North America
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Oaxaca
Arriving in Oaxaca late in the evening, we stayed in a hotel with cute courtyard half an hour’s walk from the old town. We went for a cooking course the next day in this culinary capital of Mexico. After we were treated to a breakfast of delicious tamales, cooked inside corn husks, then went to market with Oscar the chef to pick out chilies and other fresh produce to make the menu we had decided on. After a couple of hours of chopping, peeling, rolling, stuffing, etc. we sat down with our creations with beer and mezcal served by a handsome helper. We had many courses to our gourmet meal…
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Puebla
We left by van in the late afternoon to Puebla, an industrial city of three million, with a beautiful old town centred by a massive church and zocalo (town square). We had some mollettes (deep fried tortillas filled with whatever) as street food appetizers, then tacos at taco joint. We made our way to the arena for Lucha Libre. We were late and had to stand for two hours to watch the matches. I first saw this sport a couple of years ago in Mexico City. It’s like wwe in Canada I think. Some of the fighters are enmascardo, masked characters. They aren’t seen in public without their masks. Lucha…
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Mexico City
I checked out three museums within a few blocks of my hotel in the Centro Historico Saturday morning, sometimes dodging the homeless who seem to be set up permanently in their spots down the side streets. Muse de Arte Popular, with fantastic folk art, Museo Mural Diego Rivera, art and displays of the famous muralist, and Museo Memoria y Tolerencia, with disturbing displays of genocides around the world. I took a taxi to a hotel in the more upscale Zona Rosa, nicer but much further from most attractions. Here I met my tour group, and first on the agenda was a “taco crawl”. This consisted on one taco joint. We…
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Teotihuacan
My free day in the historic centre was spent in museums and shopping. The museum in the National Palace in the Zocalo, the largest square in Central America, has murals of Diego Rivera. He is Mexico’s most famed artist, except maybe for Frida Kahlo, who he married twice. The first marriage ended when he slept with her sister. He really got around considering he was not incredibly attractive.He and Frida lived in her Blue House in separate areas until her death. I saw the museum now there on my last visit to Mexico City. The museum in the Palacio de Bellas Artes also has murals by Rivera and others. There…
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Mexico City
I was up at 3 am for my flights to Mexico City. I would not normally plan on a night out on a day that started like that, but…. Ballet Folklorico de Mexico plays Wednesday nights at el Palacio de Bellas Artes. I bought tickets through Ticketmaster Mexico. I went to pick up my ticket, then had a nap. The show at this beautiful building started at 8:30, so I had time to visit Burger King. I was ushered up to the front row of the cheap seats, where I looked down on the show with a queasy stomach. There were eight different sets, one after the other, with up…
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Mexico Food Adventure
I’m leaving soon on this trip starting in Mexico City. It’s almost a free trip, since after your 9th with Intrepid Travel the 10th is free – to a limit. So I paid about $200 for this one, plus my $2100 voucher. It’s expensive for a trip to Mexico, with a lot of inclusions mostly involving food. We will travel through Puebla and Oaxaca, and end on the Pacific coast in Mazunte. It’s my second time to this massive city. I was there for Day of the Dead celebrations in 2015. This is the gorgeous Palacio de Bellas Artes, which will be a block from my hotel. I have to…
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on to Antigua
We crossed the border back into Guatemala the next day. On the way we stopped at a small archaeological museum with massive full skeletons of a ancient whale, mammoth and giant sloth found in the area. We are now in a mountainous area with volcanoes, climbing up to 2000 m then down to 1500 m for Antigua. We must drive on the Transamerica highway that goes through big dirty and dangerous Guatemala City, with a few million people and constant traffic jams. The highway cuts through one of the worst parts of the city, barrios much like the favelas in Rio de Janeiro, built on the sides of mountains. Residents…
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Copan, Honduras
El Salvador is bordered by Honduras and Guatemala on the north. To get to Honduras, we first crossed a border into Guatemala, from there to Honduras. This border was much easier and quicker than the closest one taking us directly to Honduras. Semi trucks were lined up for miles before the border, drivers sleeping on the pavement. Everything in the trucks is checked for drugs but we got through quickly. We arrived in Copan, a pretty town conveniently located walking distance from major Mayan ruins. We went for dinner to a restaurant where the waitresses carry drinks and food on their heads. A few of us carried on to another…
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Suchitoto
In the morning most of my group went on a walking tour of the town but I skipped it so I could take advantage of the pool. After my first time in I noticed a strange looking bird circling the pool, dipping in for drinks. It then went to a corner of the building and hung itself up. It was a bat! I went back in the pool and it dive bombed me. I yelped and it flew off. Then I noticed a huge hawk flying to a nest nearby, then circling, ending up in a nearby tree. When it turned sideways I could see its long turkey like neck.…
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The road to Suchitoto
Breakfast with an omelet, pupusa the local specialty, and a huge coffee was $3. On the road, we stopped at a Mayan site with pyramid from 800 BC, stopped for a lake view, then visited Joya de Ceren, known as the Pompeii of the Americas. It’s a town covered by lava around the 7th century. There were some animal skeletons discovered but it seems the townspeople had enough warning to get out. The home of the shaman was the most interesting. At the site we saw a torogoz, the colourful national bird with amazing tail feathers. We arrived in Suchitoto to our gorgeous hotel with a pool! And view of…