Hey kids,
Updating the blog hasn't been a simple task as internet connectivity here is pretty scarce. Am currently sitting in a tree house structure looking out over a gorgeous lake in Rio Dulce, Guatemala. The last few days have been adventure filled as we head deeper into jungle territory and further from the coast. The Gutatemalans are lovely and my spanish skills are getting a work out.
Yesterday was an interesting travel day. We started out with breakfast at a back packers in Florez. It was recommended for being healthy vego food. Firstly the Big Sissa found plastic bag pieces in her smoothie. When she went to show the staff they looked at it and said in spanish, oh it's from the ice. They then took the drink and did nothing further. A buddy we were having breakfast with then found a hard piece of plastic in her eggs - again, the complaint fell on deaf ears. The Big Sissa then had a kitten climb her back like a scratching pole (she has scratches/scars to show). My porridge, which was meant to be the quickest meal on the menu (according to the menu) came out 1 hour after I ordered it and the fruit plate was a bunch of pre-frozen then thawed fruit - Mmmm thawed banana! Needless to say it wasn't my favourite. So that was the start of the day.
We packed up and got ready for the 2nd class bus from Florez to Rio Dulce. The journey is supposed to take 5 hours. When the bus rounded the corner it looked like it was about to tip over. It was incredibly lopsided and we loaded our luggage under the bus on the lower sloping side which I don't think helped. On the bus the windows opened in some seats and not others. We found seats towards the front of the bus. The bus struggled - to say the least. Each time we stopped to drop someone off or pick someone up on the road side, it chugged along slowly. We picked up a family of Guatemalan women who decided not to move all the way down the back of the bus but to hover in the aisle at the front and then... sit ON me. The woman leaned on my arm rest and then tipped the rest of her bum back onto me. Eeek. What was I supposed to do. The woman behind her was elbowing me in the head and the 9 yr old kid tucked between the seats must have thought I was interesting enough to stare at for 2 hours. So we continue along down the road (with the woman still sitting on me - she still hasn't said anything to me at this point (like, sorry or excuse me or smiled?) or even turned around to acknowledge that yes, she was sitting ON me) and the bus goes over a speed bump and.... bottoms out. It's all over at that point. The bus stops, the driver jumps off, the men at the back of the bus all start to pile out. Oh oh, something is not working out here. I got off to check it out and low and behold the wheel is jutting out. The driver is under the bus trying to fix it and the bus load of passengers are either on the road or on the bus (throwing their rubbish out the window onto the road).
We tried to learn some more spanish, like, where can I get a taxi from here - haha. After about 1.5 hours of false starts the bus was finally on it's way, minus a few passengers who managed to hitch a ride with passing trucks. The guatemalan woman returned to her resting place on my knee and off we went. Then it started to pour with rain which came flying in the windows. It was a trade off between fresh air and getting wet. Fresh air it was. We wound our way slowly through guatemalan jungle and hills and finally made our way to Rio Dulce where we were stuck in a traffic jam for 20 minutes (which we found out was a petrol tanker stuck in the middle of the road - I was gearing myself for an explosion but luckily not). We walked the last 800m into town with our packs and waited for the boat to our hotel.
The hotel is run by American couples and it has a lot of yachts moor during the hurricane season (which is now). It is super cute and possibly the best place we have stayed in so far. Our room is a wooden cabin on stilts with gorgeous white fluffy blankets and mosquito nets. There are no walls on the end of the room that looks out onto the water, just insect netting. We settled in for happy hour beers (DEF. needed them) and the yummiest dinner of the whole trip.
Today I think I'll head to a local orphanage and then swim around on the river. There is a gorgeous looking pontoon with beach chairs that look like they have my name on it.
x
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Taxco aka - Silvertown
Those who know me will attest to the fact that I.love.silver.jewelry.A.LOT. So off to Taxco we went. Taxco (pronounced Tas-ko) is known as one of the silver capitals of Mexico. It originally had silver mines and consequently it attracted lots of silver jewelry makers and silver wares, but the mines are no longer functional.
