Temple of the skull (temple 12) Palenque


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Dias de los Muertos (postcard) San Juan de Chamula


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El Castillo Chichen Itza


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Sumidero canyon Chiapas


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Palace of the governor Uxmal


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El Palacio Palenque


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Tzompantli Chichen Itza


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Cemetery Izamal


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Agua Azul Chiapas


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San Antonio monastery Izamal


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Temple of the cross Palenque


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El Castillo Chichen Itza


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Temple of the inscriptions Palenque


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San Antonio monastery Izamal


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'El Palacio' Palenque


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Our hotel San Cristóbal de Las Casas


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Catedral de San Cristóbal de Las Casas San Cristóbal de Las Casas


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San Cristóbal de Las Casas


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Agua Azul


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Iglesia de Guadelupe San Cristóbal de Las Casas


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Dias de Los Muertos Zinacantán


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Cemetery Izamal


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Rain god Chac Chichen Itza


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Weaving demonstration Zinacantán


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Palenque


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Misol Ha waterfall Chiapas


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Mexico
October / November 2005 - Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize
Capital

Mexico stad

Area

1,972,550 km²
(47.5x the Netherlands)

Time

UTC -5 to UTC -7

Language

Spanish, Indian- and Maya languages

Highest point

Citlaltépetl - 5,700 m

Flag

The current flag was adopted in 1968. Green represents independence, White represents faith and red represents equality and unity. The image is about a legend. The god Huitzilopochtli ordered the Aztecs to search for a lake, containing a stone island with a nopal cactus on which an eagle is sitting, eating a snake. In 1325 they discovered this place and founded Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City.


Itinerary



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Currency

The Mexican peso has existed in its current form since 1993. Its origin lies with the Spanish peso. Benito Juarez is depicted on the banknote. He was the 26th President of Mexico from 1858 to 1872 and the first President of full native american origin. Next to him is the coat of arms of Mexico in another shape as on the flag.




Highlights

The village of Izamal is not far from Mérida, the capital of Yucatán. The largest Maya temple in Yucatán was located here. The Spaniards demolished the temple dedicated to Itzamna in 1553 and built the monastery of San Antonio on the foundation. The monastery is painted yellow like part of the village. The atrium has 75 arches.

El Castillo, the pyramid at the Mayan temple complex Chichén Itza is one of the finest examples of Maya architecture. It is 30 meters high and the base is 55 meters. It was built in 1100 and has 91 steps, on each side, which are related to the Mayan calendar (including platform).

The Mayan temples of Palenque are beautiful and lie at the edge of the jungle. According to the hieroglyphics, the history of Palenque started in 431. Temple 12 (with skull) was built in 451. Kuk Balam was the first of 12 rulers. Pacal, ruler from 615 to 683, built the temple of the inscriptions and the palace (El Palacio), which contains beautiful plasterwork. The site was already abandoned when the Spaniards arrived.


A good time to go to Mexico is early November. The Dias de Los Muertos are quite an experience. The deceased are honored with an altar, filled with food. The graves are painted and parades take place everywhere. The family goes to the cemetery and make a party. the graves are decorated with fir branches and bottles of cola. Burping expels bad spirits and cola is good for burping. The atmosphere on the cemetery in San Juan Chamula, an Indian village near San Cristobal de Las Casas, is fantastic during these days. Imagine ... on a drizzly day, a cemetery full of burial mounds, topped with fir branches and bottles ofcola. In the background a burnt down church and family around the graves, a band and important people on a stage. Awesome. Do not take photos because you will have to deal the whole population as a Frenchman experienced. Therefore I used a postcard to give you an idea. In Zinacantán you can visit a family where you are treated to freshly baked tortillas in a small house, chock full of all kinds of stuff. Four different colored Tortillas are baked on a fire: white, yellow, red and the black ones are especially for the Dias de Los Muerto's. The ceiling is also black from the soot from the fire.