Chichén Itzá, Yucatán Mexico - 5-15-15

Today David and I decided to venture out from the beachside life of Cancun and visit one the 7 Modern Wonders of the World. Chichén Itzá!  Mayan Ruins.  After a 3 hour bus ride (with a delay switching buses after the first broke down) we arrived. Our tour guide led us through the site and gave us a lot of information on the Mayan culture and what scholars think the site was and how it was used.  

One crazy thing that was present inside the sacred site was an enormous amount of vendors hawking cheap trinkets. Apparently these vendors are not wanted inside the site ( Often within 20-30 yards of the temples etc.) but the vendors are holding there spots refusing to leave. They have threatened vandalism if the are forced to leave. It definitely takes away some of the gravitas of visiting such an amazing site when having to listen to vendors hawking their goods at the same time. It will be interesting to see how the government handles this issue. But it was still an amazing site. 

And now for the pictures!

Cerro de la Bufa -Zacatecas Mexico - 1-1-15

Today was a sleep in day, then lunch at the American Embassy (aka McDonalds) after which we started walking to the Teleferico, which is the cable car up to Cerro de la Bufa (which is the Mountain right in Zacatecas.)  It was a bit of a hike up hill but we made it and after waiting in line for a bit

headed up the line to the top of the mountain.  

On the mountain is a small church, some statutes of famous revolutionaries including Pancho Villa.  The views were beautiful and the weather cooperated again today with just partly cloudy skies.  There was still a feel of New Year celebration in the air which made it a fun journey.  

After checking things out we decided to walk down back to the center city and that was nice.  After the main path ended we walked through a neighborhood and ended up at the main Cathedral.  It was open! We went in and just sat for awhile.  It was a much simpler cathedral than the others I have been in here in Mexico, but very nice.  

A relaxed fun day.  Tomorrow is a 6 hour bus ride to Monterrey and then heading home Saturday.  

JB

La Quemada & Jerez - Mexico 12-31-14

Today was a pretty awesome day.  We were picked up at our hotel and stopped at a couple others to load on some other folks and headed on our way to La Quemada which is a ruin site about 45 minutes outside of Zacatecas.  I was excited to see the site, but it was cooler than I had expected, and bigger.  Of course there here was some hiking and climbing needed to get through the site, but we were up for the task!  

After spending a few hours learning about the site and climbing around we headed on the road to the city of Jerez.  We stopped on the way for some tortas which are sort of like mini meatball sandwiches except the meatballs are made of chorizo sausage.  They were excellent and I had a Diet Coke in a glass bottle which is always a heavenly treat!  

After filling our tummies we headed to Jerez which is a small city but with a lot of history.  We were able to check out a couple churches and the historical theater as well as the home of Ramon Lopez Velarde who is a famous Mexican poet.  He wrote poems to the love of his life his cousin, but covered it by saying they were to the nation.   It was a neat place and a cool addition to the trip.  

After we got home it was of course New Years Eve, my second outside of the US (Australia 1997). A relatively quiet night but full of the sound of fireworks in the air. Looking for to an awesome 2015 for sure. Happy New Year!

La Quemada

Jerez