As a side note: There seemed to be a mexican cowboy convention happening in Mexico City when we left. See picture below - there were more cowboy hats than you'd expect and they were all hanging outside hotels as if on the way somewhere - like, a bootscooting or gun-slinging seminar or something.
We took a tour to Taxco. Many are run as day trips from Mexico City. But we decided to stay the night as we didn't want to be restricted by tour bus timetables of 10.5 minutes in a location before getting back in the tour van.
Taxco is set in the hills on the way to Acapulco and took about 2 hours to reach from Mexico City, with a stop in Cuernavaca (pronounced Korna-va-ka) on the way.
We stopped to check out the impressive cathedral - the Cathedral de Cuernavaca - which was previously a Franciscan monastery dating from the 1500's.
These girls were attending a wedding - they were so super cute in their fluro tuile skirts.
The first of the silver - I was pretty excited! I bought the ducky charm in the 4th row, second from the right.
It wouldn't be shopping in Mexico if you didn't celebrate EVERY purchase with a tequila. Wowzers - my head was spinning after a few. It was only about 1pm when we arrived at this stop/shop and hadn't yet had lunch.
Arriving in Taxco. Our hotel was super cute - reportedly at 1600's convent.
There was some slight confusion when we booked the hotel. It's oldschool and so you have to call to make the booking (as opposed to almost everything else, where you can book online). The address that was given to us on the phone was different from that in the guide book, which was in turn different to that in the online ratings guide (tripadvisor.com - check it out if you are planning any travel). We weren't sure if we would be turning up to Taxco, only to have booked a hotel in another city. All worked out well and we did indeed book the right (cute) little place.
The streets in Taxco are all cobble stones, the taxis are vw beetles or combis and all the houses are required to be white with red roofs. It is these elements which add to the charming character of the village set in the hills.
I spot 4 pieces of jewelry that I already own which I thought were unique. Apparently not! Ha. These were some of the more heavy-duty pieces of silver jewelry and the prices didn't differ too much from home (disappointingly).
I had fun trying on the really expensive artisan pieces. This one is the original design as worn by Frida Kahlo. I love Frida.
The 'Vista bonita' - I'm slowly adding to my spanish vocabulary.
We stopped off for an afternoon refresher. I ordered a strawberry smoothie - it came out like pink Quick with 'can-o-cream' all over the top. Not reaaaally what I had in mind. But pink drinks are fun all the same.
We visited an artisan store with some really nice jewelry - but you had to pay a price! I tried on pretty much everything in the whole store and didn't find anything I loved! This bracelet came close - HA. It is a prawn bracelet that bend's around the wrist.
We played at the weekend markets - not much silver to be seen here just rows upon rows of beads.
Ah, after a long day of sight seeing, silver jewel shopping and walking up steep roads around Taxco - we settled in for dinner at a rooftop restaurant next to our hotel. Guacamole (mandatory), spicy spicy salsa, Tortilla soup and mushroom tortillas. Nom!
The following morning we explored some more markets - these ones were more for the locals to get their weekly shopping. We tried many edible things from street vendors. My broken spanish and their non-existant english made from some funny/interesting exchanges.
Not quite sure what this is but we ate it. See plastic cup in the back ground - it was topped with fresh lime and chilli. The consistency is almost like passionfruit as the white in the red beads are hard/crunchy seeds.
This is the red fruit lady who was so lovely and explained how we were meant to season our fruit with chilli and lime.
We took a vw beetle taxi to the hill at the top of Taxco to check out the Christ statue. The ride up was an adventure in itself - not to mention the ride down. I have some very funny video footage of our driver navigating the narrowest streets i've ever seen, on a very steep gradient, with oncoming traffic and sharp hair pin turns around houses and shops. Our driver was amazing - very much a precision rally car driver.
