Tag Archives: central america

Punta Cana

Relaxing on Bavaro BeachMost people you talk to about the Dominican Republic only know about Punta Cana. Punta Cana is in the far east of the Dominican Republic. It’s a coastal all-inclusive resort town that gets a huge number of tourists visiting on a regular basis.

Staying in a budget hotel in Bavaro, I really enjoyed the chilled out atmosphere of the region. I enjoyed wandering the streets to find cosy cafe’s in which to eat and drink. The beach was a great place to go for a walk, a swim and enjoying some time soaking up the sun while reading a book. Beyond that, I found there was little to do in the region.

While I enjoyed my weekend away, I decided Punta Cana is not my kind of town. Being a resort town with huge number of tourists, it lacked the cultural aspects I prefer in my travels. If you like to swim at the beach and in the pool, sunbathe, drink and do little else, then Punta Cana is definitely a great place to visit!

CocoBongo

Amazing theatrics at CocoBongoI’m not the biggest party girl, but someone told me I *HAD* to go to CocoBongo while I was in Punta Cana. I dutifully booked my ticket, put my dancing shoes on and headed out.

CocoBongo is a combination between a disco and a live show. From 11pm to 4am, they alternate between dance and acrobatic performances and  general disco/nightclub dancing.

Girls are invited to dance on the central bar and various podiums. At random intervals they give out balloons. The best part for many people though, is the open bar.

Tickets cost USD$75, it includes hotel transfers, entry and of course the open bar. While the ticket is expensive, the inclusions make up for it and I can assure you it is a night out you will not regret!

Where to stay

Punta Cana is predominantly all-inclusive resorts, prices can be exorbitant through to affordable. Most of the affordable accomodation options are at nearby beach town El Cortecito / Bavaro. I found a reasonable option on Booking.com

In the event you want to travel into central Punta Cana, taxis cost 1000 pesos for the 10 minute drive, because they know you have no other option and they can charge what they like. Taking a moto-taxi is much more affordable for getting around the area.


Getting There

Expreso Bavaro travel multiple times per day to the Punta Cana region. Buses depart daily at 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 & 16 daily, they depart at the same times from Santo Domingo and from Bavaro.
This website made a nice summary of the information and the stops along the way.

The bus station in Santo Domingo is on Juan Sanchez Ramirez in Gascue, half a block from Metro stop Joaquín Balaguer.

Tickets are 400 pesos one way, they sell out quickly and do not take reservations, so you need to arrive early. The journey takes approximately 3.5 hours.

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Living in Santo Domingo

After travelling for so long, I decided it was time to slow down. At this point in time an English teaching position was advertised in my twitter feed for a position at Academia Europea in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic… so off I went.

Dominican Republic

MaleconThe Dominican Republic is a country in the Caribbean. It can be found on the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the country of Haiti to its west. I don’t know if it is true, but according to wikipedia it is the most visited country in the Caribbean.

The official language is Spanish, but they have a bit of their own spin on it. You will come across many colloquial phrases, and you will find pronounciation is not very clear. Around the more touristic areas, you will find people who speak snippets of English, enough to help you get by.

The country has a land size over just over 48,000 square kilometres, with an estimated population of over 10 million. The capital of the Dominican Republic is Santo Domingo, this is where I live and work.

Santo Domingo

The capital city of the Dominican Republic is Santo Domingo, in the country’s south. Unsurprisingly, it is the largest city in the country and has a population of around 1 million.

Most amazing things to see and do are outside of Santo Domingo, but around the city are a few architecturally fascinating buildings, some shopping malls and the two places I would recommend seeing, Zona Colonial and Santo Domingo East.

Zona Colonial

Sculpture at the MaleconThe primary attraction in Santo Domingo is Zona Colonial, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Wandering the streets of Zona Colonial gives you a look at the beautiful old Spanish architecture dating back to the 1500s.

Some of the highlights include:

  • Basilica Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor, the first cathedral in the Americas (Entry costs 40 pesos, or 60 with audio guide)
  • Alcazar de Colon, home built by Diego Colon, son of Christopher Columbus (I’m not sure if it’s free entry but I wandered in without paying)
  • Ruinas del Hospital San Nicolas de Bari (I’m not sure if it’s free entry but I wandered in without paying)
  • Plaza de España
  • Pantheon Nacional (I’m not sure if it’s free entry but I wandered in without paying)
  • Calle Las Damas
  • Calle El Conde
  • Calle Hostos
  • Parque Independencia
  • Parque Colon
  • The Malecon

Alcazar de Colon at night

Santo Domingo East

Across the river from central Santo Domingo and Zona Colonial are two sights worth visiting.

