Saturday, January 06, 2007
So we did it: 18 days of living out of a backpack, going through ridiculous measures to save a couple of cents, and living it up the best we can in the land of Tacos and Tortillas. -munchmunch-
Here are some excerpts from the journal i kept through our travels:
Acapulco
So our first stop after flying for 6 hours, and on the bus for another 6, we arrive at Acapulco, a beach town that was so much more commercial than i ever dreamed it would be, with too many beach chairs and umbrellas, and 1001 touts trying to sell you a boat ride, a shark-shaped giant float, or braid your hair. It was mostly populated by Mexican tourists though, we were just about the only Asians around. Spent the day sleeping on rocks overlooking the sea, fishing for shells kampung-style, and slurping coconuts. Yum - Simply loving the sun!
We also got the opportunity to see Acapulco's famed daredevil clavadistas plunge some 35m from the cliffs of a Quebrada into a tight, rocky channel, timing their leap to coincide with an incoming wave. Truly impressive indeed, given that if mistimed, there's not enough water to stop them hitting the bottom.
And because we couldnt time our cameras to catch them in action, here's one from another website (gjoachim.club.fr). Looked exactly like this, except that it was at night.Puerto Escondido
We arrive at funky (but expensive - our most costly accom in the trip at $12.50 a night) Mayflower youth hostel in another touristy beach town Puerto Escondido. Days spent at Zipolite beach (known to be one of the world's top surfing destinations) were absolute bliss: lying in the sun with carribbean music in the background and not a care in the world. Waves crashing on the shore, no worries, no deadlines, pure, unadulterated relaxation. Spent some time in the surf as well, but the overpowering waves, which tower over any swimmer and come crashing down on you with the force of a brick wall, proved too much for me.
We made a sand boat!
Best part of the day was undoubtedly clambering onto a rocky outcrop, watching the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, and feeling really blessed that God gave us a world filled with such beauty.San Cristobal
To our surprise, San Cristobal was friggin cold at 9 degrees Celsius. We laughed at ourselves as we reluctently pulled out our sweaters and jeans. However, our disappointment over the cold was soon dissipated by the charm of the town. Cobblestoned streets lined with cheerily painted low lying houses huddled together. Cheery Mexican music is piped in the zocalo (city centre).
Highlights of the day included a climb up 278 steps to San Cristobal cathedral and attending Christmas Mass there (even though I didnt understand a single word of it). It came complete with kids playing Mary and Joseph and holding baby Jesus, sparklers and candles for the congregation to hold, an free warm sweet treats and kids playing pinata in the fiesta after!
Mad rush for the goodies once the pinata was broken. Pinatas in Mexico are actual clay jars, not the wussy paper marche ones we get in Singapore.
After parting with 100 pesos (US $10) from the reputable but totally rip-off bike rental place Penguinos, we cycled on an ardous journey uphill for 12km towards the Grutas De Rancho Nuevo caves.
Never been inside a cave before, and it was amazing: Gigantic high ceilings you have to crane your neck to look at, staglalites jutting menacingly from the ceiling, and eerie deep holes in the walls.Quetzaltenango
We crossed the border into Guatemala, coolly sidestepping the 20 peso (illegal) "entry fee" the officials tried to make us pay by asking them for a receipt.
It was a welcome sight to see Hotel Oriental, run by a family from Guangzhou. Finding out that we spoke Chinese, we got a room for just USD $4 each. We were so estatic at seeing something remotely Asian that we splurged on a big chinese dinner of chow mein and chow fun. Certainly a pleasure to see something, anything that even remotely reminds one of home.
We ventured into the neighbouring village of Zunil in search of the elusive pagan temple of San Simon, a liquor-swelling, cigar-smoking evil saint, also known as Maximon by the locals. He was hard to locate as we were told his temple constantly shifts locations, and had to make a morning of several discreet enquiries with the villagers before we found it.
Sorry for the rotated picture. There's something wrong with Blogger's image hosting utility, which I dont know how to fix.There he sat, in a darkened room, dressed in Western clothes, and guarded by several attendants. The atmosphere was kind of creepy: with candles burning before him, and a petitioner in front of us offering up gifts of alcohol and a cigar. Still, we were amazed that we managed to find him, given that some seniors had searched for him before and failed.
