Mexican Top 10!

When I think of Mexico, I recall the image of a tiny church in San Juan Chamula, where the smell of burning copal and pine needles permeates, the sounds of praying Tzutujil and the monotonous melody accompanying these prayers. I smell chocolate and chili and taste fresh mango from the market in San Cristobal de las Casas. Beneath my feet are the fine, white sand of Tulum, and before my eyes all the shades of blue of the Caribbean sea and the whole range of juicy shades of green of the Mexican jungle.

Here is mine mexican top 10, or places I love to return to during my next trips to Mexico and to which I often reminisce:

Tulum

• Unrivaled, the most beautiful beach on Mexico's Caribbean coast – long, wide, with white sand textured like flour… Perfect not only for lazy people but also for those who enjoy long walks along the beach. Between sunbathing and swinging in a hammock suspended between palm trees, you can try your hand at kitesurfing. The conditions here are fantastic for this sport. In Tulum, you'll find several schools where professional instructors will teach you the basics or help you develop your skills. You can also hop on a bike and explore the area on two wheels (also to burn off the calories you've acquired while gorging on delicious tacos and burritos 🙂).
  In Tulum, there are picturesquely situated ruins of a Mayan city of the same name. They were built on a 12-meter cliff, which provides a fabulous view of the Caribbean Sea. Walking between temples dedicated to Mayan gods, you will meet many lazy iguanas, and at the end you will go down to a wonderful beach located between the rocks for a refreshing swim.

Holbox Island 

• This small Caribbean island is one of the few places on the Mexican coast that hasn't yet been invaded by hordes of tourists. Here, you can still enjoy peace, intimacy, paradise-like deserted beaches, and the magnificent azure sea. There are almost no cars on the island, and the main means of transportation are golf carts, bicycles, and scooters. Coconut palms lean over the streets, which are covered in a layer of sand. The island is separated from the mainland by a lagoon, a natural sanctuary for various species of animals and birds, including flamingos and pelicans. Between June and September, a whale shark swims near the island, which gives you the opportunity to meet this giant during a diving trip. Holbox Island is undoubtedly an eldorado for people fascinated by the underwater world. It is a great alternative above all for people who want to escape from the tourist resorts and resort nightmares of the Mayan Riviera. You can feel there like at the end of the world.

Valladolid 

• This small, quiet town in the Yucatan Peninsula stole my heart. Colorful, low-rise houses, colonial tenement houses, cobblestone streets, and women strolling along them dressed in traditional costumes. This makes it undeniably charming. Valladolid is incredibly charming – you can find here taste authentic Mexican cuisine, buy exotic fruits at the local market, visit the fragrant chocolate museum or simply sit in the park on the main square of the city and watch its life. Lovers of Mexican culture and history will have a great base in Valladolid for visiting nearby archaeological sites. Just 50 km from here is the famous Chichen Itza. Spending an earlier night in Valladolid, you can get there just before the crowds of tourists arriving a little later from Cancun. It is also worth seeing the less touristy ruins of Ek Balam or climbing the highest pyramid of northern Yucatan in Coba. There are also many underground caves filled with water - cenotes. Even in the center of Valladolid you will find one of them - a dozen or so meters from the city center is cenote Zaci. It is also worth cycling to cenote Dzitnup and Samula.

Chiapas 

• is the name of a state in southern Mexico, which for me personally is the quintessence of this country. If you want to see what Mexico is really like, you can't limit yourself to the Caribbean coast, Chichen Itza or Mexico City. You absolutely have to go to Chiapas! This is the state where you will meet the largest number of Indigena people in all of Mexico. You will have the opportunity to learn about their traditions, rituals, colorful handicrafts, and see how they celebrate the Catholic holidays we know. You will spend a few days in an extremely charming colonial city San Cristóbal de las Casas. At this point I have to confess something to you: this city is dangerous! Once you set foot in it, it will hold you and… won’t let go! I know many people from Poland who have tied their lives to San Cris and settled there permanently. This city has that SOMETHING: an artistic atmosphere and a cheeky edge. For me, San Cris smells primarily of freshly squeezed orange juice, which can be bought on every street corner. In Chiapas you will also find the picturesque Lake Montebello, Sumidero River Canyon, the waterfalls of Agua Azul and Misol Ha, and the hidden in the jungle and hard to reach ruins of Mayan cities - Yaxchilan and Bonampak. Every time I appear in San Cris, I go to the small town San Juan Chamula. This is a magical place. Strange rituals take place in the small church of St. John the Baptist in the center of Chamula. When you cross the threshold of the temple, you will smell the burning copal, there are pine needles and colored candles on the floor, and colored ribbons hang across the nave. There are no benches, kneelers or confessionals inside. People praying fervently kneel and sway as if in a trance to the rhythm of the words and monotonous music. The Tzutujil people praying in the church perform purification rituals there: a live chicken is pulled out of a bag, which, according to beliefs, draws bad energy from the person for whom prayers are being said. It is made in circles over candles or a chosen person, and at the end its neck is wrung! The purification ritual is supported by a large amount of Coca Cola and pox - a strong Mayan drink made from corn.