Faro a ColonLos Tres Ojos – is a national park with some beautiful gardens and simply stunning sink holes. Entry costs 100 pesos, and the little boat trip across one of the sink holes costs 50 pesos. A guide will try to rent you their services, but in my opinion you do not need a guide.

Faro a Colon – the lighthouse of Christopher Columbus, it is a museum, church and tomb. When I tried to visit it was closed, so I am not sure of the price.

The two sights are very close to each other, however it is a particularly unsafe area, take taxi’s or uber everywhere.

Getting Around

Uber

The most easy and reliable way to get around, but it can become expensive.
If you don’t have an Uber account, sign up using my code to get a free ride: cats355ue

Taxi

Very expensive, ideally you need the contact details for a specific company/driver and you need to be able to speak Spanish.

Public Taxis/Cars

Los Tres OjosPublic cars run the length, up and down, of main streets. You hop in, pay 25 pesos and jump out when you want (longer trajectories will charge up to 50 pesos). They are identifiable mostly because they toot their horn and wave their arm out the window at you to see if you want a lift, they are typically beat up cars with a street name on their roof sign or windshield sticker.
Note: These cars are usually quite full and they will happily fit 6 adults into a car, so get ready to squash in!

Buses

Buses are quite hard to figure out, some run the length of streets, like public cars, others have routes that are probably set, but there are no bus schedules or routes available online or anywhere else. In some cases you just jump on and hope for the best!

Metro

The Metro/ Subway system is very limited, there are only two lines. In the event you want to go somewhere along those lines then it is a very cost effective, safe, reliable means of travel. A single trip costs 35 pesos, a daily card or rechargeable card is more cost effective and get the value of single trips down to as low as 20 pesos.

Walking

You can get anywhere you want by walking, the only issues are that distances can be quite large so it is time consuming, it is very hot and not many the streets of Santo Domingo are safe to walk.

Cultural attitude towards women

Something I think worth mentioning is the attitude towards women. Unfortunately catcalling is something women have to put up with in many countries, it’s often not intended in a malicious way but it still makes us feel uncomfortable.

My local fruit sellerIn the Dominican Republic, as a white girl travelling alone, this discomfort most definitely continues. As I walk the streets I am regularly hissed at, stared at and called out to.
“Rubia” “Gringa” “Americana”

Engaging in conversation with people, they rarely ask how I am, the first question out of a man’s mouth is “Are you married?”, “Do you have a boyfriend?” or “Where are your children?”
It is a foreign concept, that a woman my age would choose to be single, so the assumption is that there is something wrong with me or it must mean I want a Dominican man. Every second man will ask for your phone number within minutes of meeting.

My two main tips for dealing with this are:
a) put on your biggest grin, smile, say hello and just keep walking
b) lie, say you are married and wear a fake wedding ring (if you can find something cheap and nasty to wear, because anything that looks expensive might get stolen)

Safety in Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, and the Dominican Republic in general, is not a particularly safe place. Do not wear expensive jewellery. Limit what you carry on your person in terms of valuable possessions and money. On the streets and even in cars, avoid having your cell phone or camera visible.

Muggings at gunpoint and theft in general are very common. Always have your wits about you, aim to walk around confidently as though you know where you are going and avoid walking the streets after dark.

Despite safety concerns, do not be deterred from visiting, just stay street smart.

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Tulum & Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

For the last part of the tour we crossed the border back into Mexico. We followed the coastline and made two stops: Tulum and Playa Del Carmen.

Tulum

Tulum is famous for the Mayan Ruins that are perched on a cliff top overlooking the Caribbean Sea.

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The day we planned to visit the site, we awoke to a downpour, which we waited out. With clear skies we headed to the site and started exploring. Firstly the site was much smaller than expected. Secondly the view of the ruins against the sea and sand was a little disappointing due to the major seaweed issue that has been plaguing the beaches on the Caribbean Sea. Despite this, it was really pretty.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABy the time we were half way into our visit, the skies darkened and we watched the wall of rain and lightning approach is rapidly from over the ocean. We did a runner under our raincoats through the remainder of the site and returned to our hotel soaked through all layers of clothing.

The site opens at 8am and it is advisable to go as early as possible to avoid the heat and the crowds, though neither were an issue for us. The entry cost was 64pesos and considering the size of the site, that price is more than fair. You should allow a minimum of one hour to visit the site If you want to spend longer, maybe take some picnic food and relax under one of the trees to simply absorb the environment around you. It really is quite a nice site to visit.

