NOTE: we have more pictures than are here, and some panoramas that have yet to be constructed. If you are interested in future updates, let Marek or I know.

a travelogue..in brief:

Wed. Aug. 6	Marek arrives in Mexico City and visits the National Anthropology Museum
Thurs. Aug. 7	Marek goes to Teotihuacan
Fri. Aug. 8	I arrive, and we go to Toluca
Sat. Aug. 9	Hiking up Nevado de Toluca
Sun. Aug. 10	Summit Nevado de Toluca, bus to Patzcuaro via Morelia
Mon. Aug. 11	Photo VW's & backstreets in Patzcuaro, market stall dinner in Uruapan, night bus to Barra de Navidad
Tues. Aug. 12	Swim & sunburn in Barra
Wed. Aug. 13	Bus to Puerto Vallarta, meet up with Betty, night out on the town
Thurs. Aug. 14	Rent scooters, swim, relax in Vallarta.  Night bus to Guadalajara.
Fri. Aug. 15	Meet up with Cara, explore Guadalajara, night out.
Sat. Aug. 16	Early bus to Guanajuato, wander around the town, mummy museum, windy streets, night bus to Mexico City.
Sun. Aug. 17	Check out Mexico City, catch up on sleep.
Mon. Aug. 18	adios Mexico..

in pictures..

	Panorama of the pyramids at Teotihuacan (above) and Aztecs performing nearby. (left)
		Hiking the pine forests of Michuacan, below Nevado de Toluca (3500m elevation)
	After several hours of hiking, finally above tree line - with the crater rim in sight beyond (4000m elevation)
		After treading through a hail storm and battling altitude sickness, we set up camp inside the crater (4050m elevation) We spend the night, and decide to summit the following morning, despite altitude sickness. Panorama at sunrise. (below)

	Halfway up the crater rim, we get a view of Ixta and Popo, volcanoes on the other side of Mexico City. (left) Below us is our campsite beside the Lake. (right) (4300m elevation)
		The final push to the summit involves some fun(!) scrambling.  (4600m elevation)
	At the summit - showing the effects of altitude sickness (left) and normal (right) (4700m elevation - higher than anywhere in the U.S. or Canada south of the Yukon) Panorama from the summit. (below)

	The descent was easy - sliding down a steep talus slope. (left) Our ascent and descent routes as seen from our tent. (right) The true summit is out of view, behind the rocky outcropping on the right.
	Photogenic VW's in pretty Patzcuaro. We ferry to a popular island, Isla Janitzio, but it is little more than a tourist trap.
Deciding where to eat dinner, we sit in Uruapan's town square ..and take another photo with a bug. :)
	Sunrise in Pacific Barra de Navidad.  We later walk down the beach (right) to nearby Maleque, burning our backs in the process.
	Evening presents sunsets to die for (left), and night exposure possibilities for Marek. (right)  Nearby thunderstorms are a backdrop..
	Marek captures me reading The Brothers Karamazov in a rare moment of inaction
	Boogie boarding in Puerto Vallarta
	Marek and I with Vallarta girls - Betty and Lorena, and their friends
		Fun with scooters..
(no photos from Guadalajara - memory card stopped working)
		The world's smallest mummy - naturally preserved in a cemetary in Guanajuato
	Pretty Guanajuato (left) and my favourite shot from the trip, also in Guanajuato. (right)
	Sun sets over Mexico City on our last night.. (view from the rooftop patio of our hostel, looking towards the Zocalo)

Note: Panoramas were stitched with PTassembler, Panorama Tools, and PTOpenGui. Adobe Photoshop was used for colour correction, cropping, and everything else! Irfanview made the template for this webpage, and I fixed it up and made it pretty.

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