religious tiredness
A believer sleeps in front of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe after a long pilgrimage.
chamula
A Chiapasian sub-ethnic chamula believer holds a torch during his pilgrimage stretch.
Illuminated Scoreboards
Técnico installs a religious placard with former Pope John Paul II.
In the Company of Guadeloupe
Group of young pilgrims poses around a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe
group prayer
Faithful pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the homonymous church in Campeche.
roads of faith
Vehicles followed by pilgrim runners travel the roads of Mexico.
Belief Lights
Facade of the church of Nª Senhora de Guadalupe, illuminated to receive pilgrims and decorated with religious panels on which the faithful photograph themselves
Devotion of all ages
Ladies and a baby follow events around the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Hole
Young believer repairs a hole that affected his pilgrimage.
multiplied patron
Statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe brought by believers, gathered in front of the church built in her honor.
Passengers of Faith
Chamula Indians follow aboard a truck decorated with Catholic motifs in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Catholic animation
Campeche, lit up to welcome the pilgrims who traveled to her in the name of the Patron of the Americas.
Deserved rest
A group of faithful rest under a tree near the church of Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe.
belief cycle
Detail of the religious decoration that pilgrims attribute to their bicycles during the journey to the church of Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe in Campeche.
self-decoration
A banner with the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe decorates the box of a van that transports pilgrims.
Mission Accomplished
Young pilgrims flock to the bicycles on which they traveled from their villages to Campeche, a colonial city located on the north coast of the Mexican state of the same name.
The Catholic equivalent of Our Lady of Fátima, Our Lady of Guadalupe moves and moves Mexico. Its faithful cross the country's roads, determined to bring the proof of their faith to the patroness of the Americas.

There is still smoke around San Cristóbal de las Casas when we prepare to leave the city towards Palenque.

For two days, the region was the scene of a rekindling of the aversion that the local Mayan and mestizo population has for evangelical Christian churches and their converts, which they see as threats to cultural and religious uniformity because they are governed.

The native Mayans expelled a community they had previously banished from land near the city. The conciliatory intervention of the police degenerated once more into violence, but everything indicated that the intransigent Chamulas were once again taking theirs to the fore.

At first reluctant to accept the teachings of Hispanic missionaries, the Maya from this area of ​​Chiapas ended up welcoming them, but only in part. They generated independent Catholic cults to which they added elements of their pre-Columbian mythology.

decoration, truck, pilgrims, our lady, virgin, guadalupe, mexico

A banner with the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe decorates the box of a van that transports pilgrims.

The San Juan Chamula community went further.

It got the government to grant administrative autonomy. Likewise, despite the Mexican Catholic Church being one of the most conservative in Latin America, no priest interferes with the indigenous faith or participates in ceremonies held in the village's enigmatic temple, which prohibits visitors from capturing images.

Edgardo Coello, a mestizo Mexican of probable Galician origin, knows the whims of the Chamulas better than the secondary roads in the region.

Even so, using irreproachable calm and courtesy, the residents are informed about the best way to avoid police barriers, to take us through alternative routes to the then besieged San Juan. And from there, descend to the lowlands of Chiapas.

Visions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on the Way to Palenque

The mountain route we are on is the most winding since we have been traveling through Mexico for several days.

Edgardo travels it at cruising speed. For many kilometers, we hardly see a soul. An hour later, the first indigenous settlements appear at the foot of the mountain.

We catch a glimpse of Our Lady of Guadalupe on top of a van box. Decorated with rags and balloons, full of passengers dressed in the colors of the nation, the carripana moves slowly, leaning against the narrow berm.

She is chased by a young believer wearing the same costumes allusive to the Blessed Sacrament worn by the rest of the group. This young believer holds a lit torch.

believer, chamula, pilgrim, torch, our lady, virgin, guadalupe, mexico

A Chiapasian sub-ethnic chamula believer holds a torch during his pilgrimage stretch.

The original vision of Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe had it, in 1531, on a hill on the outskirts of Cidade do Mexico. Since then, Our Lady of Guadalupe has become a crucial link between indigenous and Catholic spirituality, which is promoted by the missionaries.

