Mexico #1

One country most definitely on my ‘bucket list‘ was Mexico. Mexico City was our starting point and we had booked our tickets for a ‘Cultural’ event, a folklore ballet in the Opera House. I enjoyed that immensely. A funny thing happened though. On that day all roads in the city centre were closed off to cars. The reason? So bicycles could have the use of the streets. No copycats please!

After the show, we had a beer in a real Mexican pub and proceeded to explore town. There was more dancing in the town square, and we were very tempted to join.  All of this gave us a nice feel for Mexico City.

The next day was set aside for our guided tour to visit the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon. What a place to see. Needless to say I had to climb them both. The view from the top was magnificent.  

When it was time to leave Mexico City we met up with Leo our driver and guide for the next 7 days.
We had a look at quite a few ruins on the way to Oaxaca and made it safely to town where we stayed for 2 nights. From here we set out and spent the day sight seeing.
Some of the ruins are very impressive. I especially remember Monte Alban.

Fantastic place! We carried on to Mitla, and from there to Beneva for a Tequila tasting. We also learned in detail how Tequila is made.
Back to our Hotel for a good meal and a glass or two of Tequila. Yeah!!!!
The next section pof our trip included quite a long drive, 600km to San Cristobal.
A boat ride up the Sumidero Canyon was on the itinerary, but we arrived too late and had to leave it until the next morning.
This canyon is quite spectacular as the nearly vertical walls can reach a hight of up to 1000m.  Very impressive.
It was also from San Cristobal that we visited a real Indian mountain village. As luck would have it, a festival was in full swing to honour  Saint Lorenzo. I adored the colourful costumes of the local people.  

We left early in the morning for Palenque  and on the way visited the Agua Azul Waterfalls. Words fail me, they are so pretty.

Palenque was a Mayan town and the ruins are spectacular. We spent the whole morning there and I climbed to the top of every one of its towers.

We pressed on to Villa Hermosa where we said good bye to Leo. But first he took us to the La Venta Park, home to giant statues collected from all over the country to keep them safe from developers.
It was in this park that we met some really cute animals.

It was then off to the airport for the short flight to Merida.