Tulum

Went to the ruins today - I was the first person in line as I wanted to take pictures before the hoards descended - good idea except apparently Sunday is the day that the locals go. I will try tomorrow again if it is sunny - this morning it was cloudy and I would like another chance without clouds. The ruins are interesting but mostly because of the view of the sea. Tulum was abandoned 75 years after the Spanish conquest so is 'relatively' new, however it was built during the decline of the Maya empire so is not near as awesome architecturally as other ruins.
Partied last night with others at the hostel and will probably do so again tonight. Tommorow I am going to Puerto Morales - It is only 20 minutes from the airport so I might be able to avoid the cancun city all together.

To Quote My Favorite Person, ``Yikes´´

I arrived here in Tulum at noon and found a hostel near (1 km from) the beach - I thought with a population of 7,000 this would be a quiet tranquil town - oops. I ate lunch near the hostel and paid 30 pesos for a beer - the most ever on this vacation. Tomorrow I go to the ruins and then Monday I am getting the hell outa here - not sure where, but if I am going to pay that much for a beer I damn well better be on a beach.

hmm, maybe not the brightest thing I´ve done...

I traveled from the border to Comitan to San Cristóbal de las Casas to Ocosingo to Palenque by colectivo - why not continue???
This morning I got up and left at 7:30 for Playas de Catazajá by colective - very easy as the place was 2 short blocks from my hotel. 15 pesos and about 30 minutes later I was at the intersection of the highway that runs from Villahermosa to Campeche. I only wanted to go as far as Escárcega on my way to Tulum. Que problemas. It was the end of the road for the colectivos - aparently they don´t run everywhere. I had to wait 2 hours to catch a 2nd class bus to Chetumal which took 8 hours to get to. I still lack 4 hours.
Chetumal however is a very nice town - I am a little surprised by the number of gringos (europeans) here - I didn´t expect it from the lonely planet guide book - the number of gringos is proportional to the number of pages written about a given location (normally). It is a town of 130,000 with broad boulevards, nice shops etc - por eso fue necesario pagar 200 pesos por mi havitación.
tommorow I leave at 8:30 for Tulum.
no regrets - beat the hell out of traveling all night.
ciao

OK, its not quite the right song...

Its more of a love song (OK, its a love song) but it sort of sums up my feelings about traveling. Substitute the we for I and the love stuff for traveling and it sort of works.

I ate my ticket for tonight and am leaving tommorow morning by colectivo - heading towards Tulum (under the assumption that you can get there by colectivo) - but hey, you only live once and I may never pass this way again and to miss it by traveling by bus at night is just plain dumb.

Life, so they say, is but a game and we let it slip away.
Love, like the Autumn sun, should be dyin' but it's only just begun.
Like the twilight in the road up ahead, they don't see just where we're goin'.
And all the secrets in the Universe, whisper in our ears
And all the years will come and go, take us up, always up.
We may never pass this way again. We may never pass this way again.
We may never pass this way again.

Dreams, so they say, are for the fools and they let 'em drift away.
Peace, like the silent dove, should be flyin' but it's only just begun.
Like Columbus in the olden days, we must gather all our courage.
Sail our ships out on the open sea. Cast away our fears
And all the years will come and go, and take us up, always up.
We may never pass this way again. We may never pass this way again.
We may never pass this way again.

So, I wanna laugh while the laughin' is easy. I wanna cry if it makes it worthwhile.
We may never pass this way again, that's why I want it with you.
'Cause, you make me feel like I'm more than a friend. Like I'm the journey and you're the journey's end.
We may never pass this way again, that's why I want it with you, baby.

We may never pass this way again. We may never pass this way again.
We may never pass this way again. We may never pass this way again.

tengo sed
hasta pronto

Palenque

Some pictures from the ruins of Palenque - I enjoyed them more than the ruins in Copan Honduras but not as much as Tikal. Definitely worth it even if there were too many tourists.
















