Mitla and Yagul

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In the morning I got a bus out the town of Mitla, best known for its ruins mixed into the towns. However there was also some kind of religous event going on at the time, which I had probably suspect was the Guadalope (excuse the spelling) celebrations in hindsight, though I don´t recall the exact date. I had already noted the Mexicans had a bit of a soft spot for the old Virgin Mary, with Jesus not seeming as popular figure to depict. Maybe the image of a caring mother over a guy in agony slowly dying is preferable. Anyway this was obviously a big event with little boys dressed in Judo like outfits with moustaches drawn on and the girls with long colourful dresses and little baskets. It was all very cute. The whole town had descended on the main church and this had brought the place pretty much to a halt. There was a real sense of community spirit to the event which was great to see. That and the friendliness is probably my favourite thing about visiting small towns and villages.


After a little walk I came across what seemed to be the old church, perched on a small hill, with crumbling steps leading to the crumbling church. A sole cross stood inside with an aptly depressed image of Jesus looking depressed at the empty interior bar the little filling the corners. A sorry, abandoned building yet still visible on it´s perch.

Eventually I did what I came to do, and entered the ruins, built later than the others I had seen and subsquently was more architectually advanced with patterned walls, archways and tombs. Interesting, and flooded with tourists, more than I had seen at the bigger sites. After some comida I hopped into a collectivo with some large but friendly ladies, it was squeeze but I wasn´t going far. A little bit down the main road I was dropped off on the turning to Yagul. I walk up the long road until I reached the entrance. Deserted. One guy looked up a little suprised from his newspaper with a glance over to the empty carpark, obviously a little curious on how I managed to get there.
The ruinings have an awesome setting away from any towns, peacefully set up in the hills. I wondered around for bit and then up to the peak of the hill behind them where there was a tomb and great 360 views. The soundness of the strategic positioning was clear to see. I was thinking this would be a great place to have a house.
On the walk back a guy picked me up on his motorbike and toke me 5km to the next town. He offered to go all the way to Oaxaca but already freezing cold I kindly declined. Feeling pumped I thought of hitching to another village, but with the light going I decided to head back instead.

The next day I went from language school to language school with not much luck, surprisingly few people spoke English (for a place where they teach it) and everything was either starting some months away or was all too vague.

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Photos

Virgen de Gaudolupe Celebrations in Mital
The girl in the green dress.