Worth sussing out is also Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan was Mexico’s largest ancient city. It was the capital of Mexico’s largest pre – Hispanic empire. It is located on the outskirts of Mexico City. Do have a look at the Quetzalcoatl Temple and other ancient buildings. The experience is quite impressive. In a nutshell, however, it is beyond my limited ability to comprehend why anybody should have the desire to live in Mexico City. The place is a circus.

Oaxaca

As pointed out above, Mexico City served primarily as a stopover on the way to Oaxaca and Chiapas. The state of Oaxaca is situated north of Chiapas, in the South of Mexico. The city of Oaxaca is the capital of the state Oaxaca. The population of Oaxaca Ciudad may be more or less half the population of Colima.

Oaxaca radiates a very special atmosphere. The atmosphere of Oaxaca is relaxed and energetic as well as cosmopolitan at the same time. The atmosphere there is cosmopolitan because quite a few Europeans live in Oaxaca. Many of them live there because they were looking for an alternative lifestyle. They have found it in Oaxaca. There also also a bunch of tourists staggering around, which is virtually the only feature I was not amused with while being in Oaxaca. I do not like to be where heaps of Joe Sixpacks and Johnny Paychecks are. 

However, a significant portion of the population in Oaxaca – possibly the majority of the population there – are Indians. The Indian population adds to the special flavour of Oaxaca. It makes Oaxaca completely different to Colima and most other places in Mexico.

Similar to most Mexican cities, the centre of Oaxaca is the zocalo. The zocalo is a public square in the heart of the city. It is often shady. In Oaxaca the zocalo is also arcaded. I spent hours there doing not much except reading and inhaling the extraordinary atmosphere. There are also several quite good cafes and restaurants near the zocalo. Like in Colima, it did not take me a bunch of time to find my favourite restaurant for extensive breakfasts. While my favourite restaurant in Colima is “Los Naranjos Campestre”, it is in Oaxaca “Del Jardin Café”.

Watch the sky and the light in Oaxaca, together with the indigenous population and the colonial architecture – and you understand what I mean by special atmosphere. Even though I have been to quite a bunch of places throughout the world, Oaxaca does stand out. It is one of a kind and very fascinating.

San Cristobal de las Casas 

San Cristobal de las Casas does stand out as well. But the reasons are different, which make it stand out. San Cristobal is situated in Chiapas. Chiapas is Mexico’s Southern Most and poorest state. The first glance around tells you already that San Cristobal and Chiapas are poorer than the rest of Mexico. The proximity to the border of Guatemala is apparent. Like Oaxaca, San Cristobal is touristy. But it is by far not as touristy as Oaxaca. When places are not touristy or less touristy, I feel more drawn to them. It is probably another feature of my trait that crowds are not my cup of tea.

San Cristobal is situated in the pine – clad Valle de Jovel and is surrounded by Mayan villages of the highlands of Chiapas. There are various indigenous Indian groups living in the highlands of Chiapas – e.g. the Tzootzils and Tzeltals. These tribes speak languages that derive from the Mayan language. Only the Zoques in the north of Chiapas speak a language that does not derive from Mayan. Their language is rather related to the Mixes tribe in Oaxaca and the Popolucas tribe in Veracruz.

On the one hand, San Cristobal radiates quite a relaxed and a little bohemian atmosphere with its bars, cafes and restaurants including the music scene there. On the other hand, the city centre is usually packed out with army and police. The reason is the Zapatista uprising that started in 1994.

The Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) derives its name from Emiliano Zapata. Emiliano Zapata fought in the Mexican revolution in 1910. The Zapatistas fight or claim to fight on behalf of oppressed people, predominantly Indians in Chiapas. They demand education and jobs, respect for indigenous peoples and cultures. Even though I do not deserve to be called an expert on revolutionary groups in Latin America, there appear to be a few differences between the Zapatistas on the one hand and the Shining Path in Peru and FARC in Colombia on the other hand. A main difference seems to be that the former are not involved in drug trafficking to finance their activities.s

However, nothing out of the ordinary occurred during my stay in San Cristobal. The only thing that came more or less close to danger were the many holes in the streets. Looking at it in hindsight, I am more than a little surprised that I did not fall into any of them. Do not worry about Zapatista uprisings in Chiapas. San Cristobal and Chiapas are worth sussing out.

Laguna La Maria

Every now and then, I have to get away from it all. The purpose of the exercise is to enjoy peace and quiet in nature. The place to be for me in South Africa for this sort of exercise was Rustler’s valley, near the border to Lesotho. In New Zealand, Waiheke Island was the place for me to enjoy peace and quiet in nature. In Mexico, I do this sort of thing at Laguna La Maria.

Laguna La Maria is situated in the state of Colima near the town San Antonio. It is a lagoon virtually right in the middle of nowhere. You can rent there what New Zealanders in the North Island call a bach. New Zealanders in the South Island call it a crib. Gringos probably call it a cottage, some sort of little house for weekends. You can fix your own meals there. Or you can cut a deal with the manager and he does it for you. As I am a little huevon (Spanish slang for lazy), I usually prefer the latter.

The altitude there is a little higher than in the city of Colima. So it is pleasantly cool there in winter. There is only nature, nothing but nature. When I returned from Laguna La Maria to Colima, the noise in a shopping mall almost drove me nuts.

Very close to Laguna La Maria, there is the Hacienda de San Antonio, which belongs to the AMAN resorts. However, I very much doubt that a hotel room is worth eight hundred US – dollars per night. But that is subject to debate.

Summary

When living overseas for the long term, you settle in after a while and start feeling at home. It usually dawns on you that you feel at home where you live when you look forward to returning to that place after a holiday/vacation for example. I have had this sort of experience a few times already – when returning to Miami after a week in San Francisco, when returning to Johannesburg after a week in Zimbabwe and when returning to Auckland after being a little more than a week out of town. It has been similar in Colima. After an extensive trip to the deep South of Mexico, my soul almost jumped for joy when I returned to the quiet and peaceful place that is currently my home turf.

On the other hand, a change of scenery is necessary on a regular basis, no matter where you are, no matter what you do. The change of scenery serves various purposes. It recharges your batteries. It broadens your horizon. It makes you feel young and fresh again, no longer ruco and huevon. A change of scenery….The world in the twenty first century is a village. However, the village is big enough for quite a heap of changes of scenery. Go for it.

Jurgen Klemann