our cabaña with oaxacan cheese and head into town for dinner then of course, it would be followed by a roomys (ice cream in afrikaans). mmm - a perfect meal!

Apres la visite de Palenque, la nissan turu loué par Duarte et pleine a craquer file droit sur la cote Carraibe. Et ce ne sont pas les 5 controles de routine de l´armée mexicaine qui la feront ralentir. En effet, c´est la fumée s´échappant du moteur qui nous force a nous garer en bord de route. Heureusement, un taxi s´arrete pour nous montrer la cause du problème (fuite d´eau dans le circuit de refroidissement). On le résoud temporairement en vidant nos dernières réserves d´eau dans le réservoir et on trouve un mécano qq kms plus loin qui nous répare tout ca en 2 heures sous un soleil de plomb et sous l oeil attentif de son chef qui se repose dans un hamac (cf photos)

Tulum et ses plages de sable fin nous acceuille par une journée ensoleillée. On se loue une cabaña en bord de plage et on se repose qq jours. Au programme, plage, grosses siestes dans les hamacs suspendus aux palmiers avec vue sur la mer, séances de natation dans l´eau bleu turquoise, parties de cartes en sirotant une margarita, la vie est dure quoi...

Les ruines de Tulum sont vraiment bien situées, en bord de mer. C´est ici que les mayas auraient apercu les premiers navires espagnols en 1518.

On organise une sortie peche au gros avec Carlos et Mario. La houle est forte en ce début de journée et le vent nous glace le sang durant la premiere heure de peche infructueuse. Heureusement, la ligne de Marrianne plonge soudainement, ce qui nous tire un peu de notre révasserie. Il faut ramener toutes les lignes en vitesse afin de ne pas géner le duel. Il lui faut 5 minutes de lutte acharnée pour ramener le poisson, qui, a notre grande surprise, est énorme : un beau baracuda de 10 kg. Nos visages s´illuminent alors en pensant au bon repas qui va suivre...
Qq minutes plus tard, Duarte loupe le coche et laisse filer sa chance. Je termine la session de peche en ramenant a mon tour un beau bébé de 10 kg, surement le frère de celui ramené par Marrianne.

On organise également une petite sortie de snorkelling (masque et tuba) dans les cenotes, ces grottes naturelles aux formations rocheuses étranges (stalagtites de calcaire). Nager dans les caves est qq peu inquiétant car il fait noir et les chauves souris peuplent le plafond. La visibilité dans l´eau est très bonne et on peut jouer avec les crabes qui courent au fond.

Au retour du voyage, Carlos et Mario nous invitent chez eux pour déguster le festin sur fond sonore a base de techno (bizarre...). Au menu, soupe de poisson puis frijoles, guacamole, tortilla et baracuda bien sur. Je mange tellement ( 3 gros steaks de baracuda pour moi seul) que j´en ai mal au ventre pendant deux jours...

palenque

agua azul waterfalls

xylophone concerto in palenque
templo de las inscriptiones in palenque




hyeroglyphs -------------------------palacio



archeologists at work ---------------------------queen´s waterfall



car problems -------------------the infamous nissan turu being repaired



chief mechanic at work ----------------------duarte and the quadruple cheese burger



laguna bacalar ---------------------------------taxi service


after an extemely long and exhausting drive, we made it to agua azul. we were lucky to see the water blue, as often it becomes muddy due to the rainy season. it was exactly what we needed (especially after an evening of chilean wine), dipping into the water before heading to the palenque ruins.

palenque was first occupied in 100BC and flourished from 630 - 740AD, thanks to mister pakal (who was in power for much of that time). there are sooo many temples to see (500 buildings spread over 15 square kms), although unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?) could not be visited as they are closed to the public. some of the most interesting were the templo XIII with the tomb of the red queen (coloured red due to treatment with cinnabar), two smaller ones almost lost in the jungle and the palace, which had four main courtyards with a maize of corridors and rooms. some of the stucco reliefs are still evident. mind blowing.
seeing all those temples, makes it difficult to imagine that they were all built without tools, animals or wheels. clever and innovative folk they were!

just when we thought the fun had ended, a pipe in duarte´s rent-a-car broke (how? who knows?) causing the car to overheat. imagine the scene; a long, straight road with not a soul and a smoking car. indeed, that was us until a taxi driver came and saved-ish the day. to the crossroads we went to find a mechanic...there were two at work and one in a hammock lying with one eye open, around him many, many open beers. i´m guessing that it was a good thing that he was out of action!

Ce sont 8 heures de routes montagneuses qui nous emmènent sur Palenque. Heureusement, on interromp le calvaire ( la route tourne beaucoup et les relans de vins rouges se font de plus en plus inquiétants..) à Agua Azul, site de cascades naturelles au milieu de la jungle. On arrive de nuit sur Palenque et on loue une cabaña aux portes du site. Il fait humide et les moustiques sont omniprésents.

