December 22-25 - Isla Mujeres

After a 20 hour bus ride from San Cristobal, I arrived in Cancun. I met up with a friend from the hostel that I had worked at and we headed out to spend my last couple of days in Mexico on a small island called Isla Mujeres. We basically just took it easy and layed around on the beach the whole time. It was a nice way to finish off this first part of my trip! After flying home for Christmas and staying home for a few months, I plan on flying back into Nicaragua to finish the trip I had planned. Until then!

December 18-20 - San Cristobal De Las Casas

I headed towards San Cristobal after leaving San Pedro. I had booked a flight back home for Christmas flying out of Cancun and needed to get back there for the 25th, and San Cristobal was on the way. We had stopped there back in November on the way to Palenque for a few hours between buses and really loved. I had regretted not staying for longer, mostly because it had a really wicked market, so it worked out nicely that I had to stop there. I decided to stay for two nights so that I could explore the town and do my Christmas shopping at the market. The market was as good as I remembered it, and had a lot of cheap amber since San Cristobal has an amber mine nearby. I picked up a few things, and then just wandered around the town. I had met a really interesting lady on the bus ride down who I met up with on both evenings to have dinner with and share travelling stories. It was a really relaxing few days, but I was excited to leave because I was so excited to come home!

December 1-18- San Pedro La Laguna

Lake Atitlan

Ally and I arrived in San Pedro on a Thursday night. We found a small hotel across from the school that she had signed up for that was reasonably priced. She was starting spanish classes on the coming Monday so I decided to check out the school to see what it was like. My original plan was to spend a few days at the lake because everyone had said it was really beautiful and then to head up to a small town called Todos Santos for spanish lessons. However after a few days here I decided to stay for one week of spanish lessons.
Over the weekend before classes started we kayaked across the lake, went to the local market and hung out with the rest of the tourist taking spanish classes.

Garden at San Pedro Spanish School

On Sunday afternoon we moved into our first homestay. The parents names were Pedro and Deborah. They were super friendly, but the meal portions were really small and I found that I was having to buy extra meals because it wasn´t enough. At the end of the first week of classes, I was still having a really good time so I decided to stay another week if I could switch homestays. There was a group leaving one of the family´s and they said that we would get our own bathroom and the portion sizes were huge so we decided to switch.
On Saturday night of the next weekend there was a full moon party about an hour from San Pedro. We decided to go although it was expensive because there was a zipline that you could do at midnight and because there were a lot of people from the school going. When we got up there it was freezing cold and we basically just sat around and drank for the first hour to try to ignore the cold. After about an hour we went ziplining. It was really fun because you really couldn´t see where you were going on the path or where you were going to be ziplining. There were two, the first being a shorter faster one and the second being a little slower but much longer. I had no clue what to expect because we were walking uphill in a forest. When I jumped off the deck for the zipline, I was still in the trees for about 2 seconds. Then all of a sudden I broke out of the trees and realized that we were ziplining across a valley. The moonlight completely lit up the valley below. It was awesom!

My three favorite people from San Pedro: Jo, Ryan and Ally

After we got back from ziplining, a lot of the people there were already either really drunk or really high. The music sucked and we basically sat around the fire till 6am waiting for the bus to drive us back. That part of the night sucked, but the zipline made it worth it!
That next morning we moved in with our new homestay. It was a new house, the rooms were really nice and as promised we got our own bathroom. We continued on with classes the next week but took it easy in the evenings until the weekend. Unfortunatly on the weekend we ended up getting the same intestinal infection that a lot of the students were also getting. Alli was a lot worse off then I was, but it still wasn´t fun.
I left San Pedro for Mexico on the 18th. I was really sad to leave. The people were awesome and the town was beatiful. It was definitely one of my favorite parts of my trip.