P1060555The other activity we did in the city of Tulum was to take a taxi out to some local cenotes. We started with a trip to Gran Cenote. The entry cost was 150pesos and the site was quite commercialised, with a cafe, showers, toilets, as well as lockers, life jackets, diving and snorkelling gear for hire.

To keep the water clean you shower before descending the stairs to the walkways above the water. Even though the cenote is quite open at the top, descending into it makes it feel much more exotic and interesting. The walkways had ladders at various points to provide access to the water. The water was crystal clear and there were many areas you could swim, follow the walls of the sink hole, swim through caves and even swim with turtles. Even though I didn’t like how commercialised the site was, it certainly was very pretty and had variety of things to see.

P1060588The next cenotes we visited were Crystal Cenote and Escondido Cenote. The entry cost was 120pesos but was a combined ticket for entry to both (on opposite sides of the highway). Both Crystal and Escondido were less commercialised. There were very rudimentary drop toi
lets on site and a few timber benches to sit on, but that was the extent of the development. They felt much less like cenotes and more like small lakes, but were nonetheless beautiful.P1060567

Playa Del Carmen


OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPlaya Del Carmen is roughly an hour up the coast from Tulum, in the direction of Cancun. It is a very popular tourist destination. The main street, 5th avenue is full of shops, restaurants and bars. A great spot for cheap souvenirs. The beach runs parallel to 5th avenue, but is one block down. The beach, like in Tulum, is plagued with seaweed. So unfortunately there is no beautiful white beaches and crystal clear water .

Something interesting and helpful to understand about Playa Del Carmen is the street naming system. Avenues run parallel to the beach and go up in fives eg. Avenida 5, Avenida 10 etc. Streets run perpendicular and go up in twos eg. Calle 2, Calle 4.

IMG_6166With no set plans and some days to spare a few of us booked an apartment with a pool, using airbnb. So we spent a few days pottering around the local area and chilling out by the pool.

I’m sure there is loads more to see and do in the Playa Del Carmen area but after touring Mexico, Guatemala and Belize for close to a month, a few days off in a sunny location is exactly what we needed.

Check out all my photos on Flickr

 

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Belize

San Ignacio

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASan Ignacio was our first of two stops in Belize. Interestingly Belize is the only english speaking country in Central America, and despite being told it would be quite different to the other countries, I didn’t believe it until I experienced it myself.

The town of San Ignacio was a very small, sleepy, Rastafarian town.  The mix of races is predominant, and it has a much more caribbean feel than any of the previous places we visited.

While the town didn’t have a whole lot to offer, it was a gateway to a number of outdoor activities. There were loads of options, but we did two days of caving in one form or another. The tours we booked were through Maya Tours and I was impressed with their service and professionalism.

A.T.M Cave

The Actun Tunichil Muknal cave is a bit over an hour drive from San Ignacio in the Tapir Mountain Reserve. To access the cave is a 45 minute hike through the jungle and with three river crossings. The water thankfully, isn’t too cold.

P1060203The cave entrance is a pool of crystal clear, turquoise water. At this point you double check your helmet is done up, turn on your light and swim into the cave.

Throughout the cave the water varies between ankle deep and swimming depth. There are many amazing caverns, rock formations, stalagmites, stalactites and crystallisations to be seen. The cave itself is absolutely stunning and worth the visit. In the depths of the cave there is a ladder, which you climb to gain access to a large dry chamber which was used by the Mayans to perform rituals and sacrifices.

In the dry chamber are many broken pots, but more interestingly many calcified skulls and skeletons. The most famous is the full skeleton of a young adolescent boy, which is referred to as “The Crystal Maiden” (it was initially though to be the skeleton of a female).

Due to accidents in the past cameras have been  banned from the caves, so unfortunately I have no photos to share.

Cave Tubing

P1060241Cave Tubing is another fantastic way to spend time in sunny hot Belize. Access to the entry point is roughly a 45 minute walk through the jungle carrying your tube and life vest. At the entry point is a ladder down to the water level.

After a quick swim, everyone jumps in their tube and paddles into the caves to start exploring the cave system by water. The only down side was that there wasn’t much water flow, so we spent a great deal of time paddling ourselves down the river.

P1060310As you paddle you enter and exit caves. Through the various caves you can see bats, stalactites and waterfalls. There are a few short stretches where the water is shallower than at other points. This is where you get to lay back, relax and ride the water flow.

The time spent in the water would have been roughly two hours. While our arms may have been a little tired from paddling at the end of the trip, it was otherwise a very relaxing and pleasant experience.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERACaye Caulker

Caye Caulker is a Belizean Island off the easter coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea. The island is 8.2km long and 2km wide at it’s widest point. It is made of limestone coral, and the ground everywhere is a powdery white.