As the nation mixed, it was also promoted to its strongest Catholic symbol, the Patron of Mexico and the Americas.

Along the way, we passed many more of these self-religious processions. Almost all forced the cars behind to risky overtaking.

Edgardo had just alerted us to the road drama that time of year represented, despite the government never deigning to present numbers. We didn't take long to see it.

A jeep avoided pilgrims around a bend when it was surprised by a vehicle in the opposite direction. The accident caused serious physical and material damage.

Palenque, Towards Campeche, always on the Way of the Virgin of Guadalupe

However, night had fallen. During the descent through the Lacandona jungle – the same one that sheltered the Zapatista rebels – we only found a few participants late or resting by the side of the road, with little or no sign of traffic.

Dawn offers us a new pleasant day. When we reach the entrance to the Mayan temples in Palenque, officials still open the doors to the complex.

Even so, dozens of cars, vans and carripans decorated with paintings and motifs of the Virgin are already parked in the adjacent park. As soon as they enter the complex, its groups of passengers share the ecstasy of that rare spiritual escape, climb the temple steps and exchange joke after joke.

vehicles, pilgrims, runners, faithful, Our Lady, Virgin, Guadalupe, Mexico

Vehicles followed by pilgrim runners travel the roads of Mexico.

The good mood also seems to subsist on the lack of breath and the fascination caused by the opposite historical monuments and the surrounding high forest.

From Palenque, we go back on the map. We were encouraged by the prospect of refreshing ourselves in the Águas Azules de Chiapas, a stretch of the Tulijá river with waterfalls and natural emerald dams that had also attracted countless believers.

Once again the Chamulas, now in Pilgrim Version

We came across several of their trucks. One of them catches Edgardo's attention: “See those fuzzy white outfits? It's the Chamulas!” In a kind of instant judgment, we concluded that the image was too impressive to let go. We asked the guide to reverse the path, overtake them and leave us well positioned.

We got out of the car at a stand and got ready. Edgardo, take the opportunity to buy bananas.

When the truck comes up on the way up, the guide stretches out to offer the fruit to San Juan pilgrims. We press the camera buttons and record the highlighted delegation's courier and the rest of the action in hi-speed.

Animation reigns on board the van box. Indigenous people seem to enjoy even that shameless wait. What surprises us. All of a sudden, one of them, more rigorous, restores the order of things to things and shouts at us: “If we catch you, you'll pay well for those photos!”.

pilgrims, indigenous people, chamula, our lady, virgin, guadalupe, mexico

Chamula Indians follow aboard a truck decorated with Catholic motifs in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The Blessed Entry into Campeche

Already in the flat lands of Yucatan Peninsula, the cyclist version of the pilgrimage intensifies, this time towards Campeche. It's the city we arrived at in full twilight.

We go to the hotel against the clock. We left for the esplanades of the Portal de San Francisco where we devoured four of the horchatas most delicious in Mexico.

Finally, the Welcome to the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe

With our energies restored, we soon found the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This yellow temple in Campeche had been welcoming pilgrims for some time.

Church, facade, illuminated, faithful believers, pilgrims, Our Lady, Virgin, Guadeloupe, Mexico

Facade of the church of Nª Senhora de Guadalupe, illuminated to receive pilgrims and decorated with religious panels on which the faithful photograph themselves

From the top of the sanctuary and in all directions, ropes are projected with fluttering pennants, green, red and white.

Hundreds of bicycles with banners, mini-shrines and other artefacts were leaning against the nave's south façade and each other.

prayer, faithful, church, our lady, virgin, guadalupe, mexico

Faithful pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the homonymous church in Campeche.

Most of the faithful retain a lasting energy and socialize. Despite playing gospel music loudly and the powerful lights from the food, drinks and food stalls souvenirs shop religious, some others who arrived slumped, are dozing on the grass around them.

On the opposite side, facing an imminent Gulf of Mexico, two competing businesses vie for the faith and wallet of believers.