Getting ready to head back to Mexico city - smiles on our faces and our bags only ever so slightly heavier with silver. All in all I was dissapointed with the lack of quality and variety of silver jewelry. Most of it was like that stocked in Tree of Life and for the same prices.
I asked this guy (in spanish) if I could take his picture. He willingly agreed, only I think I asked him if he would take my picture... hmmm.... need to work on the spanish a bit. Anyway he was super embarrassed to have is photo taken and his buddies around him were laughing. I then tried to ask him if he knew what 'dork' meant - he said 'no, no english' and tried to shoo us away to pacify the laughter of his buddies.
Our trip back to Mexico City in the local bus was fun. We watched Wolverine and a pixar animated film in spanish. The seats were super comfy and had a HUGE leg rest thing that tucked under your calves so it was almost like a recliner seat.
The arrival at the Mexico City bus station and the subsequent taxi ride into the city was interesting (and a little scary/stressful) to say the least. There was a huge cultural gap evident and noone spoke english to be able to understand where we were going. I thought the taxi driver was going to dump us on the side of the road in Mexico City (only one of the most dangerous cities in the world) as we had to pay upfront. Anyway, my fears were allayed as soon as the taxi driver popped in his CD which started blaring out 'Our House' by Men at Work. It was just a little bit of Australia in Mexico. Coincidentally in a later taxi on the way to Mexico City airport 'We come from the land down under' was playing on a cd. Men at Work certainly have a cult following here in Mexico.
Adios Amigos. xx
As a side note: There seemed to be a mexican cowboy convention happening in Mexico City when we left. See picture below - there were more cowboy hats than you'd expect and they were all hanging outside hotels as if on the way somewhere - like, a bootscooting or gun-slinging seminar or something.
We took a tour to Taxco. Many are run as day trips from Mexico City. But we decided to stay the night as we didn't want to be restricted by tour bus timetables of 10.5 minutes in a location before getting back in the tour van.Taxco is set in the hills on the way to Acapulco and took about 2 hours to reach from Mexico City, with a stop in Cuernavaca (pronounced Korna-va-ka) on the way.
We stopped to check out the impressive cathedral - the Cathedral de Cuernavaca - which was previously a Franciscan monastery dating from the 1500's.
These girls were attending a wedding - they were so super cute in their fluro tuile skirts.
The first of the silver - I was pretty excited! I bought the ducky charm in the 4th row, second from the right.
It wouldn't be shopping in Mexico if you didn't celebrate EVERY purchase with a tequila. Wowzers - my head was spinning after a few. It was only about 1pm when we arrived at this stop/shop and hadn't yet had lunch.
Arriving in Taxco. Our hotel was super cute - reportedly at 1600's convent.
There was some slight confusion when we booked the hotel. It's oldschool and so you have to call to make the booking (as opposed to almost everything else, where you can book online). The address that was given to us on the phone was different from that in the guide book, which was in turn different to that in the online ratings guide (tripadvisor.com - check it out if you are planning any travel). We weren't sure if we would be turning up to Taxco, only to have booked a hotel in another city. All worked out well and we did indeed book the right (cute) little place.
The streets in Taxco are all cobble stones, the taxis are vw beetles or combis and all the houses are required to be white with red roofs. It is these elements which add to the charming character of the village set in the hills.
I spot 4 pieces of jewelry that I already own which I thought were unique. Apparently not! Ha. These were some of the more heavy-duty pieces of silver jewelry and the prices didn't differ too much from home (disappointingly).
I had fun trying on the really expensive artisan pieces. This one is the original design as worn by Frida Kahlo. I love Frida.
The 'Vista bonita' - I'm slowly adding to my spanish vocabulary.
We stopped off for an afternoon refresher. I ordered a strawberry smoothie - it came out like pink Quick with 'can-o-cream' all over the top. Not reaaaally what I had in mind. But pink drinks are fun all the same.
