After reluctantly returning to Oaxaca, we decided that our best hope for getting the van fixed was to take it to the Ford dealership and have them diagnose and repair it, despite the inevitable high cost. We dropped it off first thing on Wednesday morning, and on Friday afternoon they called to let us know that the problem was a sensor in the engine – great news except that the particular sensor they said was bad was one that Calvin and I had replaced a few days earlier. They said it needed to be replaced to continue the diagnosis, and that since I bought the part from them, at least it was under warranty and we wouldn’t have to pay for another one.

The Ford dealership in Oaxaca looks very clean, professional, and expensive. Hope they can fix it.

It sucks when your car is in the shop, but it really sucks when your house is in the shop. Fortunately Calvin and Leanne at the Overlander Oasis have a casita (basically a small apartment) that they rent out. So we moved in and are enjoying the mostly full featured kitchen and a TV and DVD player!

Q loves it when we can pull all of his toys out at once.

On Friday evening we got a special treat. Leanne volunteered to watch Quinn and suggested that we go into town to enjoy a buffet dinner and traditional dance performance. We jumped on the opportunity, since we’re seldom anywhere long enough to meet people we trust to watch Quinn (and who Quinn trusts enough to watch him). We stuffed ourselves with delicious food and talked with some young American backpackers while we enjoyed the performance.

Our last day in Oaxaca

We’re due to meet Witt’s parents in Belize in about two weeks, and with the van in the shop we’re not going to be able to drive there in time. So we made plane reservations instead. The lowest priced way to go is to fly from Mexico City to Chetumal, and take the bus from there to Belize City. We decided to take advantage of the opportunity to see Mexico City and booked a few nights in a hotel there. On Tuesday we left Oaxaca by bus.

Mexico City is the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere with over 20 million people. It can be pretty daunting to visit, but Jen got us a nice hotel right in the heart of the tourist area, and we had no problem getting a taxi from the bus station to the hotel.

On Wednesday, our first full day in the city, we visited the Templo Mayor, which was originally built in the 1300s on an island in a large lake that then covered the Valle de Mexico. The legend is that the Aztecs, a wandering tribe at that time, saw on an island in the lake an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in it’s mouth. This matched a prophecy they had known, and so they built a temple on the site. When the Spanish arrived, they simply built atop the Aztec temple. The image of the eagle with the snake is visible on the Mexican flag.

Mexico City’s main cathedral

The Templo Mayor, discovered during excavation for a new drainage system, consists of seven different layers, or phases of building, with each expanding on the version before it.

The museum on the site of the Templo Mayor was excellent.