I just wantedto let everyne know Ihvenot dies, rther,i have been expeiencing computer i\sue.
That is an example of the difficulties. Our keyboard died, and the replacement does not work well. Bear with me - we will be back to Magda Jean and the other computer around December28 or so. Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Some Belize Photos
Here are some of the pictures we took while we have been here. Because Mike is the photographer and he has been under the weather, there aren't as many as usual. But this gives you an idea of things, although They never really capture things.
Here is the bus station in Belize City. A bus just left so there is no one crowding around the gates.
This sign was posted in Belize City right outside of a restaurant we were walking to (after being told in no uncertain terms we were to walk nowhere at all, it was too dangerous. We ignored the warnings and all was well.
Here I am on my bike, riding along in Caye Caulker. No cars, only golf carts.
This is the temple ruin at Lamanai with beautifully carved masks.
Here is the sun god - the big round eyes signify wisdom.
They eat armadillo down here, I have not tried it, but I will if I get a chance. After all, I did eat gibnut!
The view from our room at Caye Caulker. The wind blows all the time, so I see why people love to sail the Caribbean.
This is the main street in Caye Caulker. tobacco Caye has no streets at all. It is like one big block and you just walk around where ever you want to.
"I shall not change my course because those who assume to be better than I desire it." (Victoria Claflin Woodhull)
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Caribbean Time
I wrote this when we had no internet . . .
Finally I have forced myself to sit down and write this post. I could blame it on the Caribbean, but I won't. It is just my general laziness. We are currently in tobacco Caye, Belize. This is an island that is about 5 acres or so, but Mike thinks it is more like 3 or 4. It is surrounded by a barrier reef, and there is nothing here except a bunch of ramshackle cabins for tourists to stay in. We pay a flat price that includes all our meals. Right now we are the only people at our little cabin cluster – very private. Our cabin is right on the beach, about 30-40 feet from the water's edge. We will be here until Sunday.
After Orange Walk, we went to San Ignacio, right on the Guatemalan border. (The people there who live on hills can see Guatemala from their houses, for real). We walked to one set of ruins that was close to town, that has the distinction of being the oldest continually inhabited site in Belize. (Most of the sites here in Belize are not as fully excavated as the sites in Mexico, but here you can climb all around them and go inside through tunnels if they have them.) San Ignacio was a wonderful little town – we fell in love with it, making it our favorite place in Belize, even beating out the Caribbean beach places. One interesting thing we did while on a horseback ride to yet another ruin site, was to eat gibnut for lunch. Fot They weigh about 10 -12 pounds and have nice golden brown fur with white racing stripes. I looked up a picture on Google to see what I was eating. It is quite a delicacy around here. The locals refer to it as “the royal rat” because Queen Elizabeth ate it when she visited Belize. If I had not known what I was eating, I probably would have guessed pork, except for the suspiciously small bones. It was served sort of stewed, with beans and rice like everything here.
Another thing we did while in San Ignacio was to go in a hike through the jungle, then through a cave that is filled with Maya artifacts. We had to do a 40 minute hike that included wading through a river a couple of times, then swimming through the rive to the mouth of the cave. For most of the cv you are hiking in water and at times swimming if you are short enough. The water was absolutely crystal clear. We had to go over, under, and around boulders, squeezing through these narrow passages in the cave. We all had helmets with miners lights, and I am glad I did because I whacked my head a couple of times while looking at my feet and not ahead of me. When we got to the dry part, we had to take our shoes off and walk around in socks. There were bones, intact skeletons, pots and other artifacts. And even a skeleton that had turned into a sort of crystal. We were not allowed to even bring cameras in, let alone take pictures. It really had an effect, everyone was very reverent and it sort of felt like being in church.
After leaving San Ignacio, we went to the town of Hopkins for Garifuna Settlement Day. Unfortunately, Mike got sick with some sort of flu, and we didn't really get to see much of the celebration. And to top it off, the place we were staying had no running water. We had to use a bucket to flush the toilet, and with Mike being sick, well, lets just say it was not a good time to lack indoor plumbing. There was no way to even take a shower. I did get to hear some of the drumming, but otherwise, I pretty much had to just take care of Mike, and he was really sick. I was beginning to think I would have to get him to a doctor, but right about then he started to get better. And in addition, I did not want to go about by myself, because I was constantly fending off men. Seriously, it got really annoying and I was not flattered because it was absolutely ridiculous, half of these idiots were my son's age. It wasn't threatening in any way, just truly annoying, almost like trying to get away from a time share salesman.
And the icing on the cake was the place where we stayed. I am not going to write a Trip Adviser review, because I can't give a good review and I don't have the heart to write a bad one. The place itself has seen better days, but all the guesthouses here in Belize are sort of rundown by our standards. And lots ottimes the power and plumbing can be dicey – welcome to the third world. But this was too much. Our room s under the house and it was kind of funky and interesting although very dark. There were no bugs at all, not even mosquitoes, and a fan kept it nice and cool. Our hostess is about my age and is originally from New York. She has spent most of her adult life living in the Caribbean, running restaurants and hotels. She has a boyfriend named Elvis, a tall, skinny Rastafarian -type guy. Well, Elvis was drunk the entire time we were there. The woman nagged him all day long to help her out with things – it was like listening to someone scold a lazy teenager to clean his room, except she called him things like “stupid fucking asshole”. He didn't seem to care very much. The water thing was a huge pain in the ass, because every time I needed a new bucket of water, I had to enter into their drama to get more. She also had an injured foot from some strange episode that included a moving car. I hid out reading while keeping an eye on Mike, and even skipped dinner and breakfast to avoid dealing with them. Even when Elvis was not around, she complained about him or went on long rambling monologues about things I really would have been happier not knowing. No boundaries whatsoever! Otherwise, she was a really nice woman, sort of a Ladies of the Canyon Earth Mother type. She offered up her services as an herbal healer for Mike, and had he not started getting better, I was going to take her up on it. And I must say she was an excellent cook! But all in all, I was not sorry to leave. I think what was once eccentric and fun loving has changed to dysfunction and alcoholism. (I would seriously have given Ol' Elvis the boot a long time ago.)
Now, as I said in the beginning, we are ensconced at Tobacco Caye in a little cabin. We do have running water, but no hot water. No problem. There are a bunch of boat tailed grackles fighting over a coconut outside my porch. There is no sound other than birds and surf. This island has no cars or motor vehicles of any kind, not even electric golf carts. When it is time to eat, Nelda rings a dinner bell we can hear anywhere on the island. Last night we had conch (pronounced conk) steaks cooked in some kind of wonderful seasoning. I have never had conch like this, only in fritters, and it was really good. I am not getting sick from the food anymore, thank goodness. We will be here until Sunday, then maybe a night in Dangriga so Mike can tour the Marie Sharp Hot Sauce factory, then back to San Ignacio and off to Guatemala. I sure do understand why all our friends are so interested in crossing through the canal and getting to the Caribbean. This is the proverbial tropical paradise.
“I never change, I simply become more myself.” (Joyce Carol Oates)
"
Thursday, Nov 22
Finally I have forced myself to sit down and write this post. I could blame it on the Caribbean, but I won't. It is just my general laziness. We are currently in tobacco Caye, Belize. This is an island that is about 5 acres or so, but Mike thinks it is more like 3 or 4. It is surrounded by a barrier reef, and there is nothing here except a bunch of ramshackle cabins for tourists to stay in. We pay a flat price that includes all our meals. Right now we are the only people at our little cabin cluster – very private. Our cabin is right on the beach, about 30-40 feet from the water's edge. We will be here until Sunday.
Since we don’t have much in the line
of internet here, I am writing this offline. When I finish, I will
take it up to this marine science lab (the only thing here besides
the tourist cabins) and use their internet for a fee. Then I will
post it. So I am not sure, as I write this, exactly what I reported
last time I wrote . I think I was leaving Belize city for Orange
Walk Town. Or maybe we were already there and leaving for San
Ignacio. I just don't remember. Anyway, it has been a great tour of
Belize.
In Orange Walk, we took a boat tour to
the ruins at Lamanai. The boat ride itself was fascinating – we
saw all kinds of birds, a rather tame spider monkey, and even a
crocodile. Once we got to the ruins and were hiking through the
jungle to get to the site, we saw a family of howler monkeys.
