Mexico Trip Pictures


Mexico City Zocolo or city square. Mexico city at first was built on an island surrounded by a lake and connected by causeways. Long ago the lake was drained and now there are buildings where the lake was and beyond.	Main Cathedral of Mexico city. This square and buildings were built on top of and using the same stones as the main buildings of the Aztec capital. Some of these big old buildings are sinking in the areas soft dirt.
These old Spanish colonial churches are found all over Mexico. They have one or two bell towers and very ornate fronts. They are made out of stone.

Guanajuato is a smaller town that is located between hills. It is rich in Mexican history and a good place to visit. Its streets are very narrow in places. There are only foot paths when the area gets steep as they wind up the hills.	Town square in Guanajuato. These trees in the square trimmed perfectly into a nice square is very typical of many towns. In the middle a bandstand where performances are held is also typical. This is the place to meet people.

Us in one of the churches. Note the stone archways.	Guanajuato is also known for its mummies. They weren't designed to be mummies, but buried in the dry salty soil resulted in mummies.

Teotitlan are ruins just outside Mexico city. These ruins are much older than the Aztec period. They are massive but plain.	Here we are in Oaxaca, a town in the southern part of Mexico. This town has more indigenous influence and much artwork including the brightly painted wood animal figures, wool rugs and knives.

	At the Mixteca ruins outside Oaxaca. The Mixteca architecture is marked by geometric patterns made out of the or carved into the stones. There were many cultural nations in the history of Mexico including the Olmec, Mixteca, Aztec, Mayans and Toltecs. They all had there times and places. When the Spanish came to Mexico the Aztecs were the dominate group at that time.

Oaxaca is known for its woven wool rugs. They are often dyed with natural dyes. The most famous in the area is cochineal a red dye made from an insect found on cactus plants. The rugs are then made on loams in family operations or small cooperatives. The designs are full of colors and vary from animal figures to geometric designs. Wes and Kyler are in front of one to the right.

In a town near Oaxaca there are these massive old trees. This one is said to be the widest tree in the world.	Wes and Kyler in the hills of Queretaro. This is a dry mountainous area north of Mexico city.

In Colon, Queretaro there is an orphanage run by and American priest named Santa Maria Mexicano. Its in an old monastery and cares for over 300 kids. I've gone many times there to help out with projects. more information on this organization see its website at: www.mvproduce.com/SantaMaria Above Kyler with some of the kids. We were married at santa Maria on new years day by Father Norman with 300 kids as guests.
	San Cristóbal Las Casas is a beautiful city in Chiapas Mexico. Its in the far south of Mexico and borders Guatemala. Most of the people there share history with the indigenous populations of Guatemala and several indigenous languages are spoken by various towns. To the left is a religious dance. When we were they the area was troubled by the Zapatista uprising.

	Palenque is an old Mayan ruins in the southern state of Yucatan. The Yucatan is a mainly flat, tropical, sparsely populated area with highly spiced food. These ruins are well preserved with temples still maintaining there roof combs and some of the original paint that covered them. There are also in the area these underground lakes/water holes with small openings to the light that are just beautiful.

Tulum is a small town on the Yucatan coast just south of Cancun, Mexico. It has just the same beaches without the crowds and expense.	There are small Mayan ruins in Tulum right on the Ocean.

We stayed at a small bungalow in Tulum and	slept on the locally made hammocks.