During our Trans-Americas Journey we’ve spent well over a year in the Mundo Maya visiting more than 50 Mayan sites in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. In addition, Josh (who also writes the Moon Handbook travel guides to Nicaragua, Belize and the Living Abroad in Nicaragua guide) is committed to conveying a true sense of place based on actual first-hand experiences just like we are.

We did some digging around and provided Josh with information about the best guides, events, tours and hotels to help readers plan the most powerful and revealing trips through the Mundo Maya in 2012.

The end of the world (as we know it)

Why 2012? Well, the Mayans were meticulous record keepers, astronomers and day counters. The carved-stone calendars they left behind are stunning in their accuracy and artistry and have been the focus of intense research for decades.

Mayan calendars end on December 21, 2012, however, for reasons we may never know. Theories range from hysterical (and often ignorant) cries of “It’s the end of the world!” to the more moderate view held by many actual Mayans that the end of the Mayan calendar is merely a kind of re-set button for humanity–difficult and painful, but nothing to get apocalyptic about.

Whatever theory you subscribe to, 2012 is a year full of unique celebrations of Mayan culture throughout Belize, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. If you’ve ever been curious about these countries and/or the Mayans, 2012 is the time to visit.

Moon Maya 2012: A Guide to Celebrations in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras (Moon Handbooks, $7.95 for the book/$2.99 for the Kindle edition), is available NOW so if you want the inside scoop about the most unique and authentic on-and-off-the-beaten-path celebrations, pick up a copy and start planning smart.

We do not get a percentage of book sales. We just hate to see people waste their vacations (and their money) on mediocre experiences, especially with regard to a once-in-a-lifetime event like the end of the epic Mayan calendar.

Use the link at the end of this post to buy a copy of Maya 2012: A guide to celebrations in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize & Honduras (or snag a FREE Kindle version). But first, here’s a sneak peek look at the interview with us that ran in the book.

Related posts:

1. Where We’ve Been – June 2011 Road Trip Driving Route
2. Archaeological Index: Mayan (and other) Sites We’ve Visited
3. New Month, New Stuff

When we were nominated by Immersed in the World to contribute to the “My 7 Links” project on Tripbase it felt like the prefect time (and perfect reason) to take a little stroll back through blog history and fulfill the pretty simple mandate to come up with seven posts that fit into the following categories.

Some posts are old favorites, others are unsung heroes but they all deserve a second look!

Our Most Beautiful Post

You Know You Want It: MORE Antarctica Photos

Even the word Antarctica is beautiful and we made the most of the wonders of the white continent (penguins! glaciers! killer whales!) during adventure aboard the MV Antarctic Dream.

Our Most Popular Post

What’s In Your (Travel) Wallet?

Our own frustration at being charged foreign transaction fees when using a credit card outside the US  inspired a whole lot of digging until we uncovered the one, the only credit card that makes sense for serial travelers like ourselves who just can’t bear giving someone money for nothing. Which credit card is it? You’ll have to read the post (like more than 7,000 other travelers have) to find out.

Our Most Controversial Post

Rockstar in the Bullring

Spaniard Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza is not just a rejoneador (a matador who fights bulls on horseback). He is the world’s best rejoneador so when we had the chance to watch one of his fights during his most recent tour of Mexico we had to go. Whatever your feelings about bullfighting (and, trust us, there ARE feelings) the experience gave us an amazing glimpse into Latin culture and an amazing display of horsemanship.

Our Most Helpful Post

How To Have A Mexican Road Trip

After 18 months and nearly 25,000 miles on the road in Mexico we learned a thing or two (sometimes the hard way) about how to have a Mexican road trip. This comprehensive post covers all the bases from topes warnings to how to get out of a police shakedowns to which insurance to buy to the pros and cons of toll roads.  Read this before you drive over the border (we sure wish we’d had a resource like this before we left). You’re welcome.

The Post Whose Success Surprised Us

Fiesta de 188 Aniversario – Union de Tula, Jalisco, Mexico

We went to Tula with our friends in the Delgadillo family from Guadalajara. The patriarch of the family, who was born in Union de Tula, returned with his family to his home town to celebrate the 188th anniversary of its founding and we tagged along. We had a lovely time being welcomed to each neighborhood’s food and tequila and music-filled street parties and we produced a very nice post about a very nice Mexican town. End of story.

Nope. This post was an instant, huge hit. It rocketed through the roof and instantly to the top of our most popular posts list and stayed there for months. What readers were (and still are) after are the two videos embedded in the post–one of an adorable 5-year-old cowboy dancing up a storm in front of a band and another of couples dancing (very closely) to banda music in the town square. To date, these videos have been viewed more than 54,000 times. That accounts for more than 25% of all the views of all of the 150 videos on our YouTube channel.

Turns out, a high percentage of those born in Tula now live and work outside Mexico–mostly in the US (we met the two long lost sons, below, during our time in Tula) and they’re homesick. Very, very homesick.

The Post We Feel Didn’t Get the Attention It (totally) Deserved

Children of Semana Santa – Antigua, Guatemala

Come on! This post has adorable children and one of the most famous and colorful religious events in one of the most popular destinations in Guatemala. Did cold-hearted readers care? Not so much.

The Post We’re Most Proud Of

Flower Wars: Is Your V-Day Bouquet Destroying the Jungles of Belize?

Published just prior to Valentine’s Day, this post alerted many readers to a hidden problem with that annual V-day bouquet. Besides being more than a bit trite as love tokens go, many bouquets use an innocuous-looking palm frond as cheap, long-lasting filler. This frond is from a species of xate palm and almost all of it is harvested in the jungles of Belize (having already been seriously depleted in Guatemala and Mexico) and sold to huge international floral companies.

Where’s the problem? Let’s see…illegal border crossing, animal poaching, jungle clearing, theft, violence and all of it in vast tracts of untouched jungle where endangered species like the harpy eagle are trying to regain a foothold. Makes chocolates look like a genius move.

To keep the ball rolling, We’d like to nominate the following great bloggers to take part in the My 7 Links project:

• Adventure Jo
• UncomMom
• The Strong buzz
• Talking About Colombia
• Angela Shelton

Related posts:

1. This New Map Puts our Posts in their Place
2. 3 Years and Counting!
3. Post Archive – Index of All of Our Blog Posts

We recently went back through all 177 of the posts we put up about Mexico and compiled this list of the Top 10 Reasons to Go to Mexico complete with links back to our original words and pictures on the subject.

We road tripped through Mexico because that’s what we do. However, no matter how you explore Mexico you’ll be glad you did because…

#1…the beach is just the beginning

It’s easy to get the impression that Mexico is one long, white sandy beach peppered with frosty cold Coronas and festively-colored hammocks. And there’s plenty of that. However, the great big pleasant surprise about Mexico is its geographic diversity.

Yes, tanning is an outdoor activity but you can have even more fun in Mexico if you venture off the beaten beach.

The north offers expansive deserts. The vast central area of the country is downright mountainous (the capital, Mexico City, is at 7,350 feet or 2,240 meters). One of the largest canyon systems in the world is in Mexico along with enormous volcanoes, meandering caves, impressive waterfalls and tumbling rivers.

Here’s proof.

