Category Archives: Mexico

Mexico: Visiting a Friend in the Riviera Maya

August 10, 2014 ~j

This January we decided to go visit a friend who had been working as a SCUBA instructor in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. So, with 2 days notice, we booked flights, and took off for the week to hang out on the Mayan Riviera.

Playa del Carmen is about 45 minutes away from Cancun. We easily hopped on the airport shuttle, and met our friend Andrew at the bus station on Quinta Avenida. (FYI: Quinta Avenida is one of the busiest most obnoxious shopping streets ever–more on that later!)

As neither of us are really “beach” people, we needed a plan to enjoy the most of our stay in the resort filled paradise. We quickly learned how to take the colectivo busses (5 pesos each) so we could travel to and from Andrew’s apartment. With three of us, traveling by car was a cheap convenient option for longer distances, so we decided to rent a car to explore some of the sites in the state of Quintana Roo.

CHICHÉN ITZÁ

Chichen Itza is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World AND a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lucky for us, these Mayan ruins were close enough to Playa Del Carmen that we were able to make a day trip to the site. We hopped in the car and quickly learned to spot the GIANT Mexican Speedbumps AKA “topes” along the way!

El Castillo, Kukulcan Pyramid - Chichen Itza Mexico — El Castillo, Kukulcan Pyramid – Chichen Itza Mexico

El Castillo, the iconic Kukulcan pyramid of the Yucatan, is definitely the main attraction of Chichen Itza. The structure has all sorts of astronomical importance for when and how the sun hits during equinoxes and solstices. Google it up if you’re interested.

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On the way from Chichen Itza back to our home base, we stopped in the sweet little colonial town of Valladolid. It would have been nice if we’d have had more time to explore all that the town had to offer as it was a super cute place.

People would have to sit face to face and have a conversation.

San Servacio Church, Valladolid

COBA

For our second day with the rental car, we decided to head to Coba. Coba was the largest and most powerful Mayan city before the rise of Chichen Itza. These Mayan Ruins also have the largest pyramid of the Yucatan Peninsula. As a visitor, I enjoyed the atmosphere of Coba much more than Chichen Itza. Though there were dozens more touts which is a definite draw back to any site, the pathways through the jungle, and the trees/shade made up for it.

The tallest pyramid on the Yucatan Peninsula.

La Iglesia, Coba

Maybe another time?

TULUM

We made it to the beach at Tulum, but due to time constraints missed visiting these ruins. After having seen the two previous archeological sites, we weren’t super disappointed at missing Tulum. The beach itself was beautiful. Such fine sand, almost like confectionary sugar, and some pelicans bobbing along on the waves made me a happy gal.

BEST OF THE REST

Cruise Ship Cozumel — One of the many cruise ships plaguing the Cozumel coastline.

We were left with a few days to fill up, and I had heard great things about Cozumel from friends and coworkers. Cozumel is a short ferry ride from Playa del Carmen, and is supposed to be a fun way to spend the day.

SUCH A DISAPOINTMENT!

Cozumel is touts on steroids, and beyond that, it is horribly packed with cruise ship passengers. Visiting Cozumel was a huge waste of time and money. If you’re there for SCUBA, I’m sure you’d have a great time. We did not.

After the shit-show of Cozumel, I was certain Xcaret would be a horrible experience as well. We are not fans of zoos/aquariums in general. The reviews online were utterly horrendous! Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. For us, it was actually an alright facility.

Note: We did not participate in any of the water activities. If you’re into snorkeling or swimming with dolphins/sting rays feel free. That’s not my cup o’ tea. Guaranteed my opinion would have changed to the negative had I taken part in any of those activities.

Scarlet Macaw - Xcaret — Scarlet Macaw – Xcaret

We were able to see baby Sea Turtles at various ages as part of the Sea Turtle Conservation program. The Butterfly Garden was kind of neat. We saw dozens and dozens of birds, parrots, macaws, flamingos etc. Xcaret is part of conservation efforts for Scarlet Macaws.

Red Forehead Parrot – Xcaret

Flamingos at Xcaret

This vacation really was a different experience for us. Typically, we don’t stay in one city for more than 3 or 4 days, and we’ve never had a host or home to settle in. Being able to set a home base definitely made for a more enjoyable adventure in Mexico.

Mmmm tacos. — Mmmm tacos, before adding the delicious toppings.

We were able to experience several things that we would have missed out on otherwise–like using colectivos, going to the movies, eating at the same little taco stand, drinking Horchata, and even just relaxing in the evenings playing card games.

All in all it was an enjoyable winter interlude in Mexico. Thanks Andrew for the hospitality!

Mexico, North America

Shrine of Guadalupe

Gallery September 19, 2010 ~j Leave a comment

On the way home from Peru, we had a 2 day stay in Mexico City. There were a few sites I wanted to see, but for some reason I was a little nervous about being there. The Metropolis that is Mexico is home to over 21 million people. It is the largest city in North America, so you can see why it would be a little intimidating! That said, we managed the metro, and navigating the bus system to everything we wanted to see.

Obviously the city is very old which brings along a lot of interesting, dingy, smelly places. The um, how to explain…aroma? of the City was olfactory assault in its highest art form. On certain streets, just walking around brought on an onslaught of odour. Seriously, I can’t even explain it. Surprisingly, the metro system was actually fairly clean. (At least we didn’t see the same amount of human feces on train cars in Mexico as we did in Paris!) There were sanitation people sweeping platforms and stairways 24/7.

