San Cristobal to Palenque...my 1st long bus ride...

I wasn´t feeling very well and stayed in "the cell" my last night in San Cristobal. I planned to catch the 6:30 a.m. bus to Palenque but I set the alarm wrong and didn´t wake up. I think it was better that way. I needed sleep. So, I ended up on the noon bus. They tell you..."oh it only takes 4 1/2 hours to get there". In reality you should add an hour or so. It took about 5 1/2 hours. The ride included about 4 hours of curvy roads into the hills - thank goodness I didn't get car sick! The terrain is actually really beautiful, green and tropical - reminded me of Costa Rica. I was still on my "budget" mission and found Posada Nacha'N-Ka'an (say that 5 times fast!). Woo hoo! I got a dorm room for $5 a night! This is kind of fun...who can find the most tolerable place for the least amount of money? Me, me, me! Shared bathroom and sleeping. It was not bad at all and because I slept with earplugs, I got the best sleep ever! The town of Palenque is really just a stop over point or your home base for visiting the Palenque Mayan Ruins.

The next day, I went on a tour of the Ruins and of the 2 local water falls, Misol-ha and Agua Azul.

At the ruins, I decided to join a group of 7 for a guided tour. Till now, I have joined the tours in English, primarily because I don´t want to miss anything. This tour was in Spanish and I don´t think I missed very much...no problem! The ruins are amazing. The experts think that they were 1st occupied around 100 BC and was in its prime around the 7th century with a population of about 8000. There are several large structures where Royalty lived and that were places of worship and human sacrifice- Templo de las Inscripciones, El Palacio, Templo de la Cruz and Templo de la Sol, to name a few. They are surrounded by jungle/rain forest and have beautiful green hills all around. These were brutal times - human sacrifices to the gods and such. I think even the mutilation in the name of beauty was brutal. For example, changing the shape of a babies cranium in order to distinguish royalty from commoners. All in the name of beauty - sheesh...wait, don´t we have an entire profession dedicated to that???

On the tour, I met Mossimo and Oriana from Rome, Italy. They are a very cool couple traveling through Mexico for 5 weeks or so. They let me tag along with them and we chatted all day about everything - Obama, the sub-prime crisis, the President of Italy (oh I forget his name), Rome, the south of Italy, how their county has the best ice cream ever! - it was great! It´s funny how everyone has the "lonley planet bible", theirs in Italian and mine in English!

After visiting the ruins, we went to the smaller of the two water falls Misol-ha. Nice falls but nothing too impressive. These falls are kind of dangerous so I didn´t get in the water.

From Misol-ha, we drove to Agua Azul. Agua Azul is the place where the guide books tell you the access road can be dangerous because tourists have been robbed by machete-armed thieves - yikes! But, I am in a van with about 12 other tourists so it should be fine right? I am sitting in the front seat with the driver and when we pull up to the "checkpoint" (several local men hold up a rope blocking your passage), he tells me, in Spanish, to lock the door. Ah...yeah sure OK whatever you say. You can tell me in Mandarin, German, Japanese, whatever you want and I get it! They collect $1 per person from him and we proceed on. No drama...whew! It´s my understanding that those men are from the self-governed local indigenous community and they "allow" access to the falls. Agua Azul is beeeeeaaaauuuuttttteeefuuullll! Several falls converging into one large fall. There are swimming areas as well but the water was cold! I love the sound of the water. It was just so powerful and loud. We saw a local woman bathing her little boys there and then she proceeded to wash her own hair...I am sure that´s exactly what used to happen thousands of years ago...and I don´t care where you come from ALL little boys love to play with cars after their bath!

All in all, an action packed day and totally worth it (although found out that the tour agency ripped me off as far as the price goes...my fault, I didn´t shop around)! I wanted to take the night bus to Merida that night, but when I went to buy the ticket, the bus was sold out. That was a 1st for me, so far everything I´ve wanted to do, I was able to do. So I stayed in the $5 dorm another night and I will take the bus tonight. I spent today blogging and trying to hang out in places that have A/C. It´s hot and sticky here and I am ready to leave. I am not a huge fan of the town of Palenque - just passing through! Adios Chiapas, I am off to Merida, Chichen Itza, Tulum and the like, in the state of the Yucatan.

About my Spanish so far...

