I love Central America

Just got done with a very long travel day from Utila, Honduras to Tegucialpa, Honduras. Headed to Grenada tomorrow via a twelve hour bus ride. Utila was really nice. I just hung around the hotel the first day. The second day, I took three of the five dives to become Advanced Diver Certified. My first dive was to a shipwreck 30 meters/100 feet down. I saw a multitude of sea life the highlight was giant grouper probably 100 pounds or so. The second dive was to the reef and the third was a night dive, The night dive was incredible I imagine that it is the closest thing that I will ever get to being in space. At one point we turned of our lights and waved our hands through the water to expose the photoflorescent organisms, it looked like sparks flying around our hands. Pretty amazing, I think I may have caught the diving bug. It was hard for me to leave this morning.
I apologize I have once again gotten ahead of my self. I am still about a week behind on my postings so I will begin from the end.
We left Rio Dulce and spent one night in Antigua to break up the length of the bus ride to Panahachel. The largest of the five cities on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Panahachel, revolves around the lake and visits to the other cities via water taxi. I guess the highlight for mee was breakfast at a hotel that sat on the side of a cliff. Other than that I took a day off and just did some picture posting at the internet cafe. don't get me wrong Panahachel is worth a visit. The city and the lake sit in the shadow of three very large volcanoes so the views are very beautiful. There is also a very large contingent of retired ex pats living there. I was just ready for a day to catch up.

We left Panahachel for Antigua. It was a decent bus ride, only a few hours or so. Arriving in Antigua is like visiting another time. Cobblestone roads and stuccoed Spanish Colonial buildings and Churches. The roads were a simple grid that were easily navigable. The relative safety afforded myself and my fellow travelers a little more freedom to branch out and check out the town on our own. A large group of us signed up to climb the Picaya Volcano. It was a highly recommended tour because you are actually able to get up close and personal with lava. What was not discussed was the difficulty of the hike. Antigua was the the biggest city that I had visited in a while so I went out to enjoy the night life and try to meet up with some of my fellow travelers. I was home by two and the van to the volcano was coming at six. Normally, going on four hours of sleep would have hurt a little, but it was doable. I got on the van at six and we were on our way. When we arrived at the base of the volcano we were greeted by a dozen children selling walking sticks and by men with horses offering to take us up for 40 dollars. I thought that the price was a little steep so I bought a walking stick and prepared for the hike with a liter of water. The beginning of the hike was a short paved section with a 35 degree slope. Needles to say I was winded after the first 200 yards. I think that the men with the horses saw the bloodshot in my eyes mixed with my size and sensed that I was a shoe in for the $40. They followed right behind me and said repeated “hey man you want a mountain taxi” or “Caballos, make it easy man.” I think that it was their prodding that helped me make it up to the top. I also took a salsa lesson in Antigua so watch out ladies.
From Antigua we had another long ride to Copan, Hoduras. Copan is a quaint little town best known for the Mayan Ruins that are about five minutes outside of town. By now I am definitely ruined out. But I went and took a quick 45 minute tour of the ruins. For those Archeologists and Anthropologists out there, Copan has some of the best preserved sculptures that I have seen in all of my visits to Mayan Ruins.
Of the fifteen of us who had traveled from Playa del Carmen to Antigua only eight of us remained. Our new group was seventeen. We were still getting to know each other in Copan. So it was a pretty calm night. I know the eight of us who had been together for a while really missed our friends who had to go back to the real world. The new group consists of Mauricio as the tour leader, Harley, Sophie, and Anne (all of whom I have been travelling with since Mexico City;) Kevin from Ireland, Carolyn from Toronto, Melissa from Seattle we added her sister, Shelly in Antigua as well as; Bill from Seattle, Jamie and Laura from Ontario; Alex and Christiana from Finland; Richard from Germany; and Denise from England (she is also in her seventies for those who think that they are too old to do something like this;) and finally Rebecca a Navy Brat from all over the place as a tour leader trainee.
After Copan we chicken bussed it over to Ceiba which is where we caught the ferry over to Utilla. For those of us afflicted by motion sickness I would highly recommend either Dramamine for the ferry or kick out the $45 for the plane to Utilla. The ferry ride is choppy on good days and pretty dangerous on bad days. Once you arrive in Utila every thing is ok. The town actually reminded me a lot of the small Cajun towns in southern Louisiana. It is a very small community with its own language. The Bay island were once part of the British Empire, but the islands became part of Honduras in exchange for Belize not too long ago. The people speak a blend of English with a Cajun/Island dialect that is impossible for outsiders to understand. Some of the natives speak Spanish, but some would much rather be part of England than Honduras and have resisted fully integrating into the society by refusing to speak the national language. Like Caye Caulker, Utila is pretty focused on diving. It is not a place to go and have a beach vacation. There are a couple of beaches to visit, but they are covered with up sand fleas and one of them actually charges to go there.
We got early for the 6 am ferry from Utila then for a long bus ride over to my least favorite place in all of Nicaragua, Tegucialpa. We arrived via 5 hour chicken bus then the longest and most frightening cab ride of my life. The city is built in the rolling hills at the base of a volcano. We sped up and down hills through markets within inches of pedestrians at break neck speeds. The traffic was unbelievable as well, apparently they didn't get the memo on the efficiency of traffic lights. Yet another experience though. On to Grenada and my most challenging culinary experience ever.