Against the white ground and sand, the water appears as a stunning turquoise colour. Caye Caulker is a hub for tourists wanting to chill out, relax, snorkel and dive. It also seems to be a hub for people who want to party.

We had two full days on the island, the second day was spent simply relaxing and soaking up the atmosphere, wandering the island and enjoying the food and drink.

The first day we spent on the island, we did a full day sailing and snorkelling tour which was absolutely FANTASTIC!! We sailed out to the reef and had the good luck of being visited by a pod of dolphins along the way.

The first reef we went to, we all put on our snorkelling equipment and explored at our own pace. We saw some beautiful live coral and loads of varieties of colourful fish.

P1060406Arriving at our second reef stop, a school of nurse sharks swam up to the boat expecting to be fed. We did not feed them, but being a tourist destination this is a major issue caused by tourists wanting to see animals in the wild. They feed them and the animals become conditioned to expect food when a boat arrives in their area, it changes their natural behaviours.

After a short while the sharks realised we wouldn’t be giving them food, as they dissipated, we geared up and jumped on in. We were split into two groups and had guided snorkelling sessions. The guide took the opportunity to tell us the various types of fish and coral that we could see, we were shown the sleeping sharks and also a moray eel.

P1060485After ‘swimming with sharks’ we enjoyed a tasty lunch on the boat deck before heading to the third reef stop. This was a much shallower section of reef but by far my favourite simply for the fact that we had the opportunity to observe sea turtles. It was just amazing to see these creatures in their habitat!

We spent the remainder of the day slowly sailing back to Caye Caulker, enjoying the sun and indulging in some of the local rum punch!

Check out the pics on Flickr!

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Rio Dulce, Flores & Tikal

Rio Dulce

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERARio Dulce, meaning Sweet River,  is a river in Guatemala. We stayed at a hotel called Tortugal which we accessed by boat. We stayed in bungalows that were on stilts above the river and it was just amazing. A great spot to relax, sunbathe, swim and enjoy happy hour cocktails.

A worthwhile activity to do from Rio Dulce is to visit the hot springs. I think they are called Finca El Paraiso and can be found near the small town of El Estor. From the car park it is a short ten minute hike in.  The river is ‘cold’ water, by that I mean it is called cold water but is actually quite warm by the standards of a Tasmanian. The water from the waterfall however is hot, and I genuinely mean hot, close to boiling. It’s absolutely awesome to swim around and then be massaged by the falling hot water from the waterfall.

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Flores

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOur visit to Flores was an overnight stop on the way to Tikal. We arrived in the evening and left at 5am. We stayed in a lakeside resort with a gorgeous view. For dinner we wandered over to the town which was on another little island, we saw a beautiful sunset, some super cute little buildings and enjoyed happy hour at a roof top bar.

I imagine it would be a nice place to spend a half or full day, but it is otherwise quite a small place.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Tikal

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERATikal is another Mayan archaeological site, but compared to the others we had visited it was a great deal bigger and felt a bit more raw and natural. Each temple was a short jungle hike away from the next. We only saw about 2% of the park as it is simply enormous. The site is over 400 square kilometres and is in Guatemala, but reasonably close to the border of Belize.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERATikal is a more recent name given to the site and it means “Voices of the Spirits”. The jungle in which the site can be found makes all sorts of noises, particularly eerie are the howler monkeys. It was from these noises that it got the name Tikal. Its real name however, is Mutul.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMany people believe that the Mayans regularly made sacrifices to the gods, particularly human sacrifice. In later years and in other places human sacrifice became more prominent in the culture, however at the when Tikal was inhabited it was not very common and was only done for very special occasions. An example is when someone wins a particular type of ball game. They person who wins is honoured with being sacrificed to the gods. They are cut below the rib, then green obsidian is used to cut through everything else to make a passage to the heart. Then they reach in and pull out the heart to sacrifice, they burn it as incense and the smoke will rise up and appease the gods.

All the temples we saw were simply stunning, and it’s always such a wonder that they were able to create such large and beautiful structures with none of the tools we have today. They really were very innovative!

In addition to the stunning buildings, the jungle was just gorgeous. We were lucky enough to see spider monkeys, grey foxes and toucans. We briefly heard howler monkeys but only at a distance.

Check out all my photos on Flickr

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Antigua

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAntigua is a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Guatemalan highlands at 1500 metres above sea level. It was founded in the early 16th century. Like Lake Atitlan it is in an earthquake prone region surrounded by volcanos. There was a large scale earthquake in 1773 which destroyed almost the entire city. Much of Antigua was rebuilt, though some of the old monuments remaining.

