Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Copan ruinas
This was going to be a quick stop-over town on our way to La Ceiba and the bay islands but due to a strike by teachers in 10 big cities around Honduras, it´s turning into a 3 day stop over. But then again this is a nice place to stop over. In Mexico you notice the change in pace from coming from London. Here you have another change in pace again. This place is chilled, seriously chilled. Pace of life here is sloooooooow.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Pacaya
We had no option with our schedule but to take the sunset trip and I´m glad we did. The bus was one of the chicken buses and the driver was carrying a pump-action shotgun. Strange! No don´t worry he stopped to pick someone else up who also had a pump-action shotgun and he was riding shotgun, of course.I´ve never had the opportunity to see an active volcano before and wow, what an experience. So far on this trip we´ve seen what the Mayan civilazation has left the world but compared to what mother nature has produced, it´s nothing. When you get near to the lava there´s a wall of heat and the air above the lava shimmers like in a heat wave.
The sun was going down and the driver started shouting. ¡Vamonos! One girl asked for a picture with the driver he abliged and then pumped the gun to get a cartridge into the chamber and then fired a shot I wasn´t expecting that. But it does feel a bit lawless over here.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Antigua and dinero
Lonely planet is wrong! It says that Flores is expensive and I didn't think it was. Ok, there are lots of expensive places to eat, but not in English terms. But you could get a meal for 1pound or a pound 50. There were more drink offers, well I've not seen any here. In Flores you could get 2 Cubas for Q15 and they were strong. You could get 2 Gallos for Q15 as well. Here in Antigua you'll be pushed to get one Gallo for Q15.
Stopping with the family (Part of the Spanish course) is working out fine I get to chat with them three times a day and it works out at 5pounds a day for bed and 3 meals a day.
We're off this afternoon to Pacaya one of the active volcanos surounding Antigua.
Stopping with the family (Part of the Spanish course) is working out fine I get to chat with them three times a day and it works out at 5pounds a day for bed and 3 meals a day.
We're off this afternoon to Pacaya one of the active volcanos surounding Antigua.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Guatemala - birthdays
I'm feeling really tired at this moment. I'm doing a spanish course and living with a family, so I'm living in a residential area. It's one of the next door neighbours' birthday today, and there's a guatemalan tradition I didn't know about. So I was woken up at 3am with the sound of firecrackers right outside my window. These fireworks sound like gunfire, so not funny. And after trying to get back to sleep there was a mariachi band outside at 5am which carried on until 6am. I don't like mariachis at the best of times but at that sort of time in the morning I wanted to............
I guess sometime in the future I'll be glad I experienced a guatemalan tradition but right now I just want to get some sleep.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
I guess sometime in the future I'll be glad I experienced a guatemalan tradition but right now I just want to get some sleep.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Monday, August 20, 2007
Antigua
What the Lonely Planet says:
Nestled between three volcanoes, Antigue Guatemala is almost imposibly cute....cobbled streets, mustard and ochrecolored houses with colonial fittings......etc. you get the picture.
What the dark-side says:
I was in the central park and some guy started talking to me. I'm always suspicious especially when I've heard so many bad things about Guatemala. He turned out to be a teacher and started telling me this tale about this guy on the other side of the park. The guy had bought this woman (she was with her daughter) some fire-wood one day, to help her out, the next day he paid for some shopping for her Q200 not much by our standards but a lot over here. Later in the week he met her and her daughter in the park and asked if he could take her daughter for a cofe and teach her some English. The mother was too trusting/nieve and said ok. The girl came back with tears in her eyes and said to her mother that she didn't want to do it. Do what? Sleep with the man for Q300. The man is 53 years old and the girl is 13 years old.
So here's the question? I've heard lots of things about Guatemala and how I should be scared to come here. But what about the guatemalans should they not be scared of us?
What can we do?
Well it's a small thing but I feel I need to write this to tell at least some people another side to the story.
We have the choice to come here, they don't have the choice to leave.
Nestled between three volcanoes, Antigue Guatemala is almost imposibly cute....cobbled streets, mustard and ochrecolored houses with colonial fittings......etc. you get the picture.
