The status of World Heritage site is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) denomination. The status is conferred on selected sites under the terms of “The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage”, adopted at UNESCO’s 17th General Conference in November 1972 and subsequently ratified by 186 member […]
Continue Reading
Teotihuacan (pronounced teh-oh-tee-wah-KAHN or teh-oh-tee-WAH-kan — experts differ on which is correct) is an archaeological site some 50 kilometers north of downtown Mexico City but still in the Valle de Mexico (the bowl surrounded by mountains in which Mexico City is on the southwest side). To get here go to the northern bus station from […]
Continue Reading
Several ancient civilizations developed astonishingly accurate calendars. Even so, occasional adjustments were needed to bring the calendar back in line with solar events. Archaeologists studying the site of Xochicalco, just outside the city of Cuernavaca in central Mexico, believe that a major conference of astronomers was held there in the eighth century A.D. in order […]
Continue Reading
Several small towns in northern Mexico offer a welcome respite and interesting overnight stop for tourists bored by the long and monotonous stretches of desert driving on their way south. One such destination is Sombrerete, mid-way between the cities of Durango and Zacatecas. According to some, there was so much silver in this area that […]
Continue Reading
“An earlier article on the easy-going beachside town of Guayabitos focused on the services the town offers and on activities within easy walking distance. Most people staying more than a few days begin to get itchy feet and wonder if there is anywhere worth visiting a little further afield. This article suggests some possible side-trips […]
Continue Reading
Paquimé, sometimes called Casas Grandes, is probably the most important ruin in Northern Mexico. It was the center of trade and activity for a large area during it’s peak. The period of maximum construction is variously dated 1060 to 1340, or 1250 to 1340. Paquimé was burned around 1340. The ruins are near the modern […]
Continue Reading
Part 1: The America’s Oldest Urban Center Having reached Monte Alban and entered the site, on your right as you stand at the corner of the main plaza is the North Platform, the site of the Zapotec king’s residence and the temples of the nobility. Wandering around the hillside behind the North Platform, you will […]
Continue Reading The warm afternoon breeze wafts a gentle mist of dust across the floor of the Oaxaca valley and into Oaxaca city, softening the colonial patina of the richly carved, 300-year-old cathedral. The dust is two thousand years old, the dust of Monte Alban, the first major city in the Americas. Now a ghost city, Monte […]
Continue Reading
Of all the thousands of possible day-trips from tourist centers in Mexico, perhaps none is as varied, educational, beautiful and just plain fun as that along the eastern part of the Valley of Oaxaca. One of the great attractions of this trip is that it is less than fifty kilometers drive along a good highway […]
Continue Reading
“Ay Chihuahua!” Have you ever heard this time-honored phrase of amazement uttered by some dumbstruck or exasperated Mexican? Whatever its origins, it is perhaps never more appropriately used than by those visitors who come to appreciate the state’s wide diversity of tourist merits. Once familiar with them, they too can rightly exclaim, “Ay Chihuahua!”. While […]
Continue Reading