November 28- December 1- Antigua

The bus ride from Lanquin was interesting. We had to stop in Coban for about a half an hour because there was a protest that was blocking the road up ahead. When we started driving again we were stopped by the protest and forced to sit for about another half an hour. They let us through only to get stopped by the next protest maybe two kilometers up the road. Luckily we had a van full of fun and interesting people so it wasn´t that boring. Once they let us through the road block though it was a smooth ride to Antigua.
I arrived in Antigua at night from Lanquin. I had no idea where I was staying so I looked in my Lonely Planet book and picked the cheapest hostel in it and headed there. It was nothing special but it was cheap. I was tired from the long trip so I stayed in the first night and went to bed early.
The next morning I wandered around the city. It was a really old city with old colonial style buildings and a lot of churches. Many of the churches were in ruins from previous earthquakes. When I returned to the hostel there was a girl there that had just arrived in Guatemala that day at the start of her 9 month trip. I invited her out since I was meeting some people that night and we have been hanging out ever since. Her name in Ally and she is a ton of fun.
The next few days in Antigua involved being lazy, going to cafes, and going to the local pub at night. The last day there a took an hour of private salsa lessons which were really needed. I would still like to take more if I can too. I didn´t do any of the typical touristy things in Antigua and really didn´t do a whole lot, but I still enjoyed the city and had a good time. I don´t think I could stay for any longer than a few days though without getting bored, but it was a great place for relaxing, enjoying the sites and drinking at nights.

November 25-28 - Lanquin

Semuc Champey

The morning of the 25th I woke up, asked the desk if anyone had signed up for El Mirador and decided to leave Flores that morning since I was told that no one had. I had about a half an hour to pack, eat and pay before the shuttle arrived. There had been so many people that told me that I HAD to go to a place called Semuc Champey by the town of Lanquin. So that is where I decided to go.
The bus ride took about 10 hours. We had to travel along some really rough roads to get there. I had already made reservations at a hostel called Zephyr Lodge from the previous hostel so I already had a place to stay. It turned out to be an awesome hostel. I was not able to see the view when we first arrived because it was dark. But in the morning when I woke up it was amazing. The lower level of the hostel was the bar and restaurant that was open. From there you could see the valley that the hostel was overlooking. In the mornings it was foggy and it was completely forested. It was really pretty.
The first morning I decided to do a tour that several of the people had suggested. It involved a morning tour in the caves in the area, then a jump of the bridge into the river below and then swimming in the pools of Semuc Champey. The caves were really neat because they gave you candles for light and there were times where you had to swim through while still holding the candle. There were some waterfalls inside that you could climb up and place that you could jump into the water from above. The bridge afterwards was really high and I had no desire to jump off of it but a lot of the people did. Next we climbed the mountain overlooking the pools so that we could get a good view of the pools. It was about 20 minutes each way. Then we headed to the pools, where several people decided to jump of the waterfall that was there. It was a little too crazy for me but the pools were beautiful enough that I was not at all bored.

View from the hostel

The next day we went tubing down the river close to the hostel. You could buy beers and they would keep them for you on one of the tubes until you wanted it. It was a perfect morning, floating down the river in the sunshine with a beer. Or two. After when we returned to the hostel, I found out that there was a second group going in the afternoon so I decided to go a second time!
The next morning was raining and cold. I was going to stay for one more day, but since the weather sucked I decided to head out. So once again I had to pack, eat and pay in 30 minutes to be able to catch the next shuttle. The hostel was definitely one of the most fun that I have been at though. It was small, beautiful, everyone was really friendly and the bar was really convenient and fun!

October 29- November 24

Palenque

So I obviously haven't been on top of this. I will try to summarize what has happened in the last month. After Real de Catorce we headed to Guadelajara. We spent halloween and the day of the dead there. There were some celebrations for the day of dead, some live music, but no parades or anything. It was still really fun because it was such a beautiful city. We also had a really interesting hotel. We checked in at like 7am the morning we arrived and the lobby was empty. But by the time we got up and got out again around noon there were already about 7 prostitutes hanging out in the lobby. We then realized why they had full time cleaning staff. But they were friendly.
After Guatelajara we went to Saluyita on the coast. It was really touristy and expensive and someone broke into our hotel room the first day and stole my iphone and gps. I cried for the entire time we were there and hated it.
After that we headed down to Palenque. The first day there we saw the ruins which were incredible. They were situated right in the jungle and there were all these beautiful waterfalls around the site. The next day we went and saw two more sites, Bolampak and Yaxchilan. We saw howler and spider monkeys at the second site which is the first time I have ever seen a monkey in the wild!
After Palenque we headed to Belize to the island of Caye Caulker. It was a cool little island with a relaxed atmosphere where we basically just chilled for 5 days. It was really expensive though.