What the dark-side says:
I was in the central park and some guy started talking to me. I'm always suspicious especially when I've heard so many bad things about Guatemala. He turned out to be a teacher and started telling me this tale about this guy on the other side of the park. The guy had bought this woman (she was with her daughter) some fire-wood one day, to help her out, the next day he paid for some shopping for her Q200 not much by our standards but a lot over here. Later in the week he met her and her daughter in the park and asked if he could take her daughter for a cofe and teach her some English. The mother was too trusting/nieve and said ok. The girl came back with tears in her eyes and said to her mother that she didn't want to do it. Do what? Sleep with the man for Q300. The man is 53 years old and the girl is 13 years old.
So here's the question? I've heard lots of things about Guatemala and how I should be scared to come here. But what about the guatemalans should they not be scared of us?
What can we do?
Well it's a small thing but I feel I need to write this to tell at least some people another side to the story.
We have the choice to come here, they don't have the choice to leave.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Lost in translation.
I´ve created some posts but I feel to tired to write anything for them, so hence this entry. I thought about doing this when I was reading a menu. The menu had advertised hamburger with popes! What the ¿$&* are popes! I had to think about it.
Well the Pope in vatican city Italy is called el papa in Spanish and papas are also potatoes in LA Spanish (patatas in Spanish). So I gues s that makes sense.
Well the Pope in vatican city Italy is called el papa in Spanish and papas are also potatoes in LA Spanish (patatas in Spanish). So I gues s that makes sense.
Coban
4 hours away from Flores, but this place has a very different feel to it. (write more later)
Tikal
Wow! We´ve visited mayan stuff in Mexico but this on a different scale. (more soon)
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Guatemala - flores
After an early 5am rise and a journey of several hours we arrived at the frontera with guatemala. To cross the frontera you have to take a lanca/barca a small motor boat. The boat was driven, mmmmm sailed, you get the idea, by a lad (chico) who looked like he should be in school and with all the recent storms the water was full of floating trees and branches, which we kept having to swerve to miss, most of the time. There was then an 1 and half wait because the bus driver didn´t have a ticket for 7 people and thought he wasn´t going to get paid so wasn´t going to move. After several phone calls he got us on our way. 2 hours on dusty dirt roads, and then another 2 hours on tarmac, we arrived. They guy on the bus took us to hotel casablanca for Q80 per night for a double. We weren´t going to say no to that, a fiver a night.
There was a breakfast buffet on the way in Mexico but we were told there was a stop to eat lunch we we skipped it. There was not place to eat lunch and we had no Q to spend on this side so it was about 12 hours later by the time we got to eat. I had my first taste of guatamalan food chorasco, beef steak dinner with rice, veg, tortilla, and spicy sauce for Q25. And a Gallo beer for Q10. Gallo is spanish for a male chicken ie a cock. That´s right cock beer!
There was a breakfast buffet on the way in Mexico but we were told there was a stop to eat lunch we we skipped it. There was not place to eat lunch and we had no Q to spend on this side so it was about 12 hours later by the time we got to eat. I had my first taste of guatamalan food chorasco, beef steak dinner with rice, veg, tortilla, and spicy sauce for Q25. And a Gallo beer for Q10. Gallo is spanish for a male chicken ie a cock. That´s right cock beer!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Palenque
Well we kissed goodbye to cool mountain air of San Cristobal for the steamy lowlands palenque, where everyday seems to end in a storm. Instead of making things fresher it just seems to make it more humid.
Ruins: I´d wanted to go to the Palenque ruins for years and I finally got my dream. But also my nightmare. I think the change in climate, again, had run me down and when we got the the ruins I just felt drained. Lisa wasn´t feeling too good either so time for a siesta.
Agua azul: In spanish blue water. Well after the storm last night they were as blue as the sky in Mexico city ie brown.
Moving on to Guatemala tomorrow. With a nice early 6am start. Both of us just want to have a rest. Looking forward to doing a weeks spanish course in Guatemala and not doing any traveling.
Ruins: I´d wanted to go to the Palenque ruins for years and I finally got my dream. But also my nightmare. I think the change in climate, again, had run me down and when we got the the ruins I just felt drained. Lisa wasn´t feeling too good either so time for a siesta.
