Palenque

I went to the Eastern part of Chiapas to see the Maya rainforest ruins of Palenque the other day. I was beautiful. Probably my favorite of all of the pre-Hispanic city ruins in Mexico.
The day started out annoying. I stayed in this jungle collective of restaurants and cabana huts near the entrance to the ruins (El Panchan). I wanted to fall asleep to the peaceful sounds of the jungle frogs and birds. I was even okay with hearing monkeys in the night, but the hippie bongos til 3 am were intolerable. I barely slept despite my exhaustion from the 5 hour winding bus ride from San Cristobal de las Casas that day. I woke up at 5:30, then 5:35, then 5:40... dang German dudes kept hitting "snooze" on their cell phone alarm and when they finally turned it off they were not concerned at all about waking up the rest of us in the shared dorm room with their conversations.
It was pouring rain all night and continued into the morning. I had already paid a man in town to pick me up and take me to the ruins and some water falls before returning to San Cristobal, so I was locked in to going out in the torrent at 8am. I managed to buy a large trash bag off of one of the restaurants (DIEZ pesos! for a BAG) and stuck my head and arms through holes I made. Panchoed up, I was ready to go. I lost my bad attitude because at that point, it was just funny to me.




The rain eventually turned into an eerie mist after a half hour of being in the ancient city. It definitely heightened my experience. The clouds and the thick of the jungle surrounding the sight meshed together seamlessly. It was a truly amazing sight. I was able to climb around the steps and the insides of most of the buildings there. Being INSIDE a B.C. Mayan palace was intense. The energy was almost palpable. Que suerte yo tengo...


There are still some baas reliefs intact on some of the buildings which depict decapitations, skulls, and rulers ascents to the throne. Loved it. Architects found a lot of amazing art work around the site and some of it is on display in a small museum near the site. Despite the size, the content is worth the visit. A couple of things I read in the museum struck me. First, archeologists think that the city was abandoned because the tribe over-exerted the natural resources of the surrounding area. Secondly, only the ruling class (dynasty, priests, specialized artisans) were able to read and write the glyphs and the agrarian workers had to not only pay the upper class taxes for being in communication with the Gods, but they had to maintain themselves with virtually no support from their rulers. Different epoch, same shit...



The falls of Misol Ha were gorgeous. Lush surroundings, the most pleasing noises, and a neat cavern to enter to see another cascade inside the cliff. It was still grey and drizzling out, so I didn't swim, but I could have. I didn't want to be shivering en route. It was nice to sit under the falls and next to more and absorb it all. Agua Azul is yet another rapids/cascade around the area. It gets its name because the water there is almost swimming-pool-turquoise. I think it gets its color from algae or something. It was also beautiful. I followed the cascades upstream for a while barefooted. Squelching in the mud. A girl who could not have been more than 5 years old demanded pesos from me to "buy a pencil". I told her she needed to learn how to say please if she was going to ask strangers for favors. She never said it. I gave her an apple. She won.

So the whole experience was beautiful, but I wouldn't do it all again over 10 hours. I was BEAT by the end of it all. I recommend spending two days at a slower pace.

I heard something sad yesterday. The government wants to put in a more direct road from San C. to Palenque, and supposedly, they plan to do it without the consent of the people who live along the way (Agua Azul is another Zapatista territory). They also want to build more resort-like buildings in the area to encourage increased tourism. It will be a shame when these things become more like Chichen-Itza (Elton John is scheduled to preform in front of the temple dedicated to Quetzalcoatl this Spring... cringe. Sacrilege)

El Museo de Medicina Maya

So happy this place exists!

Explanation of the five types of Mayan Healers: midwives, pulse-readers, bone healers, herbologists, and prayer healers. A garden with medicinal shrubs, flowers, roots, and trees. On-site "pharmacy" to make plant tinctures. A 10 minute video of the practices of Mayan birth techniques. See for yourself. Pfizer isn't everything... This is the original Western medicine.



*If you know basic Spanish, click on the photo to enlarge and read this sign. Well said.

Enter San Cristóbal de las Casas

Every new place I go in Mexico on this trip manifests itself into my new favorite. San Cristóbal is no exception. I guess I’ll just have to sum it up and say MEXICO is my favorite place.

