All,

I started the mail below a while ago trying to keep up with it as I go along...As some time has gone by and I am now in the Caribbean Is of Isla Mujeres I´ll send you what I wrote so far:

All,

Puerto Vallarta is set in a beautiful bay, lovely beaches framed by rocks and to the back lush forest and to the horizon emerald green water. The film The night of the iguana with Liz Taylor and Richard Burton (at that time married to other partners) was set here and as the story goes they fell in love and tourists have been coming since then.

I had not heard of it before but it really is a major tourist resort for Mexicans and Americans, a bit like Cancun for Europeans…big hotels, many big hotels and many more tourists flying in on packages for a couple of days, 22 hours on the bus or a week-end trip from Guadalajara, Mexico{s second largest city…

The town is still very pretty, steep little roads up the hill, small restaurants and then the long promenade congested with tourists walking up and down…

Many of the beaches are to be reached only by boat, so I booked myself on an all inclusive day trip to a couple of beaches on a lovely looking little boat.

As it turned out other 501 passengers were to share the day with me…the day started with a light breakfast which left most people longing for crisps (on which Mexicans pour lots of chilli sauce) and refrescos (soft drink) within a short time. As the big boat could not enter the small bays, they had to get everyone off the big boat and onto smaller ones. Well done on the boatmen, 502 people are a lot a mixed crowd of gringos and mainly Mexican families most of the time with granny, granddad, aunt 1, uncle 1, aunt 2, etc parents and kids onto cousins, friends, etc.

First boat full and the lady shouts: "My husband, my husband!!!!" and the boatman " Madam everyone will get off the boat, your husband will be on the next boat and you will see him on the beach in a couple of minutes"…

Once everyone was off the walk (or ride on horseback) to the waterfall began with the trip that had looked as I nightmare to me when I boarded the boat turning into a funny day with granny aunt, uncle and kids crossing rivers, falling into the water and stepping on horse dug…

502 people back onto the small boats to the big one, gathering around the shores and jumping onto the boat like it was the last one… A fat lady next to me finally made it onto the boat letting it swing vigorously. She managed to squeeze herself between me and the side of the boat and was holding onto the side of the boat and to…my knee: "My heart, my heart, I am going to have a heart attack". The boatman was making the boat swing on purpose "I wish I was in my hotel room" she shouted firmly holding onto my knee…

At lunch time everyone was digging in as if they hadn{t had anything for ages…

Later another transfer another beach made the horrible day of fun complete…

Onto Guanajuato, beautiful mining colonial town in a dramatic setting and with an amazing system of underground roads congested by buses and parked cars.

From there to the DF (Distrito Federal) as the Mexicans call their capital. Well a truly amazing place. A bit scared at the beginning by its reputation and by warnings of theft and violence from other Mexicans, it actually soon turned into a very manageable metropolis where I felt quite safe. The number of policemen and guards patrolling the centre is the highest I have ever seen and literally everyone wears their backpack on the front…

In Mexico City I was totally overwhelmed by the offer of arts, architecture and archeology finding myself running from one museum to the other and enjoying it so much after I thought too many visits in school years had left me with nothing more than wanting to walk past them very quickly…

Mostly impressive are the murals, especially the Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros ones, with a deep political message of workers and peasants fight for better conditions as well as depicting the impact of the Spanish conquest on the pre-Hispanic civilizations. The murals cover the walls of public buildings and were meant to be accessible to everyone. I was very surprised by the political movement in Mexico City in the first half of the XX century. Trotsky found here a new home after years of exile and was eventually shot dead. Frida Kahlo´s art and her struggle on a very personal level, her sickness, her abortions, her love-obsession for Diego. Well bad timing though as Frida has gone to London (Tate Modern)…still very impressive even as copies …

My favourite face of Mexico City ? The thousands of Beetle cabs cruising the streets of the city. I could not resist the temptation and indulged in a couple of rides…amazing how familiar that car still is after so many years, although I must say it is slightly different to our old family car: the passenger seat is removed to facilitate access to the bench on the back and the seat belt is generally tied to the door and front handle so that the driver can just pull the door closed once the passengers get off…clever isn´t it ?

A view from the top: the Torre Latino Americana, 44 floors only and old but still worth the view from the top. Difficult to imagine this is the biggest city on earth, buildings are low and green mountains are at sight. San Paulo was much more imposing with the jungle of skyscrapers to the horizon…

It is very easy to get around the city with the underground, the cheapest I have ever been on (2 pesos a ride /10 for USD conversion) and very efficient, incredibly crowded every time of day or night…a number of vendors invade the cars, selling from pirate cd to toothbrushes, stickers for kids´schoolpacks and many beggars, many blind people singing along a song they play from a rudimental portable player with attached speakers.

Los ambulantes: the streets are congested with vendors who set their stalls up every day in the streets of the centre, somewhere in between the pavements and the road, shout the whole day what they have on offer and take the shop down and home at night, every day every night.

Unemployed professionals offer their service on the Zocalo, the main square. They sit there the whole day with a sign: carpenter, plummer etc. waiting for work.

Taxco, the silver town, dramatically set on the side of a mountain and even more Beetles than Maxico City ! Public busses are VW combis, the sliding door removed to facilitate access and inside a couple of benches…Just went mad taking pictures of beetle, sometimes 5 in one go...

Puebla beautifully set amid high volcanoes, a quick stop and onto Oaxaca: more and more obvious here how many indigenous minorities populate Mexico, very poor people leaving their villages in the mountains to look for better luck in the city. I went to a centre that helps children with schooling and uniforms and ended up spending a couple of days with a young lady, totally illiterate, with seven kids, selling scarves on one of the squares. "At least here there is eggs and beans" she said "in my village there is nothing, I started collecting tomatoes on the fields when I was 8". The kids are used to staying out the whole day, eating something here and there, asking passers by for a peso.

Around the city the beautiful ruins if Monte Alban on a mountain cut flat to allow constrauction of the town and 360 view on the valles centrales and mountains. Many markets in the villages of the Valles centrales, handycrafts and pottery. But best of all Oaxaca is Mexico´s chocolate capital! Yummy!

And after Oaxaca a week of beach in Puerto Escondido, a surfers paradise, big waves, little bays with sandy beaches and a relaxed atmosphere…

Early mornings watching surfers on the world´s third top spot for waves, Zicatela beach and onto minor safer beaches to enjoy the waves myself like kids on a rollercoaster. Nice crowd to hang out with and a true week of rest.

San Cristobal, Chiapas: a beautiful colonial town and many minorities with they colourful dresses, languages and traditions and poverty. Chamula a small village nearby with one of the most amazing churches, the walls are covered with images of saints, John the Baptist in the centre and hundreds of candles everywhere and people kneeling and praying. It is not unusual to see people kneeling down in the middle of the church and walk the rest of it on their knees...

Still in Chiapas the beautiful ruins of Palenque set amid forest, waterfalls and howler monkeys in the background.

Lots of love,

Jasmina