Oaxaca, Dia de los Muertos

After a really long bus ride from San Cristobal, sleeping in 800 different positions on the bus Tyler and I arrived to Oaxaca. We got into town very early in the morning and it was really great to walk around a city that was still asleep. Tyler had been there before and new his way around town a bit. We looked in the guidebook and decided to walk to one of the hostels. Big mistake. The place was far and uphill and when we got there we could only check in at 11 and they were charging way too much even though it was the low season. So we decided that even though it was a long walk that was not the hostel for us and with our very heavy backpacks with decided to find a new place. Its crazy how things sometimes work out so well and everything is in synchrony. We arrived at the hostel which is a very funky place, not in the best shape, but it felt good to be there and instantly we met a few other people who had just arrived and felt right at home.

The first day in Oaxaca we decided to walk around town, go to the main square and get to know the city a little bit. I could not be happier to be in Oaxaca at the eve of Dia de los Muertos. The entire city was decorated with gicantic sand sculptures around the zocalo, every home and business had built their altars and the marygolds where present at every direction you looked. Tyler and I had our minds set on face paint for halloween and went to the market to buy some food and see if we could find some paint to make it all come together. The market is indoor and huge and they sell all types of things from clothes, to vegetables, meats, cheeses, and even halloween costumes. We bought ourselves some food to cook the next few meal and were able to find the face paint for the night. When we got back to the hostel we decided that we would rally some other people we had met to face paint with us. Earlier that day we had met one of the most beautiful couples I have ever met. John and Marie and their beautiful baby Kai who is 9 months old. They have been travellign since Kai was 6 months old and plan on travelling as long as they can and maybe starting a hostel. Kai is such a fun mellow baby and gets along with everyone, it was awesome to get to play with him a little bit. So we decided we would see if they wanted to face paint with us and as it turns out, another sign that the universe really works for us sometimes, Marie is a face painter and also had a lot of paint. So that night after dinner we all got to drinking and painting each others faces to get ready for a wild night in town and celebrate halloween on a foreign land. Marina and Vincent also joined us and we had a nice group of 5 painted faces to go party in town.

It wa great walking around with faces painted, everyone lookign at us like we were the strangest people they had ever seen. We walked to a clown show by the main cathedral and I guess they thought we were pretty funny with our faces painted and invited us to join. Pretty soon our group had taken over and was entertaining a huge group of espectators, so much that some of the clowns just sat down and watched the crazy foreigners. There were knives being thrown over our heads and we had a great fun time with them... although they kept all of the tips at the end of the show. After that we got to some local bars and after midnight we celebrated my birthday with a green shot that was on fire and together we made the entire bar get up and dance with us. It was great and there was so mcuh positive energy!!!! I could not have asked for a better birthday night!!

On my actual birthday we walked around town visiting more places and lookign at their day of the dead decorations and at night John who is a chef cooked us a delicious prawns and fish pasta. I felt like I was in a fancy restaurant and not a run down hostel!

On actual day of the dead there were many celebrations in the cemeteries and I was able to watch a beautiful performace organized by one of the cultural centers. It was a mix of theater and dance all honoring the day of the dead and using the huge stone church as a backgraound, it was a very beautiful and dramatic performance.

The next morning Tyler and I made our way through a very long and windy road to the beach. Finally arriving in Puerto Escondido. ( which by the way is not very escondido)

San Cristobal de las Casas

We arrived in San Cristobal which is an old colonial city at night and I could not see very much of what the city was like. We decided to all stay in the same place and went to a small hostel that was very cute and looked like a very cozy home. The first thing I did was accompany Justin to the doctors because he had an ear infection and he did not speak spanish so he needed my help. When we got there the doctor told him he had a pretty bad infection and it was good he went to get it checked out and ended up giving him some antibiotics and other stuff. It all turned out to be very cheap in comparison with how much you would pay in the US and I was happy to have gone along and know what to do in case I find myself in a situation in which I should need to go to the doctors.

The next day we had breakfast at the hostel and went to walk around the town. San Cristobal is beautiful and surrounded by mountains. The town is full of small buildings all in different colors and tiny cobble stone streets with cars zooming by. We walked around town, visited some of the sights, went to the market, churches and just admired the delicate beauty of the city. San Cristobal is small, magical and full of culture. You walk around town and you just feel very comfortable, at home as if you could really live there. Women are walking around in traditional dress, with their babies wrapped around their bodies by cloth and breastfeeding as they run their daily tasks. It really is an amazing place and I felt like I could be there forever. I am also having a serious crisis of not being able to buy things to decorate my house because it wont fit in my bag. Everything is so beautiful!!

Here in San Cristobal I was able to taste some of the best tamales I have ever had and was very happy to eat such a delicious cheap meal. We then went to the open market and bought some food to cook for dinner.

