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Travel & Experiences

Tips4theTrip: Here, from Mexico, is what to ask when entering any new room

This is the ceiling of the 16th century Museo Ex Convento and Parroquia Nuestra Senora de la Natividad, Tepoztlan, Mexico.

This is the ceiling of the 16th century Museo Ex Convento and Parroquia Nuestra Senora de la Natividad, Tepoztlan, Mexico.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
By Christopher ReynoldsStaff Writer 
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Tepoztlan is a mystical Mexican mountain town that doesn’t get the appreciation it deserves. It’s only about 30 miles south of Mexico City, yet it’s got a lazy vibe, hippie inclinations, gorgeous buildings from centuries past -- including the church ceiling shown here -- and a pre-Columbian ruin at the end of a hiking trail. More than one person has called it the Sedona of Mexico.

I visited in 2007 (and wrote this). Staring at the ceiling above was one of my favorite moments there. Ever since, I pay special attention to the ceiling whenever I walk into a grand old building, especially a church, temple or mosque.

It doesn’t have to be the Sistine Chapel. If it’s the sort of place where people might like to cast their eyes heavenward, there’s a good chance that some Old World artisans climbed up on scaffolding and did some amazing things. If it’s not feasible to lie down and give their work a good, long look, then lay your camera down on the floor, get yourself out of the way and shoot straight up.

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Guide Raymond Chee stands at Upper Antelope Canyon, Ariz., on a cloudy day. Photo taken in 2013.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Because pandas have unusually inefficient digestive systems, they eat enormous amounts of bamboo, and eliminate enormous amounts, too. Photo shot in 2013.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park. Photo taken in July 2015.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Faneuil Hall, Boston. Photo shot in July 2015.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Lake George, N.Y. Photo taken in July 2015.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Photo shot in July 2015.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Somewhere over Arizona. Photo shot in July 2015.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Yellowstone National Park. Photo shot in July 2015.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Providence, R.I. Photo shot in July 2015.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Mesquite Dunes, Death Valley National Park.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Wizard Island, Crater Lake, Oregon. Photo shot in May 2015.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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A lone biker pedals up Avenue of the Giants, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, near Myers Flat.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Late-afternoon sunbeams on San Francisco Street highlight the texture of downtown Santa Fe’s adobe-style architecture.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Surfboard House, a B&B in Hanalei, Kauai.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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This is the ceiling of the 16th century Museo Ex Convento and Parroquia Nuestra Senora de la Natividad, Tepoztlan, Mexico.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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You can tell the locals in Monument Valley -- they’re the ones hauling hay and water for their animals.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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This is Mt. Rundle, as seen from Vermilion Lakes, Banff National Park. The photo was shot early on Nov. 18, 2014.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Low tide, San Felipe, Baja California.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Flamingo, San Diego Zoo.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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The view from the Encore Hotel, 2008, in Las Vegas.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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Portland’s Ace Hotel, shown here in 2013, opened in 2007.

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

You can always count on travel to teach you something -- but what? Travel is the substitute teacher who didn’t get the lesson plan, the adjunct lecturer who goes off on Bukowski, the grad assistant who trashes your poetry, then hands out red velvet cupcakes. If only you’d had a clue what was coming, right?

I’m building this gallery from new and old adventures in the West and the world beyond. The photos are all mine. As for the attempted wisdom, it’s all dead serious, except for that which isn’t.

christopher.reynolds@latimes.com

Twitter: @mrcsreynolds

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Travel & Experiences
Christopher Reynolds

Born and raised in California, Christopher Reynolds has written about travel, the outdoors, arts and culture for the Los Angeles Times since 1990.

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