We spent just over 3 weeks in Mexico, primarily to attend the 10th International Shibori Symposium in Oaxaca. We had ample time to practice our dreadful Spanish.
Food
While I could tire of tortilla and bean puree Mexican food never failed to thrill. From street corner tacos on the first evening in CDMX to the complex moles of Oaxaca and the scary insects.
San Cristóbal de las Casas
Close to the Guatemalan border, San Cristobal at 2,000m does not feel particularly tropical. The colonial town attracts a lot of foreign visitors and many have settled as expats making a pretty and lively town heavily populated by native Mexicans…
Museums
I took far too many photos of pre-Hispanic sculpture. A treasure trove of styles from Mayans, Aztecs, Olmecs, Mixtecs and several groups I’d never heard of. There’s a gory fascination with the sacrificial knives, the inlaid skulls, the model skull…
Crafts
Mexico rivals India for the quantity and variety of crafts. What was interesting was that they weren’t simply being made for tourists. They were actively being used for the Dead of the Dead commemorations, new designs were being supported and…
The Shibori Symposium
The 10th International Shibori Symposium gave us the excuse to go to Mexico and led us to spend 10 days in Oaxaca. First we had 3 days of workshops in an old cotton factory in the hills; I had courses…
Oaxaca
Oaxaca is exciting; a large colonial city, full of museums, students and events. And a great centre for food. There was chaos in Oaxaca in August when 8 striking teachers were shot. We saw burnt out buses and lorries on…
Cholula
Cholula is on the outskirts of Puebla and has the world’s largest pyramid, dating from 5 thousand years ago. Some sources have it as the the largest monument ever constructed anywhere in the world. Nowhere near as high as the…
Puebla
Just east of Mexico City, on the other side of the volcanos, Puebla is a large colonial town packed with museums, students and tourists. Also famous for one of the great dishes of Mexico, Mole Poblano.
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan is an hour’s bus journey north of Mexico City. A much older civilisation than the Aztecs; ~100BC to 600AD. There’s still quite a mystery why the city suddenly collapsed.