Lots happening in San Cristobal

Well it's been a busy few days for a change and lots to see and do here. There is a baroque festival so lots of music and dancing in the plaza and zocalo area in the afternoon and evenings (mambo and salsa tonight). Went to the mayan villages of Chumula and Zinacantan yesterday which were very interesting. The traditions are still very strong in the villages even though they are so close to San Cristobal. Most of the Mayan villagers speak either Tzotzil or Tzeltal rather than Spanish. In Chumula the church is the only one for 60,000 villagers. We were able to go inside and witness the Shaman (healers) carry out their rituals (although we didn't see any chicken sacrifices whilst we were there).
The day before I went to the Amber museum which had an amazing collection of pieces of amber embedded with insects and plants and carved in beautiful ways. Apparently Chiapas is the third most important amber mine in the world. I couldn't resist the amber jewellery shops in town and gave in and bought myself an amber pendant.
We have decided to move on to Palenque tomorrow and visit the Mayan ruins there and also the waterfalls and lakes nearby. The cool and fresh air will only last for one more day as Palenque is very hot and sticky in the jungle (but apparently great surrounding scenary for the ruins).

Haven't progressed with anymore reading so I can't update you on my current reads. But you can look at www.bookcrossings.com if you're interested in books. I´m on there as welshmouse (suprisingly).

San Cristobal de las Casas

Well, after 2 weeks in Puerto Escondido at Casa Olga's doing nothing much other that lying in the sun and reading, we decided to buy the bus ticket and get ourselves to San Cristobal. After a long 14 hours on the bus overnight (all those school ski trips have prepared me well) we arrived this morning in a very chilly climate. San Cristobal is at 2163m so it was like the feeling you get when you return home to Britain after a holiday in the sun and it's suddenly cold...very cold. Looking forward to getting the sleeping bag out tonight and getting snug under the blankets to keep warm. And after losing a night's sleep on the bus, I don't think it'll take me long to crash later.

Found an excellent bookshop today so I'm supplied for the next week with more reading material; Brick Lane by Monica Ali (recommended by my mum) and Himalya by Michael Palin (he is one of my travelling inspirations). Lots of temples to visit here and some day trips to the surrounding lakes and moutains to do some walking are planned (thought we had better be active after being so lazy in the sun - need to work off those banana pancakes!!). There are also lots of Indian villages in the area and coffee plantations to see (went to the Coffee museum earlier and had the best cappucino ever!). Still not sure whether we will continue on to the Yucatan Peninsular or not - we'll wait to here about further hurricanes and what lasting damage Wilma caused.

Hope you are all well .... feel free to email me your news or post me a comment.

Hurricane Wilma

Just to let you know that we haven't left the beach yet (still in Puerto Escondido) and so hurricane Wilma has not affected us yet. Although we were planning to head to the Yucatan Peninsular to see the Mayan ruins and the Caribbean coast. We may now change our plans and head south to Guatemala from San Cristobal next week. So just in case anyone was worried that we were being evacuated off the Caribbean coast we never quite made it there!!

other news is that I've read two more books since The Time traveler´s Wife (which I really enjoyed and loved the way the past and future work together). I then read the Da Vinci Code which I´ve wanted to read for ages and finally read it in 2 days - was so quick and fascinating. Then I read Margaret Atwood´s Orys and Crake which took me to the end before I could really work out what was going on. Still, a different read and I like Atwood´s books. Now starting Angels and Demons although I´ve been told it´s not as good as The Da Vinci code.

Other news........still hot, sunny, lots of beachtime, lots of surf watching....... nothing's changed.

Earth tremor

The tan is developing nicely and I'm still reading The Time Traveller´s wife. But the exciting thing is that I experienced my first ever earth tremor. I was sat at the edge of the pool whilst the others (Pete and two Australian´s we met) were in the pool. One of the dogs from the guest house was beside and we were enjoying an afternoon beer as the sun was setting (well, the dog wasn´t drinking beer). Then all of a sudden the dog jumps up and bolts, the fence rattles loudly and I feel the pool edge wobble underneath me. The others felt nothing as they were in the water and proceeded to say that I was making it all up and it was probably the mexican beer. But Olga, the lady who runs the guest house, confirmed that it was an earth tremor (apparently they happen all the time here, but I was excited). So that´s about all the news I have.

Still clear blue skies and perfect sunsets. Pete hasn`t braved the waves on a surfboard but did go body boarding. So I don´t think he´ll be entering any competitions. We have decided to stay here another week as it is just so chilled (and the surfers are quite nice to look at too!).