The next day I got an e-mail from Tyler saying he would be arriving soon and I could not be more excited! Justin and I walked around town, visited some new places and got caught in the rain on the way back, and even though it was raining and I was wearing flip-flops and that was the coldest I had been since I had gotten to Mexico, there is something about the town that just makes you very happy to be there. We decided to spend the afternon in the hospedaje reading and waiting for the rain. A few hours later Tyler arrived and we went to the market to cook ourselves some delicious food. 1great thing about San Cristobal is that they have Churros filled with Cajeta and I was so happy to be able to eat some of that deliciousness!
The next morning we went to the Sumidero Canyons which are absolutely stunning! There is a river that cuts through huge rock walls making the canyon an amazing sight. They go up as high as 1000 meters and are also very deep. The tour is very beautiful and you go across the canyon on a lancha observing different shapes in the rock walls and looking out for wildlife, including a few crocodiles that we were able to see (quick question, does anyone know the difference between crocodile and alligator? i remember doing a project using zooboks about it,but it was a long time ago...)

Oh! very cool and I forgot to mention earlier is that on our way to the Canyon we met a great guy who was actually from Nimbim in Australia and it was great to chat with him throught the day and listen to him play his harmonica on our ride back to San Cristobal. It really was a magical beautiful day!

On my last dayI walked with Justin to a spanish school to help him with taking some classes for the next few days, and that afternoon Tyler and I took a bus to Oaxaca where we would be spending my birthday and Dia de los Muertos.

Palenque, Selva Mexicana

I left Tulum satisfied with the 2 days I had spent there, it is a nice place with a gorgeous beach and great diving, but I was ready to leave and head straight to the jungle. I took the overnight bus from Tulum to Palenque with my new friend Justin, who I had met earlier in Isla and ran into in Tulum. The bus ride was 12hrs long, but I lucked out and got both seats to myself so I was able to rest comfortably and sleep most of the bus ride, waiting anxiously for my new adventure.
As I arrived we got a colectivo from the bus station in the center of the city of Palenque and head to an area between the Palenque ruins and the center of town called El Panchán. El Panchán is an area in the middle of the jungle, with a few open resataurants where people go nigthly for dinners and live music that is surrounded by different hotels.

Well, they are not exactly hotels, actually what you find there are a bunch of raised cabañas that are spread out through the jungle and connected by small paths and bridges that go over a stream. This in jungle paradise, a beautiful magical place and as soon as I got in that morning I could not be happier. It was very hot, but walking through the paths that were covered by trees and hearing the howler monkeys on the trees above me made me forget all about the sweat in my forehead and the huge pack I was carrying. Justin and I made our way to The Jungle Palace and our cabaña, home for the next few days. I decide to walk over to the main restaurant area and get some breakfast before figuring out what I was going to do for the day. At the restaurant I got to talking to a local and some other mexicans from Ciudad del Carmen who were in Palenque for the weekend. Its funny how easy it is to get to know people and start conversations, I met this great group of people and it all started by petting a dog and talking about a book I am reading. It used to be a lot more difficult to talk to people and meet people back home, but while traveling you just meet and talk to so many people that it becomes so natural and I love it!.
After a delicious smoothie for breakfast and meeting the whole group I was invited to join them for the day as they went to this waterfall. We piled up into two cars and follow the directions of the local Juan and after a short walk arrived to a beautiful spot with an amazing waterfall. There we hung out for the rest of day just admiring the beauty around us while Juan served as a spiritual guide to 3 of the people who were eating mushrooms for the first time and had an amazing trip filled with nature and monkeys peeing on them. At the end of the day we all went to dinner and had amazing seafood with lots of tequila and got the party started. We went back to El Panchán and went to get ready to continue the party at the jungle. I layed in bed for a little bit while Justin went to the showers and ended up falling asleep. Justin left and once I woke up I ended up being locked in the cabaña and missing the rest of the festivities.
The next day we joined half of the group including a brazilian to take a tour of the ruins in Palenque. The ruins are huge and spread in a beautiful jungle, there are about 1400 more buildings that have not been excavated and are hidden in the middle of the jungle. We picked up a guide and decided to take a tour of both the jungle and the ruins. The jungle tour was great as we got to climb and hug trees, learn about there history, their mayan names. We learned about berries used for painting by the Mayas, found some of the ruins that have not been excavated and ate live termites from a tree. Yeah I know, I´m eating a lot of bugs in Mexico, but apparently its the thing to do, and as much as I don´t like them, eating them hasn´t been too bad. We finished the jungle tour on top of the Templo de la Calavera and from there went on to explore the rest of the temples. I really do love Palenque because of how the temples are in teh jungle, it is a beautiful and powerfull sight and these people were brilliant with everything they created.

After the tour I parted ways with my new group of friends as it was sunday and they had to be back at work on monday. How weird to think that my life is so different from that right now. I went into the room, read my book and rested in the jungle listening to the sounds of nature. At night I had a light dinner and went to see Juan Carlos play the guitar at the local restaurant. It is such a great environment fulll of backpackers passing by, sharing stories and giving you tips on where to go next. That night I got really sick and have no idea why, but I woke up having to puke and was not feeling good at all. The next day I spent in bed, reading sleeping and drinking water. It was a much needed rest after so many days without stopping. That night I planned our tour and next day trip to Agua Azul, Misol-Ha and finally to San Cristobal in Chiapas.