I'm really pleased to say that I'm escaping cold, rainy Seattle for 9 days and I'm heading to the Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca to explore and take photos.

First, (well after landing in the evening and gorging on traditional Mexican cuisine) I will attempt to see the lava in ever-smoking Popocatéetl [link]

Then I will explore the churches in Puebla [link] [link]

Then drive to Oaxaca de Juárez [link] and explore everything my eyes can see including:

-The biggest tree in the world [link]
-The Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban [link] and Mitla -[link]
-All the colonial churches.
-The Ethno-Botanical Garden in Oaxaca [link]

After Oaxaca City I'll be driving through the mountains and jungles to the beaches of the state of Oaxaca near Bahias de Huatulco [link] - a pristine resort in the virgin jungle of Oaxaca, with just as pristine beaches, a several of which you can only get to by hiking through the jungle or with a boat. Apparently all, except a 2-3, species of sea turtles lay their eggs there.

Needless to say I'm bringing my Nikon D80 with me, but this time I'll also have a little Sony Cybershot with video capabilities. I hope to come back, and with many photos and some nice footage, and no jaguar bite marks. I've never done anything like this before in my life, so I'm really excited and a little bit afraid of it, but there's only one way to conquer that fear

Travel logs of all of my big 4 trips this year - Japan, Oahu, US West Coast and Mexico, will be featured on my blog - [link] in December.

Zen is Travel is Zen