Many people have asked me how my Spanish is coming along. The answer is "I don't really know if it's any better". I think my vocabulary is better for sure, but my speaking is still not that great. That was one aspect of being in school that I liked. We would have a lot of general discussions and the teacher would help us with what we wanted to say and what was the best way to say it. I liked being corrected...then I knew how to say it right. Now, out and about, I can get my point across no problem or I can talk around what I am trying to say until it is understood but I know I am still speaking incorrectly. Still trying...work in progress!

Karen and I had talked about this and we think that maybe a better way to actually learn is to stay parked in one place for an extended amount of time. That´s what she is doing...girl - you are going to be fluent in no time. If you do that, you build relationships with people that will consistently help you speak better. I may have to plan a month or so just parked somewhere during my next travel stint!

San Cristobal de las casas...

My goal after Mexico City is to make my way to the Yucatan where I am going to catch a flight to Panama.

From Mexico City, I took a flight (wake up at 3:45 a.m. flight...yuck!) to Tuxtla Gutierrex which is in the Chiapas state of Mexico. This is the city you fly into in order to get to San Cristobal. San Cristobal is a really cute colonial town (Mom- it reminds me of San Miguel de Allende). Street are all cobblestone and there´s main Zocolo, church, etc. San Cristobal is famous because in 1994 with the signing of NAFTA, the Zapatistas stormed and briefly occupied San Cristobal in protest and thus a revolution began. Chiapas is one of Mexico's poorest states. Twenty-five percent plus of the residents (several million people) are Maya but they have little say on how their land is used. The revolution is based on a fight for the indigenous people's rights. The revolution continues today, although the movement has faded. Politically over the years, there have been many promises made but not much seems to have changed for the indienous people.

So it's time for me to implement the "budget" aspect of my trip...ahhh!!! I decide to go to a cheap posada..."the book" (which has been my bible) says it's decent enough and cheap. I arrive at Posada Doña Rosita and get a private room with a shared bathroom for $7 a night! Yup...it's cheap! The room is pretty much like a cell with a bed, garbage can, sheets as thin as tissue paper and no windows that open...I wanted cheap - I got cheap!

At this stage in the game, I am ready to be alone. I want to chill, observe, read and not talk (yeah yeah...I know...me not talk!!!). I walked around the town for a while, grabbed some food, and went to a movie. There are a few little theatres that show movies about the Zapatista Revolution. I watched a movie in Spanish with English subtitles that basically chronicles the Zapatista Revolution from beginning in 1994 till about 2006. Politically, things are so messed up. There has been a lot of blood shed and the discrimination is so sad.

The next day, I went on a guided tour of San Juan Chamula and San Lorenxo Zinacatan. The basis of the tour is to visit Tzotzil villages where modern Mayan life is happening. Our tour guide, Ceasar, was awesome. He has so much knowledge about the local Mayans. He even speaks their language...yes, they don't speak Spanish. Actually, because there are so many different Mayan communities throughout the country, there are many different languages spoken here in Mexico...I had no idea! These people have fierce traditions and, based on our standards, a very primitive way of life. We visited their church and market. It was forbidden to take pictures in the church but we were allowed in while the people were worshiping. I could clearly see the combination of ancient Mayan worshiping with the Catholic ways of worshiping. It's like the Spanish got to them but not all the way. There is a lot of emphasis on candles, chickens and fizzy drinks, as well as pictures of catholic saints. Candles on the floor and fizzy drinks of different colors represent things like corn and rain. They actually sacrafice chickens in the church...yeah - I don't think we ever did that growing up in the catholic church. There are so many things I learned about their beliefs...I could go on and on but some things I noted:

• They like fireworks -- not for the lights but for the explosion. There were a ton of booms and bangs the entire time (kind of hard on the nerves!) I don't remember why...I think it's the awe factor.
• They are self governed with a jail that is open and faces the street so that the criminal is faces with public shame. I wonder if that would work in our society?
• Corn is king. Corn is to them, like rice is to Asia.
• They have their own medicine doctors - Curanderos - with specialties like pulse reading, midwifery, bone setting and plant healing. They do egg readings too. Pass an egg all over someone's body while chanting, crack the egg into a bowl and you can tell what's wrong with someone.
• The fizzy drinks, like coke and fanta, are for drinking then burping to expel unwanted spirits.
• They are self governed. The church leaders do not get paid, they do it for honor.
• Each community, men and women both, wear a distinct form of clothing for that community.

