MEXICO
The last time I was in Palenque was 15 years ago. Much has changed but the archaeological site remains impressive. Back then, there was one camping area near the ruins, Mayabell, whereas now there are many hotel options. The roads are improved and the buses are more comfortable, but alas, now you have to pay to see what was once a secluded waterfall, and they don't even let you swim! There are A LOT more tourists. We visited San Cristobal De Las Casas on the way here. I remember a small town; now it's a big city; so goes the planet.
I just read a book called Collapse by Jared Diamond, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning, Guns, Germs, and Steel. I highly recommend both books. Collapse documents why the Maya civilization disappeared (along with other examples) and to put it simply: if you cut down all your trees, your civilization is in big trouble. The message is clear: we are cutting down all of our trees globally (and not just the trees). This can no longer be seen as alarmist, tree-hugging, environmentalist paranoia. If we don't make radical changes soon, our civilization is poised to go the way of the Maya, perhaps even in our lifetimes (or at least there will be unprecedented human suffering and continued extinctions). And if you think I'm just being alarmist, go to Ethiopia, Rwanda, or Haiti... The Garden of Eden is now a desert. Watch The Story of Stuff. What I'm saying is: support courageous and radically green politicians. Gracias.
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April 2007 - Mexico City to Zipolite Beach
I admit that I was apprehensive about returning to Mexico City, because I remember the pollution being so bad that the cityscape was a thick brown cloud of smog; I found it hard to breathe, and my eyes watered. Fortunately, we arrived with the wind, so we had no such troubles. Indeed, we enjoyed meeting nice people and seeing the sites, including the ancient pyramids at Teotihuacan and the outstanding historical murals by Diego Rivera inside the National Palace.
We moved on to Puebla to visit a friend of a friend, Luis, who became our tour guide, taking us to the hottest salsa dance club, Mexico's largest ancient pyramid (now a church) at Cholula, the remote ruins of Cacaxtla, and his mother's house for some wonderful home cooking.
Oaxaca has (in my opinion) Mexico's nicest Zocalo (town square), and interesting indigenous culture. You should visit Oaxaca for the Day of the Dead festivities. But next week is Semana Santa (holy week), so we made haste to get to the beach ahead of the crowds.
We are now at Zipolite beach. Being here brings back good memories. Much has changed, but thankfully, much has stayed the same. 15 years ago there was no concrete and no cyber cafes. But thankfully, there are still no "tourist" hotels of the kind that prevail in Cancun. Instead there are bungalows and basic rooms. Unlike Mexico's tourist resorts (which I avoid), it is rare to hear English spoken. This is one of the few beaches that has managed to hang on to a laid-back European hippie culture. Indeed, the place has acquired a reputation for some as a nudist beach. The vast majority of the people walk around with their clothes on, but Lili still giggles every time someone strolls in front of us butt naked.
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March 2007 - Nuevo Laredo, Monterray, Real de Catorce, Guanajuato
Hola! We drove across the border at Nuevo Laredo, still with with my brother Jim and his car. He returned to the USA the next morning but before that, he dropped us off at the bus station, and before that, we drove around looking for a nice place to have breakfast and coffee. We didn't find one. We ended up skipping coffee and buying breakfast goodies at the supermarket. Crossing the border, one immediately sees obvious differences, but none of us expected it to be so hard to find a cup of coffee. The reason for this, with hindsight, is clear: Mexicans have breakfast at home with their families, and there aren't that many tourists who stay the night in Nuevo Laredo. The USA / Mexico border is one of those places where walking twenty meters takes you to a radically different culture and economy.
For the record, I almost never go to Starbucks for coffee anyway, since I find it to be overpriced, and I prefer to give business to Mom-and-Pop coffee shops, since they have more character and it helps the local economy. (On a similar note, I never shop at Wal-Mart - I figure that I get to vote for President once every 4 years, but I vote with my wallet every day). Anyway, we did finally find coffee across the street from the bus station. Jim, by the way, had his car thoroughly searched heading back into the USA, with dogs; he says he paid $3.60 at one of the easy-to-find Starbucks as soon as he got to the other side.
Arriving in Monterray exhausted, Lili and I went straight to a cheap hotel near the bus station; there was a bit of confusion at the reception desk when the woman assumed we only wanted a room for one hour! We did like Monterray. The clean metro carried us to a modern downtown where we dined on cheese enchiladas and chili rellenos.
We stopped in an old mining town called Real de Catorce. The place once had 40,000 inhabitants, but the silver vein that supported so many people stopped producing, so now it's just a sleepy mountain town, perfect for hiking and kicking back with a good book.
Now we are in Guanajuato, a beautiful university town. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this city has managed to prevent traffic lights with one-way streets and tunnels. There are no neon signs, either. The plazas are filled with mariachi bands at night. It's really a great city. And the weather is perfect. We've been looking forward to getting back on the road for some months now. We are happy to be in Mexico!
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