It's a good forty minutes walk to the top of the 'mogote', and a steep, hot climb in the burning December sun. It's worth it for the amazing views though, mile after mile of red, sandy countryside, blue mountains in the distance.
This hilltop above the village of Jaltepec was the stronghold and defence post in prehispanic times. It was the palace, and later the tomb, of their most famous ruler: Queen Nana Luisa, or 6-monkey, one of the few female rulers in all of Mesoamerica. Before the Spaniards came the people would climb up here to make offerings to the gods, praying for rain in the spring. Now there are crosses where once there were idols - but still the people come in early May to pray and give thanks for the water.
We stand on the top of the hill, admiring the view, imagining ourselves the footsoldiers of this queen back in the 11th century, scouring the countryside for signs of enemy attack. And my companions point out landmarks - another fort in the distance, the main market town, the line of the carretera snaking up a hill, tiny communities of 80 or so people dotted across the domain of Magdalena Jaltepec. And as we talk, and look, my perspective shifts, and I start to see more and more of the detail. The roof of a tiny chapel. A field of goats. Sand of different shades of red.
And my companions talk proudly of the colour, contours and terrain of Jaltepec, how in one place the earth is a different colour, in another there is a river, one community is on the plain, another perched on the hill, how each has different cactus plants, trees, fruit, animals, birds, insects. How many faces Jaltepec has, they breath with satisfaction.
And Jaltepec is but one small municipio in the district of Noxichtlan, one of over 500 municipios in the state of Oaxaca, one of 31 states in the republic of Mexico. My mind boggles for a moment at the vastness of it all. How huge is this landscape. How small a part of the universe.
Of course it's beyond comprehension. So what can we do, us mortals who can only ever see a fraction of the whole?
Climb to the top of the hill. Soak in the panorama. Wonder at what lies right there, right in front of us.
Magdalena Jaltepec from the mogote