After Orange Walk, we went to San Ignacio, right on the Guatemalan border. (The people there who live on hills can see Guatemala from their houses, for real). We walked to one set of ruins that was close to town, that has the distinction of being the oldest continually inhabited site in Belize. (Most of the sites here in Belize are not as fully excavated as the sites in Mexico, but here you can climb all around them and go inside through tunnels if they have them.) San Ignacio was a wonderful little town – we fell in love with it, making it our favorite place in Belize, even beating out the Caribbean beach places. One interesting thing we did while on a horseback ride to yet another ruin site, was to eat gibnut for lunch. Fot They weigh about 10 -12 pounds and have nice golden brown fur with white racing stripes. I looked up a picture on Google to see what I was eating. It is quite a delicacy around here. The locals refer to it as “the royal rat” because Queen Elizabeth ate it when she visited Belize. If I had not known what I was eating, I probably would have guessed pork, except for the suspiciously small bones. It was served sort of stewed, with beans and rice like everything here.
Another thing we did while in San Ignacio was to go in a hike through the jungle, then through a cave that is filled with Maya artifacts. We had to do a 40 minute hike that included wading through a river a couple of times, then swimming through the rive to the mouth of the cave. For most of the cv you are hiking in water and at times swimming if you are short enough. The water was absolutely crystal clear. We had to go over, under, and around boulders, squeezing through these narrow passages in the cave. We all had helmets with miners lights, and I am glad I did because I whacked my head a couple of times while looking at my feet and not ahead of me. When we got to the dry part, we had to take our shoes off and walk around in socks. There were bones, intact skeletons, pots and other artifacts. And even a skeleton that had turned into a sort of crystal. We were not allowed to even bring cameras in, let alone take pictures. It really had an effect, everyone was very reverent and it sort of felt like being in church.
After leaving San Ignacio, we went to the town of Hopkins for Garifuna Settlement Day. Unfortunately, Mike got sick with some sort of flu, and we didn't really get to see much of the celebration. And to top it off, the place we were staying had no running water. We had to use a bucket to flush the toilet, and with Mike being sick, well, lets just say it was not a good time to lack indoor plumbing. There was no way to even take a shower. I did get to hear some of the drumming, but otherwise, I pretty much had to just take care of Mike, and he was really sick. I was beginning to think I would have to get him to a doctor, but right about then he started to get better. And in addition, I did not want to go about by myself, because I was constantly fending off men. Seriously, it got really annoying and I was not flattered because it was absolutely ridiculous, half of these idiots were my son's age. It wasn't threatening in any way, just truly annoying, almost like trying to get away from a time share salesman.
And the icing on the cake was the place where we stayed. I am not going to write a Trip Adviser review, because I can't give a good review and I don't have the heart to write a bad one. The place itself has seen better days, but all the guesthouses here in Belize are sort of rundown by our standards. And lots ottimes the power and plumbing can be dicey – welcome to the third world. But this was too much. Our room s under the house and it was kind of funky and interesting although very dark. There were no bugs at all, not even mosquitoes, and a fan kept it nice and cool. Our hostess is about my age and is originally from New York. She has spent most of her adult life living in the Caribbean, running restaurants and hotels. She has a boyfriend named Elvis, a tall, skinny Rastafarian -type guy. Well, Elvis was drunk the entire time we were there. The woman nagged him all day long to help her out with things – it was like listening to someone scold a lazy teenager to clean his room, except she called him things like “stupid fucking asshole”. He didn't seem to care very much. The water thing was a huge pain in the ass, because every time I needed a new bucket of water, I had to enter into their drama to get more. She also had an injured foot from some strange episode that included a moving car. I hid out reading while keeping an eye on Mike, and even skipped dinner and breakfast to avoid dealing with them. Even when Elvis was not around, she complained about him or went on long rambling monologues about things I really would have been happier not knowing. No boundaries whatsoever! Otherwise, she was a really nice woman, sort of a Ladies of the Canyon Earth Mother type. She offered up her services as an herbal healer for Mike, and had he not started getting better, I was going to take her up on it. And I must say she was an excellent cook! But all in all, I was not sorry to leave. I think what was once eccentric and fun loving has changed to dysfunction and alcoholism. (I would seriously have given Ol' Elvis the boot a long time ago.)
Now, as I said in the beginning, we are ensconced at Tobacco Caye in a little cabin. We do have running water, but no hot water. No problem. There are a bunch of boat tailed grackles fighting over a coconut outside my porch. There is no sound other than birds and surf. This island has no cars or motor vehicles of any kind, not even electric golf carts. When it is time to eat, Nelda rings a dinner bell we can hear anywhere on the island. Last night we had conch (pronounced conk) steaks cooked in some kind of wonderful seasoning. I have never had conch like this, only in fritters, and it was really good. I am not getting sick from the food anymore, thank goodness. We will be here until Sunday, then maybe a night in Dangriga so Mike can tour the Marie Sharp Hot Sauce factory, then back to San Ignacio and off to Guatemala. I sure do understand why all our friends are so interested in crossing through the canal and getting to the Caribbean. This is the proverbial tropical paradise.
“I never change, I simply become more myself.” (Joyce Carol Oates)
"
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
More Belize
This post was started on Sunday the 11 and continued today, the 13th.
OK, I finally saw my first beggar here, In Belize City. It was an old man, and he got indignant when we didn't give him as much change as he wanted. Oh well.
Belize City is POOR. Many of the people live in complete shacks. Mike thought it was as bad as Africa. (Having never been to Africa, I can't say whether he is right or not.) Everyone seemed very eager that we not walk around anywhere after dark, but we did anyway. It seemed okay, no one acted hostile or threatening. But the next day we heard there was a shooting right in the area we walked in the very next night. We made friends with the owner of our hotel, a Belizean woman who spent most of her adult life in the US, in New York. She told us that there was danger, but if we used common sense we would be okay. That is how it usually is, I have found. Anyway, she told us a lot about Belize. The crime is mostly because everyone is so poor. It is less violent in the countryside because people can fish and grow food. (Of course the tourist areas are safer than anywhere else.) In the city, the only way to eat sometimes is to rob somebody else. It is that poor. It is just sad. It is a beautiful country. Mike felt the atmosphere in the city was extremely tense. And Mike is pretty comfortable just about anywhere.
Yesterday we left Belize City and took a bus to Orange Walk Town, in the countryside. The buses here are interesting. In El Salvador, they cram as many people as possible onto each bus - there is no such thing as too crowded. Here, you must have a seat. So when the buses arrive, everyone rushes to get a seat. I was almost crowded out by a determined woman wielding a baby. We did miss one bus because when we finally got through the door of the station and up to the bus, there were no seats left. So next time we were smarter and got up close, pushed and shoved with the best of them, and got seats. Hopefully I didn't elbow any babies in my haste to ace out everyone behind me. I did use my backpack to my advantage - turning slightly sideways and blocking people behind me. I am not proud of it, but when in Rome . . .
It was about an hour and half ride through the countryside. Orange Walk is a farming community, and there are not many tourists except for people going to the ruins nearby. That is why we came. he hotel we are staying at is pretty nice, and relatively reasonable for Belize. It is also interesting that Belize is significantly more expensive than either El Salvador or Honduras, and even more expensive than a lot of Mexico. (It is interesting because the country is so poor. If we are feeling it, how much more so must it be for those who live here with no money?)
Orange Walk Town also has a lot of Chinese living here. They seem to run almost all the small grocery and liquor stores as well as lots of the restaurants. Our host in Belize City said it was the same way there - because the Chinese stay open when the locals will not, like on Sundays and holidays and stuff like that. They are not lackadaisial as far as keeping regular hours - meaning that if the sign says they open at nine, they will be open at nine, not nine-thirty or ten. In fact, yesterday was Sunday, and when we asked at the hotel where would be a good place for dinner, he told us it was Chinese or nothing. So we had Chinese (No problem for me, I love Chinese, they aren't hung up on putting cheese on everything). I must say - it was absolute heaven to have a meal based around vegetables. While this might by TMI, I have been having problems with the food down here. It is good in the sense that I love coconut rice and beans. But they don't do much with vegetables, and the meat, while very tasty, is usually fried. And then there are the fry jacks, which are basically fried bread. We were eating three meals a day of this stuff,. and on several days I threw up all my dinner within an hour of eating it. I started to feel crappy before we even left the restaurant, and there were good places, not fast food or street stalls. But last night I did not get sick, did not wake up with horrible heartburn, and this morning I feel really good. I even slept better. I have simply been eating way too much of stuff that isn't good for me.