I loved it. Very cool! And the thing that Ceasar kept telling us was that nothing was for show. This is how these people live and choose to live. They would be in the church at 2 in the morning when no one was around doing the same thing. I definitely got that...me likey! You are most likely not going to see me on TV with a mask (I guess if I had a mask - you wouldn't know it was me) and a support Subcomandante Marcos sign but the experience was eye-opening nonetheless!

One last day in Mexico City...

My last full day in Mexico D.F. was spent on a tour of the Teotihuacan Pyramids about 2 hours outside of the city. The tour consisted of a stop at the very famous Basilica de Guadalupe - not just another catholic church but the place of worship for Mexico's patron saint - Our Lady of Guadalupe. She has a huge fan base here. The basilica is the home of the place where the image of her (as seen by Juan Diego, a poor Indian, in 1531) is responsible for uniting pre Hispanic Indian mysticism with Catholic beliefs (ok...some of this is directly from printed literature...). There are 5 different buildings dedicated to her on this site. The largest is the one in the picture. It really is quite impressive.

On the tour, I met Anita who is a fellow traveler that is in Mexico for a couple of weeks on her own as well. I love meeting people with the same travel spirit!

Before we arrived at the pyramids, we stopped at a local silver factory. They showed us the process of how silver is made. We also got to see the Mescal plant (it looks like the biggest aloe vera plant you have ever seen - maybe 7 feet tall) and taste some Tequila, Mescal and a Sweet Mescal, which I liked the best. Of course, this was all so we'd buy the jewlery and the liquor...interesting nonetheless.

The pyramids are pretty amazing. They are some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. There is debate as to the ethnicity of the inhabitans but they may have been Nahua, Otomi or Totonac or maybe even a multi-ethnic state. There's the temple of the sun and the moon and other smaller dwellings/buildings. It is hard to believe that the pyramids were all constructed without our modern heavy equipment!

I was so tired after all the climbing and lack of sleep, I stayed in that night and watched movies. I watched Frida again. It was fun to see the movie after having just been to the pyramids that she visited with "that communist guy from Russia" and to the house she lived. Oh and I watched How to loose a guy in 10 days again...hilarious - who doesn't love Matthew M! I reveled in my last night at the W hotel and the cascading shower with triple shower heads!!!!

Sola en Ciudad de Mexico!

After Dave and Rachel left, I had a pit feeling in my stomach...like oh god here I go...no wait don't leave me...!!!


You can do this...the journey must continue!


I stayed in the area and went to the Coyoacan market. This place is more like the Mexico I was expecting. A little less "formal" if you will. Every kind of meat, veggie, fruit, candy, cookie, pet food, hair product, party supply, etc. crammed under one roof. This is the kind of place where you see the locals eating at a bar of a food stand and chatting up a storm. I really wanted to try something but I am a little nervous about getting sick. I was so intrigued...I walked around for about 30 minutes just looking at all the stuff! I wasn't a fan of all the flies though.


I hopped back on the touist bus and got off at the Coyoacan mall. This was a real mall...just like at home - 2 stories with trendy shops, McDonalds and Starbucks. Quite a difference from the market! The next day, was about more malls - a shopping day - YES! I walked and walked and walked to the different shopping malls in Polanco. I bought a few things (replacing things I had to get rid of) and yes finally a case for my camera (Karen...you'll be happy to know!). My last name is everywhere, even at the local mall - I am famous!


I had planned to stay in that night and watch movies but when I was out getting dinner, I met the "name dropping, tequila drinking, lying to his mother prophet"! This is a long story within itself and I will try and keep it short...