Vagabond

Swerved in Guatemala

Man I am tired. My last post was hastily sent in a fog of birthday celebration that lasted for a couple of days too long. I am beginning to recover, but it is going to take a few days. I somehow got up in time to catch the water taxi over to Rio Dulce the day after my birthday so that I could catch the 8 hour Chicken Bus to Antigua.

None the less I will try to catch up, forgive me if I repeat a couple of things. I will begin at the beginning. We left Playa very early for a 10 hour bus ride to Belize City. The first half of the trip was spent on the ultra luxurious Aldo buses that run all over Mexico. The bus dropped us near the border to Belize where I experienced my first chicken bus. This one was not too bad it was more like riding in an old Greyhound and was not too crowded. More on that later though. We arrived in Belize City and quickly jumped into a water taxi headed for Caye Caulker. An hour later we arrived. Caye Caulker is unlike any other beach town that I have seen in the world. There are no tall condos or hotels, The entire town is basically 3 parallel road each about 3 miles long with a separate block carved through by about 10 intersecting street. Most of the tourist activity took place on the one road that ran parallel to the North facing side of the island. We stayed in a very basic place right on the beach. The moment that I set foot on the island I could tell that life here was very simple and very slow. It was absolutely the case. There are actually signs in several places that read “go slow man.” If you walked down the street too hastily or rode a bike through town too quickly the natives would remind you or even stop you and order you to go slow man. The first night we ate at a shack on th e road called Jolly Roger's Grill. His grill was a long cylinder that used to be a natural gas tank. Three choices were all that was offered Lobster, Fish, (no particular variety just whatever came in that day) or chicken. Served with rice and beans, rum punch, and dessert. Although it took an hour and a half to get it, that was probably my most memorable meal thus far. I had the lobster.

The next day I took my first dive as a certified PADI Open Water Diver. I was confident that my experience in the Cenote and the pool had prepared me so well that I was ready to go out on my own. Long story short, I got lost from the group and thought for a moment that I would be lost at sea, got sea sick, and my ears are still not quite right. Needless to say, I am no longer quite as confident about my diving skills. The dive itself was amazing. Belize has the world second largest barrier reef and it is definitely a place that I will return to further explore.

After a very short two nights in Caye Caulker we once again boarded the water taxi for our six hour chicken bus ride to San Ignacio. This bus was somewhat more authentic. It was a 1968 Blue Bird whose former life was as a school bus in the States. I sat to a very nice woman from a village between BC and SI. It was a chicken bus though. I didn't mind the crowd on the bus as much as the frequent stops. Rather than keeping regular bus stops, the stopped whenever someone stood on the side of the road and held their arm out. So every 100 yards or so we would stop to let someone on or off. The chicken bus took 7 hours to get to SI from BC if we had a private van it would have taken 3 hours.

When the chicken bus finally dropped us off on the side of the road we hiked a half mile or so to our hotel, the Trek Stop. The TS is owned and operated by John and Diane ( I didn't get their last names) to former college professor who retired about ten years ago to Belize. The is tucked away in the jungle and consisted of about ten small cabins, a common area with a small kitchen, a small restaurant, an eco museum, public showers, and my favorite, the composting toilets. Aside from the lack of indoor plumbing, I found the place really quaint and peaceful. We met with the guides from the tour company and chose to visit the ATM cave.

