Back to Mexico

Day 185

Current Location: Acapulco, Guerrero (Mexico)

Total Countries visited: 9

Total Miles Driven: 23,868

Folks, it's official.  I love Mexico. I may have mentioned this before, but I have to reiterate it.  I am falling in love with Mexico again.  Right now, I am hanging out at the pool at my Acapulco hotel on the beach - the place is just gorgeous.  And I have seen a few more places lately that reminded me of the richness of Mexican culture and scenery.

Last time I wrote, I was in Guatemala City.  What a messy, dirty place.  The city is just not pretty - it doesn't seem to have been built with any kind of aesthetic goal in mind... it looks like overpopulation has hit the city all at once, and construction happened randomly in order to house the new arrivals.  The streets and buildings are all the same colour - brown, and there is no clear downtown area where you can walk around at night and hop from place to place.  I suppose that's the charm of Guat City... there is more than meets the eye, so you have to look for the beauty as it's hidden underneath 3 layers of grime.  I did find a cute little bar with great live music that I found very enjoyable.

Main square in Guatemala City.

However, as soon as I left Guatemala City, everything changed.  The cities became smaller and older, far prettier, the scene majestic with mountains, volcanoes and lakes.  Here is a short list of the amazing places I have seen over the last week:

Antigua, Guatemala - As the name says it, Antigua is old.  Very old.  And incredibly pretty.  It's probably the most touristy town in the country - it has a nice open square with gardens and fountains in the middle of the city, surrounded by restaurants hotels and bars.  But it's the old buildings that struck me the most, especially the churches, some of which are still in ruins.  Antigua used to be the capital of Guatemala, however it was hit by a series of very severe earthquakes that destroyed the city at least three times many years ago.  As Antigua haphazardly tried to rebuild every time, the capital moved to Guatemala City.  Antigua still has a number of buildings still in ruins from the earthquake, which have now been converted in tourist attractions.  Walking among the fallen church walls where the altar used to be, you feel like you are on a movie set.  Nothing seems real anymore.

Streets of old Antigua

Beautiful convent and market street

Inside the convent, partly in ruins

Entrance to church destroyed by earthquake

All that remains is rubble.  Surreal.

Holy sighting

Lago de Atitlan, Guatemala - As you continue driving inland Guatemala, the terrain becomes very mountainous, there are volcanoes everywhere.  But nowhere are volcanoes as visible and impressive as on the shore of Lake Atitlan.  The lake is huge, and surrounded by 3 recently active volcanoes, one of which is permanently covered by a cloud of smoke coming from the lava, as if it was just about to erupt.  The view from anywhere around the lake is incredible - it is said to be the most beautiful lake in the world, or as Aldous Huxley put it when comparing with famous Lake Como in Italy: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlan is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes.  It really is too much of a good thing."  And that's not all - the lake is surrounded by several quaint little Mayan villages, where the main language is not even spanish, people are still wearing the traditional mayan attire and selling hand-made trinkets at dirt-cheap prices.  Can't get much better than that.

First lake sighting, from the road above.

On the lake shore.

Sunset view, and volcano

It must be noted that the roads in Guatemala left a bit to be desired.  Rock avalanches and landslides are a common occurrence, with huge rocks left in the middle of the road, which sometimes actually gets washed away during the rainy season and it takes a few years to reconstruct.  Driving there was a bit stressful, but I made it.  Mexican roads are much better !

The sign says:  Caution, bridge destroyed.  Passage through river.   That stressed me out a bit. But Large Marge swam it like a pro.

Road and bridge got washed away by the heavy rains.

Tuxtla Gutierrez & San Cristobal de las Casas - Tuxtla Gutierrez is the capital of the state of Chiapas in Mexico.  It is a fairly large town (maybe a half-million), very comfortable and friendly place.  It is not the most beautiful or majestic place, but definitely a good place to rest after a long day's drive - and I had there the best Mexican food I have ever had, Tuxtlan style steak with tomato sauce.  I am still dreaming about it.  


