Southwest Road Trip: Center of the Ancient World at Canyon
Chaco Canyon and Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a remote site operated by the National Park Service in collaboration with the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners Region of New Mexico. The Ancient Puebloans occupied the site from 850 CE to 1250 CE, until a forty-year drought necessitated a gradual migration to the Rio […]
Southwest Road Trip: Ancestral People of Mesa Verde
We commonly know them as Anasazi, a Navajo name that is interpreted as ancient enemy, considered disrespectful by the 26 tribes who descended from these ancient peoples. This includes the Hopi, the Acoma, the peoples of Taos Pueblo, and all who live along the Little Colorado and Rio Grande rivers. These descendants of the people […]
Usually Overlooked, Yagul Archeological Site Offers Stunning Vistas
Along the Pan American Highway from Oaxaca City to Mitla and Hierve El Agua, two popular tourist destinations, lies the seldom visited Yagul archeological site. We know that as the taxis, cars, and vans pass, a guide might point to a faint cave painting on the cliff wall as testimony to an ancient Zapotec group […]
Inside the Tomb: San Pablo Villa de Mitla Archeological Site
Many visitors make a stop in Mitla as a side trip, along with a whirlwind shopping extravaganza to the Sunday tianguis Tlacolula Market, or a bypass on the way to Santiago Matatlan, the mezcal capital of the world, to imbibe in a tasting. For my friend Martha’s BIG birthday celebration, a dozen of us started […]
Family Visit to Oaxaca: What to Do
While my sister Barbara has been to Oaxaca many times and spent her honeymoon here in the 1980’s, this is my brother Fred’s first visit. They are only here a week. Hardly enough to scratch the surface. But a priority visit is mezcal tasting in Matatlan and one of my favorite palenques is Gracias a […]
Yagul Archeological Site: Oaxaca’s Hidden Treasure
Yagul is one of those magical places in Oaxaca that not many people visit. When I first went there in 2005, it was mostly rubble, secreted away up a hill beyond Tlacolula, on the way to Mitla. Access was (and still is) a narrow, cracked, pot-holed macadam pavement. In those intervening years, there has been […]
NCSU in Oaxaca: Monte Alban Archeological Site
Students and faculty from North Carolina State University Department of Horticultural Science are in Oaxaca for a study abroad course on Sustainability in Emerging Countries. Here’s what a few students say about our first day at Monte Alban. “We went to see Monte Alban first to give us background about Oaxaca and culture we are […]
From Mexico City: Under the Cathedral, An Aztec Empire
Far below Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral, the largest in the Americas, lies the archeological treasure trove that was once Tenochtitlan, the City of the Aztecs. It is known as Templo Mayor. First discovered and excavated in 1978, archeologists believe there are seven pyramid levels beneath what is now visible at the site next to the great […]
Tenochtitlan: Aztecs Under the Cathedral, Mexico City
The Aztecs dominated Mexico for over two hundred years and left a legacy for many more centuries than they existed. They created modern Mexico and called themselves Mexicas. Remains of the Aztec Empire and their city Tenochtitlan continue to be discovered in the heart of Mexico City after archeologists started excavations in 1978. Yesterday, […]
Ancient Rocks and Rainbows: San Pablo Villa de Mitla
On Thursday this week, Lupita came to visit. She is age 10, soon to be eleven next month. We were looking through photographs on my computer and found one when she was a toddler playing in a pile of wool. She might want this photo for her quinceañera. That got us to talking about […]
Pueblo Magico Malinalco: Hand-loomed Rebozos and Pre-Aztec Pyramids
The magical town of Malinalco in the State of Mexico is a short thirty-minute ride from Tenancingo de Degollado. One of Mexico’s greatest rebozo weavers, Camila Ramos Zamora, and her family live and work here. Her father was a rebozo weaver from Tenancingo and he moved to Malinalco to marry Camila’s mother. They established […]
Why Visit Girona, Spain?