Copper Canyon, Chihuahua state

This series of six interlocking canyons in northern Mexico is both larger and deeper than the Grand Canyon. We know because we spent a month exploring the area on the Copper Canyon train, in our truck and on foot from Cusarare to El Fuerte. We camped on the rim of the Sinfarosa area of the Copper Canyon, enjoyed the area’s massive Basaseachi Waterfall and generally got a sense of the indigenous Tarahumara (who, we learned in the canyon, actually prefer to be called Raramuri) and the gorgeous world they fled into to escape the enslaving Spanish.

Cenotes, Yucatan state

When the ceiling of a cave falls in and the cave fills with crystal-clear fresh water it’s called a cenote. They’re gorgeous oasis perfect for snorkeling and even scuba diving, as we found out when we jumped into Dos Ojos Cenote in southern Mexico for one of the most other-worldly scuba dives of our lives.  In the town of Cuzamá (near Merida) you can rent a horse-drawn cart to pull you along a small-gauge railway track (originally used to transport harvested sisal) around a long circuit that includes stops for swims at three dramatic cenotes.  Up the adrenaline factor by joining the locals and swinging into the water off massive descending tree roots, Tarzan style.

Laguna Media Luna, San Luis Potosi state

Speaking of other-worldly dives, how about diving in a crystal clear, constantly warm, spring-fed, fresh water lake at 3,200 feet (975 meters)? You can do it in Laguna Media Luna in central Mexico.

Lagos de Montebelo, Chiapas state

You can’t dive into them, but the collection of brilliantly colored  lakes (turquoise, jade, aquamarine) that make up the Lagos de Montebello region in southern Mexico is stunning and includes one of the closest things to a US-style national park road in all of Mexico.

Cacahuamilpa Caves, Guerrero state

We’ve ventured inside a lot of caves on the Trans-Americas Journey but none were as surprisingly awesome as the massive Cacahuamilpa Caves in the Parque Nacional Grutas Cacahuamilpa in central Mexico. One of the largest cave systems in the world, it has two rivers running through it, impressive rock formations and no nasty bat poop smell. Honest.

Nevado de Toluca, Mexico state

The active Toluca Volcano in central Mexico (just 50 miles from Mexico City) is the fourth highest peak in the country. At 15, 34 feet  (4,680 meters) it’s a weather-beaten, rugged corner of the country most visitors don’t visit. We did, though the summit eluded us…

Rio Antigua, Veracruz state

White water rafting in Mexico was born in the Jacolmulco region of Veracruz state in the central/southern part of the country and the area continues to offer watery thrills.

Bernal Monolith, Queretarro state

At 1,150 feet (350 meters) this giant hunk of free-standing rock in central Mexico is the fourth tallest monolith in the world (or third tallest, depending on who you ask) after Mount Augustus, the Rock of Gilbraltar and Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio. Smack in the middle of the oldest wine region in The Americas.

#2…you’ll become a better cook (and a better eater)

Since leaving Mexico not a day goes by that we don’t long for the amazing food we ate there. There just is no beating the food you get in Mexico. Whether you have $1 or $100 to spend on a meal you’re gonna get good eats. Here are a few appetizers.

- Making mole poblano at the cooking school at Mesones Sacristia hotel in Puebla

- The tempting tacos of Mexico City

- Why everyone should mix lemon sorbet and cheap red wine like they do in Queretaro

- The best ice cream in the land (and that’s saying something)

#3…you’ll finally learn how to drink good tequila (and mezcal)

Tequila is a passion in Mexico–a delicious, fascinating, artisanal passion. To be called tequila the stuff must be made from blue agave from specific regions in Mexico including the town of Tequila (near Guadalajara) where large producers and small producers rub shoulders. Tequila can also be produced in the Los Altos region. Yes we visited both areas. What’s your point?

Tequila may be “the drink of Mexico” but in the foodie state of Oaxaca (birthplace of mole, tlayudas and much more) a community of small batch mezcal makers is quietly at work on a tasty revolution.

Forget shots. Start sipping.

#4…you’ll really appreciate a good cup of coffee

A visit to the coffee plantations in the Ruta de Cafe in Chiapas is a tasty education in the economics of coffee, how to brew a perfect cup and a glimpse at impressively innovative organic farming methods that are changing the way coffee is grown. It doesn’t hurt that many of the plantations now have gorgeous hotels and spas on site too.

#5…they’ve got animals all over the place

Monarchs on the march
Monarch butterflies know Mexico is a great place to go. Every year, between November and March, hundreds of millions of monarchs somehow navigate their way to the exact same areas of central Mexico—some flying 5,000 miles or more from where they were born in Canada and the northern US. Scientists say they’re drawn to Mexico’s fir trees, but can’t provide a more complete explanation than that. Once the butterflies arrive, they rest and eat then mate like crazy before attempting the return flight home. And you can stop by and check them out.

Flamingos galore
In the Rio Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO site in Yucatan state, we sawthousands of long-legged, pink stunners as they gorged on the shrimp that thrive in this unique super-salty estuary.

Cave of swallows
Every morning thousands of swifts fly up and out of their home inside a 1,220 foot deep pit called the Sótano de las Golondrinas (Cave of Swallows) in San Luis Potosí state. The birds burst out into the world and spend the day feeding before returning home in the evening. Yes, we have video.

Abyss of the parrots
The Sima de las Cotorras (Abyss of the Parrots) in Chiapas state is another feathery find as hundreds of parrots squawk their way out of an almost perfectly round  sinkhole that’s 525 feet (160 meters) wide and 460 feet (140 meters) deep.

Scarlet macaws and howler monkeys
Centro Ecoturistico Las Guacamayas is a sanctuary for the flamboyant namesake birds (guacamayas is Spanish for scarlet macaws) and a haven for other jungle finds like howler monkeys. You’ve got to hear it to believe it…

Jaguarte!
Fine. We never actually saw a wild jaguar in Mexico (in fact, we’ve never seen a wild jaguar at all despite much trying). But we did see an impressive installation of 25 life-size jaguars decorated by 25 different artists when we were in San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas. We’re counting it as a partial sighting…

#6…you won’t believe how great the hotels are

We’ve stayed in hundreds of hotels in Mexico from quirky boutique properties to flawless all-inclusive resorts. Here are just a few of our most memorable Mexican stays.

Verana: A hippie-chic hilltop retreat outside Puerto Vallarta (as published in Afar)

Maison Couturier: French farmhouse charm in Veracruz

Clarum 101: Guadalajara’s hidden hipster

Casa de Mita: Your Punta Mita beach home, only  WAY better

Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort:Riviera Maya all-inclusive-ness, perfected

Casa del Atrio: The best arty b&b bargain in the laid back (but happening) town of Queretaro (as published in National Geographic Traveler)

Boutique Hotel Quinta Chanabnal: A Mayanist infuses his passion into the first boutique hotel on the doorstep of the Palenque archaeological site

Boca Chica: Elvis was here, sushi by the seashore and a dose of retro Acapulco

#7…when the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 you’ll have an idea why

We don’t know exactly how many Mayan archaeological sites there are in Mexico. We do know that we visited 54 of them–from stars like Palenque and Chichen Itza to little-visited WAY off the beaten path digs. To save you from trolling our blog endlessly in search of each of our posts about these sites we (thoughtfully) compiled all of them into this handy alphabetized list of archaeological sites we visited with links back to our original posts about them. Now you can really get serious about planning your vacation in the Mundo Maya before the Mayan calendar mysteriously ends on December 21, 2012.