I bought my bus ticket today for tommorow to go to Tulum which is by the beach and is very near some ruins which are basically on the beach I guess - I am taking a second class bus (250 pesos vs 470 pesos) but it has no bathroom - the ticket guy said it stops 4 times so shouldn´t be a problem - its an 11 hour ride and leaves at 7:30 pm - it really sucks because you don´t see the country side - but its too far to try and go by colectivo in one day - or is it?? maybe I will get up in the morning and just go... well with the ticket I have the option.
Thank god for air conditioned internet places....

In the words of Jenny Owen Youngs

...what the fuck was I thinking....
I started my vacation in Quito with an elevation of 9,200 feet and now I'm in Palenque with an elevation of 270 feet. Hot and muggy, people really pay big bucks to sweat - I am not sure I get it, can I head back to Guate???? I am staying in a decent place with private bath, small patio, ceiling fan and its quiet for 120 pesos. I plan to go to the ruins tommorow. The ride here from Ocosingo was awsome - a tad over 2 hours for 40 pesos and the views were awsome. This part of the country is heavily forested and hilly. The road was narrow and curvy - not for Deb or Ang, but it was beautiful.
Tengo sed.

Monday

I forgot to mention that I didn´t realize until 8 pm last night that the time zone is different in México than in Guatemala - oops, good think I wasn´t traveling by bus.
Going to bed at 3 am is not recommended, but I was up at 8 am. Had coffee and chatted with the guy from México last night and a gal from España until 9am. Then went to the bank - the first bank had a line over a block long outside the bank (no exaggeration) and the second one was packed inside, so I said screw it and went back to leave.
Took a colectivo to Ocosingo. Left at 9:30 and got here at about 11:30 I think. 40 Pesos. The way the colectivos work is they wait till they are full and then they take off - this was a 13 passenger van. The countryside is beautiful - heavily wooded with hills and small pueblos. It is a very poor area but I believe rich in resources which had something to do with the Zapatista revolución.
Found a cheap place here (60 Pesos) - it is very simple and I don´t think I would stay again - I guess its better to pay a tad more.
Ocosingo is small (30,000), much hotter than San Cristóbal and I don´t think they see many tourists - however a guy from Wisconsin sat down next to me in this internet place - small world. I payed my 237 pesos at the bank, but the gal was perplexed as what to do - it got figured out (I think) or at least I am 237 pesos poorer.
Off to lunch and a siesta.

Sunday In San Cristóbal del las Casas

Yesterday I walked around a lot, read some and listened to music in the park. There was a band that I listened to on the grandstand and later there was a family group - I bought a CD from them for 100 pesos.



I walked past a little place where they were grilling a ton of chicken - it smelled really good. So I went back at 12:30 to ask if it was just to go or if I could eat there - although there was a table she said it was just to go. I said lastima and then walked across the street - the other lady inside (owner maybe) yelled for me to come back and said I could eat - I had a half of chicken, rice, tortillas and a grilled jalopeña for 35 pesos. I really think they don´t normally serve there but apparently I got lucky.





Last night and Saturday night I had dinner at the same hotel that Deb and I stayed at last year - I didn´t realize it until after I ordered my dinner - its to bad because I am still angry at them. Last year when we stayed there they had a wedding reception that lasted until the wee hours of the morning and the rooms surrounded the dinning area - which meant we couldn´t sleep and I had the flu - I get pissed just thinking about it.

Last night at the hostel I talked and drank until 3 in the morning with a guy from Uruguay, a gal from France (fluid in Spanish), a brother and sister from Puebla (México) and a gal from Texas (she really was rarely in the conversation since her Spanish was so poor). Most of the conversation was in Spanish and I fared OK - unless they were talking between themselves, then I would get lost. Sometimes Alejandra (girl from México) would talk to me in English and I to her in Spanish - an odd conversation to say the least.