So, my Chiapas adventure began yesterday. I left the Tuxtla airport and got a ticket for a collectivo to San C. About 30 minutes into the drive I thought, “wait a sec, I didn’t even make sure I got on the right collectivo.” Then I had the awesome revelation that it didn’t really matter. I had no concrete plans, no reservations, no one expecting me on the other end. Everyone should have at least one of those moments. I was giddy. I actually was going the right way. At the end of the ride, a woman in front of me turned around and asked me if I had a place to stay. Turns out she is the owner of probably the coolest hostel I have ever been to (Posada de Mexico)! It is like the Club Med of backpackers without the exhorbant prices. The included breakfast was off the hook! Potato and beet empanadas, herbal teas, fresh squeezed pineapple juice, and yogurt. I am excited what tomorrows breakfast table will bring! It also has a large library, a BBQ, a pool table, and a garden to chill in. SWEET! The best part about it was that I had already been interested in going to that particular hostel anyway and the owner paid for our taxi ride to get there! I take it as another sign (of many) that my Mexican adventures are completely blessed.

I shared a breakfast table with two women, French and Belgian, who invited me to go with them on a tour of San Juan Chamulas via horseback. Totally awesome because I had thought I might go, but was planning on taking a collectivo there rather than a horse. We were out for 4 hours and it only cost me 120 pesos! The ride was badass! It was up a mountain, through a creek, and the guide let us run the horses part of the way (the only time I have ever been on a horse it was walking slowly). My ass is sore in its entirety and there were some definite white-knuckle parts of the journey (my poor 40 year old horse got a little sassy in his old age crotchetiness), but it was a beautiful and exciting way to travel. Bonus, my new friends speak about as much English as they do Spanish, so we only spoke Spanish. Like I am supposed to be doing every day but have some how managed to avoid for 3 months here. It was fun and soooo good for me!

Chamulas may be the most unconventional place I have ever visited. I just read that it is the ONLY autonomous local government in Mexico - Mexican police and military are prohibited from entering. The pueblo’s police force is all decked out in fuzzy white vests! Adorable! Their religion is a mix between Catholicism and Maya though they officially banned Catholic Church priests presiding in their church in the late 1800’s. I was forbidden to take photos in their amazing church because many people there think cameras have the ability to take away souls. I was allowed to go in. Beautiful. The whole floor is covered in pine needles (there are no pews), incense, and candles. It smelled wonderful and I was immediately at peace when I walked in. Along the sides are idols of their most beloved saints with mirrors on their chests to reflect evil from them. At the very front there is an idol of, not Jesus, San Juan el Bautista, who is, only after the Sun itself, the head hancho of spirituality and life. Jesus was there, of course, but his idol was off to the side in a COFFIN. That’s right, the people of Chamulas believe that Jesus was never resurrected after he died on the cross. Whoah. I love that Mexicans have transformed Christianity into what they need instead of what some old fart in Rome thinks they need.

One last gem of information on Chamulas, they use Coca Cola as a ritual beverage. This fact was confirmed by my guide after I read about it on the Lets Go Mexico web site . He explained that they think the bubbles wash away sin. It is mixed with pox, their ceremonial sugar cane alcohol (think Mexican moonshine) and away those sins go. I saw some Coke bottles strewn about the church floor where people were praying.

When I got back I went to a tea house where movies are shown. I saw a documentary entitled, Autónoma Zapatista which taught me how very much alive and well the Zapatista movement is and what it is all about. I applaud the amount of motivation the group has to preserve the antiquated cultural practices of indigenous Mexican peoples, and the organization of this group is on point. They have their own schools, clinics, herbal pharmacies, high production farms, ect. I am interested in learning more about it. First things I want to know are why exactly almost everyone wears something to cover their faces (no doubt a very good reason, I just don’t know) and do they use currency much (one of their main goals is to remove themselves from the evils of capitalism). I also really need to get the whole story on Emiliano Zapata because I only have the most rudimentary ideas of why he was a revolutionary general. Literature recommendations are always welcome, readers.