The city has an Italian/Spanish influence and like so many other towns has such character in the buildings and cobbled streets. It’s just fantastic to wander and explore. I spent quite some time getting lost in the streets and have loads of awesome pictures of the different streets, doorways and ruins.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPacaya Volcano

For US$20 and a national park entrance fee of 50 quetzales, a group of five of us did a half day tour to the Pacaya Volcano. It’s roughly a 1.5 hour bumpy drive from Antigua.

The hike is not overly challenging and is 6 kilometers return. As you might imagine the hike there was uphill and the return was downhill. Despite having a terrible, uninterested guide, the hike was pretty awesome and we were all glad we did it.

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We thought we would be walking to the crater, but this was not actually the case. We walked to a viewing platform of sorts and then descended a short distance to the base of the 2010 lava flow.

It was interesting to see the lava flow and all the broken chunks of volcanic rock. At the very base there was a small hole in which we were able to roast marshmallows. Despite being quite some distance from the actual craters edge, it was incredible how hot the air coming from the lava flow was.

Coffee Plantation Tour

A group of ten of us booked a private tour to the Azotea Coffee Plantation. The transport cost 30 Quetzales and entrance to the plantation with guided tour was 50 Quetzales, all up the trip was approximately 2.5 hours.

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The tour was throughly fascinating and we had a brilliant guide. I learned some very interesting things along the way.

Coffee was discovered accidentally in Ethiopia when a farmers goats ate the beans and then couldn’t sleep and were incredibly energetic. Coffee is rated in terms of quality and production. For quality the top three producers are Ethiopia, Kenya and Guatemala. For production, or quantity, the top three are Brazil, Vietnam and Columbia.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThere are two main types of coffee, the first is Arabica which is grown in the shade, allowing the coffee to be a better quality, but it doesn’t produce a great quantity as it can only be harvested once a year. The second type is Robusta, which is grown in the sun and can be harvested twice a year, which leads to higher production quantities.

When coffee beans are red they are ready to be picked. This is called a coffee cherry. Each cherry contains 2 beans, though occasionally a cherry will contain just one bean, in which case it is referred to as peaberry coffee. The beans are stripped of their husks to access the bean itself, before being roasted. Beans are typically roasted to medium, medium dark or dark roast. Once roasted they are ready to be ground and prepared to drink.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAt the end of the tour we got the opportunity to taste a standard medium dark roast, which was a bit strong for me, and a peaberry coffee which had a more subtle flavour.

The plantation owner from the year 1912 onwards, Alberto Orive Del Pando has been quoted as having said “Coffee should be black as night, strong as passion, sweet as love and hot as hell”. I still like my coffee sweet and white, but I think he did a great job with the plantation as they continue to produce great coffee!

Check out all my Antigua photos on Flickr

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Panajachel & San Jorge, Guatemala

After quite a long day of transit and a border crossing, we found ourselves in the lakeside village of Panajachel in Guatemala, on the shore of Lake Atitlan.

Atitlan is a word that means “place of water”. It is a lake in the Guatemalan highlands, at an altitude of 1564meters above sea level, which has a rough size of 130 square kilometers. The area around Lake Atitlan is near the meeting point of three tectonic plates and experiences regular earthquakes, they say daily, though I didn’t feel any. The lake is also bordered by three large, now dormant, volcanoes: San Pedro, Atitlan and Toliman. These provide the most amazing view of course.

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Panajachel

From our base in Panajachel we made a few minor excursions but otherwise took it quite easy. The town of Panajachel has a population of around 11,000 and is really cute and the people are very friendly. There are loads of market stalls by the side of the road and the sellers have some quite lovely items, though none of the sellers are excessively persistent for which I am grateful. For the coffee lovers Cafe Loco is worth a visit. I wasn’t fortunate enough to go as it was closed when I popped by, but some friends went and I heard reports that the coffee was genuinely AMAZING! Sunset cafe by the lakeside is a fabulous location, and the service was good, but the hotel restaurant a block above it is actually a bit better. In front of the sunset cafe is a great ‘mirador’, viewpoint, to take pictures of the lake and volcanoes.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFrom the mirador it is easy to access the public jetty, it was here that we rented a private boat for our group of 12, to cross the lake to visit the villages of San Juan and San Pedro. A group of 12 of us, a scenic route and two village stops cost us 110 Quetzales each – a bit pricey in the scheme of things, but quite cheap, much cheaper than a set tour. If you do rent a boat, be sure to go early in the day as the weather starts to crack up any time after midday and the crossing back to Panajachel can become a little rough.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASan Pedro, the village at the base of San Pedro volcano wasn’t overly exciting to me. Just another busy village, perhaps I needed to walk further in to see the real charm, but it didn’t have a great deal of character as far as I was concerned.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASan Juan on the other hand was bursting with character, colour and life. The streets were lined with market stalls of hand made artworks, paintings, tapestries, toys, etc. Also the town had loads of street art adorning the sides of buildings, which I thought was just gorgeous. All the people were super friendly and it was a very welcoming little village.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMy favourite piece of street art was on the side of a Tortilleria (tortilla shop) and of course it depicted tortillas. It was fantastic.