So yesterday we went to the ruins at Lamanai. Even though I now consider myself almost an expert on Mayan ruins, these were especially fun to visit. You have to go there by boat. and we had a great group on our boat - me and Mike (USA), a couple from New Zealand, and three Canadian couples. One of the Canadian couples were two young kids backpacking their way to South America. The boat ride took abut an hour and a half, and on the way we saw crocodiles, and lots of new birds. One of them was known locally as the Jesus Bird because it walks on water (lily pads, actually.) The river we were on was beautiful and the ruins themselves are right there on the river's edge. The vast majority of the site is completely unexcavated, but there are four tall temples that have been exposed. Some of it was excavated and then reburied so as to keep it safe until the money can be found to do further excavation. It was surrounded by heavy jungle, where we saw two different kinds of monkeys. It rained while we were there, which was great because than meant it wasn't too hot. And since the rain down here is warm, it doesn't matter if you get wet. And once it stops raining, you dry off pretty fast. And finally, if it is raining, there is probably some cloud cover so the sun is not beating down on you.
Tuesday, November 13
We are now in San Ignacio, near the Guatemalan border. So far this is our favorite place in Belize. The town has a nice hippie vibe (for lack of a better way to describe it) with lots of good places to eat and stay. We are in a great little cabin with a little porch. Even though we are right in the heart of town, we are off in the back behind the hotel proper and it is nice and quiet at night. There is no AC, but the ceiling fan works great and it is to hot enough for AC anyway. And there is a TV with US shows, which I have said before is a treat. We get Comedy Channel so we get Daily Show and Colbert Report. Plus network news.
Today we went to a ruin site that was walking distance from town here. While this one was a lot of fun because there were tunnels and stuff like that to play around in, I have to admit I MIGHT be getting a bit burned out on ruins. Just a bit. It did rain, though, and we had fun ducking into tunnels and rooms to hide out from the rain. And again, the rain was nice because even though it made the steps at the site slippery, it kept things cool. Tomorrow we are taking a trek that will take us through the jungle, we will have to swim through a cave, and hike throughout this cave to an archaeological site inside of it. I am excited to do it because it is very likely that they will soon stop allowing tours through this place. Thursday we go to another set of ruins - the largest site in Belize - and get to swim in a cave. After that, we are heading back to the coast for a festival celebrating the Garifuna Settlement Day.
Anyway - pictures will be forthcoming as soon as they are downloaded.
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." (Mahatma Gandhi)
OK, I finally saw my first beggar here, In Belize City. It was an old man, and he got indignant when we didn't give him as much change as he wanted. Oh well.
Belize City is POOR. Many of the people live in complete shacks. Mike thought it was as bad as Africa. (Having never been to Africa, I can't say whether he is right or not.) Everyone seemed very eager that we not walk around anywhere after dark, but we did anyway. It seemed okay, no one acted hostile or threatening. But the next day we heard there was a shooting right in the area we walked in the very next night. We made friends with the owner of our hotel, a Belizean woman who spent most of her adult life in the US, in New York. She told us that there was danger, but if we used common sense we would be okay. That is how it usually is, I have found. Anyway, she told us a lot about Belize. The crime is mostly because everyone is so poor. It is less violent in the countryside because people can fish and grow food. (Of course the tourist areas are safer than anywhere else.) In the city, the only way to eat sometimes is to rob somebody else. It is that poor. It is just sad. It is a beautiful country. Mike felt the atmosphere in the city was extremely tense. And Mike is pretty comfortable just about anywhere.
Yesterday we left Belize City and took a bus to Orange Walk Town, in the countryside. The buses here are interesting. In El Salvador, they cram as many people as possible onto each bus - there is no such thing as too crowded. Here, you must have a seat. So when the buses arrive, everyone rushes to get a seat. I was almost crowded out by a determined woman wielding a baby. We did miss one bus because when we finally got through the door of the station and up to the bus, there were no seats left. So next time we were smarter and got up close, pushed and shoved with the best of them, and got seats. Hopefully I didn't elbow any babies in my haste to ace out everyone behind me. I did use my backpack to my advantage - turning slightly sideways and blocking people behind me. I am not proud of it, but when in Rome . . .
It was about an hour and half ride through the countryside. Orange Walk is a farming community, and there are not many tourists except for people going to the ruins nearby. That is why we came. he hotel we are staying at is pretty nice, and relatively reasonable for Belize. It is also interesting that Belize is significantly more expensive than either El Salvador or Honduras, and even more expensive than a lot of Mexico. (It is interesting because the country is so poor. If we are feeling it, how much more so must it be for those who live here with no money?)
Orange Walk Town also has a lot of Chinese living here. They seem to run almost all the small grocery and liquor stores as well as lots of the restaurants. Our host in Belize City said it was the same way there - because the Chinese stay open when the locals will not, like on Sundays and holidays and stuff like that. They are not lackadaisial as far as keeping regular hours - meaning that if the sign says they open at nine, they will be open at nine, not nine-thirty or ten. In fact, yesterday was Sunday, and when we asked at the hotel where would be a good place for dinner, he told us it was Chinese or nothing. So we had Chinese (No problem for me, I love Chinese, they aren't hung up on putting cheese on everything). I must say - it was absolute heaven to have a meal based around vegetables. While this might by TMI, I have been having problems with the food down here. It is good in the sense that I love coconut rice and beans. But they don't do much with vegetables, and the meat, while very tasty, is usually fried. And then there are the fry jacks, which are basically fried bread. We were eating three meals a day of this stuff,. and on several days I threw up all my dinner within an hour of eating it. I started to feel crappy before we even left the restaurant, and there were good places, not fast food or street stalls. But last night I did not get sick, did not wake up with horrible heartburn, and this morning I feel really good. I even slept better. I have simply been eating way too much of stuff that isn't good for me.
So yesterday we went to the ruins at Lamanai. Even though I now consider myself almost an expert on Mayan ruins, these were especially fun to visit. You have to go there by boat. and we had a great group on our boat - me and Mike (USA), a couple from New Zealand, and three Canadian couples. One of the Canadian couples were two young kids backpacking their way to South America. The boat ride took abut an hour and a half, and on the way we saw crocodiles, and lots of new birds. One of them was known locally as the Jesus Bird because it walks on water (lily pads, actually.) The river we were on was beautiful and the ruins themselves are right there on the river's edge. The vast majority of the site is completely unexcavated, but there are four tall temples that have been exposed. Some of it was excavated and then reburied so as to keep it safe until the money can be found to do further excavation. It was surrounded by heavy jungle, where we saw two different kinds of monkeys. It rained while we were there, which was great because than meant it wasn't too hot. And since the rain down here is warm, it doesn't matter if you get wet. And once it stops raining, you dry off pretty fast. And finally, if it is raining, there is probably some cloud cover so the sun is not beating down on you.
Tuesday, November 13
We are now in San Ignacio, near the Guatemalan border. So far this is our favorite place in Belize. The town has a nice hippie vibe (for lack of a better way to describe it) with lots of good places to eat and stay. We are in a great little cabin with a little porch. Even though we are right in the heart of town, we are off in the back behind the hotel proper and it is nice and quiet at night. There is no AC, but the ceiling fan works great and it is to hot enough for AC anyway. And there is a TV with US shows, which I have said before is a treat. We get Comedy Channel so we get Daily Show and Colbert Report. Plus network news.
Today we went to a ruin site that was walking distance from town here. While this one was a lot of fun because there were tunnels and stuff like that to play around in, I have to admit I MIGHT be getting a bit burned out on ruins. Just a bit. It did rain, though, and we had fun ducking into tunnels and rooms to hide out from the rain. And again, the rain was nice because even though it made the steps at the site slippery, it kept things cool. Tomorrow we are taking a trek that will take us through the jungle, we will have to swim through a cave, and hike throughout this cave to an archaeological site inside of it. I am excited to do it because it is very likely that they will soon stop allowing tours through this place. Thursday we go to another set of ruins - the largest site in Belize - and get to swim in a cave. After that, we are heading back to the coast for a festival celebrating the Garifuna Settlement Day.
Anyway - pictures will be forthcoming as soon as they are downloaded.
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." (Mahatma Gandhi)
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Introspection
We left San Diego aboard Magda Jean just about two years ago now - we cast off at the very end of November 2010. It sometimes seems like a lot shorter than that, and at other times it seems like we have been gone forever. We have spent about two months of that time visiting in the US.
What have I learned? What haven't I learned yet? I know this year went better than last year. I will have to be honest, living with someone else on a 40 foot boat and being together 24/7 without any break, can be stressful and frankly difficult at times. And neither Mike nor I am particularly easy to live with. There have been times when I have gone so far as to actually make plans to leave him. But thank goodness I have stuck it out, because I really don't want to be anywhere else with anyone else. This is the life I want.