#8…you’ll never watch US-style rodeo the same way again

Rodeo was invented in Mexico, specifically in the Lagos de Moreno area of Jalisco which is still a hotbed of horsemanship. Lagos is where we spent many blissful days riding from hacienda to hacienda (often over stretches of the original Camino Real), watching amazing horse trainers at work, cheering along with the crowd at charreadas (Mexican rodeos), taking part in branding day and learning how to ride like a charro (Mexican cowboy). Sort of.

#9…the cultures (and culture) will floor you

Mexico is a huge country and every region has produced distinct cultures including like the Aztecs and the Lacandon, who cling to existence with less than 1,000 members. Vibrant (literally) cultures remain strongest in Chiapas where many different traditions in clothing, food and customs exist in and around San Cristóbal de las Casas.

For culture of another kind, you can’t beat the museums of Mexico City where you can see everything from ancient Olmec heads carved out of enormous boulders to the most modern of modern art. We’re from New York City and we were floored by the museums here.

#10…you’ll have a clue what you’re talking about when the issue of tourist safety in Mexico comes up (again)

For the record: after 18 months of independent overland travel driving nearly 25,000 miles through 29 of the country’s 31 states we can report, first hand, that we have never seen or sensed any threat or danger of any kind at any point anywhere in Mexico. Period.

Want to see where we wandered? You can see all 177 of our posts from Mexico displayed geographically on this map.

Related posts:

1. July 4th: A Trans-Americas Journey Retrospective
2. Bicentennial Build Up – Mexico City, Mexico
3. Tasting Limited Edition “Vinos Mexico 2010″ – Puebla, Mexico

With so many posts about so many sites we wanted to index them in one easy place–and here it is. We’ve categorized sites by culture and by country and alphabetized each site within its grouping for quick reference. The links take you directly to our blog post concerning that site.

Bookmark it for trip planning and research–especially with the puzzling end of the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012.

Mayan Archaeological Sites in Mexico

Chichén Itzá

Ek' Balam

Palenque

Becan Campeche he state

Bonampak Chiapas state

Calakmul Campeche state

Chiapa de Corzo Chiapas

Chicanna Campeche state

Chichen Itza Yucatan state

Chinkultic Chiapas state

Coba Quintana Roo state

Comalcalco Tabasco state

Dzibilchaltun Yucatan state

Dzibilnocac Campeche state

Edzna Campeche state

Ek’ Balam Quintana Roo state

Hochob Campeche state

Hormiguero Campeche state

Izamal Yucatan state

Izapa Chiapas state

Kabah Yucatan state

Labna Yucatan state

Loltun Cave Yucatan state

Mayapan Yucatan state

Palenque Chiapas state

Sayil Yucatan state

El Tabasqueño Campeche state

Tenam Puente Chiapas state

Toniná Chiapas state

Tulum Quintana Roo state

Uxmal Yucatan state

Xpuhil Campeche state

Yaxchilan Chiapas state

 Mayan Archaeological Sites in Belize

Lamanai

Actun Tunichil Muknal aka ATM cave

Altun Ha

Caracol

Chan Chich

Lamanai

Lubaantun

La Milpa

Nim Li Punit

Xunantunich

Mayan Archaeological Sites in Guatemala

Aguateca

Dos Pilas

El Ceibal (Seibal)

La Florida

Ixlu

El Mirador part 1, part 2, part 3

Nakbe

Punta de la Chimino

Tikal

El Tintal

Uaxactun

Yaxha

Quiriguá (coming soon)

Mayan Archaeological Sites in Honduras

Copan (coming soon)

El Puente (coming soon)

Mayan Archaeological Sites in El Salvador

Tazumal (coming soon)

Joya de Ceren (coming soon)

San Andres (coming soon)

Other Mesoamerican Sites in Mexico

Cacaxtla (Olmec-Xicalancas culture) Tlaxcala state

Cholula (Olmec-Xicalancas culture ) Puebla state

Guachimontones (Teuchitlan culture) Jalisco state

La Ventana: Parque-Musueo de La Venta Villahermosa, Tabasco state

Mitla (Zapotec culture) Oaxaca state

Monte Alban (Zapotec culture) Oaxaca state

Paquimé (Mimbres culture) Casas Grandes, Chihuahua state

Quiahuztlan (Toltec culture) Veracruz state

El Tajin (Totonaca culture) Veracruz state

El Tepozteco (Aztec culture) Tepotzlan, Morelos state

Teotihuacan (Aztec culture) Mexico state

Templo Mayor (Aztec culture) Mexico City

Xochicalco Morelos state

Xochitecatl (Olmec-Xicalancas civilization) Tlaxcala state

Yagul (Zapotec culture) Oaxaca state

Museo Nacional de Antropología Mexico City

Museo de Antropología Xalapa, Veracruz state

Archaeological Sites in the US

Aztec Ruins National Monument (Anasazi culture) New Mexico

Canyon de Chelly National Monument (Anasazi culture) Arizona

Chaco Culture National Historic Park (Anasazi culture) New Mexico

El Morro National Monument (Anasazi culture) New Mexico

Fate Bell Shelter – Seminole Canyon State Park

Gila Cliff Dwellings National monument (Mogollon culture) New Mexico

Hovenweep national Monument  (Anasazi culture) Utah/Colorado

Hueco Tanks (Mogollon culture) Texas

Mesa Verde National Park (Anasazi culture) Colorado

Montezuma Castle National monument (Sinagua culture) Arizona

Navajo National Monument (Anasazi culture) Arizona

Painted Rock – Carrizo Plain National Monument, California

Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico

Archaeological Sites in Canada

L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site (Vikings) Newfoundland

Related posts:

1. Río Bec Style Mayan Sites – Becan, Hormiguero, Chicanná & Xpujil, Campeche State, Mexico
2. Chenes Style Mayan Sites – Edzná, Tabasqueño, Hochob & Dzibilnocac, Campeche State, Mexico
3. Stelae! – Dos Pilas & El Ciebal Archaeological Sites, Guatemala

Here are our top need-to-know tips about driving in Mexico that will help pave the way (again, get it?) for your own Mexican Road Trip Adventure. We sure wish we’d known this stuff before we left…

1. Fuel is cheaper in Mexico than it is in the US

During our travels we paid an average of $2.40 per gallon for diesel for our truck when fuel was cheaper and the exchange rate was stronger than it is now. Still, fuel costs remain below the US average. As of June 24, 2011 (calculated at the current exchange rate 11.81 pesos = US$1):

Magna (regular unleaded) was 9.24 pesos/liter  =  US$2.96/gallon;

Premium was 10.34 pesos/liter  =  US$3.31/gallon;

Diesel was 9.60 pesos/liter  =  US$3.08/gallon.  NOTE: there is virtually no ultra low sulfur diesel available in Mexico, but PEMEX has announced future plans to refine ULSD in the future.

Here’s a good place to find current fuel prices in Mexico.

2. There is only one gas station chain in Mexico

It’s called Pemex and it’s owned by the Mexican government which sets fuel prices for the entire country (though fuel can be a touch pricier near the US border and a touch cheaper in the free-trade zones in the southern border areas with Belize and Guatemala). This means you don’t have to waste time (and fuel) driving all over creation comparing prices at the Shell and the Exxon and the BP. What you see is what you get so just pull in and fill up.