Huehue to San Cristóbal de las Casas

I left yesterday (1 day late). Carlos drove me to the terminal (actually the main drag near the terminal) and I caught a bus to La Mesia. La Mesia is the guatemalan border town near México. I borderd the bus at 10:18 am and was walking across the border at 12:30 (Q 15 for the buss). Once across the border it was a 10 peso colectivo for the 4km to immigration.
I believe its $1 US for 11 pesos, but the bastard only gave me 10 to the dollar - I only traded $40 cuz I knew I was being ripped off, but I needed pesos.
Went through immigration, I still need to go to the bank to pay my 237 pesos for my tourist card - which will never be looked at by anyone. From there I took a collectivo to Comítan (25 P) and then another to San Cristóbal de las Casas (30 P). 2 government checkpoints on the first leg and one on the 2nd. They searched the van on the first but not anyothers and the last one he walked through the bus and only asked me if I was from the states.
I got to Comítan about 2:20 and San Cristóbal de las Casas about 4:15. I am staying in a nice hostel (private room with bath and hot water) for about $9 US per night. They also have free internet and coffee.

A Day In The Life Of The Kids

Most of the kids go to school. In Guate if you move in the middle of the year you are screwed - you ´lose´ the year. I think if you miss the first week its done, thus the kids that come to the orphanage from Jan to Oct have to wait till the next year. This I have deduced from my observations - I have never talked to a guatemalteco about this so I could be wrong. There is also no special ed so some of the kids don´t go to school with behavior or learning problems. The kids that go to school usually go from 7:30 - 12:30. There are also 4 kids that go to school at night - they go from about 7 till 9.

The kids have a tremendous amount of responsibility - there are 4 or 5 employees working in the main orphanage and 1 in the cafeteria (cafe run by the fundación to earn money). For instance Graciela (one of my favorites) works with the girls 4 - 7 years old (not sure exactly the age group -that is a guess). She has one other girl that works with her - they are responsible to get them up, showered, dressed, to breakfast, teeth brushed, etc, etc. They live with them in a big dorm room - right now Graciela told me there is only 7 kids but sometimes there is as many as 15. Graciela is only 15 and has been doing this for 4 years. She acts as if its no big deal - its like kid having the responsibility of taking the trash out once a week - no big deal (but in the states many kids would find a reason to bitch about it). Everybody works and I have never seen anybody complain about what they have to do.


Graciela's room - this is where the kids keep their clothes - they might share everything








Notice Esperanza has her monkey (note earlier post about the ferria)
















The girls making tortillas.













































The younger kids never leave except to go to school and the older girls get to leave occasionally. Graciela says she can leave on Sunday afternoons and checks her email. The thing that continually amazes me is the lack of complaining and how they seem to get along - they have a tough life but maybe they look at how lucky they are to be where they are when the alternative is so much worse.


Reyna Guadalupe and her cat - well I think all 5 of the cats she claims.

A Day In The Life Of Me

I am in San Cristóbal de Las Casas in Mexíco and am reflecting on the last 4 weeks. Several people have asked why I haven´t posted much. Well my normal day is the same as the last.

I get up at 5:50 am to shower on the off chance that there is water. It works like this - if I get up at 6:30 there is no water but there was at 6:00 - if there is water at 5:50 AND I get up the water is still on at 6:30 - I can´t win. And to make matters worse Carlos and Shirley are getting a deposito (rooftop water storage tank) installed this week - sure as hell didn´t help me. Anyway, after my shower I go back to bed till around 7:00, then I get up eat breakfast and leave for school around 7:30. It is about a 15 minute walk to the school.

I usually get to school 15 minutes early and chat with Yesi. She is one of the teachers and lives at the school and is one of my altime favorite people. School is from 8 to noon give or take. Usually we start a little late but with Yesi, Sheny (the director) and Otto (Sheny´s husband) it is school wherever you are - we can be drinking beer at 11 pm and they will be correcting my spanish. In other words when we start late its really lessons with 3 or 4 teachers. We usually take about a 30 minute break at 10:30 but again during the break I have more than 1 person correcting my spanish (unless I am cheating and talking in English to another student).

I usually leave school around 12 to 12:30 and head home. Usually I stop and check my email on the way home and get there by 1 pm. I then eat lunch and am usually done by 2 pm. Lunch is usually the biggest meal of the day. After lunch I head back, check my email and see how badly my tigers are doing and then head for the fundación salvación. I usually spend 2 to 3 hours there leaving between 5 and 6.