Unbelievable, is the only word to describe the cave. We drove about an hour and a half to the park. Hiked for about fourty five minutes to reach the mouth of the cave. The vast majority of the cave has a stream running through it so we spent much of our time wading or swimming in the temperate water. Once we reached the area that held the Mayan Artifacts we took our shoes off and walked to the rest of the cave in our socks so that the oils from our skin did not affect the permeability of the limestone. A short, but very painful climb brought us to a very large room inside the cave. They called it the ballroom because the stalactites and stalagmites resembled chandeliers and candelabras. It was in this room that many of the artifact lay as they had for over 1000 years. It was unbelievable to see all these pots strewn throughout, but it was a little unnerving as well. The cave was completely dark and you could not see anything outside the beam of your head lamp. One false step meant crushing a priceless artifact. The highlight of the cave was the completely preserved remains of a woman who had been sacrificed in the cave. It was a bit eerie, but very interesting. And once you got used to it, the water wasn't that cold.

There are several other caves and interesting things to do in the San Ignacio area, but we did not have time. Our next destination was Flores, Guatemala. The island city was a place where many of the Mayans of the region inhabited after their fall from grace. It was there that the Spaniards settled to convert the natives to Christianity. We had come to Flores for a very specific visit to Tikal. Perhaps the most famous of all of the Mayan ruins. At this point, I feel like a Mayan ruin expert. I have visited every major site in Mexico. I could identify the specific types of artwork and architecture. So my thought going in to Tikal was yet another harrowing hike to the top of a pyramid. See a couple of ball fields and that was that. I couldn't have been more wrong. Tikal is massive. The site encompasses about 400 acres. At its height, it held over 180,000 inhabitants. Only about 10 percent of the ruins have been excavated. What is excavated is incredible. The temples cut through the jungle canopy like arms reaching to the gods. (That was a group effort metaphor thanks to Harley, Anne and Kevin for your collaboration.)

When we got back to the hotel. Mauricio had a paper mache devil ready to burn for the Dia Diablo celebration that is carried out throughout Guatemala on December 7 at 6:00 pm. You burn the devil and whatever other bad things that have haunted you during the year. After we burned our devil we drank Gallos and danced in the street with the locals while dodging exploding fireworks. That is another side bar that I have forgotten to mention about Guatemala they are constantly firing off fireworks. There is no rhyme or reason, so if you ever come here don't be alarmed.

Well, I hope that this recap is a better description of what has been happening. I have been in a couple of other places, but I will save those stories for next time.

Please give me some feedback or questions about details I may have left out. There is a lot more to tell about these places, but typing on this tiny keyboard is arduous and it takes me forever. So if there is anything else you want to know just ask.

Until next time,

Vagabond

What a birthday!!

Today is my birthday. I think that it is days like today that normally would make me miss everybody at home. And to some extent I do. Fortunately though, I am in Guatemala and there is plenty to do to keep me occupied rather than sitting at home feeling upset that yet another year has passed me by. For my birthday we had a "pool" party. We are in Rio Dulce, Guatemala our hotel is not technically in Rio Dulce, it is in a Mangrove forest about a two minute boat ride away. The hotel is built on stilts for the parts that are over the water. My room has an immense king size bed with a mosquito next around it. If I walk too far out the back door I will have to go for a swim.
Back to my party though. We caught a boat this morning down the Rio Dulce to Lago Izabel (Lake Izabel.) It was about an hour boat ride and a fourty minute hike to our destination simply called, Agua Caliente. It was a simple swimming hole along a small creek at the base of a mountain. With one very big bonus, a hot spring waterfall. I worked up a pretty decent sweat getting to the swimming hole and the the cool water was very refreshing then I made it to the waterfall which was like a shower with the greatest water pressure in history. Our group bought food to eat and we had a picnic on the rocks surrounding the hole. It was a very interesting amd very nice way to spend my birthday.