A short tuk tuk ride out of Panajachel is the Atitlan nature reserve. We didn’t have enough time to tackle the zip lines through the forest unfortunately, but we did do a short nature walk to see some of the forest, walk across swinging bridges, visit a butterfly house and my favourite…watch the spider monkeys swinging in the trees.

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San Jorge Homestay

In the afternoon of our second day in Panajachel, we packed up our stuff and headed a little further around the lake and into the hills a bit to the village of San Jorge, where we were paired up and sent to stay with a Mayan family overnight.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASan Jorge is a village of approximately 3000 people. The people speak the Mayan language Kaqchikel, which is a very challenging language with many interesting guttural noises. The primary industry for people living in San Jorge is construction. The men are considered the primary workers, the women of course work just as hard, but at different things, such as having babies, managing stores, making jewellery, tapestries and paintings to sell at the markets and other such things.

Our family, Alejandra, Juan and some of their children, welcomed Anthony and I into their home, near the center plaza of San Jorge. Alejandra and Juan have been married for forty years, they have eleven children, six of whom have moved out of home, married and produced 8 grandchildren. Of the five children who still live at home the youngest three are still attending school and the older two work.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe home we stayed in was small, but comfortable, there were two rooms for homestay guests, of which Anthony and I had a room each. The opened on to an open courtyard. At the front of the courtyard was a big sink for preparing food, washing dishes and other general household uses. At the back of the courtyard were the shower and toilet. To the right was the dining room, from the dining room, the room to the left was the family bedroom (I assume) and to the right was the kitchen.

When we arrived we chatted for a bit in broken Spanish to learn about our host family. Alejandra and her daughter Angelica dressed me up in traditional costume, and then Anthony and I went out to explore the town. It is a very poor village, but the people and the children were all so happy and welcoming. I received many comments and compliments on my outfit; and all the children we saw wanted to play with us and have their picture taken.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOnce we returned home we were given mugs of Pinol to drink, it’s a local hot drink, the nearest description of which would be sweet corn tea. Our pinol was accompanied with the main meal of Polique (a thick corn and chicken soup), boiled chicken, carrot and choco (otherwise known as water potato, though I had never heard of such a thing), served with tamalito (a corn bread that is steamed in leaves) for dipping into the soup. The meal was a very traditional one, one that is often served at parties and weddings. We certainly felt that this was a more lavish dish than they would normally have, but they were very proud to share with us meals that are considered traditional. It was delicious!

By this stage everyone was exhausted and we had an early night. The morning was quite short as we needed to depart by 8am. Our host mother had gotten up early to prepare fresh tortillas served with refried black beans and scrambled eggs, served with a cup of coffee, that tasted remarkably like the pinol.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe homestay experience is always extremely awkward due to the inability to communicate effectively, but it is always an interesting experience and it really is one of the best ways that you can learn about a culture. It’s also a good way to give back to the community, they get paid for hosting people, they may receive donations and sometimes people buy the products they make – I bought some beaded bracelets.

After our hearty breakfast we piled into the bus and headed for Antigua.

 Check out all the photos on Flickr

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Palenque & San Cristobal de Las Casas

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPalenque

Palenque is perhaps a slightly lesser known Mayan site than Chichen Itza, but it is still famous and rightly so. It is a much larger temple complex than Chichen Itza and in my opinion much grander. There are more buildings, the buildings are larger and more elaborate. It is also much more obvious that this was a city where people lived as you can see the areas where people lived, the temples, the common areas, the aqueduct and so on.

The biggest and perhaps most important temple in the area is the Temple of the Inscriptions. This is a very grand temple, inside which the remains of King Pakal were found. His body was adorned with a jade mask and jade jewellery.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANext to the Temple of the Inscriptions is the Temple of The Red Queen, whose remains were found painted completely in red. Unfortunately this affected the ability to complete DNA analysis on the remains, so it is uncertain who the red queen was, though some people are guessing it may have been Pakal’s wife.