On the way home I often stop at the restaraunt margarita near the fundación for a cold beverage, check my email one last time and then stop at the tienda closest to my house. Gloria and Ruben are the couple that own the place and then I spend up to a hour in their houses chatting and having a couple of beers. Having friends like Gloria and Ruben make it all worth while learning spanish.

I usually get home around 7 pm and we eat dinner around 7:30. After dinner I go out and have a couple of beers in a restaraunt and read or in a bar and chat. Then its home, chat with Carlos for 10 or 15 minutes and then to bed.

Thats it, a typical day for me in Guatemala

Feria

Went, as usual to the feria with the girls - this time I gave them 40Q each to spend on what they wanted.
Graciela y Alma








From left to right in the back, Graciela y Alma. From left to right in the front, Estilita, Reyna Guadalupe y Paty

















Just a shot of the feria








Graciela y Alma - this was called the zipper








I won this for Esperanza - of course to win it, it cost me 35Q - but she loved it. Esperanza can't talk.

xela

Well I am behind in my writing. Went to Xela last saturday night. Stayed in the central part of town near Parque Centroamerica. The following pictures are from there. The park and the old part of town are really nice. Old colonial buildings, cobble stone streets, etc. Forget the name of the Hotel that I stayed in, but 150Q was way too much. It cost 15Q by bus to get here and then I walked from the bus station to zona 1, which is where I stayed - maybe 2 miles.


















This building was built about 1900 and is a pedestrian mall, that you can walk thru. There are several businesses inside, one particular of note.






The business of note is Salon Tecun, the oldest running bar in Guatemala - since the 30's

First week in Huehue

Well not much has happened. I left saturday morning from Pana - 4 busses, and 3 or 4 hours (I forget). First bus to Solola (2Q), then to Los Encuentros (3Q), then to Quatro Caminos (15Q) and then to Huehue (15Q). It went relatively quick as the road construction must stop on the weekends. They should have the road done before I come back next year and it will be nice - basically I think the road is being widened all the way to Xela.
The feria starts this week and today I took the girls to El Parque Central to get their braids (trensas) - 5 girls so I said 15 braids each, which means 75 braids at 2 Q each is 150Q - well Alma couldn´t go (basically is grounded) so I said 20 braids each which comes to 160Q. Patty gave her braids to Estilita and Reyna Guadalupe didn´t want any so Estelita and Graciela got their whole head done. They don´t charge by the trensa in this case they charged by the job - 80Q each (how did they know what I was willing to spend?).
just for the record - 1,000 Q at the ATM cost me $131.50 (US) so basically 7.6 Q to a dollar - or my rule of thumb is 8Q to the dollar for quick calcs.
They do look cute with their braids and I love that Patty gives hers to her sister - I suppose I could have just paid another 80Q for Patty, but I have to set some sort of Limits.
The women doing the braids are from Livingston which is on the Caribean coast. They are Garifuna, descendents of escaped slaves who I think mixed with the mayans (not sure). They have their own language also (I believe)


Estelita before








Graciela before





















































Not sure why Graciela wanted the hair in front to hang there - oh well its not my hair, which by the way they wanted me to have braided - no way!

What a dinner

Went to the `Last Resort´ for dinner and ordered Pollo Pepino (I think thats how it was spelled) and I got an unbelievably huge plate of food and a bowl of soup for 30Q which is just under $4. Now I had dinners in Ecuador for $1.25 and got a piece of chicken and rice and maybe a bowl of soup - cheap, but not too exciting (as I remember) - but this was food for 2.

My dinner - this picture doesn´t really do justice as to how big that plate of food is - and yes I ate almost all my vegies.








This is Pitaya (If the guy at the restaraunt spelled it correct) - a very interesting/tasting fruit - I love the color though.