3. All gas stations are full service in Mexico

Learn to say “Por favor, lavar el parabrisas” and they’ll clean your windshield too. We generally give the guy (and, occasionally, the girl) a couple of pesos for the effort. Another good gas station phrase to know: “Acceptan tarjetas de crédito?” (Do you accept credit cards?). Even if they say yes, ask them to run a charge through for the amount of gas you want before you pump. We’ve been left paying for a big fill-up in cash after the local Bancomer refused to process our credit card which the attendant said the station accepted.

4. You can use a GPS in Mexico–sort of

Magellan makes a GPS device that includes data for Mexican roads. It’s called the Roadmate 1470 and we used it throughout the country. Even so, it’s a bit tricky to use in small towns or in remote areas where data is thin and it can be confusing finding specific streets because name abbreviations are so often used. Sometimes it can be even more confusing in cities that can have dozens of variations of the same street name. Still, our Magellan did help us get oriented in big cities which is very helpful.

5. Better yet, buy a Guia Roji

Available at most big book stores in Mexico and at some big gas stations, this is the Rand McNally atlas for Mexico and still the best source of roadway and city maps plus it has a relatively accurate chart that will help you calculate what the tolls will cost if you choose to take the country’s pay highways instead of the network of free roads (see below).

6. Pay  Highway vs. Free Roads…

Pay highway pros: wide and well paved; usually bypass towns and villages; virtually unenforced speed limit; fastest way between two points–often 2-3 times faster than the free road route; you’ll often have the whole road to yourself; drivers on pay highways are automatically covered by limited insurance that covers civil liability, medical payments and funeral expenses (this does NOT satisfy your requirement to have Mexican insurance, however–see below); pay highways are patrolled by the Green Angels, an amazing fleet of bright green tow trucks driven by mechanics ready to fix what’s broken free of charge (see below).

Pay highway cons: tolls can add up (the 178 mile pay road between Puebla and Veracruz costs US$28, that’s more than a peso per kilometer, and you could spend more than US$350 in tolls driving from one end of the country to the other); since pay highways bypass towns and villages you don’t see much of real Mexico–driving on a pay highway is virtually the same as driving on a US interstate.

Free road pros: no tolls; since they pass through towns and villages you see Mexican life as you travel.

Free road cons: can be 2-3 times slower than the pay highway route; often narrow roads that connect towns and cities becoming slow moving main streets through each town and city along the way before turning back into a “highway” out of town; lots of topes (see below); cheaper trucking companies use the free roads too, so there are often big trucks on small roads.

You can get a detailed driving route with pay highway times and tolls from Mexico’s Secretary of Communications and Transportation. This is a particularly great tool for planning routes between cities.

7. The Green Angels make AAA look like a racket

Any driver on any road in Mexico can call the Green Angels and a bright green truck driven by bilingual mechanics will show up (8 am to 6 pm) ready to fix what’s broken for the price of the parts/fuel/oil (tips are appreciated). Green Angels patrol the pay highways, but if you don’t see one when you need one you just dial 078 and they’ll come to you.

8. Topes are a bitch

Tope (pronounced toe-pay) is the Spanish word for bump and is used for speed bumps. These concrete and rock humps in the road vary in steepness, width and severity but they’re all hellish. In the course of our Trans-Americas Journey we must have driven over tens of thousands of them. They are efficient and brutal–especially the ones that are unsigned and sneak up on you before you can slow down. There’s a reason there’s almost always a tire repair shack at or near a tope.

They’re also dreadful for your fuel economy and your shocks–which is part of the reason we upgraded to Bilstein shocks.

By the time we left Mexico we’d come up with two new terms relating to topes (no, they’re not swear words):

-nope (pronounced no-pay): What you find when you slow down and reach what you thought was a tope only to discover that it’s not.

-rope (pronounced row-pay): A tope made by laying a massive rope across the road. These can be even more brutal than the stone and concrete varieties.

9. Hoy no circula!

Mexico City’s air quality has improved dramatically in recent years, thanks in part to the innovative hoy no circula (today you can’t drive) rules that designate “no driving” days for all private vehicles in Mexico City and the state of Mexico based on the last number in your license plate. These rules absolutely apply to foreign drivers and it’s important to understand the rules, follow them and be armed with a good working knowledge of the program so you can make your case when a Mexico City cop pulls you over and (wrongly) accuses you of driving on a day or at a time you aren’t supposed to, which has happened to us. Here’s where to get complete hoy no circula rules in English.

You can also apply for a 14 day tourist waiver that exempts you from the hoy no circula rules in Mexico City.

10. Shakedown breakdown

Even armed with full knowledge of Mexican road rules and full compliance with said rules you will probably get pulled over by a cop in Mexico. Despite the fact that the Mexican government has made it illegal for the police to extort drivers for money (that had to be officially spelled out?), it still happens to locals and to foreigners. Soon after arriving in Mexico an expat tipped us off to this trick for getting out of these situations and after being pulled over multiple times in Mexico we can tell you that it works.

A. Act dumb and pretend that you don’t understand much Spanish, why you were stopped or what the cop is asking for. Maybe the cop will get bored and irritated and give up at this point. If he doesn’t…

B. Have the person in the passenger seat (also acting clueless and stupidly kind of excited by this “brush with the natives”) pull out a point and shoot camera and start happily taking pictures of this vacation memory in the making. Smile. Shoot some more.

C. Drive away. Because all cops know that extortion is illegal none of them will want to be photographed in the act. The cop will probably get angry when he sees the camera, but he will also tell you to get the hell out of there and the whole altercation will be over with no money paid, no shouting and no confrontation.

11. Mexicans are not bad drivers (they just have some wacky habits)

Two of the most important Mexican driving habits to understand are as follows:

A. Making two lanes into three lanes. Many two-lane Mexican roads have ample shoulders. This allows for an intricate ballet that involves slower traffic driving primarily on the shoulder allowing faster traffic to pass straddling the center line in an imaginary third lane. Cooperation from all parties is obviously required.

B. A left turn signal does not mean I’m turning left. Usually, it means “it’s clear to pass me.” This leads to some confusion when you really want to make a left hand turn which is accomplished by pulling over to the right of the road and waiting for all traffic behind you to pass, then turning left.

12. Not all Mexican auto insurance is created equal

You must carry Mexican auto liability insurance if you’re going to drive your own car in the country, but who you choose can make a huge difference. A company called Adventure Mexican Insurance Services acts as a brokerage for Mexican auto insurance and it is totally Trans-Americas Journey approved. They’re based in the U.S. and their 800# is always staffed with English speakers who can help with questions or issues, they offer great rates and they have fixers who can help solve claims problems. If we’d gone through Adventure Mexican Insurance Services instead of buying direct from stinky old GNP Insurance in the first place, we wouldn’t have gotten so screwed when a taxi ran into us and GNP jerked us around when we made a claim. That’s why when it was time to get a new policy we went right to these guys.

Use this link to purchase your insurance through Adventure Mexican Insurance Services and you won’t pay any more but we’ll get a small comission which will help us put a few more gallons in our gas tank.

