After more than 1400 pictures, I have narrowed it down to about 60! These are my favorites, a compilation from all 8 countries...
Hit play, full screen & enjoy :-D
la Yucatán: Tulum, Mérida, Chichen Itza, Cancún
This was the first time I have entered a country by boat, as I chartered from San Pedro, Belize to Chetumal, México. It's a port right where a river flows into the ocean, so the water went from those beautiful Caribbean blues to Mississippi mud brown... welcome to Mexico! (I came to find out later that there's a $26 entrance fee to Mexico if you don't enter by plane, which was frustrating paying at the end of it all). A bus then took me straight to Tulum, the place I had googled the most in looking forward to this trip.
It was by the far the most touristy place I had been to, yet. There were more gringos with corona, sol or tecate shirts than I had ever seen, quite the change from the jungle & the deeply-nestled ruins of Tikal. It definitely had a special feeling to it, though, as the surreal setting on the beach cliff added an extra element of uniqueness. So many of the buildings looked random, as well, and I couldn't seem to connect the placement of the structures to each other and their surroundings. I would have gotten a tour & had someone explain this all, but it was 5 times the $6 entrance fee. I opted to read about it, but, it really didn't help!
The beach was absolutely gorgeous and I'm glad I was able to make use of my underwater camera again. There were plenty of iguanas, some of the measuring 3 feet, that were basking or bobbing their head up & down at me as I tried to take their foto. One of them (the black one) let me get within a few feet for his foto. He was either sick or just likes humans!
From Tulum I headed northwest across the peninsula to Mérida, the capital & home to my roommate, Tomás. There are now 1 million people in Mérida and only 1 more million in the rest of the peninsula. I stayed right in the center at the Grande Plaza, or Zócalo, and spent two of the days walking for more than 5 hours. Even with that amount of time, I wasn't able to cover much of the metropolitan map! The architecture was all colonial towards the center, with some modern structures thrown in here and there. The colors of some of the buildings reminded me of parts of Casco Antiguo in Panama City or San Juan, Puerto Rico. Just as well, there were soooo many churches, lending me foto opportunities around every corner.
Tomás and his wife Beatriz met me the first night for a little while, and then later were able to take me around the entire city. There were a few places that screamed "America!" to me, with wal-marts, big malls & burger kings. I know it is inevitable for those things to reach places that are trying to "modernize", but I hate seeing it. We drove through some cool areas which were more Mayan and the people lived in their simple cinderblock homes. There were many parks with cool art and fountains, really adding to the tranquil feeling of the town. Mérida was really peaceful and had a great vibe. I felt self the whole time, although I was in a car with two Mexicans & probably wouldn't have liked to been walking around an area or two we drove through. Thanks for driving me around, guys!!!
The next bus was to Chichen Itza, basically in the middle of the whole peninsula. Although buying the tickets is a fairly annoying process (i.e. buy one ticket here, another one there, have different people check them, paying 5x what Mexicans pay, checking backs in an annoying area, etc...), the second I turned the corner into the site, the prominence of the main pyramid astonished me.
The site was well manicured and one could see why it was the area's #1 tourist attraction. There were tours in 7 different languages occurring simultaneously, the groups of people moving like herds of guided sheep across the fields.... I was happy to be on my own, once again.Although the ruins were all roped off, it was still amazing to see how well-preserved everything was. The glyphs & images of the Plaza of 1000 Columns were so visible that one could read the stories they were telling.
The Juego de Pelota at Chichen Itza is the biggest in Mesoamerica, but unfortunately it was under repairs. I tried to sneak a pic, but it was impossible! At the end of one of the trails was a huge hole in the earth that must have measured 100 meters across. It reminded me of the cave divers on Planet Earth and how they would dive so far that they would swim from freshwater to saltwater. It was the water source for the Mayans around Chichen Itza. It was so big, and actually really scary!!
In the same day I visited Chichen Itza, I bussed to Cancún, marking the end of my journey. I basically used it as a place to relax & recover, as I was still a little sick and not quite tan enough :-) Some of the hotels had some cool snorkling that I was able to take advantage of.
I also came across some great tacos, cool graffiti & stores with sweet Day of the Dead stuff! As I said, I wasn't really in the exploring mode, though, as Cancún is very Spring Breakish & I was already done when I got there.