There are packer fans everywhere

Candelaria on the left and Concepción (aka La Ratón) on the right. Concepción got her nickname when we were eating at a restaraunt last year. My food came (spaghetti I think) with bread and she just started eating my bread - boy can that girl eat. Today Candelaria and I ordered spaghetti and Concepción ordered burger and fries - she ate her burger and fries and finished my spaghetti.

llegé a Guatemala

I landed in Guatemala at about 12:30 and had previously arranged by email with atitrans to catch the 2:30 tourist shuttle to Panajchel. The construction at the airport is still going on and is somewhat a mess, but I think it will be nice when its done. I miss the old though - the first time I ever came here I felt like I was stepping into the past - no more.
My shuttle came after waiting forever (which I knew was going to happen) and I was the only one in the van on the first leg to Antigua. In Antigua while I waited I went across the street for a coffee and the owner of the cafe spoke perfect English - there is a reason I went (and go) to Huehue to study Spanish. Again I was to only one going to Pana so this time I was in a private car. 10 people or 1 person the ride is $22 - not a bad deal. I had a great time talking with my driver and last night it made me think why I love this place so much - to be able to communicate in a different language with people from a different culture is such a trip. We talked about family, life and the upcoming (Sept) Guatemalan election. Not that my Spanish is good, but I can communicate.
Once we got to Pana and were going down Calle Santander (main drag) to Mario´s Rooms (my pension of choice) we passed Candelaria and Concepción (my 2 friends here) and I yelled out the window, ``hola chicas´´ (you must understand that it is impossible to travel more than 10 mph in the evening on Calle Santander) and they both yelled out ``Roger´´. I was only about 40 feet from Mario´s Rooms and they waited while I checked in. We then went out for dinner (stopping buy to say hi to Candelaria´s mom on the way) and had a great time - they are such neat kids.
well I guess its time to go

The Airport and the greatest tragedy ever.

Wed I go up at 3:30am after a shitty nights sleep and had a driver come at 4:00 to take me to the airport. My flight left at 7:12 - sin problemas. The following pictures are taken from the airplane.










I again had to switch planes in Panama (came in and left from the same gate - when has that ever happened??). I dislike the airport there, its great shopping - if you are rich, but just try and find a bar, a newspaper stand, or a place to buy gum - doesn´t exist. There is one very crazy cafeteria that is packed and both times I was able to buy a bottle of water ($2.00).

Now for the tragedy - I had the stomach flu on monday and tuesday - finally puking (yeah, I know you wanted to hear that) on tuesday night. Wed. I felt better (and feel almost normal today - thurs). Anyway on the flight from panama to guatemala beer was free, yeah thats right - free. No $5 a can of miller products, free central american beer. And I had to pass - shit, I hate it when that happens.

Hostal Chicago

I haven´t said anything about the hostal in Quito. This is the only picture and its taken from the bell tower. I circled it in pink but it doesn´t show up well. The part on the left is the ``old´´ side and the part on the right is the ``new´´ side. It is 4 floors high. A single room with private bath and a breakfast included is $7.50. The new side is a tad noisy at night till 11 pm which is not a problem unless you want to get up at 3:30 am as I did my last night. The rooftop on the left is nice with tables, but is cold at night. Downstairs in the reception area is a tv, computer and beer (.6 Liters for $1.25). Definitely a great place to stay in the old town.

La Basilica

The Basilica is a huge and relatively new church. I am guessing it was built in the early 1900´s as they have some old photos of the construction - I suppose I could do some research. Typical of the Catholics to spend so much effort and money on a church like this while the people being ministered to go hungry - I will never understand that, but of course I don´t understand organized religion anyway. Be that as it may, its a beautiful building but in some neglect. One is able to climb the belfry (I think that's what it is called) tower on the right and the clock tower on the left (the one nearest in the photo) for a mere $2. Safe?? Not sure, but you best be careful.


La Basilica









The inside of the church - it is something - notice the ceiling - a few pictures later you will see it from the other side.











Continuing up the belfry tower (on the outside) and these are steep stairs.









A better view of the stairs









From the top of the tower looking at the clock towers - in between at the top of the hill is ``la virgen´´. I climbed 2 or 3 floors above the clock - which have not been functioning since the early 1990´s.







To get to the tower you must walk across the ceiling of the church - well here it is - at least if this collapses you don´t have far to fall.











This is taken on my way up the clock tower. This was a tad safer, normal steps most of the way and then ladders up the last few flights, but the farthest you could fall is maybe 10 or 12 feet.

















The belfry tower









the ladders working my way up to the tip top of the clock tower.









Yours truly at the top of the belfry tower.