Constant traveling can be wearing - at times I wish we could do it like the Canadians do - half the year sailing, half the year living back in Canada. That is always an option. (But I can feel my relatives reading this and wondering if we are going to descend on them for free room and board for six months of every year! Don't worry, it would not work that way.) But this is something I have always dreamed of doing - just drifting along whenever and where ever I feel like being and going at the time. This trip is a good example. We had planned actually to be done by now. But then we had the opportunity to add some of Mexico to the trip by sailing down with Jason. And of course we could not tear ourselves away. So I figured we will likely be home (back to Magda Jean in El Salvador) by Thanksgiving instead. I doubt we will make that date - here we are after one week in Belize and we are not even close to being ready to leave for Guatemala. So I think we are going to have a Guatemalan Christmas.
You see, we were only supposed to spend a couple of days here in Caye Caulker, then move on. But we stayed a week, just lounging around, watching the sun rise and set, and eating and riding our rented bikes around the island. I read a lot and Mike took lots of naps. (He sleeps more than any non- infant I ever met. But that is another story for another day.) I have never spent this much time doing nothing. But it felt good. Today we catch the boat and head off to Belize City to spend the night and then head off to another part of Belize, the Orange Walk area. There are ruins and rivers and jungles to explore. Mike wants more horses, and I want to swim in the fresh water of the river. It is all there.
I did not know anything much about Belize until we got here, It is a lot poorer than I thought it would be. Much poorer than El Salvador, and definitely giving Honduras a run for its money in that department. I guess in my ethnocentric way, I expected it to be more prosperous here because they speak English and have Queen Elizabeth-s picture on all their money. Not so. Mexico seems more prosperous than Central America, but interestingly enough, you do not have beggars everywhere like you do in Mexico. (We kept our packets full of what we referred to as "beggar money" - small change to hand out as we walked down the street.) I don't understand that. I saw no beggars in Honduras, El Salvador, or here, but Mexico, with its good economy (help wanted signs everywhere) has them everywhere. Maybe the police won't allow it in other places, but neither Belize nor Honduras have a really strong police presence. (El Salvador, on the other hand, is an armed camp with guns and security everywhere.) We will see about Guatemala.
So anyway, I had big plans for this post to be a retrospective of the year just passed,but my Short Attention Span Theatre kicked into gear. It has all in all been a good year, albeit with a rough start. But I think I am learning to live a new way, with a different outlook towards everything and everyone. I just hope I am becoming a better person for it.
"One of the world's most tiresome questions is what object one would bring to a desert island,because people always answer 'a deck of cards' or 'Anna Karenina' when the obvious answer is 'a well equipped boat and a crew to sail me off the island and back home where I can play all the card games and read all the Russian novels I want.'" (Lemony Snicket)
What have I learned? What haven't I learned yet? I know this year went better than last year. I will have to be honest, living with someone else on a 40 foot boat and being together 24/7 without any break, can be stressful and frankly difficult at times. And neither Mike nor I am particularly easy to live with. There have been times when I have gone so far as to actually make plans to leave him. But thank goodness I have stuck it out, because I really don't want to be anywhere else with anyone else. This is the life I want.
Constant traveling can be wearing - at times I wish we could do it like the Canadians do - half the year sailing, half the year living back in Canada. That is always an option. (But I can feel my relatives reading this and wondering if we are going to descend on them for free room and board for six months of every year! Don't worry, it would not work that way.) But this is something I have always dreamed of doing - just drifting along whenever and where ever I feel like being and going at the time. This trip is a good example. We had planned actually to be done by now. But then we had the opportunity to add some of Mexico to the trip by sailing down with Jason. And of course we could not tear ourselves away. So I figured we will likely be home (back to Magda Jean in El Salvador) by Thanksgiving instead. I doubt we will make that date - here we are after one week in Belize and we are not even close to being ready to leave for Guatemala. So I think we are going to have a Guatemalan Christmas.
You see, we were only supposed to spend a couple of days here in Caye Caulker, then move on. But we stayed a week, just lounging around, watching the sun rise and set, and eating and riding our rented bikes around the island. I read a lot and Mike took lots of naps. (He sleeps more than any non- infant I ever met. But that is another story for another day.) I have never spent this much time doing nothing. But it felt good. Today we catch the boat and head off to Belize City to spend the night and then head off to another part of Belize, the Orange Walk area. There are ruins and rivers and jungles to explore. Mike wants more horses, and I want to swim in the fresh water of the river. It is all there.
I did not know anything much about Belize until we got here, It is a lot poorer than I thought it would be. Much poorer than El Salvador, and definitely giving Honduras a run for its money in that department. I guess in my ethnocentric way, I expected it to be more prosperous here because they speak English and have Queen Elizabeth-s picture on all their money. Not so. Mexico seems more prosperous than Central America, but interestingly enough, you do not have beggars everywhere like you do in Mexico. (We kept our packets full of what we referred to as "beggar money" - small change to hand out as we walked down the street.) I don't understand that. I saw no beggars in Honduras, El Salvador, or here, but Mexico, with its good economy (help wanted signs everywhere) has them everywhere. Maybe the police won't allow it in other places, but neither Belize nor Honduras have a really strong police presence. (El Salvador, on the other hand, is an armed camp with guns and security everywhere.) We will see about Guatemala.
So anyway, I had big plans for this post to be a retrospective of the year just passed,but my Short Attention Span Theatre kicked into gear. It has all in all been a good year, albeit with a rough start. But I think I am learning to live a new way, with a different outlook towards everything and everyone. I just hope I am becoming a better person for it.
"One of the world's most tiresome questions is what object one would bring to a desert island,because people always answer 'a deck of cards' or 'Anna Karenina' when the obvious answer is 'a well equipped boat and a crew to sail me off the island and back home where I can play all the card games and read all the Russian novels I want.'" (Lemony Snicket)
Monday, November 5, 2012
Belize!
So it is true, we finally made it out of Mexico. We went from Chetumal to Caye Caulker via boat, and instead of just spending a few nights here and then moving on, we are going to be here for about a week. Here is one reason why we are staying - the view from our hotel room.
It has been windy and overcast with some squalls most of the time we have been here. This place could not be more different than Playa del Carmen - for example, I lost a tank top when it was drying on the balcony, so I need a new one and guess what - I can't find a tourist store selling T shirts! It has rained almost every day, and Mike thinks the water is too cold to swim in. Not me - I think it is quite refreshing. with all the rain, it hasn't been great visibility for snorkeling. So we spend most of our time riding our rented bikes around the island, dodging squalls with varying degrees of success. Mike is pretty good about looking at the sky and figuring out how long we have before the storm hits with the rain. I like it - it is nice not to be hot and sweaty for a change.
Here is a view of the main drag here in Caye Caulker. No cars, no paved roads, just bikes and golf carts. And stray dogs.
I have no desire to try anything that tastes like a combination of mint and licorice. I just do not see that working for me.
One thing fun about being here is that there is US TV in our room. That is in some ways a treat for us. If we have any English TV at all, it is usually CNN international or a movie channel called "Panico" that plays horror movie after horror movie. Here we are getting regular things - we got to watch American football yesterday in our room while it was raining, and we are keeping track of the election (we voted via absentee ballot).
This is the first time we have had anything less than perfect weather while traveling - and unless one wants to swim in the rain, there isn't too much to actually do except drink in the bars. But at 10:46 am, I think it is a bit too early. So here I am, doing what I have been putting off for too long - updating this blog. Even with the rain, this place is wonderful - I can just sit on the balcony (when the rain is not blowing that direction and read with a clear conscience, not feeling guilty for not doing something that requires more physical energy than I expend with my books. As the clouds shift around in the sky, the water changes color, from slate grey to deep blue to turquoise to beige. When it turns beige, you know that is is very shallow because the beige color is sand or coral, whatever is below.
It would be easy to get really fat here - there is a woman who sells great pie on the street. We have fallen in love with her coconut chocolate and her key lime meringue is also pretty darn good. I could eat it all day. And there is a Chinese take out that makes really good fried rice. And they also have these things called fry jacks - which are like a cross between fry bread and popovers. They are awesomely good and not at all good for you. Right up my alley.
So that is what I have been up to - watching it rain and enjoying every minute of it. Since I do have TV, I am going to follow the election returns tomorrow, keeping good thoughts for my sister, who is running for state Assembly in Wisconsin. The next plan is to leave here for the mainland, and explore some ruins and a nature preserve. Then back to the beach, more ruins, and Guatemala. At least that is the plan, currently, anyway. Everything is always drawn in sand for me these days rather than being carved in stone. I like it that way.
“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” (Bob Marley)
It has been windy and overcast with some squalls most of the time we have been here. This place could not be more different than Playa del Carmen - for example, I lost a tank top when it was drying on the balcony, so I need a new one and guess what - I can't find a tourist store selling T shirts! It has rained almost every day, and Mike thinks the water is too cold to swim in. Not me - I think it is quite refreshing. with all the rain, it hasn't been great visibility for snorkeling. So we spend most of our time riding our rented bikes around the island, dodging squalls with varying degrees of success. Mike is pretty good about looking at the sky and figuring out how long we have before the storm hits with the rain. I like it - it is nice not to be hot and sweaty for a change.
