Oct 15th, 2007: San Francisco - Inuvik - Puerto Toro - Buenos Aires

[Quixote]

Hello all,

The progress so far has been exciting. I don't know how many of you are on the Expedition Portal so I have not been cross posting posts from my thread over there. I'll ping-pong the progress reports between here and Expo.

So far we have driven the Dempster Highway in the winter, completed our training to become Wilderness EMTs, and are about to board the Baja Ferry to the mexico mainland.

 

[Quixote]

So we made it to Oaxaca without any significant incident. The drive down Mexico Highway 200 along the Pacific Coast had some great camping spots:

There were quite a few Mexicans that discouraged us from taking this route due to security concerns but it turns our that the army is patrolling this area very well and it is quite safe. Most Mexicans don't drive so their information on how safe the roads are is gleaned from the news. And we all know how skewed the news is - if we went by what is on the telly we wouldn't go anywhere!

 

[Quixote]

What journey would be complete without exotic foods? Rooting around in the markets of Oaxaca one finds all kinds of interesting items, not the least of which are fried grasshoppers, or "Chapulines"

I must say these are an acquired taste, a bit too sour for my preference. We'll be in Oaxaca for a few more weeks finishing up out Spanish education...

 

[Quixote]

The Spanish town of Chiapas de Corzo is almost 500 years old and a great introduction to the state of Chiapas. We were dreading driving into Chiapas due to the troubles but everything is pretty quiet and relaxed. Relaxed, until the next wave of trouble hits...

 

[cruiser_guy]

We were dreading driving into Chiapas due to the troubles but everything is pretty quiet and relaxed. Relaxed, until the next wave of trouble hits...

That's just more of the perceived treats rather than the real ones. We travelled through Chiapas first in 2002 and we drove in, following friends who lived in Merida in the Yucatan, at 10:00 in the evening. Our first introduction was when all of a sudden the road lit up and we had come upon a military checkpoint. A little disconcerting to say the least! We had folks there who would not go to Guatemala "because it is so dangerous".

I actually quite like Chiapas and folks there will likely tell you how dangerous Guatemala is!

 

[Quixote]

At the ecotourism site of Escudo Jaguar we ran into Helmut and Rosy doing the same trip we are but in reverse - they started in Buenos Aires, went to Tierra del Fuego and are now heading to the USA.

I instantly had vehicle envy when I saw their beautiful FJ70. I wish we could buy those here in the USA!

 

[Quixote]

The tiny town of Mani was the location for one of the greatest crimes against humanity, committed by the Franciscan friars. It was here that Father Diego Landa held the dreaded Auto-de-Fe where Mayan "heretics" were tortured and then put to death. A vast quantity of Mayan artifacts and codices were lost forever.

Ironically it is through Landa and his observations that we know about the customs of the Maya shortly after conquest.

 

[alvarorb]

Quixote,

I think that Mezo-American culture at the time of the Conquest, was as cruel as the inquisition. People forget the human sacrifices like tearing hearts out, skinning virgins alive only to have priest wear their skin. Drowning children in honor of Tlaloc the rain god. ETC, ETC.

By todays moral standards the inquisition was an abomination, but so are the Mezo-American sacrifices. My point is that as shocking as it may be, we can't judge yesterday's humankind feats with today's moral standards.

Regards

Alvaro

 

[Quixote]

Alvaro,

I agree that the Mayans also had a society that was tolerant of atrocities, especially by today's standards. The Spanish, however, were claming the high ground by bringing civilization to the savages. In reality they were just as bad, if not worse...

 

[Quixote]

Visiting Mayan sites in the Rio Bec region is an interesting experience. Thinking that the classic Rio Bec site was close by, we ended up driving down a badly rutted road for an hour before we realized that we really couldn't afford the time.

The nearby site of Xpuhil, on the other hand, requires very little time investment to visit...

 

[Quixote]

The Guatemalans say that their country is "difficult". Our ebullient host in the Biotopo de Quetzal said "En lugar de decir Muerte! Muerte!, decimos Amor! Amor!" (Instead of saying death, we should say love).

Blessed with natural beauty and rich traditions Guatemala should be a paradise. But the people, with their fractuous bickering make it difficult...

In the highland village of Nebaj, we saw this cliche of inter-species love: