Old Mexico

Jann and I decided we must go get Sam at the end of his mission. It was truly an excellent trip.

Jann and I flew into Cancun, but immediately caught a bus to Tulum.

Our little place in Tulum was right on the beach in a little bungalow.

The shower and potty were all in the same place.

The Tulum ruins were just a walk down the beach.

This was where we were introduced to how they mow grass in Mexico. Apparently there are no lawn mowers.

Archways, tourists, and iguanas.

The sea was gorgeous blue. We snorkeled..

We didn't get any guide here, so didn't get to hear any Mormon-ish speculations.

Our second day, we had some time to kill before our bus to Palenque. We walked to town, ate amazing tacos al pastor, had really excellent ice cream, and went back to the beach.

At Palenque, after a 12-hr bus trip, Jann and I went to a little street cafe for breakfast. (See the café?) All of a sudden, Jann jumped up and shouted "¡Mi hilo!" and ran off. She had seen Sam and Élder Velasquez his companion.

After breakfast, we met his mission president (Haws) and his wife. They were very kind.

At Palenque, we got a guide to show us around.

His name was Nacho. He was very excited about Maya philosophy and scientific understanding.

Subir, bajar, repeat.

Turns out, Nacho is the son of an old Zapatista rebel, from back in the '90s. He was on a mission, explaining to us the intricacies of all of the politics. Sam got a taste of his own medicine.

Sam had been to Palenque several times, so he wanted to show us one last pyramid. Even though it had started to rain.

We got pretty wet.

The next day, we went through the museum, and found all about Pakal and his tomb.

Buying tickets to Villa Hermosa.

At Villa, we walked all around Sam's old stomping grounds. 

One of the cool places was the Olmec museum. The artifacts are all from the La Venta archeological site, which was being threatened by petroleum development back in the '50s. Some dude relocated tons (literally) of stuff to Villa, and made the museum.

This is one of the colossal heads.

Rock, paper, scissors. Who knew?

The statue called "La Abuela." (The grandmother.)

There was also a zoo here, and though I didn't take many pictures of the zoo animals, here is a pic of the most dangerous animal. (Sam.)

Sam converted a lady that runs a fish restaurant in Villa. It was really good, and they did not let us pay.

The nice fish ladies.

Touring Villa.

Then we went to Ciudad Carmen. It had been raining, and many of the streets were flooded. I didn't get any pics.

Our last archeology site was Chichen Itza.

This is part of the huge ball court.

Lots of skulls.

A few in detail.

They had colonnades surround much of the site.

The biggest pyramid we saw.

The observatory.

The end of our very hot day.

We stayed in a cool little courtyard hotel in Valla Dolid. This is the door. It is indistinguishable from the many doors that open right up to the street throughout the city.

It had a nice little pool.

And was open to the air and sun on the inside.

See, lots of little doors in solid cement walls. What is behind each one?

Back in the US. Welcome home, Sam.