round-the-world in 2005
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Mar 27 - Apr 22, 2005
We stayed in Mexico for quite a while to sample their exquisite food and explore their many regions.
27 Mar 2005 Dos Amigos
We had an early start and bus from Belize city across the border into Mexico, and up to the town of Tulum. It is Easer Sunday today, as you would not know it as there are no easter eggs in sight. We bought some chocolate at the border town to celebrate. We had planned to head straight to the beach huts out of town, but a friendly Aussie convinced us to stay in town for the night and head out to the beach tomorrow morning when there is a better chance of some accommodation being available. This gives us a chance to walk the main street (that’s about all of town) searching for our first authentic mexican meal. It was not that special, we hope the food gets better in the next few weeks. There was an interesting reggae-funk band playing in one of the hostels which took up some of our evening. Everything is quite a bit more expensive here in Mexico, especially the bus fares. Unfortunately we will be spending a large amount of time traveling on buses through this large country. It is made worse as other parts of the coast up to Cancun, which is the route we are taking, is also very popular with the American tourists.
28 Mar 2005 Ruined Again
We headed to the beach to check it out and find a place to stay. The first place we tried we found a nice private thatched-roof hut from which we can walk out onto the beach - which was beautiful of course. Now that we had that sorted, we went to explore the nearby Mayan ruins, unique in being the only settlement built by the seaside. There were hundreds of tourists (mostly American) but a nice place to visit just the same. It was hilarious watching them all freaking out over a heap of tiny bugs swarming in one section. We spent the rest of the day swimming and walking along the beach.
29 Mar 2005 Playing at Playa
The expected mozzie attack last night did not eventuate, so we had a nice sleep to the sound of waves breaking. We have a lot more beaches to see on this coast, so we packed up and headed north to the even more touristy Playa Del Carmen. We checked into a cheap hostel, surprisingly right on the main beach, the best location in town. For lunch we discovered 30 cent tacos, and through a communication error (again) we ordered too many, which in the end was not such a bad thing as they tasted great. In the afternoon we walked a couple of kms along the beach doing some people watching and checking out the luxury resorts which line the beach, a little like the Queensland Goldcoast. We bought a 6-pack of beer and quickly drank them on the beach before they went warm, while the sun was setting.
30 Mar 2005 Return to the Island of Women
We needed to move on again to the next gorgeous beach of Cancun, but instead of staying where all the high rollers stay in the town of Cancun, we opted for a visit to an island just off the coast - Isla Majeres. For Rob to reminiscence about his last visit here 10 years ago. A bus, then a (ferry fast service) ferry to the island was quick and easy, and we found a nice and reasonably cheap hostel to stay at. The island has developed a heap since Rob last visited, many more hotels, restaurants, shops, resorts, and of course people, but still had the feel of an island community. We swan at the pristine shallow beaches soaking up the afternoon sun.
31 Mar 2005 Tour de Majeres
It was a tough night to get to sleep as there was a very loud nightclub just outside our open window. We needed a good sleep as today we hired a couple of bikes to explore the island, which is about 8 km long. The beaches on the east side of the island are very rocky, but had some nice views. On the other end of the island, there was a nice lighthouse, some tiny Mayan ruins, and places to spend lots of money to do water sports. A trap for the Cancun day trippers. We found a water slide to amuse ourselves, and saw an interesting turtle farm. Back in town, we went to the same bar Rob, Alli and Reggie visited many years ago, and enjoyed another Corona watching the sun set over the beach. Nothing changes. We think we need to hurry along from here, so much of Mexico still to see. We missed our ferry off the island, but they organised us onto a rival company’s boat, and we were able to make it in time for our overnight bus to Palenque.