Enough about that let me get on with the travels...
The last time I wrote I was in Caye Caulker, Belize. The following day was my fist dive as a certified open water diver. Belize is home of the second largest coral reef in the world. Inside the reef the water is calm and really nice. Outside the reef the seas were whipping. In the twenty minutes it took to get geared up I had the beginnings of my old nemesis, sea sickness. Fortunately, I got in before I got sick. My friend Anne and I began to the bottom. Ann didn't have enough weight to sink so the dive master added some weight and she went straight down. The dive master followed right behind her. I was having trouble getting my ears equalized so it took me a little more time to get down. The problem with that was visibility was pretty much nill. By the time I was ready to head down they were gone. No where to be seen. I tried to swim in the direction that I thought that they were headed, no one, no bubble, nothing. Here I am in the middle of the Carribean on my very first dive, and I am lost. We didn't talk about this in the Padi Class. After about 5 minutes of searching (which felt like hours) I finally decided to surface and head for the boat. My first look on top of the water yielded no boat to be found. After a few frantic turns I finally caught site of it between a couple of waves. I ran into the dive master on the way to the boat and continued to descend to 70 feet, I kept my eye on him this time. It was a fantastic dive along a Coral wall near Wilson"s Caye. Because I had used up so much air freaking out and looking for everybody I was the first to run out of air. This means I was the first back on the lurching boat. Not good. I put on the pressure point wristbands. They worked for about twenty minutes. All in all I had a great time next time I am bringing benedryl.

Caye Caulker is amazing though. I highly recommend a visit if you are looking for a place to go and just chill out. Or as the locals say it "go slow."
After just two nights in Caye Caulker we were off to San Ignacio. This was a six hour bus trip and my first experience with "Chicken Buses." There weren't any chickens on the bus, but there were alot of people. Our hotel wasn't actually in San Ignacio it was in a village about 10 minutes outside of town at a place called Trek Stop. It is run by a couple of California expats named John and Carol. The two of them built the place over the last twenty years when they retired from teaching and moved to Belize. A very cool place though, there was a nine hole frisbee golf course, a small nature museum and a a butterfly arborerium.
Our primary reason for the visit to San Ignacio was to check out the caves that were about an hour drive away. The cave that we visited ATM (the name is shortened I won't try to spell the real name.) The cave was used by the Mayans to appease the gods of the underworld. It housed many intact artifacts as well as the calcified remains of a woman who was sacrificed in the cave over 1000 years ago. Visiting this cave was probably one of the coolest things that I have ever done. If you ever come to Belize the ATM cave is a must. I think that National Geographic did a film called Secrets of the Underworld.

That is all for now Tikal is comming soon.

Vagabond

Just a quick update. I am in Caye Caulker, Belize right now. I left Playa this morning and took two busses and a water taxi to get here. Belize is a place that I have wanted to visit for a very long time. We got off of the bus in Belize City and immediately jumped in a water taxi for the hour long ride over to C.C. belize has not disappointed Caye Caulker is beautiful!! The hotel is right on the bech and you can see the break from the barrier reef about a half mile or so from the beach.
I got certified for open water scuba diving while in Playa and have booked a trip for a wall dive here tomorrow.
There is a lot less boat and pedestrian traffic here than in Mexico so I thin k the dive tomorrow should be pretty amazing.
It was nice to be in Playa for so long. We arrived there on Thanksgiving Day from Merida (the capital of Yukatan.) Is was a bit of a culture shock though. We had come from places where there were very few Western tourists and influences. To the cruise ship capitol of MExico. The street vendors in Playa are more like used car salesmen than indigenous craftsmen. The main strip, Calle 5, brought countless pleas to enter shops all of which were selling the exact same crap. None the less it was felt good to be a tourist for a few days.

I really like it here in belize much more though. The mantra here is "take it slow." Unfortunately, we will only be here for one full day so taking it slow is not really an option. I have a felling that I will continue repeating this throughout my GAP trip, I wish I had more time.

Gotta go have some lobster that a local guy is grilling for me. I am headed to the jungle of San Ignacio the day after tomorrow then to Guatemala so you may not here from me for a little while.

