Dates:
22 October to 4 November, 2005 & 2006 (14 days)*


Directed by Gordon Frost.

*See optional Palenque Maya Ruins Extension (November 4-7) after the itinerary below.

All Souls’ Day season is one of the most festive times of the year in Oaxaca & Chiapas. It is a widely celebrated, Thanksgiving-like time full of positive energy with special food, drink, and decorations for all, including the beloved visiting spirits. We meet artists & crafts people and see them create. We have great opportunities to buy finely crafted textiles, excellent pottery, innovative woodcarvings, & more…

Itinerary:
DAY 1: Fly to Oaxaca with transfer in Mexico City. Welcome dinner in our hotel.

DAY 2: After an orientation walk in Oaxaca's central area & lunch at a restaurant that specializes in Oaxacan dishes the afternoon is open for you to explore markets, museums, craft & folk art shops.

DAYS 3-7: Day trips planned to meet Oaxaca's Mestizo, Zapotec, & Mistec Indian artists/crafts people in their homes and villages. See artist make tapestries in Teotitlan del Valle, hand woven cintas and belts in Santo Tomas Jalieza, fantastically carved & painted wooden animals in San Martin Tilcajete, clay figures & pottery in Atzompa, Ocotlan, & San Bartolo Coyotepec. Visit the market at Zaachila. Enjoy beautiful mountain settings. Enjoy delicious Oaxacan cooking. In addition to excellent folk art villages visit colonial ruins & archaeological sites including Monte Alban, & Mitla. Great opportunities to buy finely crafted textiles, excellent pottery, woodcarving, and folk art made especially for All Souls Day. Our hotel is perfectly located near the Crafts Market & Oaxaca's Zocalo (Oaxaca's beautiful main square).

DAYS 8-13: Fly to Tuxtla Gutierrez, capital of the State of Chiapas, and drive through spectacular mountain scenery to nearby San Cristobal de Las Casas. Visit diverse Maya Indian groups including Tzotzil, Tzeltal, and Zoque Indians; explore exotic Maya villages: Chamula, Zinacantan, Tenejapa, & more... excellent craft-art tradition & well preserved Indian culture. See colorful All Souls' Day events in San Cristobal de Las Casas and Indian villages. Stay at the fabled Na Bolom (Hotel-Museum) founded by archaeologist Frans Blom and photographer Trudy Blom. Enjoy Na Bolom's long table dinners.

DAY 14: Fly home or continue on the optional Palenque Maya Ruins extension*.

Price: (14 days) The land price which includes hotel, ground transportation, entrance fees, activities, all breakfasts, seven lunches & three dinners is $2,395 per person. Single rooms are available for a supplementary charge of $455. Our approximate group rate for the international airfare round from Los Angeles trip is $642 including taxes; Gordon Frost is holding a limited number of group rate seats for a limited time; please reserve your place early. Please request airfare cost from other cities. Land price does not include any airfare.

Gordon Frost will send you information about your air arrangements.

Small Group: 15 members.

*Optional Tour Extension

Palenque Maya Ruins
(4 days/3 nights) November 4 - 7

Palenque Maya Ruins Extension starts immediately after the 14-Day Mexico South Oaxaca & Chiapas All Souls' Day tour.

Explore two important ancient Maya sites; en route to Palenque also visit Tonina Maya ruins. The ancient city-states of Palenque and Tonina competed with one another during Classic Maya times (AD 600-800). Their outstanding architecture and beautiful tropical rain forests settings now make them the most picturesque ruins of the Maya realm.

Gordon Frost has explored Maya ruins for many years, making rubbings in a number of remote Maya sites. Gordon Frost's personally selected Palenque guide will lead you.

Extension Itinerary:
Days 1 & 2: Start immediately after the 14-day Oaxaca/Chiapas All Souls' Day tour. On your way to Palenque and Tonina pass through Maya towns and enjoy fabled Chiapas scenery: mountains, valleys, rivers, and waterfalls.

Explore Palenque's El Palacio, the Palace, with its signature lookout tower; El Templo del Sol, the Temple of the Sun, topped with Palenque's best preserved roof comb; and El Templo de la Cruz Foliada, the Temple of the Foliated Cross, that contains exposed corbel arches. Also see El Templo de las Inscripciones, the Temple of the Inscriptions, which is the location of Pacal's tomb, Palenque's most important ruler, and where glyph panels comprise the second longest known set Maya inscriptions.

While at Tonina visit the Temple of the Smoking Mirror, and the see the elaborate Mural of the Four Suns. There is time to wander and photograph these sites, pyramids, palaces, and temples.

Day 3: Return to Na Bolom, our hotel in San Cristobal del Las Casas. The afternoon is open to relax, or to get out-n-about town before our farewell dinner.

Day 4: Fly home.

Price: the price for the optional Palenque Maya Ruins Extension (4 Days/3 Nights) that includes entrance fees, ground transportation, hotel, all breakfasts, and one dinner is $552 per person.

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“Interested people on a fascinating learning experience led by an incomparable guide. After four of Gordon’s tours I find it difficult to wait for the next.” - L. Gillogly, San Pedro, California

“Front doors, back doors, obscure religious rites, remote craft centers, village life, and markets are only a few of the intimate places we visited. The tour is a challenge to the intellectual person, an inspiration to the creative person.” - Virginia and Thomas Kane, Dover, Ohio

"Your rapport with the villagers, your long friendships with some of them and your beautiful Spanish and knowledge of weaving techniques made for an informing and intimate experience." S. Scheuber, Pleasant Hill, California

"The best trip I've ever taken. I cant put into words the enjoyment I had on the trip. It seems that every day I think of something new that I had stored in my mind - - the people, scenery, mountains, fields, their work, weaving, pottery, markets, customs, dress, the smiling faces, children, and so many things." W. Ritchey, Hot Springs, South Dakota

"Your tours have spoiled me for any other type." Z. Jordan, Grinnell, Iowa

Reservations: to learn how to join this tour, click Tour Enrollment Information.