Xunantunich

After Caye Caulker I unfortunately had to say by to my travel buddy Ben as he had to head back to Cancun. So from there I travelled alond to San Ignacio Belize. I saw the ruins of Xuanantunich. I didn't stay long though in San Ignacio because of the cost.
I headed to Flores Guatemala after two nights in St Ignacio. I have been here for two nights now. I saw Tikal today which was by far the best site I´ve seen. It was huge and there was so much wild life. I´m hoping to do a five day trek to El Mirador in the next couple of days but it depends on if anyone else signs up. I am so home sick at this point I am looking to speed things up, but still having a blast. I will try to update this a little more frequently from now on though haha.

Real de Catorce- October 25-29

Real de Catorce was a small mining town built in the late 1700's high up in the mountains and on the edge of the desert. The mine was built in 1773 and there is a small ghost town right above the existing town. The first day we arrived there we met the guy (Cruse) so looks after the old mine in one of the little restaurants. We started talking to him and he offered us a tour of the old mine and of course we accepted. We got to see the mine itself, plus the old office building just outside the mine and some of the old carts that were used. Inside the office building we found a bunch of old documents. He said there were tons of them and if we wanted to keep one we could!
The next day we went on a desert tour on horseback. It took the whole day to go down into the desert from the mountains, wander around for a few hours and ride back up.
We ended up camping the last two nights on Cruse's land right beside the old office building. We also walked up to see the old ghost town that looks more like archaeological ruins then a ghost town but still interesting. It also had some old mining caves that apparently go deep into the mountain and meet up with the oldest one. So far I think that this has been my favorite town to see!

Xilitla- October 22-24

After we left Toluca we travelled north first to Mexico City to transfer buses. When we got to Mexico city, we had to wait 10 hours in the bus station for our next bus. We passes most of the time playing card games so it went pretty quick. We took an overnight bus to Xilitla and arrived there at around 6am. After wandering around for a bit we managed to find a small hotel that let us check in then and didn't charge us any extra which was awesome. We were all pretty tired and in need of a nap.

When we woke up we went to go see a park outside of town that was designed by a French architect. The buildings were really strangebut beautiful and reminded me of the Goudie buildings in Barcelona. There were all these little paths through the forest that lead to deferent little hidden structures. We spent the whole day wandering around and caught a free ride back to town from a friendly local.

The next day we wandered around the market and got some really cheap food and snacks then went to find a cave that was suppose have parrots that fly in at night. It took us a long time to find it, but when we did we felt a little sully because we were basically walking around on top of it. We climbed around inside for an hour or so and then headed back to the mouth to watch the birds. Right before dusk about 40 parrots started gathering outside and circling around the mouth of the cave. After a few rounds they all flew in at once right above us. It was definitely worth the hike.

Toluca- October 17-21

Aldo, myself and Ben

One of the friends from the hostel who I have been travelling with, Aldo, is from Toluca and still has family there so we were invited to stay with them. We stayed at his grandparents house where his mom and sister were also living at the time. They were super friendly and showed us around the city for the 5 days that we were there. The first full day there after we arrived, we headed into the downtown where there were a bunch of stands selling an assortment of candies and chocolates for day of the dead on November 1st and 2nd. There were all these chocolate skulls that were decorated with icing and feathers, as well as a candy called dulce de leche.

The next day we went to visit his father and some family friends in a near by town. We also visited the town market and tried some of the best ice-cream I've had in Mexico.

On our last full day there we drove out to the volcano overlooking the city. The road made it almost to the top so we didn't have to climb very high to see the crater. It hasn't been active in a long time so there was a lake at the bottom and a bunch of cows grazing at the edge of the lake. It was also very high. Toluca is about 8000 ft above sea level and the volcano was quite high above the city. We were definitely out of breath when we reached the top.

