Silver mining towns, big cities and small beach villages.

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Hola Amigos!

The story goes on. For the next weeks we were city hopping from the North to the South – León, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico City, Oaxaca and Mazunte.



León

On the boat to Isla Marineta we met two girls from León, Teodora and Valentina who invited us to visit them if we pass through León. After a 24 hour bus ride from the Copper Canyon to the South, we arrived in León and took the girls up on their offer. We had lunch at the golf club, El Molina, what a beautiful place! The girls worked as managers here and made us feel like VIPs. Later in the evening we even had the opportunity to meet their families, joining them for dinner…pizza! Finally, they took us on a short tour of the city - we were overwhelmed with the hospitality of our new friends and their family. Thank you girls! On the same day I received the note for my bachelor thesis – passed! This means everything worked out exactly as I wanted and I (Antonia) now have a Bachelor of Science! Eva is still waiting to hear back about her grades, her professor is a little bit slower than mine (she’s pretty mad 😉.



Guanajuato

León, being a little too much of an industrial centre for us, we moved on to the highly-recommended colonial city Guanajuato. Checking in to the lovely “Hostel Guanajuato” we quickly settled in and ventured out onto the streets for some exploration. The City once had a booming silver industry (up to 20% of the World’s silver came from here) this led to visible wealth in the city, and countless underground tunnels. They are used as the main streets today, which makes the tiny streets above a nearly traffic free zone (except for all the people).

Looking for a view point, we found a festivity for the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico. Traditional dances, local food and children dressed in the traditional clothes of the town. Everyone was heading to a tiny little church up in the hills to offer gifts to the Virgin of Guadalupe. It was amazing to watch! Always curious, we tasted every new food item we found along the way. At night, we went out to party and celebrate my (Antonia) birthday. We even found a shop selling nachos with warm cheese sauce through a little window, like an emergency pharmacy. Freaky!

The next day a funicular brought us to the highest point in Guanajuato, we sat there for hours enjoying an amazing view of the entire City. Looking for the best birthday cake in town, we found “La Vie en Rose”. This small bakery was somehow able to capture the charm of France right here in Mexico…They had the best coffee and cake in town! In the evening, we joined a city tour, it was not the typical informative tour we expected. “Los Caballeros” was a group of men, dressed in traditional costumes, that presented tales and legends of Guanajuato through song and dance. Guill, a friend from Canada, also joined us for the tour and the birthday party celebrations.



San Miguel de Allende

After Guanajuato, we took the bus to San Miguel de Allende, another colonial city an hour South. At night, the town was lit up with some of the most beautiful Christmas decorations we had ever seen (according to our German taste)! Before enjoying the lights, we watched the sunset over the roofs of San Miguel. It would have been perfect had there not been a snake just 10 centimeters behind Eva! We have never been this fast on our feet and it took us several minutes for our hearts to stop racing. Now it was time for Mexico City!





Mexico City

Carlos, a guy I (Eva) met in Panama a month ago, lives in Mexico City. He was kind enough to let us stay at his place during our stay in the BIG City. After finding someone who could fix our broken computer we went sightseeing: Bellas Artes, Angel de Independencia, Bosque de Chapultepec and the Museo de Antropologia. On the way back we experienced the Mexico City metro problem (sexual harassment). We did not know that there were two types of cars; one for women and children (always the first two), and one for men. In the evening we tried to go partying with our hosts Carlos and Abril. In most clubs you have to buy an entire bottle of booze or a carton of beer, no single drinks available. As we did not have the intention to get totally wasted, we changed to a midnight meal and ended the night at this point.



Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan is an ancient city of the civilisation Teotihuacan, north of Mexico City. 2000 years ago is was the biggest city on the American continent. Standing on the pyramid of the moon, we were fascinated by the magic of the old stones, imagining the place in its glory days. We spent the whole day wandering between the ruins, wondering what had been restored and what is original.