We visited an artisan store with some really nice jewelry - but you had to pay a price! I tried on pretty much everything in the whole store and didn't find anything I loved! This bracelet came close - HA. It is a prawn bracelet that bend's around the wrist.
We played at the weekend markets - not much silver to be seen here just rows upon rows of beads.
Ah, after a long day of sight seeing, silver jewel shopping and walking up steep roads around Taxco - we settled in for dinner at a rooftop restaurant next to our hotel. Guacamole (mandatory), spicy spicy salsa, Tortilla soup and mushroom tortillas. Nom!
The following morning we explored some more markets - these ones were more for the locals to get their weekly shopping. We tried many edible things from street vendors. My broken spanish and their non-existant english made from some funny/interesting exchanges.
Not quite sure what this is but we ate it. See plastic cup in the back ground - it was topped with fresh lime and chilli. The consistency is almost like passionfruit as the white in the red beads are hard/crunchy seeds.
This is the red fruit lady who was so lovely and explained how we were meant to season our fruit with chilli and lime.
We took a vw beetle taxi to the hill at the top of Taxco to check out the Christ statue. The ride up was an adventure in itself - not to mention the ride down. I have some very funny video footage of our driver navigating the narrowest streets i've ever seen, on a very steep gradient, with oncoming traffic and sharp hair pin turns around houses and shops. Our driver was amazing - very much a precision rally car driver.
Getting ready to head back to Mexico city - smiles on our faces and our bags only ever so slightly heavier with silver. All in all I was dissapointed with the lack of quality and variety of silver jewelry. Most of it was like that stocked in Tree of Life and for the same prices.
I asked this guy (in spanish) if I could take his picture. He willingly agreed, only I think I asked him if he would take my picture... hmmm.... need to work on the spanish a bit. Anyway he was super embarrassed to have is photo taken and his buddies around him were laughing. I then tried to ask him if he knew what 'dork' meant - he said 'no, no english' and tried to shoo us away to pacify the laughter of his buddies.
Our trip back to Mexico City in the local bus was fun. We watched Wolverine and a pixar animated film in spanish. The seats were super comfy and had a HUGE leg rest thing that tucked under your calves so it was almost like a recliner seat.The arrival at the Mexico City bus station and the subsequent taxi ride into the city was interesting (and a little scary/stressful) to say the least. There was a huge cultural gap evident and noone spoke english to be able to understand where we were going. I thought the taxi driver was going to dump us on the side of the road in Mexico City (only one of the most dangerous cities in the world) as we had to pay upfront. Anyway, my fears were allayed as soon as the taxi driver popped in his CD which started blaring out 'Our House' by Men at Work. It was just a little bit of Australia in Mexico. Coincidentally in a later taxi on the way to Mexico City airport 'We come from the land down under' was playing on a cd. Men at Work certainly have a cult following here in Mexico.
Adios Amigos. xx
Thursday, September 2, 2010
HelloMG
OMG! There are so so many pregnant bellies of my beautiful lady friends and lovely extended family that I c.a.n.n.o.t. wait to pat when I get home. Get ready ladies! xx
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Hola Mehico!
Another early morning for the traveling sisters. We flew out of Toronto international airport - bound for Mexico City.
A somewhat eventful morning. I had a little (actually big) vomie going through customs (malaria tablets on an empty stomach is not a wise choice - should have known better). Then we were freaking out about whether we would be allowed to fly to Mexico (on a US airline with a stop over in Miami) as we didn't actually go through immigration when we got to Canada (the guard just waved us through and when we asked if we needed to she said 'No need, unless you want to?'). The issue here is the US has a strict 90 visa waiver - meaning you HAVE to leave the country no later than 90 days after your arrival or you will not be allowed to re-enter. We actually left on day 88 - just to make extra sure we weren't overstaying - but it didn't seem to be a problem at the immigration desk and we were aok to get on the flight to Mexico.