Here is a view of the main drag here in Caye Caulker. No cars, no paved roads, just bikes and golf carts. And stray dogs.
No artifice here!
One thing fun about being here is that there is US TV in our room. That is in some ways a treat for us. If we have any English TV at all, it is usually CNN international or a movie channel called "Panico" that plays horror movie after horror movie. Here we are getting regular things - we got to watch American football yesterday in our room while it was raining, and we are keeping track of the election (we voted via absentee ballot).
This is the first time we have had anything less than perfect weather while traveling - and unless one wants to swim in the rain, there isn't too much to actually do except drink in the bars. But at 10:46 am, I think it is a bit too early. So here I am, doing what I have been putting off for too long - updating this blog. Even with the rain, this place is wonderful - I can just sit on the balcony (when the rain is not blowing that direction and read with a clear conscience, not feeling guilty for not doing something that requires more physical energy than I expend with my books. As the clouds shift around in the sky, the water changes color, from slate grey to deep blue to turquoise to beige. When it turns beige, you know that is is very shallow because the beige color is sand or coral, whatever is below.
It would be easy to get really fat here - there is a woman who sells great pie on the street. We have fallen in love with her coconut chocolate and her key lime meringue is also pretty darn good. I could eat it all day. And there is a Chinese take out that makes really good fried rice. And they also have these things called fry jacks - which are like a cross between fry bread and popovers. They are awesomely good and not at all good for you. Right up my alley.
So that is what I have been up to - watching it rain and enjoying every minute of it. Since I do have TV, I am going to follow the election returns tomorrow, keeping good thoughts for my sister, who is running for state Assembly in Wisconsin. The next plan is to leave here for the mainland, and explore some ruins and a nature preserve. Then back to the beach, more ruins, and Guatemala. At least that is the plan, currently, anyway. Everything is always drawn in sand for me these days rather than being carved in stone. I like it that way.
“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” (Bob Marley)
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Different Mexicos
Like the US, and because it is a geographically large country, there are real differences between different parts of Mexico. Some are more tourist-oriented than others, and I suppose because we have been so many different places, we have found certain things we like and certain things we don't like. I am always sort of hesitant to say "go here" or"go there" because different people like different things.
One of the things we really like are nice beaches. And having spent time exploring the almost deserted pristine beaches in the Sea of Cortez, we are, I suppose, phenomenally spoiled. That said, there are times when we enjoy being part of a tourist scene. It does get sort of strange being the only gringo in town.
So we headed to Playa del Carmen, for a taste of the Caribbean. I have been to Cancun (party central) and knew that was not what we were looking for. Playa del Carmen is, according to my guidebook (a very old version, I know now) much lower key and a fun, laid back beach town. I guess it still was fun, but it is not even close to being laid back in any way. I have never in my life - and that includes Mazatlan, Cabo, and Puerto Vallarta - been literally hassled by hawkers from stores and timeshares and tour groups. It was like a verbal assault from all angles. They literally chased after is on the street hollering questions. And there was no way to get away from it. The place is one big shopping mall bordered by a beach. That was it. And while the beach was pretty, it smelled of sewage in places. Additionally, we spent way too much money on mediocre food.
We did have an awesome hotel room for a great price - a third floor suite with a full kitchen and private roof balcony for $100 per night American. That was good because at times we used it to hide from all the uproar outside. And while it was just a big shopping mall, the prices were not bad and they did have nice stuff to sell. So if you are looking for a big party scene with lots of gringos and plenty of stuff to buy, this is your place.
We spent the days prior to P del C exploring ruins in western Yucatan. We stayed in a wonderful little hotel where our host took us to swim in cenotes. We had great meals - I truly believe Yucatan has the best food in Mexico. We stumbled across unexcavated ruins that are not listed in any guidebooks. We learned some Maya words. (Mike now wants to learn Maya.) I took Mike to see Chichen Itza - one of the grand daddies of all the ruins. The last time I was there, they let you climb to the top of the big pyramid, but now it is closed off. I was not disappointed - it is really high and I had already fallen and scraped my knee while negotiating the gravel sidewalk. I felt like an idiot and people came running up and expressing concern. We also went to the ruins at Ek Balam, which in some ways were even more impressive. And you could climb around on them. I fell again, this time no damage, but I felt shaky afterwards (since this time I fell climbing one of the ruins) so I let Mike climb up the big one by himself. He is terribly afraid of heights, but he forces himself to confront that fear. I say happily in the shade watching him do it. There are so many ruin sites here in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador that it would take years to see them all. I think even Mike is somewhat ruin-ed out at this point in time.
Right now we are in Chetumal, which is the last town in Mexico before you enter Belize. Chetumal is NOT a tourist town. The only gringos here (other than us) are a handful of expats and people on their way to and from Belize. We met a man last night who lives here - an older man who wanted to talk about the Rothschilds and Biltenbergs (something like that, anyway) and the tri-lateral commission, and all kinds of stuff like that. It all had to do with plots and conspiracies and oil companies, and one of those plots involves Hurricane Sandy, which he says was somehow purposely initiated or set up by a group called HULA who is doing it to somehow mess with the election, thereby ensuring the re-election of Obama. It was entertaining. I guess I am the last one to know about this. Anyway, he was a nice old man even if he was a bit eccentric. He did give us some good suggestions on Belize as he has spent quite a bit of time there.
We are taking a boat, rather than a bus, to Belize. It is more expensive than the bus, but it sounds like fun. We didn't plan to go this way, so I have rearranged our travel plans - first stop will be Caulker Caye. My sister went there and said it is beautiful. It is supposed to be peaceful and quiet, with snorkeling and I am looking forward to it. We will then head for another cay, Tobacco Caye. and then on to Belmopan, in the middle of the country where it will be ruins and caves and monkeys and all sorts of things. After that, we head to Guatemala. At this rate, it will be Christmas before we get back to Magda Jean, who by all accounts is doing fine in our absence. I have never seen such white sand as exists here in the Caribbean. If not for hurricanes (more of a danger here than on the Pacific side), it would be tempting to sail through the Panama Canal and spend some time here with the boat. This town we are in was completely destroyed in 1955 by Hurricane Janet, so all the buildings are 1950s or later. There is a wonderful statute built at the waterfront illustrating it and I will post the picture when it gets downloaded.
So that is it for now - next post will be from Belize. Again, it will be hard to leave Mexico. I love it that much.
"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." (Anatole France)
One of the things we really like are nice beaches. And having spent time exploring the almost deserted pristine beaches in the Sea of Cortez, we are, I suppose, phenomenally spoiled. That said, there are times when we enjoy being part of a tourist scene. It does get sort of strange being the only gringo in town.
So we headed to Playa del Carmen, for a taste of the Caribbean. I have been to Cancun (party central) and knew that was not what we were looking for. Playa del Carmen is, according to my guidebook (a very old version, I know now) much lower key and a fun, laid back beach town. I guess it still was fun, but it is not even close to being laid back in any way. I have never in my life - and that includes Mazatlan, Cabo, and Puerto Vallarta - been literally hassled by hawkers from stores and timeshares and tour groups. It was like a verbal assault from all angles. They literally chased after is on the street hollering questions. And there was no way to get away from it. The place is one big shopping mall bordered by a beach. That was it. And while the beach was pretty, it smelled of sewage in places. Additionally, we spent way too much money on mediocre food.
We did have an awesome hotel room for a great price - a third floor suite with a full kitchen and private roof balcony for $100 per night American. That was good because at times we used it to hide from all the uproar outside. And while it was just a big shopping mall, the prices were not bad and they did have nice stuff to sell. So if you are looking for a big party scene with lots of gringos and plenty of stuff to buy, this is your place.
We spent the days prior to P del C exploring ruins in western Yucatan. We stayed in a wonderful little hotel where our host took us to swim in cenotes. We had great meals - I truly believe Yucatan has the best food in Mexico. We stumbled across unexcavated ruins that are not listed in any guidebooks. We learned some Maya words. (Mike now wants to learn Maya.) I took Mike to see Chichen Itza - one of the grand daddies of all the ruins. The last time I was there, they let you climb to the top of the big pyramid, but now it is closed off. I was not disappointed - it is really high and I had already fallen and scraped my knee while negotiating the gravel sidewalk. I felt like an idiot and people came running up and expressing concern. We also went to the ruins at Ek Balam, which in some ways were even more impressive. And you could climb around on them. I fell again, this time no damage, but I felt shaky afterwards (since this time I fell climbing one of the ruins) so I let Mike climb up the big one by himself. He is terribly afraid of heights, but he forces himself to confront that fear. I say happily in the shade watching him do it. There are so many ruin sites here in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador that it would take years to see them all. I think even Mike is somewhat ruin-ed out at this point in time.
