[ The Time Warp ]

After Cholula, we traveled down the coast towards out ultimate destination for this week: Huatulco. The roads were worse than expected, and what was going to be one long day became three. From a combination of weather, random archaeological sites, poor directions, and bike races, we ended up taking several hours worth of detours. It's a long time to be in a car...for about 10 hours each day with no internet or cellular service. It's just you and your thoughts and the beautiful countryside. 

The first meaningful stop we made was here at Tlaxcala. We analyzed the murals
in this time capsule of an excavation!

It also started pouring on us here!

This is super fun. The lanes have paved shoulders
so that cars can pass with an oncoming car. Everyone scoots
over a little bit so 3 cars can easily fit at once!

Even Mexico is celebrating!
(Although the rainbow is very faint)

The second day we made it to the beach! It was so incredibly
beautiful. I was freaking out the whole time. And garlic shrimp
to top it off! :D Photo cred to Danny!

On the second day we also stopped in Zacatepec (grass hill) because they still have their lienzo preserved! A lienzo is a map made by indigenous peoples that has markers for the boundaries as well as the history of war, trade, and genealogies built into them! 

That night, we stayed in Pinotepa at a flamingly pink hotel. It was disgusting. There were bugs everywhere. And by bugs I mean live cockroaches, dead cockroaches, ants, tiny bugs on the bed, gnats. I literally curled up at the end of my crunchy bed and forced myself not to think about it. At least we didn't have lizards in our showers like the other rooms. 

Then the third day we stopped at Tututepec (bird hill). It was scorching hot with a real feel of 120 degrees Fahrenheit from the humidity! Nevertheless we walked up to a cemetery to check out a stone, then up another hill which was the actual bird hill! For lunch I had enchiladas with mole sauce. Except is was red mole. It was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. Every bite was mind blowing. I need more mole in my life.

Here is the stone in the graveyard!

After leaving Sunday morning, we finally arrived on Tuesday night. Dinner was great; I had my first tamale here! (On the topic of food I want to mention that I had pata de res, or cow foot! It looks disgusting, like amorphous globs of fat, but if you don't look at it it just melts in your mouth and tastes pretty good!)

Then on Wednesday we did our first class here! We went to an Eco-Archaeology site, where they excavate in an eco-conscious way and try to conserve as much of the habitat as possible and rebuild with natural materials. It was beautiful! We also got to see ongoing digs not yet open to the public! Although, to do so we had to hike through a forest known to have poisonous snakes, dengue mosquitoes, fatal ticks, and acidic trees. Nevertheless, we survived!

They called this the Templo Mayor of Huatulco!

This was one of the safe ports for trade all along the Americas.
There are alligators that still swim up this river!

All the yellow dots through the middle are butterflies. :)

There was a nice museum at the site, too!

After that, Danny decided to give us the day off! I went to the ocean to hang out more, and had a great time! :) I love the ocean so much. I just might have to live on a coast.

Paz y amor,

Abby