More flying. I have my routine down pat these days. As I'm traveling with my guitar as my hand luggage I approach the desk before boarding to ask if they have closet on board for my guitar. 9 times out of 10 they say - yes we do and you should get on first so you can put it in there. I think we've flown about 5 or 6 times (plus all the extra connecting flights) with me carrying my guitar as hand luggage. So far so good. I just need to play it more. I feel like a fraud as I don't actually know how to play anything (I'm just learning) and I'm carrying the bloody thing across the whole continent.
Central America here we come.
View flying out of Miami.
View flying into Mexico City - Mmmm smog.
Bienvenido a Mexico (plus action shot of me carrying the guitar).
The Big Sissa was so excited to have a placard with her name on it! We booked a nice hotel (got a great deal) that had a transport service as about, oh say 15 people warned us that Mexico and Mexico City in particular are really dangerous and kidnappings from the airport are not uncommon. Eeeek!
Driving through Mexico city with our taxi driver Johnathan (pronounced Yonaton).
The Barry Drive window washer should get some of fire breathing action happening if he wants to spice up his act a bit more. Seriously - WTF? a fire breathing busker/begger at the traffic lights.
The hotel pool. I have plans to do some laps, or just float around in there tomorrow morning.
Our room. The lovely hotel staff upgraded us to a bigger room. They've also been teaching us a bit of spanish which is muoy bien.
Checking out the view of smoggy Mexico City.
Ooops - let me just pose for a quick pic here. Not sure what I'm doing but I think I'm making gun signs with my hands. We are in Mexico after all.
The lovely bell-boy, who we are now very well acquainted with and whose name is Jacob (Yakob) volunteered to take us to Walmart supermarket when we asked him for directions to the closest supermarket. He actually left the hotel and took us on a bus to the supermarket while he was on duty. He pushed our trolley around and taught me spanish words along the way. He asked if I was on Facebook and if he could add me as a friend - hehe what a cutie. We were gone almost an hour and I think he was in a hurry to get back.
Just now, he dropped past our room with brownies and berries for the Big Sissa and I. What a sweetie! I was trying to give up on cake and avoid chocolate for a bit but I managed to inhale both mine and the Big Sissa's brownie (she is coeliac so can't have it anyway). Nom.
Cactus leaves on sale at Walmart. Mmmm delish!
Jacob and the Big Sissa. Note that Jacob has his work walkie talkie and ear piece connected. Yeah well it didn't work outside a 3 block radius of the hotel and we were probably about 20 by the time we got off the bus - which by the way has a woman's entry up the front which is very courteous. It might also be for safety as Jacob handed me a pamphlet on the bus which was warning hotel guests about security in Mexico City. Eeeep!
As we were gone quite a while and Jacob was a little anxious to get back to work - since he just up and left! - we jumped in a taxi to head back to the hotel. Traffic was horrendous and we could have walked faster. It was good to check out a local taxi with someone we trusted though (our new mate J) as it is the taxi's that we have been most warned about. I had a high school buddy who was held up at gunpoint in a taxi and had her passport stolen so the stories aren't too unreal.
The internet connection is soooooper slow going so this post has been a little while in the making. Tomorrow we are going to explore Mexico City and try not to get a) shot or b) kidnapped or c) both - in the process.
In other news - is anyone still out there in blogland? I know I've been on hiatus but not sure if you have been too. x
p.s. Not sure if you noticed but I put some reaction buttons down the bottom. Click a few - I want to see if they work. x
p.p.s. What is happening back home with this crazy election! I'm so glad I'm out of the country. Might not return if Mr Rabbit gets elected p.m.
A somewhat eventful morning. I had a little (actually big) vomie going through customs (malaria tablets on an empty stomach is not a wise choice - should have known better). Then we were freaking out about whether we would be allowed to fly to Mexico (on a US airline with a stop over in Miami) as we didn't actually go through immigration when we got to Canada (the guard just waved us through and when we asked if we needed to she said 'No need, unless you want to?'). The issue here is the US has a strict 90 visa waiver - meaning you HAVE to leave the country no later than 90 days after your arrival or you will not be allowed to re-enter. We actually left on day 88 - just to make extra sure we weren't overstaying - but it didn't seem to be a problem at the immigration desk and we were aok to get on the flight to Mexico.
