Jan & Steve's México Report - #6

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Jan & Steve's México Report #6 July 27, 2004

SIXTY-EIGHT WEEKS
I hope you are enjoying summer, wherever you are!

Recently, we said "goodbye" to many of our ex-pat friends. We didn't realize that most foreigners are only here for a short time. The experience is a little like graduating, and promising to write and email or whatever, when we all know that we'll drift apart in the end. One of the best going away parties, was a quick weekend trip to Pie de la Cuesta (the foot of the sunset), only 20 minutes from Acapulco.

PERU
The big news in this report is that Jan & I survived four days of hiking the Inca Trail in Peru's Andes Mountains. In total, we hiked about 40 miles, including one day where we hiked 4,200 feet UP the side of a mountain. The hike culminated with a decent of over 2,000 stairs…needless to say, my old knees are still recovering a month later. I wrote the full account of our adventure, while recovering on a steady diet of frozen margaritas (the doctor told me to put ice on my knee…I figure it will get down to my knee, eventually).

VOLADORES
In ancient times, the Voladores de Papantla, were religious leaders trying to fly like the bird-god that was popular in their native Veracruz. Today, watching four men climb a 90-foot pole, only to spiral slowly down to the earth by a rope tied around their waist, is a tourist attraction practiced across the country. With help from my Spanish instructor, (and 200 pesos) I convinced one of them to take my video camera with him. Let's just say that this video is very memorable!

RETURN TO TEOTIHUACAN
Jan & I returned to our local pyramid, this time for some night photography. The pyramid of the sun is the world's third largest, and it's only an hour from our apartment.

Thanks for reading!

Jan & Steve