13. You can’t beat a Mexican car wash

They’re cheap (less than 60 pesos, about US$5, for the exterior of our huge truck) and they’re often meticulous. Basically, a team of guys descends on your vehicle with high pressure washers and buckets of suds. No surface is left un-scrubbed, including the wheel wells and undercarriage. The whole thing culminates in a wipe down and polish of all rubber/plastic surfaces including your tires. We’ve had epic washes all over Mexico but the car washes in Mexico City and outside Playa del Carmen stand out. Set aside at least 45 minutes.

They’ll give the same treatment to your interior too for just a few pesos more.

Related posts:

1. When is a Road Trip Not a Road Trip?
2. Mexican Tattoo
3. Day Trip Bliss – Around Mexico City

The first is Casa Mexicana, a boutique hotel with just 10 rooms each named for an iconic Mexican woman. Yes, Frida gets a room. Bt the hotel also pays homage to Doña Josepha Ortiz de Dominguez, known as La Corregidora, a privileged woman who lived in Querétaro and was one of the earliest agitators for Mexican independence. Then there’s  Ofelia Medina, a seminal Mexican actress and singer who’s still alive today. And Maria Bonita, a famous beauty who had an infamous affair with a singer who gave her her name. Short bios of each woman are part of the eclectic and colorful in-room decor.

One of the rooms at Casa Mexicana in Tapachula, Mexico.

In fact, the whole place is fun to look at too–chock full of art and kitch collected by the peripatetic owners, including an impressive mask collection, some fascinating religious art and a massive two-part painting of women’s legs in fishnets that was rescued from a burlesque hall in Mexico City.

This pair of paintings at Casa Mexicana was salvaged from a burlesque hall in Mexico City.

Lucha in a box! Just one of the many playful pieces of art in Casa Mexicana.

There’s also a swimming pool, an inviting open air bar, a great restaurant and charming co-owner Manuel. With doubles from around US$80 it’s a great value.

The swimming pool at Casa Mexicana in Tapachula, Mexico.

The second reason to do more than just pass through Tapachula is the Mayan ruins at Izapa archaeological site. Some experts believe that this collection of three little-visited sites which may have played an important role in Mayan astrology and calendar making. Yes, that same calendar that “ends” in 2012 which has sparked theories ranging from “it’s the end of the world” to “it’s a chance for humanity to reboot” to “they must have run out of stone.”

A plaza at one of the areas that makes up the Izapa archaeological site which some experts believe is connected to the Mayan calendar which mysteriously ends in 2012.

A rana (frog) altar at one of the areas that makes up the Izapa archaeological site which some experts believe is connected to the Mayan calendar which mysteriously ends in 2012.

All three of the pre-Hispanic sites lie a few miles outside of Tapachula on the way to the Guatemala border. They’re small, free and overseen by a caretaker family. You will likely be the only visitor there. All day. There are not a lot of structures to see in the Izapa group, but there are carved rocks galore, including what some believe to be the origins of the calendar which mysteriously comes to an end in 2012.

Small stele at one of the areas that makes up the Izapa archaeological site which some experts believe is connected to the Mayan calendar which mysteriously ends in 2012.

An unusual fertility sculpture at one of the areas that makes up the Izapa archaeological site which some experts believe is connected to the Mayan calendar which mysteriously ends in 2012.

Need another reason to put  Tapachula on the itinerary? It’s also the jumping off point to the coffee fincas of the Ruta de Cafe, which we raved about in our last post.

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Related posts:

1. Where Mayans and Popes Mingle – Izamal, Yucatan State, Mexico
2. Muchos Mayans – Tulum & Cobá Ruins, Quintana Roo, Mexico
3. Ancient Mayans and Black Jaguars – Ek’ Balam Ruins, Yucatan State, Mexico

You can thank the Germans. More than 100 years ago the Mexican government sent out a call for help to Germany saying it would welcome immigrants willing to develop and then work coffee growing and processing plantations in the highlands of Chiapas which had been identified as prime coffee growing terrain.

Coffee on the bush in Chiapas, Mexico. The red beans are nearly ripe.

At the time, every harvested coffee bean (then referred to as “green gold”) in the world passed through the port in Hamburg, Germany  before being distributed around the world so reaching out to Germany for help made sense. Many German families answered the call and soon the hills were alive with coffee.

Then came WWII and deep suspicion of Germans which eventually lead to deportations and land reclamation that saw some German families in Mexico lose it all. When they were able to return to Mexico many were asked to buy back their own land.

Today, coffee is flourishing in Chiapas. There are up to 400 million coffee plants producing here and many coffee fincas (farms) are still run by descendants of the original pioneering German families. A few of them have expanded their plantations to also offer tours, boutique hotels and innovative new eco farming practices.

Two of them lie above the town of Tapachula in the highlands of Soconusco, Chiapas–an area referred to as the Ruta de Cafe.

The beneficio (processing plant) at Finca Hamburgo, one of many coffee plantations in Chiapas.

Finca Hamburgo

Finca Hamburgo was founded in 1888 by Arthur Erich Edelmann from Perleberg, Germany and his wife Doris Mertens. Like all of the coffee pioneers in Mexico, the Edelmann family had to plant thousands of coffee plants on incredibly steep hillsides and build facilities for the processing of coffee (they put in the first flying fox in Mexico) and run it all using power from their own hydroelectric plant.

Finca Hambrugo is still run by descendants of Arthur Erich Edelmann, but a few other things have changed since 1888, as we found out when we were invited to visit. But first we had to get there. Though just a few dozen miles from the town of Tapachula, the journey up into the coffee growing region takes at least an hour on a well-worn dirt road (no rental cars, please).

Still it’s an easier journey today than back in the late 1800s when the fincas were established. At that time it took three days to get from Tapachula to the plantations. Once we reached Finca Hamburgo at 4,100 feet we were rewarded with cooler temperatures and views of Volcan Tacaná (the highest point in Central America at 13,320 feet (4,060 meters) on the border between Mexico and Guatemala. On a very, very clear day it’s also possible to see the Chiapas coastline from here.

Karen enjoying a sunrise cup of coffee grown on site and delivered to our door at Finca Hamburgo.

Finca Hamburgo continues as a working coffee plantation (one of the largest) but it’s now also in the tourism business offering six rooms and two suites, all with deep wrap-around porches–perfect for enjoying those views and your morning coffee. The hotel looks and feels a bit like two big Cape Codders plunked down on a ridge in Chiapas. There’s also a restaurant where you can get German beer.

The Cape Cod-esque guest rooms at Finca Hamburgo in Chiapas, Mexico.

Burlap sacks for coffee grown and processed at Finca Hamburgo in Chiapas, Mexico.

More rustic but incredibly atmospheric rooms (tile floors, patios, heavy wood beams) are sometimes available at Finca San Francisco, the operation’s flower farm where exotic flowers are grown in huge hothouses before being washed, trimmed and meticulously packed (sometimes shrink-wrapped) and shipped to big floral companies overseas.

Exotic flowers being grown for export at Finca San Francisco, the hothouse flower portion of the Finca Hamburgo coffee plantation in Chiapas, Mexico.

Finca Hamburgo has also turned part of its original processing plant (called a beneficio) into a museum full of photos and tools and other artifacts from the plantations early days in the late 1800s, including what’s left of its ground-breaking flying fox.

Coffee beans drying in the sun at Finca Argovia.

An even better example of how to take coffee history forward with insight and innovation is Finca Argovia, down the hill from Finca Hamburgo on the way back down to Tapachula.