After an unexpected night, the following day brought another special moment. Between thousands of people in the centre of Mexico City, a young street artist drew us with a catching passion and perfection.



Oaxaca

Everyone told us to take the night bus for that ride – I am happy we did not. We passed stunning views, a cactus forest, deep valleys and the soil was continuously changing colour from yellow, to red, to white – it would have been a shame to lose that landscape to the darkness!

In Oaxaca, we stayed at the “Hostel de las Americas”, it had a great rooftop and lovely people. Day 1: explored the city, the markets and the food, all of which were amazing. Day 2: “Hierve El Agua” a natural infinity pool and flowstone waterfalls. We went there without a tour guide and stayed for a while. The view was stunning and we even made a new friend…a local girl who wants to be a doctor one day. Day 3: The city of Monte Alban, built a long time ago by the Zapoteco. Max, a German, joined us. That night we changed hostel and were joined by Mitch and Justin, our American friends we had met in Guadalajara. Together we visited the Mezcal festival and tried every different variety of the local specialty. Mezcal, similar to Tequila, is made from agave. The difference is that Tequila is ONLY made from blue agave, while Mezcal can be made from a wide variety of different agaves. If you’re lucky, you can sometimes find a little worm inside!

Next day we took the bus to Mazunte, a village on the pacific coast. Not even the scenery could improve the terrible drive. Six hours in a small bus on a tiny road through the mountains – with so many twists and turns you would think we’d be driving slowly or at least at an acceptable speed? No way, we still think the driver was trying to set a new speed record! Surprisingly, we survived, even with food in our stomachs – and once again we were happy to refuse the night ride (after talking to the Germans who took this one and did not sleep a single second).



Mazunte

Now we are here. Mazunte is a small village at the beach, a place you can see the sunrise and the sunset over the sea, a place you can close your eyes and dream, a place which becomes home in Mexico. You remember I wrote once, that it’s the people who make a place memorable – in Mazunte everything comes together.

We slept on a cliff in swinging beds under a sky full of sparkling stars. Waking up, watching the sun rise, and the ocean shine in golden colours, we would close our eyes again briefly soaking it all in and enjoying a perfect start to the day. We wish you could feel this moment.

Across the street, Erick’s “Siddhartha” restaurant has become our living room, serving the best coffee and cocktails in town.

This year we had a typical backpacker Christmas…watching the sunset at the beach. We spent the days with Sammy, Cencio, Emilio, Kika, Mitch and Justin. Mother Nature brought the best Christmas present. Instead of opening presents, we were gifted with dolphins swimming around the boat and whales rising from the ocean.

Franzi and Kathi organized a boat tour through the Bays of Huatulco. Together with them, Mitch, Justin and Kika we had a wonderful day, full of happiness and fun. Unfortunately watermelon Tina did not survive the day, but Pineapple Toni was lucky and travelled safely over the mountains to Oaxaca. The next day, Eva and Justin visited Franzi und Kathi in Puerto Escondido and Mitch and Antonia explored the mountains on his motorbike.



Day 365 of 2016:



We found a small private bay between Punta Cometa and Playa Marmita. Mitch, Justin, Kika and the two of us enjoyed the last sunset of the year. The Team created a delicious meal right there on the beach. We also lit a Mexican bonfire with tortillas and burnt cactus. After midnight, we wandered over to Playa Marmita and danced with all the locals through the night and into 2017. Happy New Year to everyone and thanks to all who have been part of the last year!

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Photos

Photo by Justin Lewis

Goodbye 2016
Photo by Justin Lewis

Comments

[RENanDREW]

Gorgeous Mexico
Hi, I've just stumbled across your blogs - how amazing is Mexico?? Looking forward to reading about your adventures in Guatemala too. Safe travels! :)

[Jutonia]

Thank you, have fun reading the other ones, too - I hope you get the chance to visit these countries as well! Mexico was sooo great, I will be back as soon as possible, I missed visiting Baja California and Huasteca :D Saludos :)