Right now we are in Chetumal, which is the last town in Mexico before you enter Belize. Chetumal is NOT a tourist town. The only gringos here (other than us) are a handful of expats and people on their way to and from Belize. We met a man last night who lives here - an older man who wanted to talk about the Rothschilds and Biltenbergs (something like that, anyway) and the tri-lateral commission, and all kinds of stuff like that. It all had to do with plots and conspiracies and oil companies, and one of those plots involves Hurricane Sandy, which he says was somehow purposely initiated or set up by a group called HULA who is doing it to somehow mess with the election, thereby ensuring the re-election of Obama. It was entertaining. I guess I am the last one to know about this. Anyway, he was a nice old man even if he was a bit eccentric. He did give us some good suggestions on Belize as he has spent quite a bit of time there.
We are taking a boat, rather than a bus, to Belize. It is more expensive than the bus, but it sounds like fun. We didn't plan to go this way, so I have rearranged our travel plans - first stop will be Caulker Caye. My sister went there and said it is beautiful. It is supposed to be peaceful and quiet, with snorkeling and I am looking forward to it. We will then head for another cay, Tobacco Caye. and then on to Belmopan, in the middle of the country where it will be ruins and caves and monkeys and all sorts of things. After that, we head to Guatemala. At this rate, it will be Christmas before we get back to Magda Jean, who by all accounts is doing fine in our absence. I have never seen such white sand as exists here in the Caribbean. If not for hurricanes (more of a danger here than on the Pacific side), it would be tempting to sail through the Panama Canal and spend some time here with the boat. This town we are in was completely destroyed in 1955 by Hurricane Janet, so all the buildings are 1950s or later. There is a wonderful statute built at the waterfront illustrating it and I will post the picture when it gets downloaded.
So that is it for now - next post will be from Belize. Again, it will be hard to leave Mexico. I love it that much.
"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." (Anatole France)
Thursday, October 25, 2012
A True Magical Mystery Tour
The magical mystery tour is coming to take you away . . . and I am not exaggerating,. The past two days have been simply amazing. Yesterday we went to the ruins at Uxmal, which is a pretty large site. Here is a picture of the site itself.
It was somewhat overcast and we actually got rained on, for which we were grateful because it was HOT. Here I am, wet as can be with sweat. That is why my chest is shining brightly.
The jaguar (balam in Maya) plays a huge role in Maya symbology. Here is a throne, with an image of a two headed jaguar.
Then to top things off, we got to go swimming in it. The water was clear, refreshing, and wonderfully cooling after being all hot at the ruins sites.
The jaguar (balam in Maya) plays a huge role in Maya symbology. Here is a throne, with an image of a two headed jaguar.
This site is in really good shape - there is a lot of detail still visible clearly,
But my favorite was what is called the Pigeon House because that is what it looks like.
But the best in some ways was still to come. The topography here is interesting because it is karst topography, with mostly limestone. This means there are a LOT of caves here. And caves were sacred to the Maya, who regarded then as an entrance to the underworld. The Maya (current calendar issues notwithstanding) have no concept of an end to the world. They see life as sort of being in three layers - the sky, the earth, and the underworld. As we were heading towards another ruin site, one called Oxkintok, we ran into a man who offered to take us to a newly discovered site that had Maya petroglyphs and cave painting. Although we took pictures, it was dark in the cave, you do not want to use a strong flash and I know they will not show here what we saw. But we went in this big cave, and all over the ceiling were paintings in different colors, mostly red. They told of the abandonment of a nearby site. The place was discovered by archaeologists from the Discovery Channel and national Geographic. This was not just a cave, however, it was also a cenote (sen oh -tay). A cenote is a sinkhole, or a cave full of water. Like a grotto. We underwent a Maya purification ritual, including the burning of incense and a sort of baptism. Here we are with Victor, our Maya speaking guide. (By the way, a lot of the people here speak Maya as a first language, with Spanish coming in second.)
I can't find words to describe what an experience it was. I am not a really spiritual person, but I could feel something special in there. I have felt the same way in some of the churches we have been in down here.
Today we went to some different cenotes, albeit without the Maya mythology, There are a couple thousand of these scattered throughout the Yucatan. Some of them are holes in people's yards, and there are some that are commercial enterprises that charge people to come and swim, with bathhouses and refreshment stands. We did not go to those, rather, ours were located off out of the way dirt roads. Here is the entrance to one of them.
And here I am with out guide, Roman, who also owned the hotel we stayed at.
\thi is what the water looks like. It is not dirty, rather, leaves and sticks fall into it. But it is so clean and clear it is unbelievable.
Here is how it looks when the sunlight streams down on it.
Again, it was an incredible experience and we swam for about an hour, playing in the water and just soaking it all up. We later went and roamed around an abandoned hacienda, which had its heyday when hennequin (sisal) was a major crop for the area. At that time, because of hennequin, which was referred to as oro verde (green gold) Yucatan was the richest state in Mexico. However, nylon and other synthetics soon took the place of sisal, and although it is still manufactured here out of a plant that looks a lot like agave, it is not what it once was. We actually saw a factory processing it in Merida.
So tomorrow we are off to more ruins near here, and then we will head off to Chichen Itza. I went there once a number of years ago with my best friend Sue, and I am eager to see it again. At that time, I knew little about the Maya and their culture and history, so this time it should be even more interesting. I am even learning a few words in Maya. For example, pec is dog, ak is turtle, and balam is jaguar. (This will wreak havoc with my spell check!) The last two days have been exhausting for me, as our guides spoke no English, and I had to translate all the Spanish for Mike. It is very tiring because you have to pay attention very carefully every minute. And that is wearing, but I was glad for the experience, which can only help me improve my language skills. I am getting better about being able to speak other than in the present tense.
OK - I am getting tired and want to kick back with a beer before I go to bed. Tomorrow will be another long,but fascinating day!
"I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you."
(Frida Kahlo)
(Frida Kahlo)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Fotografias de Mexico
You know, this trip was not supposed to last this long! But who knew we would fall in love with yet another place in Mexico - Yucatan! We are up to our ears in Mayan culture. everything about being here is simply wondrous. Again, I have run out of superlatives and am getting repetitive.
Here are some pictures we took earlier on the trip. These are pictures of the ruins at Bonampak, which is in Chiapas. What makes this site so amazing are the intact paintings on the inside of one of the walls. It is only partially excavated.
These are the ruins at Yaxchilan as they appear as you head down the river.
Later we went on a hike through the jungle and stayed at a jungle lodge. The lodge itself was very simple - a cabin, one bulb, bamboo walls, and not really effective mosquito screening over the top. We did, however, sleep beautifully.
Examples of jungle flora and fauna - a huge butterfly and orange mushrooms.
We went swimming in a waterfall at the end of a long hot hike. It was a perfect ending!
This is the street where our hotel was located. In the older cities here in Mexico, the houses and hotels all have big doors that make it look like nothing is open, but when you ring the bell and are invited in, things are beautiful. Behind these doors are courtyards filled with flowers and incredible gardens.
This is enough to make me want to be a religious person.
Here are the walls of the city with all the old cannons. Campeche suffered more from pirate attacks than any other place in Mexico. In fact, at one point all the different pirate groups put aside their differences, united into one big pirate army, and spent an entire month raping and pillaging. There are quite a few places here named after Henry Morgan and Francis Drake.
But things are not always smooth for us. For example, this morning we discovered that our rental car cost three times what the internet told us it would be. Then when we stopped at a store, neither of our credit cards would work. We had a hard time finding our way out of Merida, and when we got here to Ticul we ended up having to drive around and around and around because of one way streets and blocked off streets. I was getting frustrated and upset. But then we got to this great hotel- again very unprepossessing looking from the street. Inside it was a different story altogether. We have a great room with a separate living room, hot water, internet, cable TV, and continental breakfast (coffee and pan dulce) - all for the whopping price of $28.00 per night American, not pesos. The owners are friendly and asked us when we wanted our breakfast served rather than telling us what time to be there. We had dinner at a great place up on top of a hill, with a view of the entire area. The food was of course wonderful and very inexpensive. The owners showed us all these pictures of people who had eaten there, including Oscar de la Hoya and several extremely handsome bullfighters in full regalia. This is not a tourist town - no souvenir shops and we are the only non-Mexicans here as best as we can tell. Everyone stops us and wants to know where we are from and all about what we are up to. My Spanish continues to improve.