Agua azul: In spanish blue water. Well after the storm last night they were as blue as the sky in Mexico city ie brown.
Moving on to Guatemala tomorrow. With a nice early 6am start. Both of us just want to have a rest. Looking forward to doing a weeks spanish course in Guatemala and not doing any traveling.
Monday, August 13, 2007
San cristobal de las casas
From the steamy coast pueblitos of Puerto and Zepolite to the cold dry mountain air of San Cristobal. This is the stonge hold of the Zapatistas. There were signs of them everywhere. Little girls in the street selling dolls of Zapatistas for $5mx. How could I say no.
I´m really thinking now that I want to do some work here rather than in Argentina. And considering that the group I contact in Argentina didn´t get back to my last emails, I´m not sure what´s happening. Both Oaxaca and Chapas has an interest to me for doing some volunteer work sometime in the future.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Naked on Zipolite
Zipolite gets a small mention in lonely planet but this place is a little gem. Craig came here about 10 years ago and by looks of it there has been some development since then. But as this place was hit by the hurricane, it is rough around the edges and still has a chilled, "hippie" feel to it. Also very cosmoplitan, which I guess you get with a traveller hangout.
Sit on the beach at night and some "tipo" guy with a wheelbarrow full of cocos comes around to ask if you want some coconuts, marajana or hash.
No we didn´t.
By day it is a quiet beach, blocked at each end with rocks. To sum up a perfect place to chill and get naked on a beach for a few days.
Yes we did. Sorry, just me not Lisa.
Sit on the beach at night and some "tipo" guy with a wheelbarrow full of cocos comes around to ask if you want some coconuts, marajana or hash.
No we didn´t.
By day it is a quiet beach, blocked at each end with rocks. To sum up a perfect place to chill and get naked on a beach for a few days.
Yes we did. Sorry, just me not Lisa.
HSBC
Most of the banks and ATMs out here are HSBC so there´s not always that much choice. When I arrived in Puerto I was short changed by a HSBC machine. I contact HSBC and their response was more or less, tough luck.
I´m looking into it a bit more but just if you´re thinking of using this back, this is their attitude.
I´m looking into it a bit more but just if you´re thinking of using this back, this is their attitude.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Quemadura y picaduras
Since arriving in Mexico city I´ve been bitten almost every day by some mosquito or other. And at the time of writing I´ve got a large bite oozing puss. Despite this I´ve only actually seen, I guess less than 10. Several of which I killed. I don´t know when I was bitten either. When do you put repellent on? Everyday all over. Should you always sleep under a mosquito net?
Monday, August 06, 2007
Puerto Escondido o puerto
Puerto escondido in the light of day is everything I thought it would be and everything I imagined from talking to people who´ve been here. We had a choice of going for a cheap option on accommodation or spending a bit more for a kitchen and fridge. I´m glad we did go for the later option, as yesterday was hot and there was a storm brewing and finally developed into a big electric storm. Earlier on in the day we did shopping so it was nice cooking in the kitchen. I need to say the kitchen is outside on the terraza over looking the sea and beach. So we were watching this electric storm, cooking dinner and drinking beer.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido
For this part of the trip we had two options. 1st class bus costing $240mx and a 10 hour journey or second class bus costing $100 mx and a 7 hour journey with a more direct route. Any traveller with a sense of adventure would choose the second class option and that´s what we did. I´ve been on the 1st class buses here several times, but never the second class for a long journey.
1st class option gets you DVDs of some recent films, air-con, security and lots of leg room.
2nd class gets you there.