From the mountains to the sea

Finally made it to the pacific ocean which was the ultimate aim to chill out after planning so long for this trip. And what a place it is. We are in Puerto Escondido and it is hot!! After fairly moderate temperatures in the higher altitudes of Mexico City and Oaxaca (coupled with the end of the rainy season), it is now up in the 90's. I'm not complaining and it's been great to be able to wander the streets in beachwear and hang out in a chilled place. There's an international surf championship in a few weeks so the place is full of surfer dudes catching the waves on the Mexican pipeline (apparently THE place to surf in this part of the world). I'm just enjoying watching the surfers!! Before the never ending bus journey here yesterday (over 10 hours and a very indirect route) we have been in Oaxaca. This was a charming place with a huge Zocolo and amazing catherdrals. The restaurants spilled out on the street giving it a very continental feel (apart from the evening rain). We probably would've stayed there a lot longer if we weren't so keen to reach the beach. We visited Monte Alban which was an incredible ancient ruin on the top of a mountain. They started constructing it about 300-400 BC and it took 100 years just to flatten the top of the mountain off before construction. An amazing place. Well, we expect to be beach bums for a few weeks so there probably won't be that much to report on except the development of my tan, which books I've read or whether Pete's surfing skills improve enough to enter the competition!!!

Missed the hurricanes

Just a quick note to say that we have not been affected by the recent hurricane Stan, although we may have to change our travel plans a little to avoid the areas East of Oaxaca. That may just mean staying at the beach for a little longer - what a shame!!

Teotihuacan and more

Tuesday we went on the tour to the pyramids which was great. The first stop was to Tlatelolco , which was a 14th century Aztec site. It was an important place as there was a huge battle there when the Spanish invaded in the early 1500's and they destroyed most of the buildings around the city. Then we headed off to the Basilica of Guadalupe (virgin's shrine). This was where the worship of Guadalupe first started. The original temple is sinking (as many huge old buildings in the city due to the water based land) so they have built a circular one next to it for ceremonies to take place. The tour then continued to sample the local alcoholic produce from the maguey cactus - three drinks pulque, mezcal and tequila. This was all by 11 am on a empty stomach so we were all quite relaxed afterwards. Apparently where we are heading today is the original place where tequila was made form the blue agave cactus, but these days it is mainly made from maguey cactii. Not being an expert on tequila I doubt if I'll notice any difference!!!
The pyramids at Teotihuacan were amazing. This is a very important pre-Hispanic site. It was the biggest ancient city with 2 main pyramids - the sun and the moon. The sun pyramid has 248 steps (I ran up them then regretted it as I remembered I was already at 2300m high so the air is thinner!!!). The pyramid is 70m high and 222m wide and is the third largest in the world. They think construction started in 100A.D. - amazing that they managed that back then without the tools we have today. The Spanish didn't find these pyramid's as they were overgrown with plant matter and they thought they were mountains, so therefore they did not get destroyed with everything else.

Yesterday was spent at the anthropology museum where there were more than 5000 important artifacts from the Aztec and mayan past. it was going to read more about the history of Mexico and the links with other central and south American countries we hope to visit.
The zoo was opposite the museum so we popped in there to see the pandas. I don't usually visit zoo's as I much prefer to see animals in their natural habitat, but this is the only place outside china where pandans have been born in captivity apparently.

Heading off to Oaxaca on an hour on a 7 hour bus journey. I've got lots of sudoku to keep my occupied during the journey. Hoping the scenery will be spectacular.

By the way, for all of you who are thinking I've been basking in the sunshine since arriving, think again. Mexico city is experiences the effects of the recent hurricanes and is fairly cool and damp!! Gave me an excuse to try out my new waterproof at the top of the pyramids. The other thing we've had to do is buy a new camera as we lost our photo's from the first few days. So hopefully we will be able to shoot away with confidence and start uploading some pics.

Mexico City

Finally managed to set up this web log as I thought it was probably easier than emails. Now in Mexico City after flying in yesterday morning. What a massive city it is, with a population of 40 million. We were welcomed yesterday by a huge demonstration along the streets around the Zocalo (main square) near where we are staying. We had just popped out to have a wander and get our bearings and the next thing there is a massive protest march which culminated in a big riot - riot police everywhere!! At that point we headed in the other direction and back to the hotel!!

The first thing I noticed about the city are all the VW Beetles - I feel quite at home here. Haven't taken a taxi ride in one yet as have walked everywhere, but will definitely do that before I leave the city. This morning we looked around the cathedral (it makes Ely Cathedral look tiny) and went up the bell tower. Wow - so many bells which were huge. We were stood on the roof of the catherdral taking in the panoramic views whilst the midday bells rang out (the bells obviously haven't been tuned recently so it wasn't quite as musical as you may imagine, but amazing all the same).

Spanish is having to improve rapidly which is a good thing. I can now pick out the veggie options from the menu and am eating more than just bread!!

Going on a tour with the youth hostel tomorrow but I've forgotten where and I don{t have the guide book on me at the moment - will fill you in afterwards.