Vagabond

Journal entries:

I saw some wild Spider Monkeys the other day while I was riding in a boat in a Canyon (I don't remember the name w/o my notes.) I was in the jungles in Palenque for the past couple of days and was awoken every morning to the cries of howler monkeys. The only problem was that they started at 5 am. The one full day in Palenque was spent at the ruins, they are probably my favorite so far. The spring up in the middle of the jungle like giant sky scrapers. The nice thing about the ruins is the access. You can climb pretty much everywhere. Including the dark chambers inside. That was the coolest part. Nowhere else have i been granted such access with the ability explore on my own and in some way feel like the trail in the jungle that I followed to some of the outlying ruins, it was my discovery. I have decided that we have a lot to learn from the Mayans.
Today I went swimming in under ground limestone caves called Cenotes. There water was crystal blue and perfect temperature. It was like being in the large cavern from goonies only much smaller. Getting to the cenotes was pretty interesting as well, we rode in the horse drawn, 4 person "streetcars" called cardidas down this tiny track in the middle of the woods. The ride was not smooth, but it felt authentic. I am in Meridia right now whick is the capital of the Yukatan State. It is somewhat reminiscent of N.O. because there is a blend of Spanish and French influences in the architecture.
The hotel we are staying at is truly one of a kind. It is like living at the UCUM Museum in Abita Springs. Just strange pieces of art in a maze of buildings. Check out the website its www.hotelstrinidad.com we are at the Galeria one. The hotels that we have stayed at have been very basic, but clean and with hot water. I have almost broken myself of my dependence on TV to fall asleep. I some how forgot my travel pillow and the pillows are my only complaint. I am very fortunate that the weather is mild b/c none of the hotels we have stayed in have a/c. I don't think I could sleep if I had a lumpy pillow and I was sweating.
Probably the most surprising thing about Mexico are the busses. When I read about the trip I pictured riding in old school busses and all sorts of livestock bouncing around the cabin. This could not be further from the truth. The ADO (the bus company) busses put greyhound to shame. The busses are clean, cheap and can get you to pretty much any city in Mexico. We have taken two long trips, one 12 hour overnight from Oaxca to San Cristobal. And a nine hour from Palenque to Meridia. I slept comfortably on both occasions. Of course, by the end, my ass was in severe pain, but it took at least 6 hours for the traction to set in. Unlike the 20 minutes it takes on a cramped plane. Busses have given me an opportunity to see alot more of the country as well.
As most of you know, I take great pride in my ability to find interesting food. Generally, there is not a whole lot of time to eat other the dinner. The rest of our meals have been Chocolate and eggs hastily wolfed down on the way to bus stations or a bag of chips and a diet coke on the way to a ruins site. Lunch may be a torta from a road side stand or whatever other critters they may be grilled up served with fresh, handmade tortillas and salsa. We usually do group dinners at restaurants chosen by our tour leader. The food has been ok, but we are usually the only people in them. So, last night, I made a stand and told Sarah that I was going to pick the restaurant. She gladly surrendered the responsibility of meeting everyone's gastronomical and financial proclivities. Sarah and I set out at 5:30 with a deadline of 7:30 to meet back at the hotel and unveil the decision. I had two rules for our restaurant 1. No pictures of the food 2. No pre-made dishes in the window We walked, and walked and walked. We asked locals several of whom sent us to a place off the beaten path called Calmos. So we went there to check it out, not only were there pictures of food on the menu, but pictures lined the walls of the foyer. To top it off, as we were leaving buss load of Japanese Tourists unloaded to enter, there was NO WAY. Our time was short so i made the executive descision to go to a place that we had passed by early in the search. It was called PANCHOS. I know that the faces of all Memphians cringed. Before you write me off let me explain. It is not the nacho serving panchos. The description was progressive Mexican cuisine. Not bad huh? The decor was amazing. We sat in a palm tree forested courtyard, flanked by stacked stone walls with blown up pictures of the Zapatista Rebel leader Marcos (whose ski mask covered face is seen throughout MEXICO) as well as other Mexican heroes. My favorite picture was of the midget caballeros from the early 1920's. Long story short, the dinner was a great success without a single complaint which is a rarity with this group (especially the Germans.) I had a Rustico Pate with Shrimp, lobster, and squash blossom served with plantain chips. And roasted Sea bass with adobo and sauteed vegetables.
My biggest complaint with being on the Gap trip is the short schedule. We are constantly comming and going with little time to actually take a breath and really get to know the places we are visiting. It may turn out that I shorten my time in South America and head back north to spend I little more Q/T in the places that I have not been able to fully explore.