Hierve del Agua 

• This extraordinary natural wonder can be found in the state of Oaxaca, in central Mexico. At first glance, it looks like a spectacular waterfall. However, this is nature playing with our senses, because it turns out that it is nothing more than a rock formation created by the action of minerals found in the water flowing out at the top of the cliff. This petrified waterfall and the surrounding, green mountains and the Oaxaca valley can be admired while sitting in natural pools with turquoise water, located practically on the edge of the cliff. We can safely say that this is the most beautiful "infinity pool" in the world.

Palenque 

• There are places where you can almost feel like Indiana Jones. One of them is Palenque, considered one of the most important and beautiful Mayan cities. Mysterious tombs, temples, and pyramids there conceal the greatest secrets of this civilization, and to this day, there are many mysteries that archaeologists have yet to unravel. The huge stone structures were discovered in the 8th century in the heart of a wild and vast rainforest by the monk Ramon Ordonez y Aguilar. The abandoned city's appearance today excites the imagination of every traveler. It was practically torn from the jungle, stretching for 2 km10, but only XNUMX% of this area is now open to the public. The beautiful Temple of Inscriptions was discovered, where you will see hieroglyphs that are probably a chronicle of the rulers. Under the pyramid, the tomb of Pacal the Great - the most important ruler of Palenque - was discovered. Each structure hides many secrets: hidden tunnels, observatories, tombs, altars on which religious rituals were performed, pelota courts. On the route travel around Mexico this place simply cannot be missed.

Oaxaca 

• This city smells of chocolate and mezcal. It's an ocean of truly hedonistic pleasures: food, art, and fun. Here, walking 500 meters can take several hours. What could possibly happen in such a short distance? And... well, there might be a fresh fruit stand, a cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon (because chocolate comes from Oaxaca!), a bakery with fluffy pastries, and market, or mercado – and here there will be no end to tastings. Everything tempts and entices, it is impossible to resist. Especially white cheeses – another pride of Oaxaca. You also have to taste a local delicacy – chapulines, or grasshoppers, which are sold on every corner and which are considered a vitamin bomb and even an aphrodisiac! In the evenings, vernissages begin, which bring together local artists, students and those hungry for aesthetic impressions. After dark, mezcalerias also fill up, to which lovers of mezcal flock – a strong agave drink, which is a remedy for everything, for every physical or spiritual ailment. They say here: “Para todo mal – mezcal, para todo bien, tambien” (translated, it sounds more or less like: when it is bad – mezcal, and when it is good – too). The next part is: "si no hay remedio, litro y medio", so if it still doesn't help, then one and a half liters 🙂

Zipolite

• It's an outsider's oasis, a small village on the Pacific coast, where a hippie atmosphere and total relaxation prevail. This is the land of "doing nothing"! Sounds good, doesn't it? This "NOTHING" also applies to the so-called dress code, which does not exist here! Zipolite is famous above all for its nudist beach, and if you lack courage, just take off your sandals and in this magical way you will blend into the surrounding landscape 😉 The beaches here are long and wide, wonderfully integrated into the rocky area. You will easily find a piece of your paradise here.

Coyoacan in Mexico City 

• It is a district of Mexican artists, writers and poets. I was drawn there by the story of the fascinating painter Frida Kahlo. It is there that her family home is located – Casa Azul, where she spent practically her entire life. The house is full of colors, you can feel the painter's artistic soul in it and you can easily imagine her walking through the patio in a beautiful Tehuana dress. In Coyoacan you can feel the atmosphere of bohemia, it is worth escaping there for a day from the crowded the center of the capital, to take a breath and walk through these charming streets, especially if you are in Mexico City on the weekend. Then, cheerful old people come to Parque Allende to dance together to good, Latin music. That's why I love this nation above all! I was taken to dance by an extremely energetic 90-year-old gentleman, whose form would probably put many a youngster to shame 😉

Cholula and Tonantzintla

• These two towns are located 120 km southeast of Mexico City. They are unique because they offer a glimpse into the spiritual conquest of Mexico in action. In Cholula, Tepanapa Hill is actually an Aztec pyramid, the largest in the world. It measures 54 meters high, with a base measuring 380 meters and 490 meters. It is larger than the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Mesoamerican cultures had the custom of building pyramids on top of each other. The pyramid in Cholula consists of seven pyramids built one on top of the other! In 7, in the bloody Battle of Cholula, over six thousand indigenous warriors died. Montezuma's army was defeated, and Cortés sacked and burned the city. Shortly thereafter, he built a Catholic church on top of the pyramid, designed to overlook the defeated city. The temple stands on Tepanapa Hill to this day, a symbol of the bloody, spiritual conquest. Interestingly, approximately 1518 km of tunnels have been discovered in the center of the pyramid, some of which are open to the public.
  Over time, Catholicism began to replace local cults (in a more or less syncretic form). In a nearby village tonantzintla you will find a church that is a beautiful example of this syncretism. The cult of Tonantzin – the Aztec goddess, the mother of the gods, was replaced by the cult of the Virgin Mary, but when the temple was built, the local Indigena people were allowed to decorate the interior with motifs and sculptures related to the cult of Tonantzin, which was to facilitate their evangelization. As a result, you will find more Indian motifs in the temple than Catholic ones: dark-skinned angels, tropical fruits – papaya, chile, corn cobs – or feathers. Both towns can be visited on a one-day trip, stopping for a few days in the equally interesting city of Puebla.

I hope I managed to enchant you with Mexico, its scents, colors and flavors. Go and find your magical places during holidays in Mexico. 

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