Girona, Spain, is a half-hour north of Barcelona Sants station by AVE bullet train going at 200 km per hour. It catapulted us into the Middle Ages. It has the best preserved medieval Jewish neighborhood in Europe dating from the 8th century with an outstanding museum atop an archeological dig that contains a mikvah. There […]
Tonina, Hidden Chiapas Archeology Gem: The Road Less Traveled
Few people make Tonina, the classic Maya archeological site just beyond Ocosingo, Chiapas, a travel destination. Instead, they choose to go between San Cristobal de Las Casas and Palenque directly, bypassing the most vertical site of the ancient Maya world. It’s another three hours by road to reach Palenque, which demands at least one overnight […]
A Visit to Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca: More Than Rug Shopping
So many visitors come to Teotitlan del Valle, brought by tour guides to go rug shopping, but never know the other treasures that the village has to offer. In and out of rug galleries on the main road, off they go to the next destination without ever coming into the center of town. I recommend […]
Oaxaca’s Monte Alban Archeological Site Key to Zapotec Civilization
The UNESCO World Heritage archeological site of Monte Alban never ceases to capture and hold my attention. I go there every time I host visitors to Oaxaca and each time there is something new that I notice or an area that is recently restored. The Spanish conquerors named Monte Alban, or white mountain, because the hill […]
Oaxaca Art + Archeology with Chiapas Add-On: Study Tour with Penland School of Crafts
Travel and learn with Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC in collaboration with Penland School of Crafts, one of the foremost centers for art and craft education in the United States. This is an unparalleled opportunity to study folk art, craft and contemporary art of Oaxaca, with an option to extend your time to explore San Cristobal […]
Extraordinary: Yanhuitlan, Oaxaca and Ceramic Artist Manuel Reyes
Off the beaten path and definitely a must-see, Santo Domingo Yanhuitlan is a small Mixtec pueblo located about an hour-and-a-half north of Oaxaca city, off the Carretera Nacional toll road to Mexico City. It is the home of an extraordinary Dominican Church whose massive stone architecture is reminiscent of the finest European churches, complete with flying […]
Tonina, Chiapas: Atop the Mayan World
The Mayan archeological site of Tonina is breathtaking. The Moon Handbook on Chiapas says it is one of the best sites that no one seems to know about. In fact, there were only about ten people there when we visited. About midway between San Cristobal de las Casas and Palenque, and a few miles off […]
Last Battle of the Aztecs and Homage to the Martyrs: Tlatelolco, Mexico City
Tlatelolco is about ten minutes from the historic center of Mexico City and centuries apart. Discovered in 1948, it is the largest archeological site within Mexico City and a must stop if you want to know more about the birth of Mexico, her history and traditions. It was our first stop on an all-day small […]
Study in Sepia Photography at Monte Alban, Oaxaca, Mexico
We arrived at Monte Alban in the chill of an early summer morning still overcast with filtered light that bathed this monumental Zapotec archeological site. Our photography workshop assignment this day was to capture texture and pattern, and to use both the sepia and black and white settings on our digital cameras. Monte Alban […]
We Are in Tlaxcala Now: Archeology, Volcanoes, Great Food
Who could ask for more? We are in Tlaxcala (Tuh-las-cah-lah), the first city Cortes came to after landing in Veracruz. The oldest churches in the New World are here. The compact zocalo is ringed with 16th century buildings decorated with frilly stucco and carved stone. The town of 73,000, tucked into a hillside, is one […]
Yaxchilan: Remote Mayan Site in Chiapas Jungle–Get There By Boat!
Yaxchilan (Yash-chee-lahn) is situated on the high banks of the Usumacinta River that borders Mexico and Guatemala, three hours southeast of Palenque. The secluded ruins are in a dense jungle only accessible by river boat, a good 30-minute ride from the launch site. The boat ride is a wonderful transition from now to then. In […]
Bonampak Archeological Site: Mayan Treasure in the Chiapas Jungle
Bonampak is at the farthest reaches of Chiapas near the Usumacinta River in the Selva Lacandon — a rainforest jungle that is almost three hours from Palenque. It’s one of those magical places that I have dreamed of visiting but never imagined I might get to. To get as far as Palenque and not go […]
Selva Lacandon Territory: A Chance Meeting
My journey into the Lacandon jungle along the Usumacinta River that is the boundary between Mexico and Guatemala began simply with a top-of-the-list visit to Na Bolom (Jaguar House) in San Cristobal de las Casas. Here I was fascinated by Gertrude (Trudi) Duby-Blom’s descriptive black and white photos shot in the mid-1950’s of Lacondon people. […]
Palenque. Mayan Temples in the Chiapas Rainforest
They say there is more rain here in Palenque than anywhere else in Mexico. We are in the middle of a rainforest. It is a jungle of green, and with the shroud of fog, drizzle, and mist that hangs over us all day, the archeological site is a photograph of sepia and gray tones only […]
Monte Alban: Closer to the Gods
Atop the Zapotec world and about 15 minutes from the historic center of Oaxaca is the great Meso-american archeological site of Monte Alban, named by the Spaniards after siting the mountaintop covered with the blooms of the white morning-glory tree (left photo below). The Spanish Conquistadores named Oaxaca for the plant, called in Nahuatl […]
San Pablo Villa de Mitla in Black and White: Oaxaca Archeology and Photography
It was one of those perfect Oaxaca days where the skies were cerulean blue and filled with puffy white cumulus clouds scattered like pillows across the horizon. Our photography workshop participants set out by van for the ancient village of San Pablo Villa de Mitla at the far end of the Tlacolula Valley about 35-40 […]
Oaxaca, Mexico Women’s Yoga Retreat
Oaxaca Women’s Yoga Retreat with Beth Miller, July 5-11, 2011 — for beginners and all levels of yoga practice Deepen your awareness and expand your perspective as you join us for this 6-night, 7-day retreat based in the Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico. This women-only program is perfect for mothers and daughters, […]
Norma’s Oaxaca Favorites: A Baker’s Dozen
1. Museo Textil de Oaxaca, corner Fiallo and Hidalgo, closed Tuesdays. Ask to meet Eric Chavez Santiago, director of education, for a personal tour. Take a class if you are in town for a while. 2. Federico Chavez Santiago Family Weavers for authentic, masterful, naturally dyed rugs at fair trade prices, Francisco I. Madero #55, […]
1491: The Origin of Food — A Mesoamerica Excerpt
I’m nearly through Charles Mann’s “1491” — an extraordinary, powerful testimony to the survival and skill of native American people who, archeologists have posited, have lived in the Americas for at least 32,000 years. When most of Europe was covered in ice and uninhabitable, North and South America were populous and thriving. I’m discovering so […]