Mexico

As before this is a new post because Mary and Helen are in Mexico…My comments are in blue and on your right is her earlier posts and leave a comment at the bottom of this page

Most of the pictures are clickable to enlarge just backspace to come back.

San Cristobal De Las Casas

Woah who mehico

well..we are now in Mexico and it is even more stunning than the past cities here in San Cristobal de Las Casas..The streets are clean and polished in the central park area..the buildings very colourfully painted..out of this area the small dirt roads lead off to aome very poor communities.

This morning we walked past the local markets selling everything you could possibly want from food to underwear, sox, old leather riding booots with tooled leather..haircuts..furniture and street food..We went out to visit the Mayan healing centre which is very interesting and obviously didnt cure us of the spending bug cos we passed artesanal markets on the way back and helped the local economy once more…there is beautiful silver jewellry and colourful clothing we love here.also bought some chopped mango like a small tree on a stick..almost no time for stopping to eat..

Mary looks so tall here mind she is, but the people are all short

Shawls

Vegetables eeek

Fruits much better

We walked another path along a cobbled walkway to the stairs leading to a beautiful church on the hilltop..there are so many but this one especially led me to kneel and pray for how thankful I am for all i have and for my family and friends..so hope you feel blessed too.!!

The Cathedral of Santo Domingo

The feeling here is so much more relaxed than other parts of Central America but there are clearly problems with oppression of indigenous people still.. There seems quite a marked army presence as we passed 2 small bases on the way here..For us it means feeling safe to walk around in the evening and to enjoy the sights without feeling the need for caution so much. Last night we were exhausted after our8hr bus ride from Guatemala and had finnished a delicious dinner to go home and sleep but a guitarist was playng and harmonica too so went into another bar for a last hot chocolate..there is so much live entertainment here which Palmy is really lacking.

The trip from Guatamala was interesting cos we travelled through a steep gorge with coffee growing on the riverbed and up the slopes..there is such a lot of work involved in the coffee harvest!.along the road there were huge areas in front of peoples houses spread with coffee drying..and big sacks loaded onto trucks until the back axle was dragging down and the nose up.. Much less stopping for bullocks and carts here and no more cowboys riding down the roadside. We passed people coming to or from the markets crowded into old trucks with a crate on the back..so cramped that even a woman and her baby in a sling was hanging off the back!!!

unbeleivable lack of road safety here in Central America.

The buses reminded me of Dads way of revving the engine on the old Land Rover as we opened the gates on the farm, then one foot in the door and he was off..the buses hurtle along and slam on the brakes for anyone flagging them down..you have to run to get in..only to tear off and pass as much as possible with no clear view of oncoming traffic!!

our border crossing was quite quick..we had a motley bunch in our mini bus with 2 guys (english and Aussie) dragging themselves out after sleeping the first 4 hrs..I thought they looked like they had died ..pale sweaty and smelling fouler than any other person I have sat with..too many drugs and complete lack of respect for anyone else.. the driver was disgusted..anyway they went to sleep for the next 4 hrs as well.. it shows in sharp contrast to how the local people are really clean and well washed in their appearance despite the dust and lack of water.

Well we have bought bus tickets to palque tomorrow lunchtime, have a night there and day to see the ruins then on a night bus to Tulum for a few days at the beach before flying from Cancun to Havana Cuba..our days of chicken buses are over for now..pity cos they were such good entertainment but we have so many miles to cover..

February 9th 2010 Palenque

We are now at Palenque and stay the night here and check out the ruins tomorrow!!then head for Tulum in an overnight bus…

very warm here and we just walked up to the square at dusk to sit and watch people.. there was an old guy on the seat by me and we got chatting..i said how there was a big police presence as we drove past Agua azul area and he said today 5 people were murdered there ..mexicans..well that would explain it but feels strange that this sort of thing goes on here as an event far removed from what we know. We dont get news here..there were at least 20 police vehicles and many uniformed men around. there is also more army presence on the roaadside..i looked up from a sip of drink and a big gun was aimed at the bus on the back of a vehicle on the roadside but just survellance!! well thought i would share that info and be sure we are behaving safely and all is good here.

After San Cristobel its very warm again..

this morning we went to the post office and sent parcels..the guy at the counter was not busy so he wrapped them and i got a little inpatient cos you,d think he was wrapping his mothers christmas present..and he put so much paper on it ended up just over 3kg and cost $25 more!!!than before…oh well helen is ready for dinner and so am I…oops forgot to say we saw a theatre play last night on the Mayan culture..amazing costumes..lots of incense..loud music and violent portrayal of the rulers in combat and going to hell and back..quite different!!after a horrible dinner that neither of us could eat much of..i was not in such a good frame of mind for it..but was really an entertainment!!

Febyary 12th Cancun Mexico

Cancun Hotel District click the pic to make it bigger and backspace to come back

here in Cancun and catching a plane to Cuba in the morning-expect there will be no internet to speak of so dont get worried cos you have our itinerary and will contact in Bogota.. terrible slow speed connection here…we survived the 12 hour bus trip and arrived in time to head to the beach in a taxi , throw our gear in the cabana and go down the beach. I swam in the Carribean yesterday and this morning at the Tulum ruins where thousands of Mayan people must,ve done the same thing…the water was chrystal clear on white sand so very beautiful!!! they say it is the 2nd biggest coral reef in the world there..was a little cold for snorkelling and we needed a blanket last night..stayed in a cabana on the beach…had plank floor with large cracks and a thatch roof… toilets were not very clean and shower cold and Helen could not stand it a minute longer..lucky the sun went behind clouds so we got on the bus here..

Right after this post Mary and Helen flew to Havana Cuba where apparently there is no easily accessible internet access so the next up-date will be when they fly into Bogota City Columbia on the 16th of February kiwi time