MEXICO, VILLAHERMOSA DAY 1: MISSIONARIES, COMALCALCO, CACAO, GROCERIES, AND BARBECUE

March 15, 2018

On the evening of March 14, after having spent the day at the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe and the pyramids of Teotihuacan, we caught a flight from Mexico City to Villahermosa to visit some friends who were serving as as the head of the LDS Mexico Villahermosa Mission of our church.

This large map shows the location of both Mexico City and Villahermosa in the context of the country of Mexico.

Zooming in, you can see that the flight time is about 15% of the driving time. Local flights are cheap (although more than the $16 noted on the map below), so it was a no-brainer to fly.

We were met at the airport by our friends and posed for a picture in the same spot they took photos with newly arriving missionaries. 

We picked up a rental car and then went to dinner together at Tacos de la Estancia before heading off for a good night's sleep at the Hampton Inn Villahermosa.

In the morning we made our way to the Mission Office, located next door to the church building that serves the LDS Villahermosa Stake.

The Mexico Villahermosa Mission covers a large area, with one finger reaching all the way down to Guatemala.

Our friends were putting on a conference for the missionaries (which included lunch), and it was fun to see them in action.

We stayed for an hour or so, and then, while the missionary conference continued, we headed out on our own to visit some ruins our friends had told us about.

Comalcalco, which lies about a mile west of Villahermosa, was built by the Mayans. The westernmost city of the Mayan civilization, it was developed around 250 AD and reached its peak around 500 AD, but by 1000 AD it had more or less been abandoned. The dense jungle that surrounds it must have quickly moved in to cover it up because it wasn't discovered for almost 900 years.

A museum opened on the site in 2012 to house some of the artifacts and tell the history of Comalcalco, and that's where we started. 

From there we took a path that led us to the ruins--nine pyramids and over 400 other structures that cover an area of 2.7 square miles. Not all the buildings have been excavated, but it is still a very impressive site. The ruins look similar to those at Palenque, and some archaeologists believe Comalcalco may have been a satellite city or a colony of the group that built Palenque.

What makes this an exceptional archaeological site is that it is the only major Mayan city built with clay bricks rather than limestone.

The signage at Comalcalco is exceptionally well written with a target audience of school children. It was nice to have a good English translation.

Temple I dominated the scene as we entered the site. Its staircase rises 66 feet from the ground, and it was once topped by an altar.

It was interesting to see the levels of restoration of various structures at the site.

The grounds are beautifully, carefully maintained, weirdly reminding me of the grounds of the great palaces of Europe, such as the hilly gardens of Versailles.

What made everything even better for Bob were the creatures that inhabited the nooks and crannies of the structures--huge Mexican iguanas.

The current residents of Comalcalco are plentiful.

I say "current" residents, but judging by this artifact on display back in the museum, they've been here as long as the buildings have.

Even without the iguanas, Comalcalco would be a kids' paradise. It is quite spread out and there is so much to discover. Imagine playing hide and seek here!

I know my little boy husband was having a grand time exploring.

The buildings below are part of the Great Acropolis, a jumble of residential buildings, temples, and palaces set on a hill (hence the name) overlooking the big pyramid Temple I that we saw on our way in. 

See the jungle waiting in the background for the groundskeepers to turn the other way so it can take over?

The roofs in the photo below shade areas being worked on by archaeologists. They look like they could also be solar panels.

This is what we found under those roofs:

Mask of the Sun God, Kinich Ahau

Temple VII Frieze

Bob really, REALLY, REALLY loved the iguanas.  If it weren't for the iguanas, we probably would have been done an hour or two earlier.  (Remember, most of these are his photos because my camera was stolen at the end of the trip, and I've only included a fraction of his iguana photos.)

It was 90° F and over 90% humidity, about the worst combination we had ever experienced, and after a few hours our clothing was soaked and sweat was running like waterfalls down our bodies. It was time to head for the air conditioned car.

As we walked back to the parking lot, we noticed this strange fruit. We haven't been able to figure out what it is. Does anyone know?

I looks like a green tomato.

On our way back to our hotel, we stopped at a cacao plantation they had recommended.

These are my kind of jewels.

After changing our sweaty clothes for fresh ones, we met up with our friends and then stopped by a local grocery store. I can't remember why--maybe we needed food for the road trip we had planned for the following day. In any case, going to the grocery store is always one of our favorite things to do when we travel in foreign countries--even in Mexico.

Our friends pointed out that the hot dog section (all three sections of this refrigerated case) is about five times the size of a hot dog section in a U.S. grocery store. Apparently the Villahermosans really like their hot dogs.

This breakfast cereal cracks me up. Azucarada means "sugary," and the zebra looks pretty hyped up on sugar, don't you think? At least they tell it like it is!

I've never seen tortilla chips offered in bulk bins before, and it was fun to see all the dried chiles . . .

. . . as well as the makings for jamaica and tamarind juice, next to cones of pure cane sugar used to sweeten the juices.

All that grocery shopping made us hungry, so we headed out to our friends' favorite barbecue joint, Macario's, located in a nice area next to some other restaurants.

Yes, it was as good as it looks--or maybe even better.

And how about these sides? Wow.

It's so nice to have friends in faraway places!