Now that is what I was thinking when I was on the bus, little did I know that things would not be so simple. Fistly as soon as we got on to the open road the old American school bus (with the leg room for a child), had a puncture. What did surprise me was the speed at which the wheel was changed. A bit further into the journey the driver stopped to put some more oil in the engine. A bit further the driver stopped to inspect the smoke coming form the side of the bus. There was of course another stop to put some more oil in the engine. After 8 hours we arrived. Well, we arrived at Pochutla, 65km from Puerto Escondido with the driver refusing to go any further. After contesting this we got $40mx back. There was two guys trying to get to Puerto as well so we shared a taxi. One of the guys was German and about at a guess 6´2´´ so I said to him to take the front seat as he had longer legs. We started moving and then the driver stopped and got out. He opened the boot and some guy put his bag in and jumped in the front on the German guy´s lap. Puerto is tropical and very sweaty, not nice. A 45 minute taxi ride had us eventually in Puerto. The taxi driver said our Hotel was just down the street. Only after asking some locals did we find out that he had droped us in the wrong place. So another taxi ride did finally get us to Hotel Buena vista.
It took some time for me to convince Lisa that the 2nd class option was the best option. Not sure how much convincing it will take in the future!
1st class option gets you DVDs of some recent films, air-con, security and lots of leg room.
2nd class gets you there.
Now that is what I was thinking when I was on the bus, little did I know that things would not be so simple. Fistly as soon as we got on to the open road the old American school bus (with the leg room for a child), had a puncture. What did surprise me was the speed at which the wheel was changed. A bit further into the journey the driver stopped to put some more oil in the engine. A bit further the driver stopped to inspect the smoke coming form the side of the bus. There was of course another stop to put some more oil in the engine. After 8 hours we arrived. Well, we arrived at Pochutla, 65km from Puerto Escondido with the driver refusing to go any further. After contesting this we got $40mx back. There was two guys trying to get to Puerto as well so we shared a taxi. One of the guys was German and about at a guess 6´2´´ so I said to him to take the front seat as he had longer legs. We started moving and then the driver stopped and got out. He opened the boot and some guy put his bag in and jumped in the front on the German guy´s lap. Puerto is tropical and very sweaty, not nice. A 45 minute taxi ride had us eventually in Puerto. The taxi driver said our Hotel was just down the street. Only after asking some locals did we find out that he had droped us in the wrong place. So another taxi ride did finally get us to Hotel Buena vista.
It took some time for me to convince Lisa that the 2nd class option was the best option. Not sure how much convincing it will take in the future!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Michalada oaxacaña
Up until now all the michaladas I`ve been having, hang on, I need to say what one is. All the michaladas I`ve had up until now have been lime juice with ice and salt, with a beer. Not so here I just ordered one and it was with chili as we, and not just a little bit, spicy beer. I`m going to be careful from now on when I`m ordering.
Oaxaca
It`s been a few years since I was in this town. Before the Zocalo was boarded up and there were hundreds of people camped and I do mean camped in tents and under tarps. I was very hard to see what this town was like, as this town was famous for its old colonial charm. And what started as people protesting about, if I can remember rightly, funding or rather under-funding for education, continued and there`s been people killed. 
Any way, after spending a day in town we went back to the hotel, Hotel Arnel. I tried to switch on the light and the switch fell to the ground! I went to reception and told the guy the problem and he came to have a look. After inspecting it under the light of my torch, he said he`d be back. He came back, after some time, with a screw-driver and started to undo the switch and was changing the switch. Now I did say "after some time" stupidly I assumed that he needed to switch the electricity off or do some sort of isolation. Not in Mexico! I was holding my torch so he could see what he was doing and the wires were sparking as he was pulling them out of the old switch and then again putting them back into the new one. ¡Que loco!
Any way, after spending a day in town we went back to the hotel, Hotel Arnel. I tried to switch on the light and the switch fell to the ground! I went to reception and told the guy the problem and he came to have a look. After inspecting it under the light of my torch, he said he`d be back. He came back, after some time, with a screw-driver and started to undo the switch and was changing the switch. Now I did say "after some time" stupidly I assumed that he needed to switch the electricity off or do some sort of isolation. Not in Mexico! I was holding my torch so he could see what he was doing and the wires were sparking as he was pulling them out of the old switch and then again putting them back into the new one. ¡Que loco!
Puebla
Friends in far places
While in mexico city I met up with my friend there. We had to stay in this cafe for the joke. ¿Donde es la broma? I hear you say. Well one of my friends family names is villalobos and there were pictures of wolves on the wall. Lobo = wolf en español.