Finca Argovia

Sure there’s a hotel at Finca Argovia and it’s a member of the prestigious Tesoros Hotel Group offering a lovely collection of beautiful wooden cabins in the jungle that we really loved. There are three cabins for two people, three larger family cabins, one two-room suite and one Casa Grande with a kitchen and everything. All of them are well-appointed, stylish, peaceful and really impart a sense of place.

Our cabin at Finca Argovia.

There are no TVs or phones but there are fresh cut flowers (more on those in a minute) and fun golf carts to shuttle you around the cobble stone paths back to the main building and the restaurant where staff are trained for days in the art of brewing the perfect cup of coffee. The welcome “cocktail” is a petite scoop of powerfully addictive homemade coffee ice cream and when we were there a new pool, spa and luxury tent accommodation were all in the works. We already want to go back and check it out.

This massive coffee dryer at Finca Argovia is well over than 50 years old and still going strong.

But the hotel, spa and restaurant are just part of  the vision of Bruno Geismann, the fourth generation of his family to run Finca Argovia, and his overall goal of being totally self-sufficient economically and totally sustainable agriculturally.

Bruno, an imposing combination of German physique and Mexican mannerisms, believes diversification is the best way to offset the vagaries of coffee prices which can spike and drop drastically. Bruno poses a convincing argument that coffee really should be about $200 a pound in the supermarket based on the cost of producing it and the amount many people are willing to spend on a cup of coffee (Starbucks, again).

Relax. Bruno doesn’t actually propose that we should all pay $200 a pound–just that $8 or $11 a pound is clearly too little. In addition, he insists that Fair Trade coffee movements have done little to trickle retail level coffee profits down to the actual coffee growers who still get pennies per pound.

Bruno’s growing success with a combination of working coffee plantation, luxurious lodge/spa/restaurant and eco-agro flower business is radical thinking and a radical investment in the coffee business where profit margins are often pennies. It’s also the best way for Bruno to prove that his green leanings are also good business.

We were surprised to learn that burlap sacks used to pack and ship coffee beans are one of the priciest items in the production of coffee.

As a visitor you can tour Bruno’s labors on a two hour sunrise hike up through his jungle-shaded coffee plants to a lovely mirador for views of Volcan Tacaná (with a thermos of fresh coffee, of course) or sign up for coffee processing and flower production tours–which Bruno was kind enough to lead us on.

Bruno is a passionate eco-agriculturist and very proud of the fact that his coffee is organically grown and that his processing is done using hydroelectric energy generated at the finca. His processing also uses a minimum of water and what is used to clean, de-hull and ferment the coffee beans is treated at an on-site residual water treatment plant–the only one of its kind in Mexico–before being returned to the gorgeous rivers on his property. The discarded coffee hulls, usually a waste product of coffee processing, are used as compost at Finca Argovia.

Even Bruno’s machinery is recycled, sort of. Most of it is original to the 100+ year old business and it’s still chugging along.

Sunrise behind Guatemala's Volcan Tacaná--the highest point in Central America--as seen from the hilltop mirador at Finca Argovia in Chiapas, Mexico.

With so much land and such a need to diversify his business, Bruno quickly saw the potential in growing ornamental tropical flowers. Today he has devoted many acres to growing haliconias, orchids, ginger blossoms and other exotics which he gets around 10 pesos for (less than US$1). per stem Anyone reading this in North America or Europe knows that each stem of these coveted flowers goes for many dollars apiece through your local florist or online flower seller.

Finca Argovia also works to protect and enrich soil, preserve indigenous forests and keep trees along all streams and rivers to conserve water.

Part of the labor-intensive process of harvesting, washing and packing the organically grown exotic flowers at Finca Argovia.

Bruno says his eco approach is not making him rich, but he is able to turn a small profit more easily since his fortunes are not completely tied to the traditional coffee market. The results are delicious too. Finca Argovia’s small-batch organic coffee is sold around the world and served in some very fine restaurants, including the restaurant at the celeb-favorite five-star hotel Maroma on Mexico’s Riviera Maya.

Haliconia flowers ready for packing and shipping to floral companies around the world.

Finca Argovia is profiting in other ways too. Our cabin (like all of them) was right in the middle of the jungle but there were almost no mosquitoes. We could sit on the gorgeous porch at dusk and not get bitten. Incredible. This is, according to Bruno, because the environment at Finca Argovia is finally back in balance.

So much so that Finca Argovia has earned certifications from The Rainforest Alliance, USDA, Organic Farming, JAS and bird-friendly organizations concerned with promoting coffee cultivation which retains bird habitat. Things are so healthy in the forest around Finca Argovia that an independent audit of birds on the property found more than 150
species and the rare resplendent quetzal has also been spotted nearby.

Why more bird watchers don’t come to Finca Argovia is a mystery: you’ve got world-class birds and world-class coffee to help you get up at dawn to see them…

Our thanks to both fincas for teaching us how to drink coffee without putting milk in it. It’s not hard. Just drink good coffee.

The cafe/bar area at Finca Argovia.

More Chiapas coffee.

Sunset over hillsides covered in coffee bushes in Chiapas, Mexico.

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Related posts:

1. Mayan Hill Country – Ruta Puuc, Yucatan State, Mexico
2. Zapatista Signs of the Times – Chiapas, Mexico
3. Mujeres y Mayans – Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico

Chiapa de Corzo & Tuxtla Gutiérrez

Our first stop, once we reached the bottom of that massive hill, was the colonial town of Chiapa de Corzo which was charming  but way too expensive for us (a festival was on so hotel prices were all jacked up). We quickly moved on to Tuxtla (no one uses the second half of this city’s name) where we found the biggest hotel values on the Journey so far.

Fuente Colonial, a brick fountain built in 1562 in Chiapa de Corzo.

Hotel San Antonio in Tuxtla has four rooms around a small back courtyard that go for 200 pesos (about US$17). Each is spotlessly clean (they have a gadget that dusts the ceiling fan blades and they use it!) with cable TV and a double bed and a private bathroom.

The courtyard is lovely and the WiFi works. For some reason the rooms upstairs are more expensive (perhaps because they’re larger) but they’re stuffy and dirty and the WiFi signal is weaker up there, so don’t get fooled. If you can get into one of the 200 peso courtyard rooms downstairs you’ve scored.

During an evening stroll around Tuxtla (not much going on) we discovered that the city’s cathedral was brutally “renovated” in the late ’80s and now holds no charm except for the hourly parade of saints out of its clock tower. We ended up at Jardin de la Marimba (Marimba Garden) where a dance festival was taking place featuring fairly aged dancers. Each surprisingly spry troop performed traditional regional dances in traditional regional costumes. Of course the troop representing Chiapas got the loudest applause.

See for yourself in our video, below.

Another Tuxtla bargain? The Zoologico Miguel Alvarez del Toro Zoo on Mondays when the zoo is free to nationals and visitors. The zoo is laid out on a sprawling, wooded, shady chunk of land just outside the city and it features a gorgeous black panther and some jaguars, a resplendent quetzal bird and a couple of sadly stuffed harpy eagles, among other things. The enclosures are decent and its a very popular place for families.

Parque Nacional Cañón del Sumidero

Part of the dramatic canyon that makes up Parque Nacional Cañón del Sumidero in Chiapas, as seen from one of the view points on the rim.