01 Apr 2005 All ruined out
We had a 12 hour overnight horror bus ride. Neither of us slept that well. Arrived at 7am and we backed it up with a full day out. We jumped on a local Mexican minivan to take us to the lost city of Palenque ruins. Again quite different to the others we have seen, large buildings with an amazing underground tunnel network. We headed back to town for a feed and change before heading to one of the nearby waterfalls. We hitched a lift on the back of a ute, and walked the remaining 1.5 kms to the falls. 35 meters high but not much water flowing, the swim in the large pool below was refreshing though. As we visited the caves behind the falls we noticed everyone leaving - why? - there was a huge storm brewing! For the second time, we got caught in the rain. Now there were no vehicles for us to catch a lift back with either. After hanging around for a while, we were lucky enough to score a lift with a tour bus back to town, including a free tour talk in Swedish! A rainy night turned into an early night.
02 Apr 2005 Frosty
Time to move on again... An early bus ride to San Cristobal de las Casas, another beautiful old colonial town. We arrived around midday so we had the afternoon to search out some churches with views of the town, and visited an old hacienda museum run by a Scandinavian couple heavily involved in Mayan culture and archeology. As it had rained the day before it cooled off considerably by the afternoon. In fact, today was the coldest day we have experienced so far, under 10oC.
03 Apr 2005 Bull fighting
We have decided to stay for another day here, the place has a nice feel. There is a festival on this week in town following holy week (Easter), so there is a lot of activities in town, including a bullfight - which we thought would be an experience. While waiting for the big event, we did some more sightseeing visiting a Mayan medicine museum, where we experienced a graphic and informative video of Mayan traditional child birth with some (potentially) handy hints for child rearing. Clare can´t wait. The bullfight was an interesting experience, the matadors are adored by the crowd and act like prima donnas. Admittedly it is pretty gutsy. A slightly choreographed spectacle, with 6 bulls fought to the death - only one bull getting some satisfaction with a horn up the matador´s rear. We were lucky to catch our overnight bus as we had ignored the three attempts by people to tell us that summertime had started, and that we should move our watch forward one hour. Our Spanish let us down again!
04 Apr 2005 Oaxaca, Mexico
Chocolate and Alcohol
We caught a 10 pm bus last night and arrived at 10 am this morning at Oaxaca. We saved on accommodation, but as the busses have been quite expensive we are still going well over budget in Mexico. Oh well, we only live once! The bus trip was made worse as we were not able to get seats together. Oaxaca is a nice city, but nothing particularly exciting to see. The highlight was sampling some of the local cuisine - mezcal, an alcoholic drink like tequila, and chocolate.
05 Apr 2005 Puebla, Mexico
Double trouble
We left at 10 am after a restful morning. The next step north is Puebla, with more of the same as the previous towns. We went to enjoy a Corona beer by the central park, and through a communication error again, we ended up with two each! This was not good as Rob was feeling ill and we could not finish them. Rob went back to rest while Clare went out on her own for a bite to eat.
06 Apr 2005 Puebla, Mexico
Holey Moley
The cuisine specialty here is mole, a sauce made out of chocolate and lots of spices, and poured over anything and everything. We visited a couple of ex-convents, where the nuns invented the recipes for the different varieties of mole sauce. In one convent, they hid in secrecy for 70 years, and plastered the dead nuns into the walls to avoid detection. The 16th century churches in this town are particularly impressive.
07 Apr 2005 Taxco, Mexico
Silver Lining
We had been staying in a nice old building, but the bed was also old and lumpy, so we did not sleep too well. We left at 6am in the dark to go to Taxco, 5 hours away. This beautiful small town is set on a hillside. It was an old silver mining town - it is now renowned for sales of silver to tourists. As we hiked up the narrow cobble stoned alleyways to our hotel, Clare´s jaw dropped on seeing the multitude of jewelry shops. We spent the afternoon exploring and getting lost in the narrow streets, where in parts you have to go flat against the wall to let the cars go by. Most of the cars are VW beetles, ideal for this terrain.