Adjacent to these temples is the palace. This was a large building with many levels and many rooms. Though worn away over time the walls were once heavily decorated with stone reliefs and elaborate and brightly coloured paintings.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOn the hill behind the palace were three more temples: The Temple of the Cross, the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Foliated Cross. They each face in towards a small courtyard. The Temple of the Sun was built by the son of Pakal, Can Balam, who succeeded his father.

All of the temples have nine terraces, except the Temple of the Cross which has 13. This was the wish of Can Balam.

The numbers 9, 13, 20 and 52 are significant to the Mayans. The number nine represent the underworld, partly because it would take nine days for a corn to seed after having been planted, and the Mayans believed they were descended from corn. The corn seed would have to defeat nine levels of the underworld in order to survive, live and grow.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe number 13 relates to pregnancy, as the term of a pregnancy is 13 Mayan months. There are also 13 months in the religious calendar, and thirteen squares of the shell of a turtle.

A Mayan month is 20 days, the year is made up of 18 months of 20 days plus one unlucky month of 5 days. This is the sun calendar of the Mayans.

After exploring the main, excavated temples we went on a jungle walk which is predominately pre-pakal buildings, bt they are still buried beneath the jungle growth. It was pretty fascinating to see how these temples would have appeared (and still do appear) pre-restoration. Essentially any hill you see is actually hiding a temple. Quite a bizarre and awesome concept!

Check out all my Palenque photos on Flickr

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San Cristobal de Las Casas

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe next stop after Palenque was San Cristobal de Las Casas, in the highlands. There was a noticeable drop in temperature on arrival!!

The town is absolutely gorgeous, there are cobbled streets and loads of churches, it was just fantastic to explore. The buildings are all brightly coloured and super quirky. I spotted many interesting door and window frames, as you will notice by the photos.

Mayan Villages Tour

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOn the first full day in San Cristobal de Las Casas we did a tour of two Mayan Villages, San Juan Chamula and Zinacantan.

Interestingly these villages aren’t far from the centre of San Cristobal de Las Casas, and their architecture and level of development is the same. The villages however are completely independent, they operate on their own time zone (an hour earlier), they have their own police, their own laws and regulations and the Mexican government does not intervene.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe crime rate in these towns is very low and prison sentences are very short, with a maximum stay of three days. If one cannot afford the fine, they may also be required to do community service. If the crime is severe, such as rape or murder, the punishment is equally sever – death. It may be death by beating and being burned alive or by being lynched. So this is a good explanation for why the crime rate is so low, in my opinion.

The people in San Juan Chamula consider themselves to be predominantly Catholic, though aside from baptisms there is no clear link to Catholicism as we know it. The Catholic church has Shamans who perform rituals and sometimes sacrifice chickens. The men are allowed to take multiple wives and wedding ceremonies are never performed in a church.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe people in Zinacantan view themselves are Christians and there is much more visible link to Christianity as we know it, including church weddings and only allowing one wife.

The primary industry in San Juan Chamula is growing vegetables, while in Zinacantan they grow flowers.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn Zinacantan we were invited into the home of a family to see a demonstration of back strap weaving, which is how they weave their elaborate tapestries and other woven goods. A lovely lady also demonstrated how they make traditional tacos. She made us some delicious purple corn tacos. The hospitality of these people was lovely.

In learning about the religious aspects of these cultures, something they both had in common which I found fascinating was the references to the cardinal points and colours.
The North is represented by the colour white. If you were to light a white candle in the church it would represent tortillas, a food offering to the saints.
The South is represented by the colour yellow. If you were to light a white candle in the church it would represent prosperity.
The East is represented by the colour red. If you were to light a white candle in the church it would represent the restoration of harmony.
The West is represented by the colour black. If you were to light a white candle in the church it would be to ward off evil/witchcraft (you also see people drinking coca cola in religious ceremonies for this reason).
The center is represented by the colour green. If you were to light a white candle in the church it would ensure a successful harvest.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn the Catholic church of San Juan Chamula we witnessed a ceremony performed by a Shaman on a girl who had lost her spirit. As part of the ceremony, the Shaman took a chicken, held it upside-down by its feet and waved it over some candles or incense, then waved it around the body of the girl, before wringing its neck (it didn’t make a noise at all). If I remember correctly, the process would then be for the girl to go home and eat the chicken (perhaps just the head) and stay in her room for five days. After that time she would go with the Shaman to the place where she had lost her spirit and call it back using some kind of egg shaped whistle.
There may be more to the process, but those were the bits I heard. Such a strange concepts, but thoroughly fascinating!
The tour cost 200 pesos.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAChiapa de Corzo Canyon Tour

On the last full day in San Cristobal de Las Casas, a group of us went on a boat tour of a Canyon just outside of the town Chiapa de Corzo. The canyon was gorgeous and it was so relaxing to be on the river. We cruised up and then down the river for approximately two hours.