Between Tuxtla and Chiapa de Corzo is the entrance to the Parque Nacional Cañón del Sumidero. We opted out of the pricey and loud motor boat rides up the river at the bottom of this deep, steep canyon and chose to see its massiveness from above from a series of five miradors (view points) off a central road along the canyon’s rim.

Part of the dramatic canyon that makes up Parque Nacional Cañón del Sumidero in Chiapas, as seen from one of the view points on the rim.

The 10 mile road that connects the miradors was as close to a US-style National Park road as we’ve seen since leaving the US: narrow, winding and full of slow moving buses, passenger cars and tourist vans full of gawking travelers. The turnouts to the miradors had ample parking and paths to the canyon rim. All of the miradors except #5 had picnic tables too.

Sima de las Cotorras

The Sima de las Cortorras is 525 feet wide and 460 feet deep and full of parrots.

From there we headed to Sima de las Cotorras (Abyss of the Parrots), a massive almost perfectly round sinkhole that’s 525 feet (160 meters) wide and 460 feet (140 meters) deep. That’s amazing enough, but there’s a forest at the bottom of this sinkhole that’s home to hundreds of green parrots which fly out en masse each morning and trickle back in every afternoon.

A tame parrot amongst hundreds of wild ones at Sima de las Cortorras in Chiapas, Mexico.

Tourist facilities around this amazing bird-filled hole in the ground were created with the help of Sendasur, the same orgnization that helped created Las Guacamayas (where the main attraction are scarlet macaws) and they’re both impressive places.

At the sima we checked into a room in the small two story stone guesthouse on the property. For 300 pesos (about US$25) we got a charming room with a great bathroom and a private furnished balcony. There are good raised-platform camping sites here too (100 pesos) that come with flush toilets and sinks (but no showers). The on-site restaurant also served great food, including some of the best hand made tortillas we’ve had in Mexico.

The pet parrot kept by the folks who run the restaurant loved the tortillas too, as Eric found out. Watch them sharing breakfast in our video, below.

Those bright green specks against the gray karst rock are parrots emerging from the Sima de las Cortorras at dawn..

Wild parrots emerging from the Sima de las Cortorras in Chiapas, Mexico.

A trail has been built below the rim inside the crater which takes you around the hole. A badass local guide named Nancy will lead you around or even harness you in for a rappel a bit deeper into the ground where you can see more than 40 pre-Hispanic paintings and hand prints which were somehow put on the walls more than 200 feet below the rim between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Wild parrots emerging from the Sima de las Cortorras in Chiapas, Mexico.

But the real attraction is watching the mass exodus of parrots at sunrise. Around 6 am we heard a tentative “buenos dias” outside our room and that was our cue that the birds were on the move. Sound is amplified inside the sinkhole, so the birds wings and cries sounded extra loud. They flew incredibly quickly (making photograhy and video tricky in the early morning light) as the first handful of birds grew into a crescendo of green wings.

Wild parrots taking a brief break after emerging from the Sima de las Cortorras in Chiapas, Mexico.

Like the thousands of swifts which saw emerge from the Sótano de las Golondrinas in Aquisimon, Mexico, this mega flight was amazing but brief.

Not so amazing? The nearby Aguacera Waterfall. Feel free to skip it and its 25 peso per person entrance fee.

Eric and his new friend.

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Related posts:

1. Zapatista Signs of the Times – Chiapas, Mexico
2. Just One More Day – San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
3. Mujeres y Mayans – Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico

Though technically still at war with the Mexican government, the days of palpable Zapatista revolution (which called for land rights, resource rights, rights for women and economic and educational equality for Mexico’s indigenous poor) seem gone. For the visitor, at least, the most noticeable remains of the movement are hand-painted signs and murals which keep the spirit alive in the many rural village that support the EZLN (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, the Zapatista government) in Chiapas.

We saw dozens of Zapatista and EZLN signs throughout the state and here are a few of our favorites examples of this ongoing artful protest.

This mural, on a building in the Oventic caracol, an autonomous village run by or Zapatistas, depicts corn (a symbol of the land), an indigenous woman defending her rights and Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata--the inspiration for the term Zapatista.

This sign shows a snail (caracol in Spanish--which is also the word Zapatistas use for their autonomous villages) wearing the signature black balaclava of the movement's leader, Subcomandante Marcos. We love the Virgin of Guadalupe at the bottom wearing a typical EZLN red bandana over her face too.

In this sign little baby Zapatistas are depicted as growing ears of corn--wearing balaclavas, of course. Part of what was (and still is) radical about the Zapatistas was their inclusion of women and women's rights in their doctrine.

An ode to Emiliano Zapata, for which the Zapatista movement is named.

We loved the simple, graphic nature of this painted wall depicting Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos on the left and Emiliano Zapata on the right.

"Land and Liberty," two basic tenets of the Zapatista movement.

"The land belongs to those who work it" is a basic belief of all Zapatistas.

A tienda in a village in Chiapas which is sympathetic to the Zapatistas.

The Zapatistas stay involved in fresh issues that affect them too--including taking a strong stance against a major road project through Chiapas.

"You are in Zapatista territory" this sign proclaims.

This is one of the most understated EZLN signs we saw.

The Zapatistas stay involved in fresh issues that affect them too--including taking a strong stance against a major road project through Chiapas.

This sign welcomes you to an autonomous Zapatista village and makes it clear that the people here are "in rebellion."

An autonomous EZLN-run village makes its politics known.

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Related posts:

1. Just One More Day – San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
2. Photo of the Day: Jaguarte in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
3. Mujeres y Mayans – Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico

First wishes

Their goal was to preserve the ways and rights of the indigenous Lacandon people and other indigenous groups in the region and it’s virtually impossible to overstate the impact their documentation, respect and support have had on these groups. Their legacy is part of the reason the Lacandon and so many other cultures exist in Chiapas today—though with an estimated total population of just 800 people, the Lacandon aren’t out of the woods (or the jungle) yet.

One of the many jaguars at the Na Bolom (Jaguar House) museum, hotel and restaurant in San Cristóbal de las Casas.

Na Bolom (which means jaguar house) continues in its original non-profit mission. There’s also a wonderful hotel (Henry Kissinger and Diego Rivera have stayed here) with rooms in the main rambling house and dotted throughout a large and lush walled garden. Each one is decorated with traditional weavings, some of Trudi’s extraordinary black and white photographs of the striking Lacandon people and most also have fireplaces to ward off the high-altitude chill of San Cristóbal de las Casas (expansion work was underway when we were there).

Rooms are still set aside to accommodate any of indigenous people who may need to overnight in the city and many people use Na Bolom as a kind of drop in club house.

Members of local indigenous groups use the Na Bolom museum, hotel and restaurant as their haven in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas.

Many of the writings and photographs that Frans and Trudi left behind are displayed in a small but informative on-site museum (open to guests and non-guests and definitely worth a visit for a crash course in the history of the Lacandon and other local indigenous groups).

Na Bolom in San Cristóbal de las Casas operates a museum, hotel and restaurant to help fund its non-profit work on behalf of the rights of local indigenous groups including the fast-disappearing Lacandon.

A visit to the Na Bolom museum also includes a tour of intimate spaces like Frans’ beloved library and Trudi’s bedroom which brings these two larger-than-life characters into sharp focus.  We were impressed with the sheer determination and innovation of Frans and Trudi (they definitely seem like “Just Do It” kind of people). We were also impressed with the passion of the staff and volunteers who continue their work, including a massive project to archive and preserve the tens of thousands of photographs that Trudi took in her lifetime.

