Mexico

Wherever we wander in the world we focus on the past, rarely venturing beyond the historic centres of cities except to visit well-known tourist attractions or 'indigenous villages' with locals acting as their ancestors in order to sell 'handmade' trinkets or perform ritual dances (for a fee). This is Playa del Carmen's 5th Avenue - a pedestrianised tourist mecca filled with fancy restaurants and upmarket jewellers, and sellers of 'tradtritional Mexican' trinkets...

But, in Playa, we live as locals in a residential neighbourhood away from the fancy hotels, nightclubs, bars, and beachfront resorts.
And this is our experience as we walk around our local mall to shop with the locals. Firstly - there is a huge Sears department store with shelves stocked with high quality goods…

The mall's super-clean aisles are filled with well-dressed shoppers until 10pm every day...

The huge food court is a haven for families with McDonald’s, Burger King, and a wide choice of Chinese, Italian and Mexican foods. There is an American donut stand because the Mexicans love the sweet life...

It even has a mariachi band to entertain the crowds at weekends…

And there are are higher end restaurants, like our favourite – Tok’s.
There is a sprawling supermarket where the choice and quality of products is enviable. This is just a part of the fish counter…

An entire aisle is dedicated to milk of every kind…

Although there are plenty of local businesses, there are many international retailers like Costco, Home Depot, Staples and WalMart in Playa. Their shelves are stocked with everything we have and more. There are, of course, regional differences - snow suits and de-icer wouldn’t sell well, and some prices of imported products are higher. However, ten dollars at the nail bar sounds like a good deal for these young women...

With the advent of multiple streaming services, and the lingering effects of covid, many cinema complexes around the world are struggling. But not here where there are long lines for tickets to the twelve screens offering movies in Spanish and English. It's not that people don't have monster TVs or hundreds of channels. And most have the latest computers, cellphones and cars. Many Mexicans live in comfortable houses, or modern apartments, which are just as well furnished and equipped as those in Canada or Europe...

As for the prices - the cost of living here is considerably less than in Canada. However, the minimum wage in Mexico is only $15 USD a DAY. One marked difference at present is the cost of fuel which is a little more expensive here. Not a problem for us when we rented the latest fully electric car in Cozumel.
One last swim and then we fly to Bogota, Colombia, for a night's stopover en-route to southern Brazil. See you soon in Sao Paola.

Although Christopher Columbus is credited with ‘discovering’ America in 1492 he only ever discovered Cuba, Haiti, and a handful of other Caribbean islands, and thought he was in Japan. Other than the Vikings who lived in Newfoundland a thousand years ago, it was another 27 years before large scale landings were made by Europeans on the North American coast, and the very first settlements began here on the windswept coast of the island of Cozumel just a few miles off the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico…

In May of 1518 the Spanish under Juan de Grijalva brought the Words of Christ to the native islanders and held their first mass near the site of this church…

A year later, in 1519, the Spanish came back en-masse and ransacked the whole island, destroyed the temples and enslaved the population, before moving onto the mainland and wiping out the Aztec Empire throughout South America. However, Cozumel doesn’t loom large on the history trail today. It's ‘Holiday Central’ for northerners seeking fun and sun without the high-octane nightlife on the nearby Yucatan coast. This is the clock tower in the laid-back central square of the capital, San Miguel…

Numerous touristy stores and restaurants surround the square...

However, Cozumel is one of the few places that has a deep water port in this part of the world so it is a magnet for giant cruise liners. But few cruise passengers meander Cozumel’s dusty streets or buy hats, trinkets or churros from the stores or street vendors…

Most of the passengers are quickly ferried off on a 30 minute trip to the mainland hotspots of Tulum and Playa del Carmen, or take a daytrip to the famous Mayan ruins of Chichén Itza. However, Cozumel has its own Mayan ruins - San Gervasio…

This temple, dedicated to the goddess Ixchel, was a place of pilgrimage for Mayans seeking the goddess’ help to become pregnant, (and, strangely, also help with their weaving!). The Spanish Conquistadores led by Juan de Grijalva destroyed many villages, but parts of the temple and surrounding buildings survived…

While there are a number of all-inclusive resorts on Cozumel, many people visit in order to dive in the coral reefs to view the many varieties of fish. We didn’t go diving, but we did enjoy a fabulous dish of fresh lobster, shrimp, and mahi-mahi in a family restaurant…

This was just one plate – the other had a whole red snapper. And all, including margueritas and tequila shots, for just $20 each.
Now we are returning to the mainland where tropical thunderstorms are on the horizon.

While we live in one of the balmiest places in Canada, a glance from our window will tell you why we, and more than four million Canadians known as snowbirds, head south every winter…

This young lady came right up to our front door hoping for a handout at Christmas…

In truth, the snow turned to rain and the temperature rose to a pleasant nine degrees before we left home. But it will be a long time before it hits thirty. So, if the summer won’t come to us, we must go to the summer. So, here we are in Playa del Carmen, Mexico…

...and this is our beach...

The weather is not the only thing that’s different here in the Yucatan Peninsula. While many stores in Canada are experiencing supply chain issues there’s no apparent problem here. The supermarkets are bursting with produce from around the world that would put our grocers to shame…

We are staying with a friend who has coconut and papaya trees in the garden…

But there are many local stores offering perfectly ripe exotic fruits and vegetables at prices we can only dream of at home…

Home delivery is a relatively new phenomena for us at home but here in Mexico the streets have always been alive with hawkers and tradesmen on tricycles, motorbikes, and pick-up trucks. The fruit man comes by every afternoon…

But there is a procession of people selling: sweets; cooked corn; tamales; ice cream; marquesitas (filled crepes); gas for cooking and water for drinking. And then there are the tradesmen: collectors of metal and cardboard; plumbers; gardeners; electricians; cobblers; cutlers – (Viejo tio Tom Cobbly y todo).
At present we are just relaxing in Mexico and getting acclimatised to the heat before heading into summer in Brazil, so we took the time to watch the English version of Avatar in 3D at the multi-screen cinema - huge screen, fantastic sound system and luxury seat for just $6.00 Cdn. each. This is the life!