 

Although Toluca hasn't been the most exciting or beautiful city we've seen, we were all sad to leave because Aldo's family had been so good to us and really made us feel at home.

Mexico City- October 12-17

I finally left the hostel in Cancun and started traveling again! Myself and two guys from the hostel flew to Mexico City on the 12th. We stayed at two different hostels, the second one being a lot nicer than the first. Since we were staying close to the center of the city in one of the nicer neighborhoods, it was safe to walk around so that's what we did for most of our time there. We saw a museum of anthropology, walked through one of the large park, around downtown, around our area and through a couple of markets. We also took a day trip out to see the ruins of Teotihuacan. The site was enormous and took us the full day to see. And the food from the street venders in Mexico city was amazing and pretty cheap! Tacos may be my new favorite food haha!

Teotihuacan from the Pyramid of the Moon

Tulum- September 30-October 2

Tulum is a small town about 2 hours south of Cancun that is located next to the ruins of the Mayan site Tulum. Four of us from the hostel left on Friday afternoon and drove down. The guy driving knew a place on the beach to camp so we headed there. Unfortunately 2 of us didn't have tents so we wandered down two lots from the campground and found a little hotel type place right on the beach.
Saturday morning we went to check out the ruins which were quite different from the other Mayan sites that I had seen. Tulum was a fortified site with walls all around it and was located right on a cliff overlooking a gorgeous beach. It served as a large trading center. There weren't as many large structures as the other sites but it was still pretty cool. We spent about on hour on the beach there and then headed back to the hotel.


The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing on the beach till we had to head back to Cancun on Sunday afternoon. It was one of the nicest places I have ever been and I really hope I get to go back soon!

Valladolid- September 19-20

Yesterday 2 friends and I took a trip out to Valladolid in the Yucatan. The city is located close to both Ek Balam and Chichen Itza which are both large Mayan sites. We arrived in Valladolid at around 4pm on the 19th and headed straight for a cenote. There we met up with a friend of one of the guys I was travelling with. He then took us to a small restaurant in town that was owned by a friend. The dinner was amazing as usual (I don't think I have had a bad meal yet in Mexico, unless I've made it :P).
The next day we woke up early, had a traditional Mexican breakfast and headed out to Ek Balam. Unlike Chichen Itza we were allowed to climb and explore the ruins which was really neat. The view from the top of the larger pyramid was impressive.

We drove back to Valladolid after Ek Balam for some food and to see the main square. There was a hotel there that was once the home of the Spaniard who I think founded Valladolid, but unfortunately we were not allowed to explore inside.


We then went to Chichen Itza. I'm glad I was able to go a second time because there was a large part of the site I was unable to get to the first time. I was able to appreciate a little more the extent of the site, and that's without even seeing the living quarters of the commoners that surrounds the main area. We then realized at the end of the day that we were there on the day before the fall equinox and went back to El Castillo to see if we could see the feathered serpent illusion. The Mayans designed El Castillo so that on the day of the equinox, the shadow along the side of the stairway with the feathered serpent looks like a snakes body. It wasn't as good as pictures I've seen of the day of the equinox, but it was still pretty cool.

Chichen Itza and Cenotes- Sept 18 2011

Yesterday I went to Chichen Itza. It was a full day tour offered by the hostel that included seeing the site and going to some near by Cenotes. The tour started off kinda slow cause we had to wait around a while before we could actually get going. Then the highway that they usually take was closed so we ended up taking another road which was slower but went through a lot of small Mayan villages. We were able to get a glimpse of how the people lived which was interesting. The tour guide, who lives in one of the near by villages, claimed 80% of the Mayan population lives without electricity. He also said not to feel sorry for them because it's hard to miss something you've never had. Apparently they are content maintaining their traditional lifestyle. The rest of the morning was all markets and a restaurant where we had a buffet lunch which was alright.



It was only by 2:30 that we actually reached the site. The site was enormous and spectacular! There were so many little architectural features, especially with El Castillo, that made the buildings truly awe-inspiring. At the end of the tour, our guide brought is directly in front of the north face of El Castillo and started clapping. The Mayans somehow designed it so that the sound from the clap echoes back as the sound of a bird in the area that is regarded as sacred.