08 Apr 2005 Mexico City, Mexico
The big smoke
After a lazy breakfast overlooking the busy town central roundabout, Clare wasted no time to finish the shopping from yesterday. There was a minor setback when the shop she wanted to buy from did not open until later in the morning. After the purchase of a necklace, we caught a bus to the megatropolis Mexico City. The well organised metro train system took us from the bus terminal to the historic town centre and our hotel. We used what was left of the afternoon to explore the hectic town square (zocalo). The buildings are old and beautiful, now we can imagine a little of what Europe will be like. There were thousands of people, walking and dining in the streets, and hawkers selling anything and everything.
09 Apr 2005 Mexico City, Mexico
Overwhelming
There are too many sites to see in Mexico City, so we have had to narrow it down so we do not have to stay for a week to see them all. We visited the ´Virgin of Guadeloupe´, the patron saint of Mexico. The shroud showing her image is on display in a church. You had to get on a travelator to ride past it amongst all the other pilgrims. Next we saw some works by Diego Rivera, a famous Mexican muralist and womaniser, who has large scale works appearing in what seems like every building and museum in town. We also visited some other museums and Aztec ruins in the city centre. We ´accidentally´ got in for free in a couple of these places, which is good for the budget.
10 Apr 2005 No park, No free
We planned an adventurous day of fun and culture in Mexico City’s largest city park, which is full of things to see and do. Our guidebook mentioned that many of the museums had free entry on Sunday (today), however, since it was published the rules have obviously changed and it now only applies to locals. So we joined the hoards of locals with the same idea as us. We spent a few hours getting our final fix of mexican history and ancient cultures at the Anthropology Museum. Then a visit to the zoo, to see, amongst other animals, the Australian ‘canguro’. Unfortunately most of the parkland was closed for ‘re-greening’ so we had to walk on the road around the outskirts to get to the other museums. So much for our walk in the park, but it was an enjoyable day out just the same. On our way home we stopped at a pub to hear a mexican rock band play covers with muddled lyrics. As we were in the yuppie part of town the beers were excessively expensive, $3 each!
11 Apr 2005 Tunnel Town
We packed up and hit the metro again. Three trains later and we were at the bus terminal. We caught a bus to Guanajuato. On the way we stopped as a couple of Mexicans jumped into the luggage storage section under the bus for the trip. Unusual for us, but maybe not here. This hilly town is unique for it’s intricate network of tunnel roads, making it very easy to get lost. We caught a cable car up the hill to a monument for a great view of the town, and had a scrumptious seafood soup (sopa de mariscos) from the markets for dinner.
12 Apr 2005 I want my mummie
We started the day with every budget traveler’s dream - a cheap all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast. We took a short walk to a museum of mummies, which have been dug up from the surrounding areas. Apparently the soil around here is good for making them. There were hundreds all lined up in crypts, in varying deathly positions. It was pretty morbid but interesting. Next on the agenda we visited an art gallery dedicated to the famous Don Quixote, with works by Picasso and Dali amongst others - it was fascinating. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying the ambience of this town. In the evening we enjoyed a couple of beers on the balcony, while watching the locals going about their business..
13 Apr 2005 Montezuma's revenge
Clare was a little under the weather today, after a 2am start with successive toilet visits, it all went down hill from there, spending the whole day between the bed and the bathroom. Meanwhile, Rob took a few trips out and about to Diego Rivera’s childhood house (the famous Mexican artist) which held some of his works. He also did some emailing, and some research on immodium as we forgot to include the instructions for the tablets we brought. Later, it was time for Clare to get some fresh air - Rob took her for a walk through town only to have her top the day off with a vomit right next to a statue of Jesus and some unimpressed locals. Rob alone visited the nearby Cantina to watch some baseball on TV and have drink with a few locals - it was quite authentic and probably men only allowed going by the urinal at the end of the bar.
14 Apr 2005 Music in the street
A good night sleep did wonders for Clare, it also meant it was ok to move on, as we had already stayed an extra day. We bussed north to Zacatecas. We wandered around town a little trying to find a place to stay, finally finding a very friendly hostel, with a spectacular view of the cathedral from our room. We watched the local brass band playing in the city square, then bought some food and cooked ourselves a ‘safe’ meal of soup and bread. There is nothing like a bout of sickness for one to reassess eating from local food vendors. We later relaxed on the hotel roof with a cuppa, a beer, and a panoramic view of the city lights. A very relaxing way to end the day.
