Well, Ive been travelling a bit since I wrote last, and I've been in places with no internet till now. I spent another day in Oaxaca visiting some Aztec ruins, called Mount Alban. They weren't as big as the ones outside Mexico City, but there was much more detail in the structures and carvings. It was also on the top of a central mountain so I got beautiful 360 degree view of the area. Then I headed of to the the pacific coast to a tiny place called Zipolite. It´s simply beautiful. I went on a snorkling trip along a coral reef. We saw turtles, dolphins and a manta ray!, and lots of beautiful tropical fish. It´s also really really hot here. Really Hot!

The first turtle I saw, he's not suposed to be upside down!

Sunrise

My accommodation, cabanas

Me

Unfortunately, I learnt (the hard way) not to walk barefoot on Mexican beaches!

Then I took a night bus (12 hours) up to San Cristobal de las Casas. This is a town back up in the mountains, with a vast network of Mayan villages. There are around 1.25 million indigenous Mayans living in these valleys and today I took a tour up into two of the smaller villages. I'm glad I went with a guide as he was able and aloud to enter far more places than I would have been able to do alone. In the first village it was forbidden to take photos as the people really believe it takes away their souls. We visited a church where smalls groups of people were offering up their prayers, along with some chickens who met their maker right there in the church! It was really atmospherically lite with hundreds of candles. The second village saw the potential for some profit to be made out of tourists and so some families opened up their homes to be visited.

Now I'm washing my clothes, and planning the next few days. love r