Mexico - part three

The last 2.5 weeks in Mexico were spent with my sister touring the tourist area of Cancun and Yucatan in the east of Mexico. This was so completely different from the rest of the trip, but very relaxed and a halfway house between England and Central American cultures - acclimatisation at its best. I went from 9 months of scuzzy backpacker staying in the cheapest accommodation, eating in local eateries and in markets to staying at mum's 5* hotel timeshare in Cancun, scuba diving on reefs in Cozumel and staying in wooden cabins right on sea fronts with hanging/swinging beds , eating in restaurants and having fun.

We had mixed weather as well with rain and cloud but nothing could detract from the gorgeous turquoise of the sea, the creamy white sand, the friendly locals and loads and loads of seafood. Its very rare for me/Julie to say we would do the exact same holiday again but we would do this again exactly but leave out Merida at the end. The Cancun holiday was brilliant as each day we were only spending 1 hour sunbathing as the rest of the time we were involved in the free activities: each day we did aqua aerobics, salsa class, water volleyball (all before lunch) and then sailing (once) and beach volleyball in the afternoon followed by being pummeled in the sea.

Photos: just developed photos from the Mexico-Part Two update - Guadulato (3 pictures) and Xochimolcho in Mexico City (1 picture (colourful boats which are punted up river)


Cancun (our hotel with a gorgeous beach and activities; daily beach volleyball; our sexy salsa dancing/beach volleyball and aqua-aerobics coordinator - Angel), Cozumel (diving with turtles on the reef, me and Julie having passed our PADI Open Water exam (sorry for the photos being upside down - underwater camera); an altar shrine and offerings in Cozumel town for their festival 'Day of the Dead' in which they celebrate the dead children the first day, dead adults the second day and all souls on the third day), (Tulum (view of a sandy bay from outside our beachfront cabin; the beautiful sea and sea front area infront of our hotel (rocky area leading on to a massive sandy beach) beach front Mayan ruins at Tulum), Chichen Itza - me and Julie infront of the temple of 1000 columns and the temple; Merida - dried chilis being sold at market and our seafood ceviche and cocktele at the market - delicious.

Mexico - part two

Well two more busy weeks in Mexico have flown by. These have been very different to the others. I visited Tequila so had to be forced and dragged along to a Tequila tasting session at Jose Cuervo (my rucksack is definately heavier as a result) and then met interesting people on the road and then two colonial and atmospheric towns with street artist festivals taking place. Dancing, entertainment and drinking were the tonic for the week, which also helped get me in the swing of things for the week in Cancun!

A mixture of Tequila, ballroom dancers on stilts, cowboys is a good way to spend a holiday.

Photos: The west coast coast of Manzanillo; Tequila cones ready for cooking and then pressing to make Tequila; Tequila plants; the Copper Canyon; traditional dress in the north of Mexico; a Chihuahua in Chihuahua; Cowboy boots in Durango.........................

Mexico - part one

Well I´ve been in Mexico for just under 2 weeks now and its flown by. I only have until the 21st to meet up with my sister in Cancun!!!

Mexico is the destination that I´ve look forward to the whole trip but after Guatemala it is so far nice but not memorable. I think I´ve been seeing so much for so long that I´m sitting back and saying ´nice´while other tourists around me are in a frenzy and taking lots of photos. The south and west of Mexico are a westernised version of Nicaragua but with large differences in altitude and warmth. In the middle, the mountain villages are at 3300m and are cold whereas the coastal areas are humid and very very warm. The country is very beautiful with every journey giving pictoresque scenic views but every journey is 3-6 hours or more depending on how far you are going. (tomorrow´s journey is 13 hours for example!)

I have had two experiences though: being seranaded in Morelia by 12 students in tights and having a Zipoteca sauna in the mountain village pictured below (you crawl naked through a chimney entrance to a small low room. A lady pours water onto hot coals and then wafts the scorching heat over you with a palm leaf fan, hitting you with the fan at the same time. I have never experienced that type of heat ever!:)

I´m now heading north into cowboy country and hopefully get the mexican experience I´ve been dreaming about there - and maybe some lizard cowboy boots to go with it..........:)

Photos so far: (1&2 - Yaxchillan ruins on the edge of a river marking the boundary between Guatemala and Mexico (you walk through a series of tunnels within the building in Picture 1 to reach the otherside - this is the 1st ruin I´ve been able to enter); 3 - San Cristobal de las Casas; 4 - Sumidero Canyon; 5 - The gold plated inside of Santa Domingo Church in Oaxaca; 6 - view over the mountain village at 3300m and the valley containing Oaxaca below; 7 - ruins of San Juan church after the 1942 eruption of Volanco Paricutin (the sides of the church collapsed but the end pictured and the alter at the other end are still intact. The lava simply flowed in and around but left these two areas standing).

Guatemala from a tourists eye

Guatemala has so many different sides to it culturally, cuisine and geographically. From hilly mountains, indigenous communities and volcanoes in the west; to tropical lush humid flatter lands in the East by the Carribean. During the first week off work I toured around the West, visiting and climbing Volcan Pacaya (an active volcano which last errupted in April this year!!) and had the priviledge of seeing the next volanco, Volcan Fuego, treating me to a mini pyroclastic flow!:).

Then colonial Antigua and spectacular Lago Atitlan, then up into the Mayan highlands where their local Mayan language is the first language spoken (there are 24 native Mayan version languages spoken in different Guatemalan regions), and the bright traditional costumes are worn, sometimes with pom-poms wrapped into the hair. Then the gorgeous aquamarine pools of Semuc-Champey where a swim and a relax were in order. Topped off by the Mayan ruins of Tikal with amazingly high temples and structured buildings, stuck in the middle in jungle. One area in Tikal is dated before Christ whilst the rest date up to 700AD when the Mayan Classic Era collapsed and all Mayan sites were abandoned.

Casa Guatemala - part 6 - leaving party

Photos thanks to Haritz who was sober enough to operate the camera, as well as push people into the river at the end of the night! Photos are of the volunteers at the hotel bar.



A special song once every Wednesday and Saturday night for the volunteers when all of them have to get onto the bar and dance. Easy when there{s only 11 of us image what it would have been like in January when there were 60!

Casa Guatemala - part 5

Back on the numbering scheme again:)

I´ve now left Casa Guatemala although I´ll be back on Saturday for the leaving do of two other volunteers. So here are more photos of the place. The last week wasn´t a normal week as 1) I gained a boyfriend and 2) it was Guatemala´s Independence Day on the 15/9 so the last few days were all the grades competing for various dance, drawing, writing, singing prizes.

At the end of the day the orphanage was an experience which I´m glad I´ve done but which has left me with more unanswered questions for me. I am sad to leave the volunteers, some of the children, the teachers and the location, but it feels right to leave as if its a new start. Next step, finish seeing Guatemala and then head into Mexico....

(photos: some of the children; a kinder village child who went on to win an award; all the contestats for the Nina Monja award; Kinder children dancing; Maria on the catwalk for the Miss Independencia award in the Guatemalan national dress; 1st grade doing a Mauri dance; 5th form in the dance routine competition; 6th form in the same competition; all the children in the playing field singing the 5+ minute long national anthem1; local village kids larking around; the volunteers house (the pig farm is the white building behind it on the right of the photo); the main area of Casa Guatemala (outside the restaurant (on the left) and the girls dormitories (on the right); Shirley- lovely adorable child and a good drawer.)