Palenque a connu son apogée aux alentours de 700 AC sous le règne du roi Pakal. Les ruines y sont bien conservées et les hyéroglyphes sont encore visibles sur les facades des temples, notament le temple des inscriptions, tombeau funéraire de Pakal. Quelques temples au nord du site sont assez funky puisqu´ils auraient été pensés sous l´influence de champignons hallucinogènes, assez répandus dans la jungle alentour.

san cristobal de las casas

iglesia in san cristobal -------------------------templo de santo domingo pillars



central market chilis, oranges and beans


typical diner in town (pozzole = chicken soup+ salsas and tortillas)


san juan chamula church (animist worship) --seb mingling with the dogs


need a haircut ? -----------------karis ready for the cañon trip



cañon from the boat ---------------------crocs


the christmas tree ----------------day of the dead worship at the hostal


karis and marianne @ revolution -------------the happy crew


seb in his new rental car ------------------warming up at the taqueria (tacos restaurant)

san cristobal de las casas is like a smaller and homier version of oaxaca...perhaps cooler too, being at 2163m. the buildings are the same; with beautiful, multi-coloured façades and lovely, old wooden doors with ancient locks. the streets are cobbled almost throughout the town, leading to hills with brightly coloured churches perched on top of them.
much of the three days, or so, we walked around the town exploring the sites. the first day alone and later duarte and marianne joined us.

the plaza 31 de marzo, otherwise known as the zocalo, is a peaceful area to watch the world go by. if not doing that, there are many coffee shops and bars that surround it, just in case one needs a coffee and a mmm-delicious pan de queso to recharge those batteries.
around the corner is a magnificant bright yellow cathedral, first built in 1528 and rebuilt in 1693. perhaps it was not bright enough?!
up one of the many hills, there are winding stairs (cerro de san cristobal) that lead...not to gold, but to a church. it provided us with a lovely view over the town. there is also the cerro de guadelupe, but unfortunately we did not make it.

just outside of town, there is the museum of mayan medicine which is extremely interesting. it looks at traditional maya medicine and the importance of candles, prayers, incenses and bones. we witnessed a video on traditional childbirth, which i fear would put eveyone off doing the deed!
on the way to, of from, one passes the most incredible market. there are chamulan women (and the odd man) in their traditional wears selling their crafts in the most impressive colours. overlooking this scene is the templo de santo domingo, built between 1547 and 1560 (the detail of the baroque frontage is magnificant). and the templo de la caridad, built in 1712.

when we were not smoozing around the town, we were exploring the surrounding areas. san juan chamula and san lorenzo zinacantan are two of the most famous towns. here the chamulans and zinacantan people sell their goods in their locals markets. it is the one place where i found that there was ¨life¨outside of tourism. in san juan, we witnessed an interesting site inside the templo de san juan. there are hundreds of flickering lights, clouds of incense and worshippers kneeling with their faces to pine needles that are loosely strewn on the floor. infront of some saints, there were traditional indigenous healers chanting. it was truly an unforgettable and somewhat eary experience.

another trip we made was to the cañon del sumidero, a spectacular canyon with gigantic walls of rock which loom over one, in a puny spedboat. at some parts, the cliffs are as high as 800m! here we witnessed the magic of nature with moss-covered rocks forming a ¨christmas tree¨, crocodiles lazing in the sun and so many birds that we lost count! after that, there was a brief visit to chiapa de corzo, a cute, little colonial town on the river grijalva.

San cristobal de las casas est une petite ville colorée du Chiappas, entourée de montagnes où résident nombreuses communautés indigènes. Fatigués par les 12 h de bus depuis Puerto Escondido, on se dirige de bon matin vers Madre Tierra pour un bon ptit dej mexicain à base de omelette + frijoles (haricots rouges en purée) + café du chiappas et pour finir une bonne dizaine de toast + confiture ( ca je sais pas si c´est mexicain mais c´est bon aussi).
La ville est agréable et on se promène à travers les différent marchés, que ce soit d´artisanat, de fruits ou mème de viande. On peut y voir quelques tzozis dans leur habit traditionnel (cape de plume noire) venu vendre leurs produits.
Duarte et Marrianne nous rejoignent pour visiter le village de San Juan Chamula réputé pour son église, lieu de culte mi-animiste, mi-catholique. Dans l´église, chaque saint est recouvert d´habits et porte un miroir autour du coup. Les prières se font sur un tapis de branches de pins et le prètre guérisseur utilise poulet vivant et oeuf afin de purifier le croyant désirant se libérer de son mal. La lumière provient seulement des bougies allumées par les croyants, ce qui confère à l´endroit un ambiance vraiment spéciale et quelque peu sordide.

San Cristobal c´est également la ville ou l´on a redécouvert avec Karis une addiction pour les m&m´s. Il faut dire que les nouveaux paquets aux amandes sont irrésisitibles. Apparement, il y aurait une nouvelle sorte au chocolat noir sur le marché avec des bonbons a l´effigie de la famille Adams...

Enfin, on part visiter le canion du sumidero depuis une barque. On se laisse dériver dans les entrailles du canion, entouré par ces falaises de 1000 m de haut. Les crocodiles, vautours, pélicans nous accompagnent lors de ce beau voyage.

Le soir, on se prépare qq apéros à l´auberge à base de fromage d´Oaxaca et de vin chilien puis on prend qq verres au bar Revolution qui réunit tous les jeunes de la ville.