Our short time in Oaxaca as come to an end and we are delighted that we were able to bring the sun home with us to cheer up a dreary Canadian winter for our friends. This is the sunrise from our kitchen window this morning...

So what will we miss about our time in Oaxaca? We will miss:
The history and culture of the Zapotecs and the ruins of their splendid cities like Monte Albán...

...and the razzmatazz of daily life in Oaxaca City's central square, the Zocalo – especially the lively music and dancing in the evenings...

...and the military parade on Mexico's Constitution Day of February 5th

We will certainly miss the numerous talented street musicians who entertained us wherever we sat for a meal...

...and the incredible cleanliness of everything and everywhere. Rarely have we been in such a clean city – especially in a tropical climate where so much of life takes place on the streets. Street cleaners are hard at work day and night keeping Oaxaca immaculate...

Also missed will be the inexpensive local foods like tostados, tortillas, tlayudas and tomales, all made from corn, This is a tomale stuffed with shredded chicken and mole – it tastes so much better than it looks...

We will certainly miss the amazing markets that assault the senses in every way. The gifts and clothing were exuberant and the flowers were spectacular. The market food was plentiful and diverse though we were not keen on the local speciality – grasshoppers.

These crunchy little critters are fried, toasted, boiled or baked and they are clearly a taste that we have not acquired. On the other hand we loved the radishes. It turns out that there is far more to a radish than being carved into a simple rose. On December 23rd each year the centre of Oaxaca City is the venue for an extraordinary event – La noche de los rabanos – (The night of the radishes). Tens of thousands of people throng to the Zocalo to witness an amazing artistic sight when vegetable carvers from across the state compete to produce to most flambouyant display of carved radishes. (Google 'Night of the Radishes' for some amazing images).

There is food and drink for everyone in Oaxaca. Mezcal, a potent local alcohol made from agave cactus, can be bought by the gallon. Numerous varieties of agave cactus grow in the mountains of Oaxaca and as we travelled the countryside we saw dozens of artisan mezcal distilleries where the agave were waiting to be 'cooked' into mezcal...

We tried the mezcal but actually preferred the rich creamy Oaxacan hot chocolate...

We have kept to last the best things we will miss about Oaxaca. First, we will miss the perpetually blue skies and the weeks of glorious sunshine. But, above all, we will miss the lovely Oaxacan people. This is Margarita – the delightful receptionist at our hotel – Casa Barrocco Oaxaca...

We always expect hotel and restaurant staff to be warm and welcoming, (though very occasionally we are disappointed), but in Oaxaca absolutely everyone treated us wonderfully; no-one ripped us off; the street vendors and tour touts were polite and not at all persistent; and drivers actually stopped to let us cross the street.
O.K. - So that's more than ten things. So, in short...Oaxaca, Mexico – so much that we will miss.

Tour company touts are a peso a dozen in Oaxaca City all offering visitors a chance to get out into the countryside to see the sights. The bus tours are very cheap, but the idea of trailing from one shopping opportunity to the next interspersed with a few interesting sites for more than nine hours wasn't appealing. So we hired Mario and his cab and had a great trip. The first rule of the canny tourist is “always arrive before the crowds.” All of the bus tours from Oaxaca City leave at 10.00 am so that tourists can enjoy a leisurely breakfast. We left at 8.30 and arrived at our first stop, the Tule Tree, without a tourist or trinket salesman in sight. This is the Tule Tree with a couple of lonely local policemen waiting in the background for the hordes...

The tree is big – in fact it is absolutely enormous. It is a single cypress tree that is roughly 2,000 years old, (although no-one is going to chop it down to count the rings). The trunk is 140 feet around and it is claimed to be the biggest tree in the world weighing 167 thousand tons.

Next stop – the World's tallest stalactite...

Although the Hierve el Agua, a couple of hours drive into the mountains from Oaxaca City, looks like a 300 foot waterfall, it is actually solid rock and was formed in the same way that stalactites form inside caves. Other petrified waterfalls here are more colourful...

Spring water with a high calcium content has spent millions of years creating petrified waterfalls and giant infinity pools high above the valley and they make a spectacular sight in the brilliant sunshine...

Despite the thousands of tourists who flock to this part of Oaxaca it remains a poor area and we were surrounded by third world scenes...

However, our lunch of maize tortillas made over a wood stove in a makeshift cafe by Amelia was delicious...

Just $7 Cdn bought tortillas and freshly made coffee for us and Mario.
And then – the highlight of the tour, the ancient Zapotec city of Mitla....

Mitla was the religious centre of the Zapotec world unlike the administrative and cultural centre in Monte Alban, The many temples and buildings in Mitla were highly decorated with religious symbols..

The walls were decorated with colourful murals...

However, the Spanish Conquistadors destroyed virtually all of the ancient structures and built their churches and houses on the remains. Thankfully, some of the Zapotec buildings survived to give us an impression of what this magnificent city would have looked like 500 years ago.
Much of Mexico is mountainous with some of North Americas's tallest active volcanoes and today, as we rode high into the mountains of Oaxaca, we had some splendid views...

Now we are back in Oaxaca City after a beautiful and peaceful day in the pueblos - Hasta luega