Both installed colorful backdrops on luminous panels that reconstitute the apparition of the Morena Virgin. Both seek to attract families and groups of believers to photograph themselves in the company of the saint. “Two hundred pesos, friends. It's a real blessing!” promotes one of the entrepreneurs.

papa joão paulo II, decoration, statue, faithful, our lady, virgin, guadalupe, mexico

Técnico installs a religious placard with former Pope John Paul II.

The priest on duty takes care of the official procedure. Every time a new group of cyclist or pedestrian pilgrims arrives at the door of the church, he sprinkles them with holy water and welcomes them into the flock.

He still takes time to move to the roadside from where, in a modality, at one of the intervals of the rite. drive through, sprinkles the hoods to dozens of cars tuning of the city and grants the grace to its owners.

The day is drawing to a close. Believers from far away lose their momentum.

We are back at the hotel suffering from this same weakness when we enter a square organized around a bandstand. There, hundreds of cyclist pilgrims improvised a shared hostel.

hole, bicycle, repair, young pilgrim, Our Lady, Virgin, Guadeloupe, Mexico

Young believer repairs a hole that affected his pilgrimage.

Many are already asleep. Others share meals, mend tires or set up small tents supported by trees or on the handlebars of bicycles.

All had completed one more test of faith.

church, campeche, believers, pilgrims, our lady, virgin, guadalupe, mexico

A believer sleeps in front of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe after a long pilgrimage.

Izamal, Mexico

The Holy, Yellow and Beautiful Mexican City

Until the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, Izamal was a center of worship for the supreme Mayan god Itzamná and Kinich Kakmó, the one of the sun. Gradually, the invaders razed the various pyramids of the natives. In its place, they built a large Franciscan convent and a prolific colonial houses, with the same solar tone in which the now Catholic city shines.
Campeche, Mexico

Campeche Upon Can Pech

As was the case throughout Mexico, the conquerors arrived, saw and won. Can Pech, the Mayan village, had almost 40 inhabitants, palaces, pyramids and an exuberant urban architecture, but in 1540 there were less than 6 natives. Over the ruins, the Spaniards built Campeche, one of the most imposing colonial cities in the Americas.
Guwahati, India

The City that Worships Kamakhya and the Fertility

Guwahati is the largest city in the state of Assam and in North East India. It is also one of the fastest growing in the world. For Hindus and devout believers in Tantra, it will be no coincidence that Kamakhya, the mother goddess of creation, is worshiped there.
Overall, Mexico

The Most Caribbean of the Mayan Ruins

Built by the sea as an exceptional outpost decisive for the prosperity of the Mayan nation, Tulum was one of its last cities to succumb to Hispanic occupation. At the end of the XNUMXth century, its inhabitants abandoned it to time and to an impeccable coastline of the Yucatan peninsula.
Cobá to Pac Chen, Mexico

From the Ruins to the Mayan Homes

On the Yucatan Peninsula, the history of the second largest indigenous Mexican people is intertwined with their daily lives and merges with modernity. In Cobá, we went from the top of one of its ancient pyramids to the heart of a village of our times.
San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico

The Home Sweet Home of Mexican Social Conscience

Mayan, mestizo and Hispanic, Zapatista and tourist, country and cosmopolitan, San Cristobal has no hands to measure. In it, Mexican and expatriate backpacker visitors and political activists share a common ideological demand.
Campeche, Mexico

A Bingo so playful that you play with puppets

On Friday nights, a group of ladies occupy tables at Independencia Park and bet on trifles. The tiniest prizes come out to them in combinations of cats, hearts, comets, maracas and other icons.

Mexico City, Mexico

mexican soul

With more than 20 million inhabitants in a vast metropolitan area, this megalopolis marks, from its heart of zócalo, the spiritual pulse of a nation that has always been vulnerable and dramatic.