Tomorrow I plan to check into Pingüino bicycle tours in hopes of finding a group who wants to do the ride out to the caves around here. I am also verrrrrrry excited to see the Mayan Medicine Clinic and Museum (I am starting to want to expand my healing practices into herbology). There are also a million other things to see and do here. I am so pleased that I went with my gut and got a ticket to this place. I am starting to wonder why I didn’t make it a one way ticket…

Año Nuevo IIKX

I've been off the radar for a couple of weeks now. Vacationing with Mary Claire, Laura, and Daphne in the Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula. As you can see, we were very enthusiastic about the new year in Chichinitza! Playa del Carmen was beautiful, though pretty chaotic. Stayed in the dirtiest (but very fun!) hostel (Urban Hostel: hostelz.com) while we were there. Tulum, a small city close to Playa, was by far my favorite part of the trip... We stayed at this place called Papaya Playa, no papayas to be found there BTW, with swinging mattress beds and more mattresses on the beach for straight up lounging. I was finally able to ride a bicycle and was suuuuper stoked on this! I rode a cruiser all the way to the ruins and back and worked up a much needed sweat. The fish tacos were by FAR the best things I have eaten on this trip. We met some adorable Argentinian boys there and I could actually understand them which blows my mind! We then took the rental car to the Mayan ruins of the city of Chichinitza and I got to walk around the giant Pelote field. Pelote is the Mayan religious ball game where either the loser or the winner (archeologists still don't know for sure) were sacrificed at the end. I imagine this sport as a spectator would be even more enthralling than that Chivas game I went to.
I caught a plane to the Pacific coast in Puerto Vallarta and kicked it for two days. Nothing too exciting happened there. I was grumpy from all of the traveling from Yucatan the first night and got pretty aggro on the street vendors the first night. The second night I met the only other girls staying in my hostel and we got along really well. A Canadian, a girlie from Chi-Town, and a Kiwi. We snuck in to a resort in the marina and chillaxed at the fancy pool. The only good thing I liked about Vallarta was the art galleries there. Amazing artists everywhere there. And I happened to be there the night of their weekly art walk. I wanted to buy so many thing but traveling for 4 months with a backpack is risky for the art, so I resisted. The art scene is the only reason to go there. It is great. Everything else there blows. Seriously.
Now I am in my own little beach house in Sayulita, Nayarit for the next three weeks and I think it is going to be amazing! The Canadian lady is here with me and is great company. She introduced me to another girl from her home town who lives here now and I already have networked myself in to a meditation circle on the beach tomorrow morning, a Mayan calender seminar/discussion group offered ever Wednesday, someone to rent me a surf board for a good price (the waves are supposed to get huge this week!), and someone to take me on a hike through some of the jungle trails around here. The town is so cute, the people are super relaxed, and my house is BALLERIFFIC...this is the view from my hill-side balcony. I don't think I will be bored here. I have The Art of War to read in Spanish (thanks Paquito!), Janine (O Canada) is showing me some good yoga moves to practice on my roof. Surfing is going to be great and there are a variety of breaks to try out around here. My landlord for the month is great, a bit motherly but in a New Yorker way, and she is also very helpful (she lives below me). She told me about a hospital in the town next to ours I will check in to to see if there is any way I can work (free? paid? Hells yea I'd stay here if I had an income!). I also heard about this alternative African medicine clinic nearby that will be interesting to check into. I have the life right now! This is perfect. Estoy satisfecha. I feel sorry for my shivering buddies holed up at Mojos. Mexicans have the right idea.

Teotihuacan

What Mexican adventure isn't complete without a trip to the "Birthplace of the Gods"? My family and I went to Teotihuacan, which is located just outside of D.F.. I got my exercise in for the day fo sho.



This city was founded by at least as early as 200 B.C. and was at one time the largest urban area in Central America. Evidence also suggests that it was a multi-ethnic city made up of Mayans, Zapotecas, Mixtecas, and Nahuatl. It was abandoned at one point for unknown reasons, but it was later occupied by the Aztecs. There are three pyramids; of the Moon, the Sun, and the most bad-assed of them all (though the smallest), the Pyramid of Quetzaquoatl. The latter pyramid was dedicated to their feathered serpent God. It was the most elaborately decorated pyramid with snake heads and such, though I was told at one point all of the pyramids were elaborately painted back in the day. Human sacrifices were found all OVER the place too. The museum on site indicated that the Teotihuacanos considered life on this earth to be just one of many phases, so fuggiddaboudit, no biggie if the priest says he needs some more human blood to repaint Quetz's house, there were plenty of people hanging around to help.