Central America has been my most culturally diverse, taxing, beautiful & rewarding journey so far. There is so much to see & it is filled with many wonderful people to meet. Even being the blue-eyed gringo, showing respect & knowing my place really did help with my interpersonal relations. Sure, there have been some political turmoil & corruption throughout the region, but when it comes down to it, people are people. You have to meet them & make your own fair assessment of the situation, as they did when they met me. All in all, this area of the world rubs me the right way!!!
It was by the far the most touristy place I had been to, yet. There were more gringos with corona, sol or tecate shirts than I had ever seen, quite the change from the jungle & the deeply-nestled ruins of Tikal. It definitely had a special feeling to it, though, as the surreal setting on the beach cliff added an extra element of uniqueness. So many of the buildings looked random, as well, and I couldn't seem to connect the placement of the structures to each other and their surroundings. I would have gotten a tour & had someone explain this all, but it was 5 times the $6 entrance fee. I opted to read about it, but, it really didn't help!
The beach was absolutely gorgeous and I'm glad I was able to make use of my underwater camera again. There were plenty of iguanas, some of the measuring 3 feet, that were basking or bobbing their head up & down at me as I tried to take their foto. One of them (the black one) let me get within a few feet for his foto. He was either sick or just likes humans!
From Tulum I headed northwest across the peninsula to Mérida, the capital & home to my roommate, Tomás. There are now 1 million people in Mérida and only 1 more million in the rest of the peninsula. I stayed right in the center at the Grande Plaza, or Zócalo, and spent two of the days walking for more than 5 hours. Even with that amount of time, I wasn't able to cover much of the metropolitan map! The architecture was all colonial towards the center, with some modern structures thrown in here and there. The colors of some of the buildings reminded me of parts of Casco Antiguo in Panama City or San Juan, Puerto Rico. Just as well, there were soooo many churches, lending me foto opportunities around every corner.
Tomás and his wife Beatriz met me the first night for a little while, and then later were able to take me around the entire city. There were a few places that screamed "America!" to me, with wal-marts, big malls & burger kings. I know it is inevitable for those things to reach places that are trying to "modernize", but I hate seeing it. We drove through some cool areas which were more Mayan and the people lived in their simple cinderblock homes. There were many parks with cool art and fountains, really adding to the tranquil feeling of the town. Mérida was really peaceful and had a great vibe. I felt self the whole time, although I was in a car with two Mexicans & probably wouldn't have liked to been walking around an area or two we drove through. Thanks for driving me around, guys!!!
The next bus was to Chichen Itza, basically in the middle of the whole peninsula. Although buying the tickets is a fairly annoying process (i.e. buy one ticket here, another one there, have different people check them, paying 5x what Mexicans pay, checking backs in an annoying area, etc...), the second I turned the corner into the site, the prominence of the main pyramid astonished me.
The site was well manicured and one could see why it was the area's #1 tourist attraction. There were tours in 7 different languages occurring simultaneously, the groups of people moving like herds of guided sheep across the fields.... I was happy to be on my own, once again.Although the ruins were all roped off, it was still amazing to see how well-preserved everything was. The glyphs & images of the Plaza of 1000 Columns were so visible that one could read the stories they were telling.
The Juego de Pelota at Chichen Itza is the biggest in Mesoamerica, but unfortunately it was under repairs. I tried to sneak a pic, but it was impossible! At the end of one of the trails was a huge hole in the earth that must have measured 100 meters across. It reminded me of the cave divers on Planet Earth and how they would dive so far that they would swim from freshwater to saltwater. It was the water source for the Mayans around Chichen Itza. It was so big, and actually really scary!!
In the same day I visited Chichen Itza, I bussed to Cancún, marking the end of my journey. I basically used it as a place to relax & recover, as I was still a little sick and not quite tan enough :-) Some of the hotels had some cool snorkling that I was able to take advantage of.
I also came across some great tacos, cool graffiti & stores with sweet Day of the Dead stuff! As I said, I wasn't really in the exploring mode, though, as Cancún is very Spring Breakish & I was already done when I got there.
Central America has been my most culturally diverse, taxing, beautiful & rewarding journey so far. There is so much to see & it is filled with many wonderful people to meet. Even being the blue-eyed gringo, showing respect & knowing my place really did help with my interpersonal relations. Sure, there have been some political turmoil & corruption throughout the region, but when it comes down to it, people are people. You have to meet them & make your own fair assessment of the situation, as they did when they met me. All in all, this area of the world rubs me the right way!!!
