The last week of the trip has come and is flying by. We've obtained permission for flying into the US tomorrow, which will officially end our foreign affairs (assuming they ever let Eitan back in, which is always another adventure).

Monday morning, we woke up bright and early (well, early anyway) and flew across the Pacific from El Salvador to Tapachula, Mexico. Immigration and customs were so blazingly fast and efficient there that it was all done before we could say "horchata!". So we refueled the airplane and ourselves and flew to our next stop, Villahermosa, the capital of the Tabasco region.

Like its name suggests, it is a beautiful city indeed, rich with parks, water, and impressive architecture. We spent an oppressively hot day walking through most of it, and spent a few hours in La Venta park. The park is a unique concept, combining archaeological remains from the region, a botanical garden, and a zoo, all of local species. Even though it is located in the middle of the busy city, it is cleverly designed to mask all the noise and traffic away from the visitor. Next to the park is a walkway by a lagoon, where we climbed a 17-story Mirador (tower). At least it felt like 17 stories by the buckets of sweat we left behind, all to bring you this picture:



The next day, Wednesday, we continued our trip north in a long flying day: eight hours in the airplane (with a fuel stop in Poza Rica). We are now in Monterrey, the most affluent Mexican city, and only an hour away from our favorite American border town, Laredo. Everything feels like we're almost in America already, with the food and hotel chains, the glitzy malls, contemporary public art and humongous government buildings, like this one:



So with this, we salute our goodbyes to the Mexican flag, and the rest of Latin America, and return tomorrow to the land of Starbucks, hot water showers and working toilets. We still have several hurdles to cross, including the relentless brave officials at the US border, and many hours of flying to get back to Albuquerque. We'll tell you all about these last few adventures in the next blog entry, that will likely conclude our trip.