The bedroom of Trudi Blom is now part of the museum at Na Bolom, the non-profit advocacy group she co-founded in 1951 in San Cristóbal de las Casas.

Last wishes

Both Frans and Trudi spent a good portion of their time in what is now Lacandon Jungle and when they died they stated that they wished to be buried in the jungle they knew and loved. Unfortunately, when Frans and Trudi passed (in 1963 and 1993 respectively) the jungle was still virtually impenetrable—especially carrying a coffin–and the Zapatista uprising at the time Trudi died made jungle trekking a complicated business as well.

2011 marks the 60th Anniversary of the founding of Na Bolom and the occasion seemed like the right time to finally lay its founders to rest in the place of their choosing.

Special coffins were hand made to carry the remains of Na Bolom founders Frans Blom and Trudi Blom to their final resting place in the Lacandon Jungle of Chiapas.

We were honored to be invited to travel to the Lacandon village of Nahá with a group from Na Bolom (and, of course, the remains of Frans and Trudi) and witness a very special ceremony to re-bury the Na Bolom founders in the Nahá cemetery next to Chan K’in Viejo, a legendary Lacandon leader (and friend to Frans and Trudi) who died in 1996 at the age of 104.

Na Bolom co-founder Trudi Blom with legendary Lacandon leader Chan K'in Viejo.

Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

Among the group of devoted people from Na Bolom who traveled to Nahá was a woman named Doña Betty. As a child she was informally adopted by the Bloms (there’s a photo of Betty as a young woman in Trudi’s bedroom at Na Bolom) and she often made mule trips with them into this jungle where she worked as the camp cook.

On this occasion Doña Betty returned to familiar territory, running the camp kitchen (and accepting very little help) to feed the 25 people or so in our group. Doña Betty is in her late 70s now and she appeared to be as respected by many of the Lacandon as Frans and Trudi were.

Our group camped on land given to Trudi by the Lacandon. Nearby, the Lacandon of Nahá have also built a handful of bunglaows available to the scant tourists who make it out here (Na Bolom can arrange complete tours). The camping area consists of a long tin-roof covered shelter with a level dirt floor. The roof (and the methodically-maintained drainage ditch dug around the perimeter of the shelter by a mute Lacandon) proved crucial given the epic downpours that pelted us while we were there.

The camp also has an open-sided cooking/dining area (Doña Betty’s domain) plus an outhouse. All in all, more than adequate and far more comfort than we expected way out here in the Lacandon Jungle.

Carved coconut shell bowls full of a fermented drink called balche during a ceremonoy marking the re-burial of Na Bolom founders Frans Blom and Trudi Blom in the Lacandon village of Nahá in Chiapas, Mexico.

Final journey

Frans and Trudi made their final journey to Nahá and their beloved Lacandon Jungle in a pair of child-sized beautifully carved wooden caskets made specifically for their remains which were removed from their original graves in San Cristóbal de las Casas along with their enormous concrete headstone with a jaguar and a Mayan cross carved into it.

At 11:00 the morning after our arrival our group headed for Chan K’in Antonio’s house. As the son of Chan K’in Viejo, Chan K’in Antonio is the most devout keeper of Lacandon traditions. But he is not a shaman. Rather he believes that he, like all Lacandon, can speak directly to the Lacandon Gods and request help and favors. Better health. Better wealth. But there are no guarantees and there are certainly no miracles.

Chan K'in Antonio, son of legendary Lacandon leaders Chan K'in Viejo, who led the traditional ceremonies surrounding the re-burial of Na Bolom founders Frans Blom and Trudi Blom in the Lacandon village of Nahá.

Chan K’in Antonio is one of the few Lacandon to have a God House (something many Lacaondon used to have) and this is where the pre-burial ceremony took place. We filed into the God House, a 20′ by 15′ open-sided, dirt-floored, thatch-roof structure, and women sat on one side with men seated on the other. Almost everyone in the God House was part of our group from San Cristóbal de las Casas. Where were the people from Nahá we wondered.

This vessel is a replica of a very important Lacandon ceremonial piece. It was to meet an untimely end...

Chan K'in Antonio breaking out the balche, a fermented wild honey drink made in a wooden canoe.

Chan K’in Antonio wasn’t waiting around for them to arrive. He jumped right in with chanting in the fast-disappearing Lacandon language and distributing drops of balche (more on that later) to molded figures representing the Lacandon Gods. Each also received a small hand-formed ball of copal which was ultimately lit on fire.

Chan K'in Viejo leading an elaborate traditional Lacandon ceremony to mark the re-burial of Na Bolom founders Frans Blom and Trudi Blom in the Lacandon village of Nahá.

Chan K'in Viejo leading an elaborate traditional Lacandon ceremony to mark the re-burial of Na Bolom founders Frans Blom and Trudi Blom in the Lacandon village of Nahá.

The ceremony culminated in the drinking of balche, a beverage made of wild honey fermented for days in a wooden canoe. Balche is a cloudy, beige, sweet and sour vaguely slimy liquid. Not unpleasant, but not delicious either. However, balche is effective and a number of people noted a certain impatience in the ceremony as if some participants were rushing to get to the balche which was ladeled out of the canoe into a hand-made pottery jar (a replica of an important original vessel) then distributed in cups made from coconut shells. Sadly, the gorgeous ceramic jar was dropped and shattered later that night after perhaps one too many balches.

Part of a traditional Lacandon ceremony to mark the re-burial of Na Bolom founders Frans Blom and Trudi Blom in the Lacandon village of Nahá.

In the afternoon Frans and Trudi’s coffins were taken out of the Nahá community center, where they’d been displayed on top of a small shrine, and carried to our encampment accompanied by a procession of villagers. At the encampment, the coffins were displayed on top of the picnic tables in the dining area. Small bags of soil from Frans and Trudi’s birthplaces (Denmark and Switzerland, respectively) were added to the coffins.

The remains of Frans and Trudi Blom being carried to our jungle encampment on their way to the cemetery in the Lacandon village of Nahá.

Traditional meets modern as this Lacandon boy learns how to use a GPS device and a digital camera in the Lacandon village of Nahá.

As people shared stories and memories from the lives and times of Frans and Trudi, emotions started coming to the surface and by the time we put the coffins into the back of a small white pickup truck and convoyed to the cemetery tears were on the way.

With storm clouds building, a group of men lowered Frans and Trudi into a joint grave near that of Chan K’in Viejo then placed their massive concrete headstone and grave marker on top.

Frans and Trudi Blom's joint grave, near their friend Chan K'in Viejo, in the cemetery in the Lacandon village of Nahá.

Unlike at the God House, many villagers showed up at the cemetery including two ancient sisters dressed in gorgeous traditional dresses, each with a tiny, delicate bird wing adorning her long braids.

Villagers pay their respects before Na Bolom founders Frans and Trudi Blom are laid to rest in the cemeterty in the Lacandon village of Nahá.

The Lacandon believe that now that Frans, Trudi and Chan K’in Viejo have been reunited these three old friends can “continue their conversations” even in death. After witnessing some of the most solemn ceremonies of a threatened culture as they honored two of their most fervent defenders, we tend to agree.

Check out our video, below, and make up your own mind.

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