Arbol del Tule

25 minutes outside the city of Oaxaca, a town was built among a giant tree.
Arbol del Tule, or the tree of Tule has been around since the days of the big J-man. The tree is estimated to be over 2000 years old, with a diameter of 14.05 meters. (that's around 60 feet). Word around town has it that 60 something people can fit around the tree...that´s quite a protest.
The tree of Tule isn´t the oldest or largest tree in the world, but it is certainly a spectacle. I don´t know anywhere you can find a tree that is both so old, and big. If you do, leave me a message.

This particular cypress tree has certainly seen its share of settlers and conquistadors throughout time.
If we figure that the Clovis first inhabited the Americas a little over 10,000 years ago- than this singular tree has seen 20 percent of all civilization in the Americas. The tree was already 900 years old upon settlement of the Zapotecs (1100AD) , the first known cultural civilization since the Clovis people in this section of Mexico. It watched the development and the conquering by the Mixtecs soon after, in the 1200´s. Than the Aztecs came in the mid 1400´s. The tree stood strong through the Spanish invasion by Cortez in the early 1500´s, and was still standing to celebrate Mexico´s independence in 1821.
I might be wrong on some of these dates, but I´ve been keeping up on my history so this is the best retention that I could manage...and could miscalculate.

Well worth the 35 cent bus ride, although I had to stand throughout the entirety. It feels good to be back in Latin America and jumping on the chaotic transportation systems. The massive Arbol del Tule proved to be an incredible spectacle and masterpiece of what mother nature can create.

This picture I am posting isn´t taken by me- as mentioned in my previous post...my camera is broken.

the road less traveled

A typical evening in Oaxaca, Mexico. Casually strolling down the cobblestone alleys after a leisurely dinner admiring the landscape of the mountains. After a brief conversation on how to jump start Jess´s and my exercise regiment we both take a glance at the mountains. ¨Why don´t we just climb the mountain tomorrow?¨

After an early morning breakfast, which I rarely make it to at the hostels, we find a bus that will take us ¨that way¨, which is all we know about the large mountain looming in the distance. Our bus driver asks us where we are going, and we explain we want to climb the mountain ahead. He gives us a puzzling look, which may be taken by some as the look of ¨you crazy gringas¨. He tells us its a 2 day hike, and than asks if we have a tent, food, and other arrangements that some people might make ahead.
We tell him we only have 1 day to hike the mountain, and we have 2 big jugs of water, a box of crackers, and a slice of leftover pizza from lunch yesterday. ¨I´m pretty sure we can do it¨ we confidently tell him.
Truthfully, we have no idea. He drops us off towards the base of the mountain in the center of a little village that's lies at a nice elevation above the city of Oaxaca. He also happens to drop us off at the bottom of a massive road that appears to have an incline of 80 degrees. Well...here goes.

We begin our ascent. There appears to be some trails that we are following which means our idea isn´t that ridiculous. Obviously, other people walk up this too. As we follow the path up, the trail varies in substantiability. At times it seems like we are walking up an irrigation canal with years of erosion on both sides. The ravine-like path stands above our head narrowly on both sides.
The entire day is bliss. No contact with any other person, just an occasional site of donkey-dung. This is all Jess and I could have asked for.

When we stop for breaks, we rarely spoke on our way up. We both have the appreciation of pure silence. We´d stand or sit within the forest and admire the slow descent of a leaf falling, the rustling of an acorn breaking through a tree, the buzz of the insects, the swaying of the branches, and the light howl of the wind. Nature at its finest.

This was certainly no ¨Into the Wild¨. We weren´t looking to get lost, or escape the world... only temporarily. It was simply a mountain that stood in front of us asking to be challenged. And we accepted.
As we rose in elevation and we reached our last stretch to the top, the forest floor became a soft bed of pine-needles. Our feet were lost as they sink up to the ankles in every step we take. Each step becomes a moment of anticipation of whether your foot will succeed and progress further, or if you will slide down. The majority of the time we slide backwards but in time we manage.

The feat of the mountain was no extraordinary expedition, but just our desire to conquer the road less traveled. Sure, we could have taken the guided tour several miles north at the National Park, but we preferred the solitude and silence. We prefer the adventure of the unknown.

I will post a picture of the mountains in the next few days. Unfortunately, my camera broke a few days ago...just 1 week into my trip. The woes of the traveling life... Not much to complain about though- my high level of self-satisfaction is making me feel on top of the world.

and it begins again...mexico

The blog is being reinstated as I have started back on the road.

Mexico City, stop 1.

With over 19 million people, M.C is the 2nd largest city in the world. The city also claims to have more museums than any other city in the world. However, I have not visited a single one.

Before my arrival to Mexico City I was bombarded with statistics and facts from numerous people (and books) about the high crime rate and lack of safety in MC. I have not experienced anything that would lead me to this conclusion, and using my normal travel safety-measures, I believe that this is a fine city to visit... if you like pollution, smog, loud noises, and chaotic taxi-filled streets.


As I mentioned in a previous email, yesterday we had the pleasure of walking past a protest of naked-people. Well, today we walked by it again and actually found out that they are protesting about the government taking their land. We gave them money. And than I took their picture.

I would have liked to find out more details of the protest. From what I could understand of the half-naked man speaking to me...the masks were of the president, and, the are not fond of him. I would have continued speaking to him but anyone who has ever spoken to someone with a mask on knows...its really creepy. So, instead we continued walking.

The rest of the day consisted of a very long walk thru the entire city, merely observing the surroundings. Mexico City is known for its splendid architectual designs and boasts some beautiful buildings and sidewalk-art. During our 2 hour walk down Avenida Reforma we noticed that there were public benches every 25 feet. Not only is this wonderful because we have the ability to sit and recline wherever we please, but there was a variety of the styles of benches. From contemporary, modern, classic, and just plain quirky- each bench had its own unique style.
These are a few of my favorite benches of the day... Unfortunately, I do not know how to turn the pictures so some are sideways, like the man below me. He is actually hanging upside down...so turn your head to the left to look!

It is good to be back on the road again...