Flying Home Tomorrow

Hi all, I know I have been a bit slack with my blog recently, there are reasons but the main one is that I am not especially fond of Central America. I guess after coming from India everywhere would be dull and expensive but it seems that these countries are either trying to emulate the USA with fast food restaurants all over the place or that they are dangerous gang ridden places, or both. This is only my opinion but I suppose I find churches dull as they are everywhere at home and the indigenous religions are so quietly practiced as to hardly exist so all the things that would fascinate me about a place is lacking.

All that said, I am flying home tomorrow via Miami, Toronto and then to Heathrow arriving on Friday morning, and I am really looking forward too it.

I will update with some photos from Utila and Granada but until then. I’m not sure what to do with this blog when I return home and stop travelling, I might just keep it for general ramblings but I guess I will see, any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Mayan Ladies

These three local ladies are wearing one of the traditional types of clothing here in Guatemala. Also with the compulsory baby on the back.

Mayan statue

This statue is in a small park in Quetzaltenango which is a very pleasant highland city it Guatamala. Its a little over 2km high so is a pleasantly cool change from the sweaty coastline. Mayan culture seems to be very important up here in the hills.

Zipolite Sunset

This is one of four beaches with villages behind them that cover a 10km area of coast. This beach had apparently deadly surf, not especially surfable but big, apparently. Whilst we where there it got smaller and smaller each day. We had a small hut right on the beach with a sea view, well we could throw stones into the surf if we had any. The noise of the surf made for some interesting dreams though.
I spent a lot of time in my hammock here.

Puerto Escondido Beach

I have been very lazy and enjoying beach and hammock life recently and therefore I haven’t taken that many photographs.
This is one of the beaches to the western end of Puerto Escondido, it was a very crowded beach with most of the space taken by restaurants and bars but it was a nice place to chill and make a drink last for ages.

Graffiti Oaxaca

I was a bit crap in Oaxaca and didn’t take many photos apart from some of the fabulous graffiti that was on offer (I think it could be something to do with being a bit hungover).
Anyway I’m at the beach now and working on my tan and having a great time, photos of sunny beaches coming up in a few days.

Red Earth Pyramid

I just love the colour contrast. Gert took this photo by the way.

Cacti

I guess Mexico is famous for cacti, hell they even make a strong drink from it (Mezcal, which is a lethal brew).

Pyramid with flowers

This is one of the other smaller Pyramids to the south of the complex where apparently the ruler of the town lived. Personally I just liked the flowers in the foreground.

Pyramid de la Luna

This is taken earlier in the morning from the top of the Pyramid de la Sol, it was a bit more hazy.

Pyramids

This is what was behind me in the last photo.

Me and some Pyramids

These pyramids at Teotihuacan, about 1 hour from Mexico city are dated from around 100ad so that’s 1000 years before Angkor Wat in Cambodia and this one in the middle is the third highest in the world. It is the Pyramid of the Sun (the one I am sat on is the Pyramid of the moon) and apparently was painted bright red.

Dancer with Glasses

These tribal dancers are in the main square in Mexico City every day. I just found it funny that the guy in the foreground has such geeky glasses, shallow arent I.

Zocala in Mexico City

This is the main square in Mexico city and the huge church at the north side of it. The flag is the Mexican flag strangely enough.

Graffiti

There also seems to be some very interesting stencil graffiti in the city’s suberbs. This was found in the suberb of Coyoacin where the Freida Khalo museum and the Leon Trotsky museum are found and there where many great examples of stencil graffiti around the area.

Funky Sculpture

There are many funky sculptures on a street (Moneda) just round the corner from the huge city square the Zocalo in Mexico City. Art seems to be appreciated and encouraged in this city and there are also many murals all over the place, some dating from around the 1920’s.

Beetle Taxis

Finally I have arrived in Mexico. Mexico city seems to be a clean, orderly chilled place, especially for a capital city.
These beetle taxis are all over the place, apparently they are still manufactured somewhere in Latin America. This road with the clock are in the Centro Historico (the historical center) and we are staying in a hotel to the south of the area.

Flying to Mexico tonight

Less than 12 hours to go till my flight halfway round the world from Delhi to Mexico City and I have that combination of time to kill and being very excited.  Wish me Luck.

Map

If anybody is interested I have created a Google map of the places that I have been too this trip so far, I figured as I was leaving India tomorrow it was a good time to do this. I have added it to the new links page on this site too so it will be there forever.

Weed

Manali Weed. Well it is one of the things that this place is famous for. Manali itself is a domestic tourist centre where rich Indians come to trek, and enjoy the cooler mountain air. In the surrounding villages of Old Manali and Vashisht is where all the backpackers hang out. I stayed a couple of nights in Old Manali before I headed to Spiti and one night in the centre of Manali before I got the bus to Delhi.

This will probably be the last post before I leave India. On the morning of the 15th (just past midnight Monday night, 60 hours away)I fly to Mexico to meet my man and I can’t wait!