Champoton, Mexico

Rodeo Under Sombreros

Champoton, in Campeche, hosts a fair honored by the Virgén de La Concepción. O rodeo Mexican under local sombreros reveals the elegance and skill of the region's cowboys.
Competitions

Man: an Ever Tested Species

It's in our genes. For the pleasure of participating, for titles, honor or money, competitions give meaning to the world. Some are more eccentric than others.
Helsinki, Finland

The Pagan Passover of Seurasaari

In Helsinki, Holy Saturday is also celebrated in a Gentile way. Hundreds of families gather on an offshore island, around lit fires to chase away evil spirits, witches and trolls
Lhasa, Tibet

Sera, the Monastery of the Sacred Debate

In few places in the world a dialect is used as vehemently as in the monastery of Sera. There, hundreds of monks, in Tibetan, engage in intense and raucous debates about the teachings of the Buddha.
Esteros del Iberá, Pantanal Argentina, Alligator
Safari
Iberá Wetlands, Argentina

The Pantanal of the Pampas

On the world map, south of the famous brazilian wetland, a little-known flooded region appears, but almost as vast and rich in biodiversity. the Guarani expression Y bera defines it as “shining waters”. The adjective fits more than its strong luminance.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
Architecture & Design
Cemeteries

the last address

From the grandiose tombs of Novodevichy, in Moscow, to the boxed Mayan bones of Pomuch, in the Mexican province of Campeche, each people flaunts its own way of life. Even in death.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Adventure
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
drinks entre reis, cavalhadas de pirenopolis, crusades, brazil
Ceremonies and Festivities
Pirenópolis, Brazil

Brazilian Crusades

Christian armies expelled Muslim forces from the Iberian Peninsula in the XNUMXth century. XV but, in Pirenópolis, in the Brazilian state of Goiás, the South American subjects of Carlos Magno continue to triumph.
view, Saint Pierre, Martinique, French Antilles
Cities
Saint-Pierre, Martinique

The City that Arose from the Ashes

In 1900, the economic capital of the Antilles was envied for its Parisian sophistication, until the Pelée volcano charred and buried it. More than a century later, Saint-Pierre is still regenerating.
Meal
Markets

A Market Economy

The law of supply and demand dictates their proliferation. Generic or specific, covered or open air, these spaces dedicated to buying, selling and exchanging are expressions of life and financial health.
Karanga ethnic musicians join the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Culture
Great ZimbabweZimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe, Little Bira Dance

Karanga natives of the KwaNemamwa village display traditional Bira dances to privileged visitors to the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. the most iconic place in Zimbabwe, the one who, after the decree of colonial Rhodesia's independence, inspired the name of the new and problematic nation.  
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Sport
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
Cambodia, Angkor, Ta Phrom
Traveling
Ho Chi Minh a of Angkor, Cambodia

The Crooked Path to Angkor

From Vietnam onwards, Cambodia's crumbling roads and minefields take us back to the years of Khmer Rouge terror. We survive and are rewarded with the vision of the greatest religious temple
Creel, Chihuahua, Carlos Venzor, collector, museum
Ethnic
Chihuahua a Creel, Chihuahua, Mexico

On Creel's Way

With Chihuahua behind, we point to the southwest and to even higher lands in the north of Mexico. Next to Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, we visited a Mennonite elder. Around Creel, we lived for the first time with the Rarámuri indigenous community of the Serra de Tarahumara.
ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Sensations vs Impressions

Sigiriya capital fortress: homecoming
History
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

The Capital Fortress of a Parricide King

Kashyapa I came to power after walling up his father's monarch. Afraid of a probable attack by his brother heir to the throne, he moved the main city of the kingdom to the top of a granite peak. Today, his eccentric haven is more accessible than ever and has allowed us to explore the Machiavellian plot of this Sri Lankan drama.
hitchhiking at the sea
Islands
Maui, Hawaii

divine hawaii

Maui is a former chief and hero of Hawaiian religious and traditional imagery. In the mythology of this archipelago, the demigod lassos the sun, raises the sky and performs a series of other feats on behalf of humans. Its namesake island, which the natives believe they created in the North Pacific, is itself prodigious.
Passengers on the frozen surface of the Gulf of Bothnia, at the base of the "Sampo" icebreaker, Finland
Winter White
Kemi, Finland

