This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Mexico 2001
Photography by John Coate
On July 9, 2001, Hilarie and I loaded up our 1990 VW Westfalia and headed for Mexico. We drove south across Texas and crossed the border at Laredo. We drove all the way to Tulum on the Quintana Roo coast. 9700 miles later, on August 19, we returned to San Francisco. These are some highlights from our trip, in approximate chronological order. This list will keep growing as I put more pictures up. I have a couple of hundred of them..
Puebla
Puebla is an old colonial city in the verdant volcano country southeast of Mexico City. Some of the churches there are built right on top of ancient pyramids. This area has it all - amazing land, big city culture, beautiful pottery, friendly people.
Highway to the Sky. When you drive from Mexico City to Puebla, the road goes over the shank of Mt. Iztaccihuatl, Mt. Popocatepetl's sister volcano. It just seemed to climb on forever. the clouds in this picture contour the summit.
Smoking Mt. Popo. We went up on the roof of the motel where we camped. Camping in this case means we paid them a small fee to park in their parking lot.
Mt. Orizaba. Mt. Orizaba is the highest mountain in Mexico. This is the view as you head south towards Oaxaca.
Oaxaca
The Guelaguetza
The Guelaguetza is the annual folk dance festival that features groups representing the seven regions of Oaxaca. It was our amazing good luck to arrive in Oaxaca just as the festival was about to begin. the tickets were long sold out, but they have a huge parade through town before the festival followed by a big party in the zocalo. The variety of the dances and the costumes is astounding.
At the head of the parade. Here you see a mixture of regional styles. Note the Frida Kahlo lookalike on the right.
Pineapple #1 and Pineapple #2 Two views of the Pineapple Dancers from Tehuantepec on the south coast.
Young Dancers.
This is a festival for all ages. Note the big bottle of mezcal.
Cinco Hombres. Feeling good after the parade.
Monte Alban
Monte Alban was the capital city of the Zapotecs. Huge and beautiful, it overlooks the confluence of three valleys.
John. Hilarie took
this one.
Turquoise Skull. The real skull of one of the chiefs.
The Yucatan
Palenque is on the northern edge of Chiapas as the highlands drop down to the Gulf. This was one of the queeen cities of the world in its Mayan heydey of about 600-800 A.D.
Coba is a huge Mayan city that has hardly been excavated. It covers an area of nine square miles. this photo was taken atop the highest pyramid.
Scorpion. This little
guy was running across a flat temple stone. I was surprised how
fast they are.
Uxmal Pyramid. Uxmal
is a magnificent Mayan ruin on the western Yucatan. This is the
Pyramid of the Magician.
Nunnery Quadrangle, showing some fine stone carving.
Panama Hats. Hilarie in a stall in
the marketplace in Merida.
Our furthest destination was Cozumel where we met up with our good friends Joey and Mike and others for a few days of scuba diving and air conditioning.
Gulf coast
Old Ferries. This is on the gulf coast outside of Ciudad Del Carmen.
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons License.
For permission email: tex@well.com