So that is it for today. More to come!
"Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip."
(Winston Churchill)
Here are some pictures we took earlier on the trip. These are pictures of the ruins at Bonampak, which is in Chiapas. What makes this site so amazing are the intact paintings on the inside of one of the walls. It is only partially excavated.
This is the boat we took to the ruins at Yaxchilan. I am in the front. This river separates Mexico from Guatemala.
These are the ruins at Yaxchilan as they appear as you head down the river.
And here is one of the large temples.
There were wild parrots on the grounds. This one posed for Mike's camera.
Examples of jungle flora and fauna - a huge butterfly and orange mushrooms.
We went swimming in a waterfall at the end of a long hot hike. It was a perfect ending!
And although we expected to see interesting things on this jungle hike, we were surprised by the sight of a set of unexcavated ruins.
All of this was still in Chiapas. Here are some of the Mayan women who all wear traditional dress.
This is one of the Mayan sun gods. All of the different Mayan areas have slightly different deities. The big eyes demonstrate enlightenment.
Now it is time to move on to Campeche. Campeche is located on the Gulf of Mexico. It is a beautifully restored old colonial town. It used to be surrounded by walls because of pirates. And it has a beautiful cathedral. Here is a view of the city from atop the walls.
And in the town square, here one can find whatever service might be required, including mobile knife sharpening.
So that brings us up to date. Right now we are in a town called Ticul, which is smack in the middle of Yucatan. We are surrounded by ruins, and tomorrow are planning to drive (we rented a car) to Uxmal, which is supposed to be a large, impressive site. We want to be able to spend as many hours there as we want to. We took organized tours to Banampak and Yaxchilan, but you kind of have to because they are remote and hard to get to. Yaxchilan is only accessible by boat, and Bonampak is miles and miles off the main roads. Uxmal is right off one of the main highways, and there is plenty of signage. Then on Thursday we are taking a drive called La Ruta Puuc, which encompasses at least four different smaller sites. As we have come to learn, it really doesn't matter how large the sites are because each one has something special. But things are not always smooth for us. For example, this morning we discovered that our rental car cost three times what the internet told us it would be. Then when we stopped at a store, neither of our credit cards would work. We had a hard time finding our way out of Merida, and when we got here to Ticul we ended up having to drive around and around and around because of one way streets and blocked off streets. I was getting frustrated and upset. But then we got to this great hotel- again very unprepossessing looking from the street. Inside it was a different story altogether. We have a great room with a separate living room, hot water, internet, cable TV, and continental breakfast (coffee and pan dulce) - all for the whopping price of $28.00 per night American, not pesos. The owners are friendly and asked us when we wanted our breakfast served rather than telling us what time to be there. We had dinner at a great place up on top of a hill, with a view of the entire area. The food was of course wonderful and very inexpensive. The owners showed us all these pictures of people who had eaten there, including Oscar de la Hoya and several extremely handsome bullfighters in full regalia. This is not a tourist town - no souvenir shops and we are the only non-Mexicans here as best as we can tell. Everyone stops us and wants to know where we are from and all about what we are up to. My Spanish continues to improve.
So that is it for today. More to come!
"Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip."
(Winston Churchill)
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Catching Up
We were supposed to be in Belize by now! I had to change our reservations! You see,we are still in Mexico and will be here for another week or so. We keep finding more stuff to do and see here, It really does feel like home for me - I have felt that way since I first started going to Ensenada when I was 16 years old.
OK, here is what we have been up to since the last post. I have tons of pictures. but they are not yet in a downloadable form. We left Tapachula and took a bus to San Cristobal de las Casas, an awesome town we went to about eight months ago on our last sojourn before leaving Mexico. traveling around Mexico by bus is great. The buses are really nice, comfortable, and clean. When they stop, people come aboard and sell food and drinks. It was a seven or eight hour bus ride, and they showed movies the whole way. The only catch was that the movies were all dubbed into Spanish. However, they were pretty easy to follow since they were either kids movies or action films. We stayed at a wonderful hotel in San Cristobal - st a very reasonable price, too. The town itself is lovely - with lots of people in traditional dress everywhere. The women wear blouses made of satin with embroidered plaques and short, puffy sleeves. They wear skirts made out of heavy, shaggy black or brown wool that are gathered up in front and secured with these beautiful embroidered wide belts. The craftsmanship that goes into the embroidery is amazing. I bought three blouses - one of them is satin - and two different belts.
We also took a horseback ride down into a traditional Mayan village and saw the most interesting church I have ever been in. it is nominally a Catholic church, but different because there are Mayan traditions woven into the mass and the other Catholic aspects. To begin with, they revere John the Baptist (San Juan Bautista) more than Jesus in some ways - his statue is at the very top of the alter with Jesus on the cross kind of off to the side. The sides of the church were lined with mannequins representing different saints, all beautifully dressed in handmade clothing made of beautiful fabrics. There were no pews - the entire place was open. The floors were covered with pine boughs and the people had row upon row of candles lit and burning right on the floor with the pine boughs. I at first thought what a fire hazard but then I saw there were people going around tending all the candles. People grouped around the candles and chanted and prayed, whole groups of them. There seemed to be a leader of each group of people, There was a priest in regular priest clothing at the alter doing something with a crowd around him, but I felt intrusive enough and did not get close to see what they were doing. At the same time as all this devotion was going on, other people were standing around in small groups just visiting and shooting the breeze. I also noticed that many, if not most, of the people were drinking coca cola and other soda pop drinks right there - I found out later that is to encourage burping, which is believed to drive evil spirits out of the church. I am not making that up. It was an incredible experience just to be there. We have pictures of the outside of the church but not the inside - the Maya do not like to have their pictures taken, especially in religious situations. I do not know how much longer this will last as the pentecostal are converting these people as fast as they can. The pentecostal are fully in charge in El Salvador - the women cover their heads with white scarves and they have a whole big church that is uses all Jewish symbolism - the star of David and the menorah. They also refer to themselves as Friends of Israel. About half my Salvadoran friends go there.
The next day we went on a boat ride through a canyon. It too was wonderful. The canyon walls rise to 2000 feet or more as you ride along this river. We saw crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the river, which made me think twice about going in the water, no matter how hot I was. There were waterfalls going down the sides of the canyon - it was not as big and impressive as the grand canyon, but it is certainly up there with it.
We also met an interesting expat - living in foreign countries does attract some unusual people. This guy was an old hippie, and he had been living in Mexico for 30 years. He knew a lot about the area and the people. He flirted shamelessly (but harmlessly) with the Mayan women selling things on the street and they seemed to love it, giggling and teasing him right back. It was the first time we saw them really let down their guard with non-Mayans.
The next day we took a van to two different ruins that are off the regular tourist route. The first one was located an hour and a half down a river and accessible only by boat. The other one was deep in the jungle, and was only "discovered" in the forties. The wonderful thing about this ruin (Bonampak) is that much of the painting was till visible. They used red, blue, green, orange, and black and white. It was really incredible to see it and think about how old it is. I touched a wall (not a painted on) and thought about how someone back in 200 AD had touched that same wall in that same place. We spent the night in a cabin in the jungle - no bathroom except down the path, one light bulb hanging from the ceiling, mosquito screens that were only partially effective, and I slept like the dead. We also stayed at the same jungle lodge we stayed at eight months ago near Palenque - we even got the same room.
So now we are in Campeche, which is on the Gulf of Mexico and is a beautifully restored colonial city. It was originally surrounded by walls, because of pirate attacks (Pirates of the Caribbean) and some of the wall and some of the balustrades are still standing, We went to two museums with gorgeous Mayan artifacts in them, artifacts from the ruins nearby. We are skipping these ruins only because we are leaving for Yucatan today and have a lot to see there. It would take years to see all the Mayan ruins around this area. And we have more coming up in Guatemala and Belize. So many ruins, so little time! Even for us. We have to get back to Magda jean at some point, but we know Santos is taking good care of her.
So anyway, that about brings us up to date on where I have been and what I have been doing. I will post pictures as soon as I can do so. Since we will be in Merida in a hotel tonight, maybe we can watch the debate. We did watch the vice presidential debate, but it was on CNN Mexico and dubbed in Spanish! If the hotel has internet, we can stream it and watch it that way. I am so glad I am not in the US for this election cycle - the ads would have made me crazy from what I am hearing. Today it is on to Merida in a couple of hours, and it is only a two and a half hour bus ride. And blessedly, we have time for breakfast first!