I met this guy (typical line right..."so i met this guy...") when I was out. Let's call him Carlos. We started talking, no big deal. He asked me to go get a drink with him so we hung out for a while. Turns out, this guy is a self proclaimed prophet (I googled him after the fact and maybe more than self proclaimed...not sure). He proceeded to tell me my "future". He actually called someone to traslate it so I wouldn't miss anything. (I was dying inside...Daniella and Jackie - I wish you were there...I can already hear your comments!!!) Yes-I am a skeptic...it's true. I am surprised he could even speak in full sentences considering that the whole time he was dropping names like crazy...oh hear let me call Alejandro Fernandez (famous singer from Mexico -Vicente Fernandez's son)...he really did call him...I don't know? Oh Pricess Sofia from Spain is my friend...she is going to write and excerpt in my book...is there a Princess Sofia? I have met with George Bush and President Clinton (I predicted the ML scandal). I am friends with Luis Miguel (another famous singer from Mexico)...blah blah blah. OK mind you, all of this is happening in Spanish. I understand alot of Spanish (I may not speak it very well but I understand most of what is going on) and I KNOW I was getting what he was saying. Anyway, he was nice enough and we ended up going to Plaza Girabaldi which is a famous plaza for Marachis - it was packed with people. They basically have a "Marachi Off" or a "Battle of the Mariachis"...kind of...you pay different groups to play for your friends, famliy, etc. Some of the groups were so close to each other that it was hard to hear the actual song. We went to Tenampa which is a famous restaurant/cantina where a lot of famous Mariachi singers sang before they became famous. This is where the tequila started flowing...not for me...I know, I know! I had one drink...that's it! And then he starts to lay it on pretty thick...you are so this and that...I've seen you in my future...you were meant for me...blah blah blah! There's more here, but basically we went back to the Hotel bar and talked a bit more but I was done. So the thing that I find interesting is that in the beginning, my prophecies were all postive, great and my future was going to be fantastic! Once he realized I was not interested, my prophecy became really negative. How did that happen? When I asked him..."and when that doesn't happen? then what?", he said "never question a prophet" - oh brother, how convienent! I was happy I went to Girabaldi Plaza-I don't think I would have gone otherwise. Maybe that's why I met him, I was supposed to go and enjoy Marachi music that night. Do you think he saw that in a vision?

Mexico city...una ciudad enorme!

On Tuesday morning, I boarded a flight to Mexico City. I ended up taking a different flight from Dave and Rachel (saved $100 that way...). The flight was delayed and I didn´t get to the hotel till around 3.

This place is GINORMOUS! I was told that in Mexico D.F. (the city) there are approximately 10 million people, add in another 10 million for the suburbs and another 8 (plus or minus a million) for the entire state and you are talking about 30 Million people!

After about a 30 plus minute drive (and quite a few near misses with other cars), I arrived at the Hotel W in the Polanco district of the city. Let me say this....THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Rachel! She works at the W in San Francisco and was able to get me the employee rate! I LOVE the W hotel! I was living large during my time in Mexico City! That night, we walked around the local neighborhood and went to a wine bar/restaurant for dinner. If you ever meet Rachel or Dave, you´ll have to ask them about Vedrica! The Polanco district is one of money. I don´t mean a little money, I mean big money! Examples of the local stores/businesses: Bentley, Hummer, Hermes, Tiffany, Louis Vuitton (yes i was tempted...but resisted!), etc., etc.! Personal drivers, nannies, household staff walking dogs are a usual site in this area.

The next day, we took the usual tourist bus of the city! You know the one that´s red and open on the top and takes you around big cities so you can get an overview of the area...yeah the nerdy tourist one! It was a really good way to get oriented in this huge place. We ended up at the main Zocolo in the city via the historic route. Statues, parks, churches were all on hand for sure! We went to the ruins of the pyramids of the templo mayor. Mexico City is basically built on ancient land that that was the home of many indiginous people. They discovered ruins of pyramids of the Aztec people under the city near the main Zocolo. I don´t want to pretend that I know the history of the different indiginous people of the area (different timelines and different tribes, etc.) but I believe that this area was primarily Aztec (and relatives) and the areas of Chiapas, Yucatan and further south into central america was primarily Mayan (and relatives) and then you get to the Incas in South America. We took a tour of the Museo de Modern Art. We were expecting to see work my Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo - but no go. We went to dinner at restaurant that had live mariachi music and went to a salsa club after (the club was dead...I guess Wednesdays are not happening there), so we listened to muic for while and called it a night!