It's No "Love Boat". Breaks the Ice since 1961

Built to maintain waterways through the most extreme arctic winter, the icebreaker Sampo” fulfilled its mission between Finland and Sweden for 30 years. In 1988, he reformed and dedicated himself to shorter trips that allow passengers to float in a newly opened channel in the Gulf of Bothnia, in clothes that, more than special, seem spacey.
shadow vs light
Literature
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Faithful light candles, Milarepa Grotto temple, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Nature
Annapurna Circuit: 9th Manang to Milarepa Cave, Nepal

A Walk between Acclimatization and Pilgrimage

In full Annapurna Circuit, we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). we still need acclimatize to the higher stretches that followed, we inaugurated an equally spiritual journey to a Nepalese cave of Milarepa (4000m), the refuge of a siddha (sage) and Buddhist saint.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Impressions Lijiang Show, Yangshuo, China, Red Enthusiasm
Natural Parks
Lijiang e Yangshuo, China

An Impressive China

One of the most respected Asian filmmakers, Zhang Yimou dedicated himself to large outdoor productions and co-authored the media ceremonies of the Beijing OG. But Yimou is also responsible for “Impressions”, a series of no less controversial stagings with stages in emblematic places.
Thingvelir, Origins Democracy Iceland, Oxará
UNESCO World Heritage
Thingvellir National Park, Iceland

The Origins of the Remote Viking Democracy

The foundations of popular government that come to mind are the Hellenic ones. But what is believed to have been the world's first parliament was inaugurated in the middle of the XNUMXth century, in Iceland's icy interior.
Couple visiting Mikhaylovskoe, village where writer Alexander Pushkin had a home
Characters
Saint Petersburg e Mikhaylovkoe, Russia

The Writer Who Succumbed to His Own Plot

Alexander Pushkin is hailed by many as the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. But Pushkin also dictated an almost tragicomic epilogue to his prolific life.
Surf Lesson, Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii
Beaches
Waikiki, OahuHawaii

The Japanese Invasion of Hawaii

Decades after the attack on Pearl Harbor and from the capitulation in World War II, the Japanese returned to Hawaii armed with millions of dollars. Waikiki, his favorite target, insists on surrendering.
Boat on the Yellow River, Gansu, China
Religion
Bingling Yes, China

The Canyon of a Thousand Buddhas

For more than a millennium and at least seven dynasties, Chinese devotees have extolled their religious belief with the legacy of sculpture in a remote strait of the Yellow River. If you disembark in the Canyon of Thousand Buddhas, you may not find all the sculptures, but you will find a stunning Buddhist shrine.
The Toy Train story
On Rails
Siliguri a Darjeeling, India

The Himalayan Toy Train Still Running

Neither the steep slope of some stretches nor the modernity stop it. From Siliguri, in the tropical foothills of the great Asian mountain range, the Darjeeling, with its peaks in sight, the most famous of the Indian Toy Trains has ensured for 117 years, day after day, an arduous dream journey. Traveling through the area, we climb aboard and let ourselves be enchanted.
emperor akihito waves, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan
Society
Tokyo, Japan

The Emperor Without Empire

After the capitulation in World War II, Japan underwent a constitution that ended one of the longest empires in history. The Japanese emperor is, today, the only monarch to reign without empire.
Busy intersection of Tokyo, Japan
Daily life
Tokyo, Japan

The Endless Night of the Rising Sun Capital

Say that Tokyo do not sleep is an understatement. In one of the largest and most sophisticated cities on the face of the Earth, twilight marks only the renewal of the frenetic daily life. And there are millions of souls that either find no place in the sun, or make more sense in the “dark” and obscure turns that follow.
ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Wildlife
Valdez, Alaska

On the Black Gold Route

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker caused a massive environmental disaster. The vessel stopped plying the seas, but the victim city that gave it its name continues on the path of crude oil from the Arctic Ocean.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.
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