The touts were inescapable, but at least humourous on the metro. People would hop on trying to sell literally everything and anything. We were offered crossword puzzle books, ancient computer repair manuals, rulers, CD’s, and my personal favourite–back scratchers.

While in Mexico, we visited the pyramids at Teotihuacan and Templo Mayor as mentioned previously. We climbed the Pyramid of the Sun. (FYI: It is the 3rd largest pyramid in the world.) I didn’t include photos earlier; here they are now.

Teotihuacan UNESCO designation

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan Staircase

When we arrived at Teotihuacan there was an insane performance going on. Thanks to Google, I now know that it is called the Danza de los Voladores de Papantla. The geek in me loves that the ceremony is recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

We also went to the Shrine of Guadalupe. The history of the shrine is similar to that of the Orvieto Duomo. To shorten up the lesson for you–in 1531 a catholic peasant had a vision of the Virgin Mary. She told him to build a church where she was standing so that she could offer love, compassion and protection to the people. The peasant, Juan Diego, spoke to the Bishop. The Bishop didn’t believe him and wanted some miraculous proof.

The Virgin appeared to Juan Diego again, and told him to pick flowers and gather them in his apron. Though it was winter, the flowers grew at his feet, he gathered them and went to the Bishop. An image of the Virgin Mary was imprinted on the apron. Thus, providing the miracle the Bishop wanted and the rest is history.

Shrine of Guadalupe Mexico City

Interior Shrine of Guadalupe Mexico City

The Shrine of Guadalupe is the most visited Catholic Shrine in the world. The original basilica that was completed in 1536 is beautiful. There is a new basilica on the site as well. It is kind of gaudy, round shaped, and looks like it should for a building of the late 1970’s. We didn’t enter the new basilica to see the actual apron, or tilma on display above the alter. Church service was going on, and out of respect we stayed out. I was surprised how few people were at the site as I was expecting more visible pilgrimage that I’ve seen elsewhere (e.g.: people crawling or on their knees in hopes that their prayers would be answered.) Still, a site of such importance for so many people is humbling.

Now for science: The cloth has been examined with infrared photography, ultraviolet imaging, and stereo-microscopy. The earliest analysis shows that no under-drawing to rough out the image and no over-varnish on the image. The latter 2 show several layers beneath the current painting with all sorts of different pigments consistent with artist’s materials used in the 1500’s. There are also cracks, flaking of paint and sketch lines that would make it seem that the image was sketched before being painted.

Even with all the scientific analysis to create doubts of the miracle, the tilma still has some pretty impressive attributes. Thanks Wikipedia for the info.

The tilma has maintained its structural integrity over nearly 500 years, while replicas normally last only about 15 years before suffering degradation; it repaired itself with no external help after a 1791 ammonia spill that did considerable damage, and in 1926 an anarchist bomb destroyed the altar, but left the icon unharmed.

In 1929 and 1951 photographers found a figure reflected in the Virgin’s eyes; upon inspection they said that the reflection was tripled in what is called the Purkinje effect, commonly found in human eyes. An ophthalmologist, Dr. Jose Aste Tonsmann, later enlarged an image of the Virgin’s eyes by 2500x and found not only the aforementioned single figure, but images of all the witnesses present when the tilma was first revealed before Zumaragga in 1531, plus a small family group of mother, father, and a group of children, in the center of the Virgin’s eyes, fourteen persons in all.

Numerous Catholic websites repeat an unsourced claim that in 1936 biochemist Richard Kuhn analyzed a sample of the fabric and announced that the pigments used were from no known source, whether animal, mineral or vegetable. Dr. Philip Serna Callahan, who photographed the icon under infrared light, discovered from his photographs that portions of the face, hands, robe, and mantle had been painted in one step, with no sketches or corrections and no visible brush strokes.

I have no doubt that there is paint on the image–whether the miraculous image itself has been painted upon over the years, or painted completely is debatable, but you have to admit that the eyeball thing is a little bizarre.

ps: Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico. Juan Diego was also made a saint in 2002. He’s the first Mexican to achieve sainthood.

Mexico, North America

Is my forehead red?

June 7, 2010 ~j 1 Comment

At the airport waiting for the flight home. Should be back in Vancouver in 11 hours and home in about 15 or 16. Today we took the metro to the historic center of Mexico City. (ps: the Mexican Metro is set up the same as the French Metro. Easy peasy!). We visited an archaeological site that basically shows 7 different evolutions of the buildings and the people that lived in them.

It is kinda crazy when you can see what the modern day buildings are built on top of. Yesterday we ended up taking a bus to Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan is an interesting place but most of it is scorched earth with no shade. (kind of like The Kumsheen Resort in the pre-pool/pre-air conditioning days) Not a good day to forget the sunscreen! Oops!

I would have enjoyed the site a lot more if there weren’t so many touts and chatzski sellers trying to sell their crappy crap to me every second step. So annoying!

The bus ride on the way there should have been a good indication of what to expect. For the hour long drive there the driver kept picking up people selling ice cream, candy, cold drinks etc. And then he picked up Mexican Stevie Wonder who serenaded us for about 20 minutes. Jon took some good video. (NB: Video to be added after we get home. I’m not that technologically advanced when we’re on the road!)

The bus ride home was 2/3 the price of the one there and I’m guessing there was some sort of deal for standing room only. We are still alive, so no worries. Maybe Greyhound should look into new pricing policies?

More on the bus system later friends, must go find Squatzi some more clothes.
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