15 Apr 2005 Zacatecas, Mexico
Under and Over
Zacatecas used to be a silver mining town so we went on a tour of an old underground mine. We joined a bunch of school kids and their parents, and were pretty bored by the Spanish only tour. From there we took a chair lift (teleferico) up to a lookout with a view of the city. Back in town, we tried a local favourite snack, a gordita, which is a tortilla stuffed with a range of hot ingredients. Zacatecas is the home of Corona, so we had to have few while we were here.
16 Apr 2005 Change of Plans
As we had lost a day with Clare being sick, our plans had to change. We were originally going to visit the town of Tequila, to of course taste some local tequila, but this was now off the cards. We had a long trip ahead to Los Mochis on the coast, another overnighter of 19 hours. After a bit of internet and shopping for supplies for the trip, we were off.
17 Apr 2005 Cactus Land
The bus arrived in Los Mochis around midday, we were very hungry as we did not take enough food with us, and the bus did not stop for a meal as it usually does. The landscape in the north of Mexico is dry, dusty, and full of cacti - the way Mexico is portrayed in the movies. Los Mochis is not a pretty town, but we are only here for the next leg of our journey. We visited the town’s gardens then the large shopping mall. With not much to do we weighed ourselves at the chemist. Clare has lost 2 kg and Rob 5 kg since we have started this trip. Lucky we have a dietitian traveling with us for advice. In the evening we had Sushi for dinner and listened to a Mexican band in the park.
18 Apr 2005 Copper Canyon
Today was our big train journey through the famous Copper Canyon. Named for its colour, they say it is larger than the Grand Canyon. We will have to compare next month. The train left on time at 7am, very slowly, we had never seen a train go so slow. In fact, we wondered how we were going to complete the journey in the scheduled time. We passed through the foothills before reaching the spectacular views of the cliff faces around the river bed. We had plenty of viewing time as the train took four hours longer than expected. A little rain falling made a very cold and dark arrival in Creel. Our choice of hotel was full but they gave us a great deal at the fancy ’sister’ hotel.
19 Apr 2005 Canyon Hike
Creel is situated at high altitude, set amongst the mountains near the Copper Canyon. It is a great place for hiking, perfect for us. We spent the day hiking through some local indian communities, heading for a lovely lake in the shape of a horseshoe. We hired a row boat and took a paddle on the cold crisp water. We enjoyed the paddle initially with the wind, but had to struggle back upstream. Of course we made it, unlike a local couple that had to abandon their craft and walk back. Our return hike took us through a pine forest, amazing rock formations, and some farming land. We became a little disoriented, but with our orienteering skills we eventually found our way back. The six hour hike was enjoyable but tiring, it has been a while since we have done some hard exercise. A few beers at the end of the day led us to meeting some Kiwis, Pommies, and French fellow travelers.
20 Apr 2005 On the road again
We are pretty much on the long stretch out of Mexico. We had to take a four hour bus trip to the central city of Chihuahua, before transferring to another bus to head to Tijuana, the border town. We are not sure if Chihuahua has anything to do with the dog by the same name, but size has nothing to do with it as this is a very big city. We had a few hours to kill so we caught a local bus into the city centre and had a look around. Our main aim was to get supplies for our up coming 22 hour bus trip. We left at 6.30pm.
21 Apr 2005 TJ
Another day of this trip spent on a bus. Sleep was hard last night as it got extremely cold and we were not prepared for it. We were also able to do loads of reading. We are getting used to watching the landscape out the bus window, and observing small towns as we drive through. We passed through one particularly spectacular section of treeless mountainous rocky landscape. Finding a decent hotel in this dodgy town proved a little difficult, but our search was worth the effort as we found a half decent place at a reasonably good price. We sampled a bit of the nightlife in town, and made the most of the healthy competition on beer prices.
next we cross over the border to the USA.