Along the way we did see some wildlife, some Caymans, Pelicans and a variety of other types of birds. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a) terrrified of birds and b) useless at identifying them.

We finished the tour with a short hour stop in the central plaza of Chiapa de Corzo – another cute Mexican town.
The tour cost 200 pesos.

Check out all my San Cristobal de Las Casas photos on Flickr

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Chichen Itza, Merida and loads of Cenotes!

Now that my study tour of the US is complete, I’m back to adventuring all over the world. I am currently touring with a childhood friend whom I haven’t seen in 25 years. We will spend the month of August touring Mexico, Guatemala and Belize on the Intrepid tour Mayan Highlights. It turns out that it’s actually a combo tour, so our current guide Edwin (who is Guatemalan) who is absolutely awesome will only be touring with us as far as Guatemala (the Intrepid tour for this portion would be called Explore Mexico and Guatemala, if booked separately).

We arrived in Cancun in the evening of August 8th and set off to explore, first thing the next morning.

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Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is one of the most famous Mayan ruins, Apparently the second most visited Mayan site in Mexico. I suspect the site is one of the most visited due to it’s proximity to Cancun, approximately three hours drive by bus. It was also named one of the new seven wonders of the world in 2007.

Chichen Itza means “At the mouth of the well of Itza”. The town was built here because it provided access to some sink holes (cenotes) which are the only source of fresh water other than the rain, in the Yucatan Peninsula.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe most recognizable part of the archaeological site is the Temple of Kukulkan, otherwise know as El Castillo. It is a stepped pyramid with 9 terraces and 365 steps.

The site was fascinating to visit, but I found that it was very busy, both with tourists and with locals selling their wares; also there weren’t all that many buildings to see. It’s also quite challenging to visit as there is little to no shade at the site and Mexico is HOT!

The buildings were certainly beautiful and there

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIk Kil

Approximately 5-10 minutes by taxi down the road from Chichen Itza is the very popular cenote Ik Kil.

Ik Kil is approximately 26 metres below ground level, 60 metres in diameter and roughly 40 metres deep. As the water is fresh and I am used to swimming in the sea I was surprised at how much effort it took to keep my head above water as I wasn’t buoyant.

Due to it’s popularity it was crazy busy, but simply fantastic!!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMerida

Merida is the capital city of the Yucatan state, and is roughly two hours from Chichen Itza. Due to my busy-ness exploring cenotes I didn’t spend much time exploring the town of Merida. The bits I saw were super cute and the people were very friendly.

Cenotes of Cuzama

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASince one of the reasons I wanted to visit Mexico was to see the cenotes, I did a day tour from Merida to the town of Cuzama, from which we were able to visit some cenotes.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOnce we arrived at the site we had a pretty interesting ride into the jungle. It was done in three legs. The first and third legs were with a very rudimentary four person train cart that was horse drawn along train tracks. The middle leg was also a four person transport method, but it was a motorbike tuk tuk type thing. The ride was so bumpy even the cheeks on your face would vibrate and flap up and down. It wasn’t particularly comfortable but it was quite the adventure!!

The first cenote we visited was Bolonchojol, the name means nine holes for rats. There was only a small opening to get into the cenote and you had to climb a ladder down 15 metres to access it. The water was a crystal clear turquoise colour with some tree roots dropping through the ceiling into the water, not to mention beams of natural light. This was probably the most stunning of the cenotes.

The added bonus was that we were the first group there and had it all to ourselves for a short time. The water temperature was perfect and it was such a peaceful place to visit.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe second cenote was Chaceziniche, the name means rat ant for wood. It has a much larger opening allowing more natural light to enter, it is a 20 metres descent down a staircase and the water is roughly 27 metres deep.

The water here was again a beautiful temperature and was 100% crystal clear, this time a deeper blue colour. This one also had more tree roots dropping into it.

P1060034The third cenote was Uzil, little place. You entered it be climbing down a ladder between the roots of a tree. You descend into a pitch dark cave, and can swim a 30 metres stretch between the stalagmites and stalactites from north to south in this tiny cenote. With no natural light, it is quite a bit colder than the other two cenotes, but quite a difference and exhilarating experience. Swimming in a dark cave.

The cenotes were simply magnificent, and I had the most amazing day but if you have issues with animal cruelty, then I would perhaps not recommend this tour to you – I had no idea of the transport method, so was unaware of the cruelty to the horses that I would witness.

View the album on Flickr

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