Mexico

  Mexico, Mexico
Thursday, June 28, 2007

Hola!

We are coming to the end of our time in Mexico.  Here are a few relections on our time here:
- Each place we have been to has been incredibly different to the last (the vibe, sites, landscape etc)
-  We have met heaps of very friendly and helpful people and only a few that have tried to rip us off
- Mexico is a very colourful place with many brightly coloured textiles and buildings etc
- For a few extra pesos the deluxe/1st class buses are fantastic (twice as much space per seat, tvs, food, drinks etc!)
- The Mayan and Aztec people were pretty advanced with their architecture and calenders etc
- Our limited Spanish and others limited English has served us well and actually resulted in some reasonable conversations
- There are an incredible variety of street vendors working really hard to make some money
- The food has been great food although on reflection we actually enjoyed Irma´s (J´s sisters-in-law´s Mum) cooking the most!

Here´s a quick run down on each of the places we have visited - we´ll let the photos fill you in on the rest...

PUERTO VALLARTA
Puerto Vallarta, a lovely town on the Pacific Coast, was a pretty easy entry to Mexico.   We managed to avoid the built up high rise resort area and stayed in the center of the old town.  Most of our time was spent wondering round the old town, along the new esplanade and chilling out at the fantastic beach! On our last day there Jamie became a bit worried about swollen glands under his arms and consulted the health section of the guide book to establish this mysterious medical condition, without luck.  It was only later, sitting on the beach with beer in hand, that Jamie recalled his press ups that morning. His pecs (or glands under his arms!?) were not entirely use to this attention!

Hat Seller

Esplanade

Umbrella on the beach

GUADALAJARA
Despite having the same population as NZ, Guadalajara felt like a pretty relaxed city.  The historic centre was beautiful, with many colonial buildings and plazas and huge murals that graced the interior of many of the historic buildings. We had a fantastic day with Jorge (Irma´s cousin) who took us to Tequila to learn about the tequila making process and of course try a few!

Cathedral

Tequila Tasting with Jorge

Orozco´s mural of Hidalgo

GUANAJUATO
Guanajuato is a georgous town, with hills crammed fill of colourful adobe houses. It has a real buzz, with a thriving University population. Visually Guanajuato reminded us alot of the Amalfi Coast, without the Coastline!  We stayed in a georgeous little house, set on the hill side. Diego Rivera´s birthplace held an incredibly varied display of his art. We also visited the Museo Mommias - a museum filled with mummies that were disinterred from an old cemetary (when they ran out of space).  To their surprise instead of skeletans, they found scarily well intact bodies that were preserved by the soil content. Those that were not identified or claimed become the content of this Museum!

A typical Guanajuato window

View of Quanajuato Town

Market

Universidad de Guanajuato

Guanajuato´s Cathedral

MEXICO CITY
Despite all theories and warnings to the contrary, we left after five reasonably easy days with all wallets and limbs intact! Yip, its a big (pop - 20 million) hectic city and you need to be smart and careful with valuables, but it is manageable.  We had a great few days seeing the main sites, including an amazing Anthropological museum. We are not ones to get overly excited about museums but this was world class.  A couple of other highlights were the Ballet Folklorica (no Jamie wasn't subjected to ballet - it was performance of dances from all over Mexico) and a trip to the huge pyramids of Teotihuacan.

Mexico City Traffic

Street Market

Palacio Bellas Artes

Aztec Dancers

The Pyramids of Teotihaucan

ISLA MUJERES
We are currently staying on this idylic little Island just off the Coast of Cancun.  It has beautiful Carribean beaches and a very chilled out vibe.   Its a backpackers paradise!  Weve had a perfect few days soaking up the sun, eating some great food, enjoying the pool and beach. Weve also had a snorkling trip and a day at the famous Mayan ruins of Chichin Itza.

Pina Colada

Our Hotel

Chitchen Itza´s El Castillo

We are heading down into Sth America this weekend, where well be meeting up with Han´s brother Brendan and spending a month in Bolivia and Peru.  We will update the blog again when we have a chance....