Lago Atitlan
Described as the "most beautiful lake in the world", its hard not to see why: Lago Atitlan is hauntingly beautiful. Its surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, all of which seem to be perpetually encased in a thin fog. Everything seems to be a mysterious shade of blue - especially in the mornings and evenings.
We stayed in the town of Panajachel, but we took a ferry across the lake to San Pedro, where we were hoping to climb the volcano, but settled instead for the easier (and cheaper) "Indian nose" peak, with a much better view of the lake and surrounding areas. A guide brought us up the extremely tiring peak (felt like I was in the army again), but the view was certainly worth the climb. We could see the entire shape of the lake, the curves of the vaious banks, and the various villages which occupied its coasts.
Antigua
Antigua, though being extremely touristy (I almost forgot I was in Central America), was a delightful town - the streets are cobblestoned and blocked from traffic so you can stroll down and admire the brighly painted Spanish colonial houses which line them. There are expensive cafes, travel agents, bookstores and bars ever few metres.
Spent the day visiting beautiful Cathedrals:
The La Merced Cathedral - grandest I've seen so far - which kind of reminds me of St Andrew's Cathedral in Sg.We also visited the ruins of Las Capuchinas, what used to be a convent. They were really beautiful, with fountains, courtyards and massive earthquake proof pillars. We discovered wonderfully hidden nooks and crannies: secret staircases leading to echo-y chambers, a balcony overlooking a lush garden (with couples making out on the grass) and a round enclosure with dozens of doors surrounding it.
We spent New Years Eve visiting a nearby macademia nut farm in the afternoon, where the owner has a project going on where he sells macademia nut trees to the indigenious Guatemalans at a very low price so that they can grow their own farms and sustain their livelihood. We also got a chance to sample yummy macademia pancakes and chocolates, and Nadia and Faith got a free facial using macademia extracts as well.
Nightfall brought with it a mega New Year fiesta on the streets of Antigua, starting from 6pm. All night long, just about anyone who purchased fireworks could set them off, so there were random bursts of colour all across the city. Street performers, including clowns, jugglers, masked hunchbacks, and musicians on xylophones drew huge crowds and jammed the main streets. Counted down to the new year in Spanish, and celebrated by swigging a bottle of Quetzalteca - supposedly one of the strongest liquers in Guatemala (it tasted horrible), and enjoyed the atmosphere.
Young boys lit entire boxes of fireworks at a go in the middle of the street, causing passers-by to run to the sides each time. Revelling tourists in masks and party hats blew whistles as they danced to the beat of the drums.Flores/Tikal
After a harrowing 8 hour bus journey to Flores, (in which we had to stopover in sketchy, shady Guatemala City - i do NOT recommend that you visit there, ever), we arrive in Flores which is a sleepy, quaint island town surrounded by a lake, kind of reminds me of Pulau Ubin. Nothing much to say about the place, except our first hotel was so shitty that we moved out of it after a night to Los Amigos, a funky youth hostel with handmade youth furniture, resident dogs and a parrot that climbs on the beds, hammocks to read borrowed books in, and fellow backpackers sipping large pink beverages in squashy armchairs. Someday, when I retire - I'd like to open a place like this.
The ruins of Tikal were truly amazing: as quoted in our travel book, "This unmatched Maya site had it all - monumental temples and palaces set in a tropical forest reserve." Described as the "most magnificent of the Maya sites", it was certainly magnificent. It had grand plazas, great pyramids, acropolises, and up to 6 humongous temples. Many intricate carvings were also left behind, which we noticed as we were clambering all over the gigantic structures.
The most impressive of the temples was Temple IV, towering over the jungle canopy, which we managed to scale and enjoy the view of the Guatemalan landscape, the Belize mountains as far as the eye can see.
Will post more about the quirky aspects of our trip tomorrow. Am waaay to tired now, and I have a load of unironed laundry before I sleep. Oh my goodness.he rocked the party at 8:48 PM |