More flying. I have my routine down pat these days. As I'm traveling with my guitar as my hand luggage I approach the desk before boarding to ask if they have closet on board for my guitar. 9 times out of 10 they say - yes we do and you should get on first so you can put it in there. I think we've flown about 5 or 6 times (plus all the extra connecting flights) with me carrying my guitar as hand luggage. So far so good. I just need to play it more. I feel like a fraud as I don't actually know how to play anything (I'm just learning) and I'm carrying the bloody thing across the whole continent.
Central America here we come.
View flying out of Miami.
View flying into Mexico City - Mmmm smog.
Bienvenido a Mexico (plus action shot of me carrying the guitar).
The Big Sissa was so excited to have a placard with her name on it! We booked a nice hotel (got a great deal) that had a transport service as about, oh say 15 people warned us that Mexico and Mexico City in particular are really dangerous and kidnappings from the airport are not uncommon. Eeeek!
Driving through Mexico city with our taxi driver Johnathan (pronounced Yonaton).
The Barry Drive window washer should get some of fire breathing action happening if he wants to spice up his act a bit more. Seriously - WTF? a fire breathing busker/begger at the traffic lights.
The hotel pool. I have plans to do some laps, or just float around in there tomorrow morning.
Our room. The lovely hotel staff upgraded us to a bigger room. They've also been teaching us a bit of spanish which is muoy bien.
Checking out the view of smoggy Mexico City.
Ooops - let me just pose for a quick pic here. Not sure what I'm doing but I think I'm making gun signs with my hands. We are in Mexico after all.
The lovely bell-boy, who we are now very well acquainted with and whose name is Jacob (Yakob) volunteered to take us to Walmart supermarket when we asked him for directions to the closest supermarket. He actually left the hotel and took us on a bus to the supermarket while he was on duty. He pushed our trolley around and taught me spanish words along the way. He asked if I was on Facebook and if he could add me as a friend - hehe what a cutie. We were gone almost an hour and I think he was in a hurry to get back.Just now, he dropped past our room with brownies and berries for the Big Sissa and I. What a sweetie! I was trying to give up on cake and avoid chocolate for a bit but I managed to inhale both mine and the Big Sissa's brownie (she is coeliac so can't have it anyway). Nom.
Cactus leaves on sale at Walmart. Mmmm delish!
Jacob and the Big Sissa. Note that Jacob has his work walkie talkie and ear piece connected. Yeah well it didn't work outside a 3 block radius of the hotel and we were probably about 20 by the time we got off the bus - which by the way has a woman's entry up the front which is very courteous. It might also be for safety as Jacob handed me a pamphlet on the bus which was warning hotel guests about security in Mexico City. Eeeep!
As we were gone quite a while and Jacob was a little anxious to get back to work - since he just up and left! - we jumped in a taxi to head back to the hotel. Traffic was horrendous and we could have walked faster. It was good to check out a local taxi with someone we trusted though (our new mate J) as it is the taxi's that we have been most warned about. I had a high school buddy who was held up at gunpoint in a taxi and had her passport stolen so the stories aren't too unreal.
The internet connection is soooooper slow going so this post has been a little while in the making. Tomorrow we are going to explore Mexico City and try not to get a) shot or b) kidnapped or c) both - in the process.In other news - is anyone still out there in blogland? I know I've been on hiatus but not sure if you have been too. x
p.s. Not sure if you noticed but I put some reaction buttons down the bottom. Click a few - I want to see if they work. x
p.p.s. What is happening back home with this crazy election! I'm so glad I'm out of the country. Might not return if Mr Rabbit gets elected p.m.
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