After seeing Chichen Itza, we went to the nearby Cenote which is a naturally occuring sink hole filled with fresh water. It was beautiful and the water was cold which was nice after a long day in the sun. Unfortunately were were only able to spend about 30 minutes swimming in the Cenote and then were headed back to Cancun. I wish the would just drop the market stuff at the beginning and give you more time at Chichen Itza and the Cenotes! But it was an awesome trip anyways!

Balam at Hostel Ka'beh

Cancun- Sept 16 2011

Sorry I haven't updated this recently, haven't had too much to talk about. A couple of weeks ago a little kitten wandered into the front area of the hostel and fell asleep behind the bar. He had a huge cut down his back that was infected, he was malnourished and for a while couldn't walk on his back leg. So we decided to try to help him out and gave him some food and tried to do what we could for the infection. About a week later he was still hanging around so we decided to name him Balam which means "jaguar" in Mayan. Since then the owner of the hostel has taken him to the vet and got him cleaned up and the wound stitched. He is now acting like a normal kitten and being an absolute terror. But he's adorable and seems to be quite content. 
On Wednesday we went snorkeling with whale sharks! It was amazing! It was about an hour long boat ride out from Cancun. Once we were out, we paired up and the guides would move to where the whale shark were swimming. We then jumped in and swam like hell to catch up to it and to keep up. We weren't allowed to touch them, but we were close enough that we could have. It was seriously awesome! There was one point where the whale shark had dove down but we kept up with it on the surface, and when it started coming back up it was right underneath me! My biggest regret is that I don't have an underwater camera so I have no pictures :(.
After swimming with the whale sharks, we went to a small reef and snorkeled for about half an hour. I saw some of the brightest fish I have ever seen and saw a star fish in the wild for the first time! We also saw dolphins on the ride out, and possibly a sting ray. The whole day was a lot of fun. 
Last night was Mexico's Independence Day. There was some activities going on at the hostel, like a pinata, but a friend and I decided to go out instead into the streets to see how locals celebrated. Unfortunately we were a little late and missed the big show but were able to experience the energy and excitement. There were tons of people gathered in the streets, and it seemed every little square or park had live music and dancing. They definitely get more excited about it then we do about Canada Day! 
Other than that I've just been hanging around the hostel relaxing, meeting people and doing the occasional beach trip. Hopefully I will have something interesting to write about this weekend though :). Toodles!

Cancun- August 25

So I got through my first week of work at the hostel. It can be a little boring at times, but most of the time it's fun. Still meeting lots of fun people and getting to know the area a bit better. On Saturday we went out to a place called Coco Bongo. It's a club, but they have a show for a couple of hours with impersonators performing songs and acrobats that come down from the ceiling. It was an awesome show. I think I'm slowly getting use to the heat but it might actually take me a few months I think haha. Otherwise I've just been hanging out around the hostel and at the beach and enjoying life :).

Cancun - August 16

I took the job at the hostel and today was my first day of work! They want me to work a minimum of a month so I think I'm going to do that and see what I feel like doing at the end of the month. Haven't done too much in the last couple of days except relax and go to the beach. Tonight a bunch of people from the hostel are going to a pool party. Apparently one of the clubs has an outdoor pool and once a week they host a pool party. And one of the perks of working here is I probably get to go for free :). Other than that not much else is happening! Toodles!!

Cancun August 13, 2011

The trip started off great! There were no delays in any of the flights and I made to the hostel safe. It's a pretty cool hostel, really relaxed atmosphere. And they are looking for someone to work here so I might see if they will hire me :). I'm still planning on applying at Temptations, but might work at the hostel for a bit first. But I might apply today and see what happens. It's so hot here that you really don't want to be out from around 11-2 in the afternoon, so the first day we just watched a movie at the hostel and went to the beach after. Yesterday I went to one of the local markets with some of the other people staying at the hostel, then we took a ferry to one of the nearby islands and spent the day there. It had beautiful beaches but not a lot else, so we just relaxed on the beach. And so far that's about all I've done here! But I'm really enjoying it so far. I think once I get use to the heat I'm going to go to see Chichen Itza!