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." (Dorothy Parker)
OK, here is what we have been up to since the last post. I have tons of pictures. but they are not yet in a downloadable form. We left Tapachula and took a bus to San Cristobal de las Casas, an awesome town we went to about eight months ago on our last sojourn before leaving Mexico. traveling around Mexico by bus is great. The buses are really nice, comfortable, and clean. When they stop, people come aboard and sell food and drinks. It was a seven or eight hour bus ride, and they showed movies the whole way. The only catch was that the movies were all dubbed into Spanish. However, they were pretty easy to follow since they were either kids movies or action films. We stayed at a wonderful hotel in San Cristobal - st a very reasonable price, too. The town itself is lovely - with lots of people in traditional dress everywhere. The women wear blouses made of satin with embroidered plaques and short, puffy sleeves. They wear skirts made out of heavy, shaggy black or brown wool that are gathered up in front and secured with these beautiful embroidered wide belts. The craftsmanship that goes into the embroidery is amazing. I bought three blouses - one of them is satin - and two different belts.
We also took a horseback ride down into a traditional Mayan village and saw the most interesting church I have ever been in. it is nominally a Catholic church, but different because there are Mayan traditions woven into the mass and the other Catholic aspects. To begin with, they revere John the Baptist (San Juan Bautista) more than Jesus in some ways - his statue is at the very top of the alter with Jesus on the cross kind of off to the side. The sides of the church were lined with mannequins representing different saints, all beautifully dressed in handmade clothing made of beautiful fabrics. There were no pews - the entire place was open. The floors were covered with pine boughs and the people had row upon row of candles lit and burning right on the floor with the pine boughs. I at first thought what a fire hazard but then I saw there were people going around tending all the candles. People grouped around the candles and chanted and prayed, whole groups of them. There seemed to be a leader of each group of people, There was a priest in regular priest clothing at the alter doing something with a crowd around him, but I felt intrusive enough and did not get close to see what they were doing. At the same time as all this devotion was going on, other people were standing around in small groups just visiting and shooting the breeze. I also noticed that many, if not most, of the people were drinking coca cola and other soda pop drinks right there - I found out later that is to encourage burping, which is believed to drive evil spirits out of the church. I am not making that up. It was an incredible experience just to be there. We have pictures of the outside of the church but not the inside - the Maya do not like to have their pictures taken, especially in religious situations. I do not know how much longer this will last as the pentecostal are converting these people as fast as they can. The pentecostal are fully in charge in El Salvador - the women cover their heads with white scarves and they have a whole big church that is uses all Jewish symbolism - the star of David and the menorah. They also refer to themselves as Friends of Israel. About half my Salvadoran friends go there.
The next day we went on a boat ride through a canyon. It too was wonderful. The canyon walls rise to 2000 feet or more as you ride along this river. We saw crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the river, which made me think twice about going in the water, no matter how hot I was. There were waterfalls going down the sides of the canyon - it was not as big and impressive as the grand canyon, but it is certainly up there with it.
We also met an interesting expat - living in foreign countries does attract some unusual people. This guy was an old hippie, and he had been living in Mexico for 30 years. He knew a lot about the area and the people. He flirted shamelessly (but harmlessly) with the Mayan women selling things on the street and they seemed to love it, giggling and teasing him right back. It was the first time we saw them really let down their guard with non-Mayans.
The next day we took a van to two different ruins that are off the regular tourist route. The first one was located an hour and a half down a river and accessible only by boat. The other one was deep in the jungle, and was only "discovered" in the forties. The wonderful thing about this ruin (Bonampak) is that much of the painting was till visible. They used red, blue, green, orange, and black and white. It was really incredible to see it and think about how old it is. I touched a wall (not a painted on) and thought about how someone back in 200 AD had touched that same wall in that same place. We spent the night in a cabin in the jungle - no bathroom except down the path, one light bulb hanging from the ceiling, mosquito screens that were only partially effective, and I slept like the dead. We also stayed at the same jungle lodge we stayed at eight months ago near Palenque - we even got the same room.
So now we are in Campeche, which is on the Gulf of Mexico and is a beautifully restored colonial city. It was originally surrounded by walls, because of pirate attacks (Pirates of the Caribbean) and some of the wall and some of the balustrades are still standing, We went to two museums with gorgeous Mayan artifacts in them, artifacts from the ruins nearby. We are skipping these ruins only because we are leaving for Yucatan today and have a lot to see there. It would take years to see all the Mayan ruins around this area. And we have more coming up in Guatemala and Belize. So many ruins, so little time! Even for us. We have to get back to Magda jean at some point, but we know Santos is taking good care of her.
So anyway, that about brings us up to date on where I have been and what I have been doing. I will post pictures as soon as I can do so. Since we will be in Merida in a hotel tonight, maybe we can watch the debate. We did watch the vice presidential debate, but it was on CNN Mexico and dubbed in Spanish! If the hotel has internet, we can stream it and watch it that way. I am so glad I am not in the US for this election cycle - the ads would have made me crazy from what I am hearing. Today it is on to Merida in a couple of hours, and it is only a two and a half hour bus ride. And blessedly, we have time for breakfast first!
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." (Dorothy Parker)
Thursday, October 11, 2012
I Really Really Love Chiapas
We have been here one day and already I am sure this has to be one of the best places in the world. The people are kind and friendly, the food is great, prices are low. The scenery is to die for, there is history living everywhere, and I again cannot begin to express in mere words how happy I am to be here.
I did want to include some pictures we took today while touring Izapa, which is one of the most important Mayan ruin sites from an archaeological point of view. it is not truly impressively huge site like Tikal or Chichen Itza or Palenque or Copan, but it is one of the oldest and is considered to be a bridge between the Olmec culture and the Mayan culture. It was fun. We had the place to ourselves except for a group of school kids who looked to be about middle school age. They were laughing and giggling at us, and finally one of the girls came up to me with her camera. I thought she wanted me to take a picture of her with her friends, but as it turned out, she wanted to take our picture. As soon as we agreed, all hell broke loose. All the kids got their cameras out and we posed for group photo after group photo with all the kids in various combinations. It is only in the early stages of excavation.
Here is what part of the site looks like.
I did want to include some pictures we took today while touring Izapa, which is one of the most important Mayan ruin sites from an archaeological point of view. it is not truly impressively huge site like Tikal or Chichen Itza or Palenque or Copan, but it is one of the oldest and is considered to be a bridge between the Olmec culture and the Mayan culture. It was fun. We had the place to ourselves except for a group of school kids who looked to be about middle school age. They were laughing and giggling at us, and finally one of the girls came up to me with her camera. I thought she wanted me to take a picture of her with her friends, but as it turned out, she wanted to take our picture. As soon as we agreed, all hell broke loose. All the kids got their cameras out and we posed for group photo after group photo with all the kids in various combinations. It is only in the early stages of excavation.
Here is what part of the site looks like.
There are a lot of steles and other pieces from these ruins that are in a museum here in Tapachula. This is a skull decorated with turquoise, gold, and jade. The Maya always did fancy things with the corpses of their dead rulers.
There are people living in and among these ruins. They have homes, and raise their animals right where their Mayan ancestors lived thousands of years ago. (Yes, the earth is more than 7000 or even 9000 years old, regardless of what any congressman tries to tell you.) Here is a borrego, which is some kind of a sheep. I wanted to pet it, but Mike said it might bite me, and I did not want to create a scene. So I admired him (or her) from a distance.
Here is a pig that was on a leash eating from a nice wooden bowl. When we took this picture, he was stretching his (or he) back legs surrounded by chickens.
Anyway, we are leaving here tomorrow for San Cristobal de las Casas, a wonderful little town in the mountains that we visited on our last trip out here. We plan to see some awesome stuff - including a trip by horseback to a Mayan village where picture taking is seriously frowned upon. So I will just have to describe things as best as I can. I usually feel sort of uncomfortable taking pictures of people unless they really seem to want it. It just seems intrusive somehow. Mike has no such compunction, but we both agree that this could have resulted in our old camera being stolen in a Mayan market in Oaxaca last fall. It did disappear ten minutes after he took a picture of a woman in the market and she did not seem happy about it. Next thing we knew, the camera was gone.
I did want to show one other picture. Before we left for this trip, Mike was taking lessons fishing with an atirado, a fishing net used by the people in El Salvador and the people here. Net fishing is not as easy as it might seem. Here is Mike giving it a try.
On a later day he went again and some fish and shrimp were caught. Mike and his friends built a fire and cooked them.
It probably tasted really good. Nothing like roasting fish over an open fire - just gut them and roast them. No need to cut the heads off!
It is time for me to end this post and think about dinner - what shall it be? Chicken mole? Some sort of tamale variation? The possibilities are limitless.
"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." (Virginia Woolf)
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