Our favorite bus awaited us the next day. We took a different city tour route to the south part of the city. We wanted to go this way primarily to go to the Frida Kahlo museum. On the way, we saw the Universidad National de Mexico, the Estadio Olimpico Universitario where the olympics were held in 1968, Bullfighting Ring, Futbol Estadio, Walmart (yes...Walmart...a superstore even) and finally we made it to the Frida Kahlo museo. The museo is in the home where she lived growing up and later with Diego. If you´ve seen the movie, it´s the bright blue house. There weren´t a lot of paintings but a lot of sketches, letters she had written, pictures of her family, letters famous people wrote to her and Diego, etc.

Then...Dave and Rachel left me!!!! They had to catch a cab from the museo to the hotel and then to the airport. The 1st time that I am really on my own...and so the adventure continues...

Friends, beach, sun and off to the volcano...

My first week out of school was spent on the beach and Karen and I attended a few more yoga classes!

On Sunday (July 20th), Dave and Rachel arrived in Costa Rica! Yay! The three of us took a day trip to Play Uvita and Dominical. These beaches are south of Manuel Antonio and are not really that far away. What makes the trip so long is the bumpy (bumpy...did I say bumpy...yeah bumpy!) dirt road you have to take to get there...definitely makes you appreciate our highway system at home! It´s really not that far from Manuel Antonio but because you have to go so slow on that road, it takes about 2 hours to get there. Playa Uvita and the surrounding areas are national parks so you have to pay to get onto the beach. Because of the fee, the beaches are pretty empty. We were lucky because we got a pretty good beach day. Dave was really sad to miss the ¨peleas de chocolate¨(ask him...). It does rain here...out of the blue it will rain for about 5 minutes then clear up...then it might rain again...mostly in the afternoon. I actually like it because it keeps the temp cooler.

Side note here: So far, my mode of transportation in Costa Rica has been interbus or taxi so basically, I say..."I am going to XXX" and I end up there! I haven´t paid attention to street signs (or lack thereof), land markers, etc. Dave and Rachel rented a car and have been navigating the country...brave souls!

On Thursay, Dave, Rachel, Karen and I drove from Manuel Antonio (Goodbye Manuel Antonio...for now!) to Arenal. This was my 2nd time visiting the volcano but I wanted to go again with my peeps! We hiked to a vista of the volcano...the hike was great but the view...not so great. The clouds just wouldn´t clear up enough to see the volcano...boo!

The next day, Karen and I went to Baldi Hot Springs. The hot springs are a big hit here because of the natural heated springs from the volcano. At 1st, I wasn´t that impressed. It was like Vegas...lots of pools with swim up bars and music. I was looking for more relaxing experience. I asked about "pisinas mas tranquilas" and they directed up further up the property. There we found really cool waterfalls with super hot water and a chill atmosphere. I like it!

Over the entire weekend, there was a ferria in La Fortuna. The ferria was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the volcano´s erruption. The erruption/volcano basically supports the town and the people in the area because of tourism. There was a parade with local marching bands and floats. It wasn´t the rose bowl parade but it was fun to watch for sure!

Karen left back to MA on Sunday. My partner in crime is no longer with me. I am sad...boo. But we are hoping to hook up again in Panama later in August! I met some people at Las Cascadas that night for salsa dancing...Karen - it just wasn´t the same without you!

One very sad note: we think, and definitely don´t want to wrongfully accuse, that someone took money out of Karren´s backpack. Her backpack was in our hotel in Arenal and she had about $200 in colones with her blackberry in a pocket of her backpack. The cash went missing. I had money in my bag too but mine wasn´t taken. I felt terrible and definitely learned a lesson. Most hotels have a safe for your valuables. This one did not. Better to keep the cash with you, at least that way, it´s with you.

On Monday...more hot springs! Dave, Rachel and I went to Echo Tamales Hot Springs for more relaxing before our long right to San Jose. Echo Tameles is much more low key that Baldi...less people and quieter! After the hot springs, we got in the car and started toward San Jose. On the way, we planed to stop at another volcano...Poas. We drove for hours and ended up getting there after they closed so we didn´t make it to the volcano. The drive through Alahuela (sp??) and finally to the hotel in San Jose was hilarious! My respect and admiration goes to Rachel for great navigating with virtually no signs or you´ll come to an intersection with 2 different signs, both to the same place...one with 27km and if you go the other direction, it´s 40km. We stopped to ask for directions a few times and everything is by landmarks or by blocks. It was a miracle...we found the hotel! Dave was quite a driver too! Only a few near misses!

Next...Mexico City...here we come!