That is all for now,

VagaBond

Full Update on Mexico Thus Far

Alright, I finally got some time to do give a full update on what has been going on. My tour group is made uo of 14 people plus one tour leader. There are 2 Aussies, 5 Germans, 3 Irish, 3 Brits, and me the lone American. The tour leader, Sarah is from Canada. As I said before, we met up in Mexico City at our somewhat shady hotel (I will tell you more about the hotels later) and headed out to Teoteucan to visit the sun and moon pyramids. The sun pyramid is the second tallest in the world. The climb to the top was quite challenging, but I somehow made it. I felt every cigarette I ever smoked along the way though. The view from the top was amazing. Next stop was to the Basilica de Guadelupe. Home to the cloak that the picture of the Virgin Mary suddenly appeared. This was significant because it solidified Christianity in Mexico. The basilica was teaming with people no one over 5'5 so I had a birds eye view of everything. The worst part was the viewing area for the cloak. I almost was trampled but hundreds of Mexicans as I rode on a moving walkway.
My time in Mexico City was very short and I really didn't scratch the surface of the massive city. But we had alot of country to see in very little time so the next morning we boarded a bus to Puebla. Puebla is a beautiful city the architecture was incredible a much greater Spanish influence. It reminded me a little of the French Quarter. Our hotel was a block or so away from the Zocolo (Main Square) there happened to be a a music festival going on. I saw several interested band that ranged from new age jazz to mariachi to heavy metal. It was a great time. We only had a day and a half in Puebla next stop was Oaxca. Oaxca is known for its chocolates and moles, fried crickets and Mezcal. The first night I went off on my own and tried some of the local street food and stopped off at the famous La Casa de Mezcal. If you have never tried mezcal, don't it is evil fire water. The next day was a full tour of the two most significant archaeological site in Oaxca with a few stops in between. Our first stop was Monte Alban. The site was home to 30,000 inhabitants at it height. The ruins are absolutely incredible. They sit on top ov a large hill that boasts 360 degree views of the Oaxca valley. It was unbelievable. Our next was a meeting with a rug making family in Teotitlan. The family used traditional method to create beautiful wool rugs. Then we were off to Mitlan to see the ruins there. They were built about 400 years after Monte Alban so the attention to detail was much greater and the ruins were covered in intricate geometric stone decorations. Our last stop on the tour was to a mezcal factory where we were given tastes of several different types of mezcal... I was still not a fan.
Our third day in Oaxaca was on our own. I visited the market and walked around town for a few hours in the morning. At around noon I went to the Oaxaca Anthropological Museum which is house next to the main Cathedral in an amazing former Monastery. The museum was ok but I was pretty sick of seeing old stuff at that point. I met up with a couple of people in the group and we went to my favorite restaurant thus far. It is called La Bizanga. It sit in the middle of a courtyard. Tough to describe, but it was the perfect place to be at that time. The food was excellent I had a chicken breast that was pounded flat, stuffed with cheese, poblanos, and squash blossoms. I was all covered in a creamy avocado poblano mole. The sauce was so good that I considered licking the plate. To top it all off I had one of the best margaritas I have ever had.
The plan for the group was to take a 9 oclock over night bus to San Cristobal. We finished lunch and toured around a little while longer. Then decided to return to Casa de Mezcal to loosen up for the long bus ride. Two hour in to our extravaganza we were singing song with the locals taking pictures together and having a great time. But we had to catch our bus so we had to bid adou to our new friends and meet up with the rest of the group for a thirteen hour bus ride. I took several benadril and slept pretty much the whole way. I'll get into San Cristobal next time.

The entire time that I have been in Mexico I have been saddened to the fact that so few people from the US actually come down here to experience all of the culture. We only think of the fact that people are swimming across our border to come to America that there is nothing that Mexico can offer aside from the beach towns. Everyone should see this place it is beautiful, the people are amazing and the food is fantastic.

I head to the jungle to the town of Palenque tomorrow I don't think I'll be posting again until I get to Playa Del Carmen in four days. If the next several days are as action packed as the first I am sure it will be another long post. Only next time I will be sitting on the beach.,

VagaBond

Very Quick Intro

This post will have to be very short and sweet. I arrived in Mexico City on Saturday with no problem whatsoever. Mexico City is absolutely enormous. Visited Teotihuacan Pyramids as well as the Basilica de Guadelupe. Sorry gotta catch a bus to Oaxaca more posts to come.

VagaBOND