Monte Albán and Oaxaca

We have decided to change our plan and no longer rush to Rio for Carnival. There is just too much to see between where we are now on Isla de Margarita in Venezuela and Rio and not enough time. Also, in order to be more efficient with time, money, and destinations we want to visit, it makes more sense for us to work our way down the west coast instead.

Our current plan is to head to the Brazilian border of Santa Elena de Uairen. From there we may cross into Guyana for a few days, then back to Brazil where we will catch a river boat up the Amazon into Peru. From Peru we will catch another river boat into Ecuador, with a possible stop in Columbia. Once in Ecuador we would like to visit the Galapagos Islands before re-entering Peru and heading to the Inca trail before continuing south. This is all subject to change of course but no matter which route we take it will be unlikely for us to have much Internet time. Therefore starting today we have scheduled our blog to automatically update every 3 days for the next couple of weeks in order to keep you somewhat entertained.

All the best,

Josh and Laura

After an amazing week and a half in Mexico City with Polo and Miranda they took us out for a farewell dinner before driving us to the bus station to catch a night bus to Oaxaca. Night buses would be our accomodation for the next three nights while we quickly made our way down to the Yucatan stopping at as many ruins as we could along the way. Our bus departed at 11:59 pm and arrived in Oaxaca at 7:00 am. From there we checked our bags in a bag check that was almost as much as a hotel and made our way to Monte Albán, then the Santo Domingo Church and former monastery.

Monte Albán perches impressively atop a mountain overlooking the city of Oaxaca. Its builders (the Zapotecs--ca.100 BC-AD 200) levelled out huge expanses on top of the mountain in order to build it.

The ball court is a prominent feature in many precolonial mesoamerican cities.

The Cathedral in Oaxaca's zócalo







The former monastery at Santo Domingo Church, now a museum






Very well preserved wooden monkey sculpture found in a Monte Albán tomb.

Santo Domingo Church