Also, just about 40 miles east of Tuxtla Gutierrez is the lovely little town of San Cristobal de las Casas.  Another gorgeous place full of magic - there are more churches there than anywhere else I have seen, and they are all of different colours and styles.  The town is packed with little shops and cafes, and it has the largest outdoor Sunday market that I have ever seen - a maze of alleys and vendors and people covering the area of about two football fields... it was quite overwhelming, and I didn't have any clue what were most of the things they were selling.

Pretty blue church.

Small yellow church.

Big yellow cathedral.

Entrance to the Sunday market.

Why did the chicken cross the road ?

This place is not for vegetarians.

Why on earth would you eat that ? Really ?

Oaxaca - Oaxaca is a Mexican state with a capital of the same name.  Like Chiapas, Oaxaca is known for its rich cultural heritage, in addition to its perfect beaches that are not too crowded.  

Oaxaca proper is another amazing Mexican town, one of my favourites so far.  It reminded me a bit of Guanajuato, and a bit of Italy... It has at its center avery large square with a stage where mariachis play their music all day, little cafes and restaurants all around the square, a pedestrian-only street lined with bars and restaurants, and one of the most amazing cathedrals that I have ever seen.  The outside of the cathedral is impressive enough (and somehow the entire street was lined up with human-like sculptures, a bit freaky), but the church interior was jaw-dropping.  Everything is covered with gold and jewels.

Just a few miles east of Oaxaca city is the town of Tule, which contains the largest (widest) tree in the world. This isn't a marketing gimmick folks - the tree's dimensions surpass the imagination.  The diameter of the trunk is over 10 meters, and its circumference is over 30 meters.  I have never seen anything this big in my life - and the tree is over 1400 years old !

And as if that wasn't enough (Oaxaca is surrounded with several other culturally and historically significant artifacts), just a few miles west of the city is the ancient town of Monte Alban, which is thought my many historians to be the first town in all the Americas.  It is now in ruins, but some of the buildings date more than 2,000 years.  And to top it all, it is built on top of the mountain, with magnificent panoramic views.  These ruins are a must-see.

The tree is so big, it makes the church look like a dollhouse.

It would take 15 adults to circle the trunk holding hand to hand.

Gorgeous cathedral just outside Oaxaca, under angry sky.

Beautiful earth tones on this cathedral.

Main square, Oaxaca city.

Outside Oaxaca cathedral, with human-like sculptures.

Inside cathedral, incredibly ornate walls and ceilings, all lined with gold.

View of Monte Alban on top of the hill.

Other view of Monte Alban ruins.

The Pacific Coast - After Oaxaca, just a short day's drive South and you hit Puerto Escondido on the Pacific Coast.  It is a great little town, full of surfers and tourists who prefer it to busier, dirtier and crazier Acapulco.  Puerto Escondido is still relatively quiet, has world-class waves, and is incredibly friendly - everyone knows everyone else, and there is always a party going on at one of the local's houses.

Then another short day's drive, you get to Acapulco.  Crazy, addictive Acapulco.  The beaches here are gorgeous, all built around the bay, very accessible from anywhere in town.  And the nightlife is possibly the craziest in all Mexico - every night, bars along the main strip (there are dozens of them on a mile-long strip of road called zona dorada) are booming with young locals and tourists trying to mix it up.  And prices are cheap! Yesterday I hit a bar that had quite the drink special: 3 beers for 50 pesos.  That's less than 4 dollars for 3 beers.  How can you not love this place?

Swimming pool at the hotel.

Beach and sunset.

Bay of Acapulco.

Morning view from my hotel room balcony.

As you can see, I am doing very well these days.  Enjoying myself, relaxing... I will be in Acapulco for 4 days, just enough to get some sun so that people believe me when I tell them I spent 3 months in Central America.  Then I will continue my way along the Coast, all the way to the USA !!!  No more crazy borders, from here on it should all be fun and beaches !

Until very soon,

DMR