San Pedro, Belize
(all of my Belize fotos are here)
My bus from Tikal took me right to Belize City (which I found out is not the capital), and from there I took a boat straight to San Pedro Cay (also known as a key, i.e. Florida keys). I got right off the boat and into a taxi which took me to a hostel I had looked up earlier. The middle-aged British owner saw my bags and stumbled over to me, asking if I needed a room. He smelled like vodka, but seemed to be able to get me a key easily enough, so I shrugged my shoulders and went to my room. The next morning was a delight. The water was stunnin & the sun was a shinin... it was a paradise!!
To summarize, my whole time in Belize was either at the beach, walking around the town, or in a bar. I met some cool people the first night in this beachside pub, and it was that type of vibe where everyone shares with everyone. I'd buy a drink for everyone, then them for me, then we'd share... other things...., then we'd play each other's music. I really enjoyed it.
The town was full of cool beach town type signs, the type you would only find in a place like this.
When I wasn't basking or reading philosophy, I was trying to understand just what the hell the locals were saying. They can all speak & understand English, but they have to slow down from their normal pace when they communicate with foreigners. Their kriol is so fascinating. A native English speaker can catch every 7th or 10th word, and, in the right context, can catch whole phrases, but it's a serious diversion from the English norm. It is in its own right a language, based mostly on English, and has a really cool rhythm to it; honestly, though, they might as well have been speaking Russian most of the time. They would laugh or yell when I thought the opposite should have been occurring, but a few months being surrounded by it and it would be possible to speak with them, me thinks...
Anyways, even though it was a bit expensive (as in comparable or more than American prices), it was beautiful, the water was perfect, and I would go back in an instant.
I came to find out the drunkass hostel owner also owned the bar right below the hostel, & was consistently the loudest & most arrogant drunkard in the place.... well, he owned it! He commented on Belize being British Honduras, basically as offensive as calling the USA the "colonies", so I didn't like him at all. He also because called me a rich prick because I said I was from Seattle (I tried Spokane, he had no clue). In the end, his drunken haze & dickhead antics cost him, as the only money I gave him was for the first night, and I ended up staying for 4! See how rich I am, dude?!?! hahahahaa.
Care for a drink!??! See you there!
Guatemala: Antigua, Semuc Champey, Tikal
(all of my Guatemala pics are here)
This is the country that I wish I could have spent 3 months in: incredibly geographically diverse, the basic dividing line between the Aztec & the Mayan empires, they are more than 24 languages, ruins everywhere, and natural beauty that can rival anywhere. As I only had a week in each country, I convinced myself to stretch it 11 days here... totally worth it.
Antigua is, well, antigua. It was the formal capital of Guatemala. It's a little high in elevation, but no so much that you need to wear a thick sweater at night. The capital was changed to Guatemala city after all the earthquakes started crumbling the churches & other structures.
The market was really vibrant, but not so much the people that ran it. They were in their everyday blah mode, where as the tourists were excited by all the bright colors, produce, & meat! I don't blame them; sitting there and selling fruits everyday would get pretty redundant. Nonetheless, I loved all the colors!
Anyways, we reached the actual volcanic area after about 1.5hrs. There was no lava, but we were walking on top of a lava field. May 27th, 2010 was the last erruption, and hearing that was a bit eery, and also made me go from frustrated to happy that I didn't see any lava. The steam coming off the rocks was so cool! There were areas where, if you stuck your hand it, it felt like a pizza oven! I then regretted not buying marshmallows from the guy at the bottom of the hill.
My first sight of the water was... jaw-dropping, to say the least. I don't know if I've even seen a turquoise so well-defined! It was the perfect blend of blue & green. The source of the water was a big river with brown water, but, at a certain point, the water passes through a cave of beautiful green stone that somehow morphs the color of the water. The 4 or 5 pools just sit, stacked on top of each other, & slowly spill this water into the next, until the end turns into the river again, eating up earth and turning it back to jungle river brown.This was also my first underwater camera experience :-)
That was the only reason I went to Lanquín, and realizing this the next morning, I just took off. The ruins at Tikal have been the most intriguing to me because of their remoteness & isolation from each other within the jungle.
"rain didn't stop, i didn't care. downpour all day in Tikal. the ruins are stunning. it's in really deep jungle, like YOU are discovering it." tweet
I stayed at Hotel Mon Ami on the lake in El Remate, a quiet place where I was able to read & do as I please without interruption.
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