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Panama, San Blas and the sailing trip to Colombia

The border crossing between Costa Rica and Panama was very smooth. All you need is 500$ cash, and an outbound ticket or at least a proof of some ticket that takes you home from either Panama or Colombia.

I left Corcovado at 7am and arrived in Sona at 7pm. Sadly from Sona there was no bus anymore to Santa Catalina but I met a taxi driver who gave me an acceptable price..i did try to look for accommodation is Sona but sadly it’s not a backpacker town so there is one or 2 hotels there for about $25 so I thought why not pay this for the taxi instead and stay in Santa Catalina. The reason I went there was to dive in Isla Coiba. In the end I stayed in a lovely place called Hibiscus Garden which is about 10km away from Santa Catalina. It’s owned by a German couple living there with their kids and there was a lovely Argentinian couple volunteering..they made my stay excellent! So diving was awesome there..I was with the dive master only. He is from Oz…I got slightly annoyed though cause during first dive he touched a coral and he panicked so after 45 mins we had to go up….even though my tank was half full but hey..rescue diver was doing what she was meant to do;-) On second dive he lasted 50 minutes (again half full tank) cause he had to pee!!! I mean bloody hell pee in your wet-suit if you are a dive master and you are with only one person on the dive! I was really annoyed. But hey ho, we saw sharks, turtles, rays and amazing schools of fishes so it was satisfying in the end. In the hibiscus garden I also did some horse riding and engaged with the locals working on the farm. The food was excellent! Price was 11$ a night or so.

You can actually stay on Coiba ..and I would recommend it as it’s beautiful:

After Catalina I headed to Panama city to spend the weekend there before starting my epic trip to San Blas and Colombia on 26th May. Panama City was about 7 hours away from Catalina, so I arrived there late afternoon. I got recommended to stay in Casco Viejo, so I picked the most popular hostel there called Luna’s Castle. It was a party hostel but I wasn’t too bothered as I stayed only 2 nights and I wanted to go out.

I really liked Panama city. It had a great vibe, nice buildings, nice people..and I felt very close to Colombia..In the end I opted to rest cause i was tired but at least I did some sightseeing:

There is a great fish market where you can eat fresh fish and ceviche, there is a lovely Modern Art Museum that I visited, and I just walked around. It’s advisable to buy Metrobus card for 2$ and top it up with a few $. You don’t need much as a journey is 0.25$.

I also visited the Canal. It was interesting to understand the history behind it.

I only spent 4 days on Panama mainland. Sadly I didn’t get the chance to visit Boquete- fantastic place to do some trekking (although a few people went missing there recently) or climb the Baru volcano (where you get to see the 2 oceans on a clear day) or to visit Bocas del Toro..the Caribbean paradise of Panama. Knowing though that I will shortly go to the San Blas islands during my 5-6 days of sailing to Colombia made me feel ok about not going to Bocas.

So..the sailing trip started on the 26th May on a Monday. We got a transfer from Panama city to the San Blas islands by 4×4 and a little speedboat where our catamaran was waiting for us (Nacar 2).

The name of the first island where we spent the first night (never on the island, always on the boat) was Analunega. This was a fairly developed island with the indigenous community (kuna) living there. If I compare them to the Tayrona people in Colombia the kunas are much more commercialised and charging tourists a lot for a necklace or any kind of handicraft.

The first lunch was on the island, then Jonathan (sailor) cooked our dinner. Our captain was super cool- Jose. I almost forgot the story of how I got onto this particular sailing boat. I have a friend called Danila whom I met 2 years ago in the Bolivian jungle. She is Argentinian and she is still travelling since 2012! I can say without any exaggeration that she is a master of life! She found a job in Quito last year that allowed her to go to the Galapagos islands twice for free! And now she is working on the sailing company called Blue sailing (highly recommended if you are planning to do a trip either from Colombia to Panama or the other way round) so she booked me onto this boat as I had fixed dates.

So I got a fantastic bed outside..I knew this would be my best bet cause inside the boat you are more likely to get seasick during sailing, plus it can be a bit stuffy.

On the second day we moved after breakfast to the second island called Chichime. On this island I swam a lot! I was always in the water with my snorkelling gear and what you can see down there is a miracle. Not particularly because of the marine life as I was spoilt previously on my dive experience allover the world but this place is famous for its stunning sea stars..tons of them in the bottom of the sea and you can see them perfectly as the water is crystal clear.

On the 3rd day we sailed to the 3rd island called Huaisaludo. This was the least developed island, only one family lived here Julio and Laura. They moved 5 years ago from Panama City…cannot imagine a bigger contrast..but can perfectly imagine how a person can get to the point living 50 years in a big city to move to a deserted island. They are living from selling coconut to tourists for $1 each. They also sell empty beer cans to different commercial boats. They haven’t got much but what they have is worth more than any Versace bag or a super car. They see the sun rising above the Caribbean sea every morning and they see it setting every evening. We spent an afternoon with them drinking Coco Loco (rum in the coconut water).

This 3rd night was the best night in terms of the group. Lobster dinner…(some killed the lobster..as a diver I didn’t have the heart)

We all got to know each other by this time, all the alcohol appeared on the table which everyone brought with themselves, we made a fire on the island, instruments came out..it was a superb night which ended with some skinny dipping in the 28 degree water.

Next day everyone was hungover and we all knew that we would pay for last night this day…We started sailing on the open sea..We all took our seasickness pill which helped but everyone was silent and sleeping most day.

The 5th day was the longest..we had enough water and food but the fact that we couldn’t move just sit or lay made it a bit hard. Also that we didn’t have wind! So the max speed of the sailing boat was 4.5 knot and we had 230 miles to do..That’s an average 5.1 mile/hour…Therefore we knew we wouldn’t arrive on Friday to Cartagena. On the last night people were taking turns in guarding while he captain and sailor were sleeping. My turn was from 10pm to midnight ..I had to check lights around, check the monitor to see if there is any boat nearby, check is there was a storm coming. I enjoyed this task immensely. I have never felt more free in my life than on this boat surrounded by only water and sitting by the steering wheel under the stars..I had time to think. About my life, and about the world. I felt incredibly grateful that i had the opportunity to travel such a big distance…already the second time ..And I was heading towards he country that I most loved on my first trip..Colombia…

I felt the excitement in my tummy..this was the first time for me to return to a country that I visited before as a backpacker..and because I had very strong memories I was very curious about how it would feel being back there.

On Saturday we had still a long distance to cover..sadly the engine stopped about 37 miles away from Cartagena. The captain knew immediately what to do. The dinghy boat pushed us until he called for help..and then we just got pulled into cartagena by a fishing boat.

We arrived at 4.30pm.

In my next post I am going to write about Colombia, the last country I visited on this trip.

Costa Rica..the natural wonderland

Posted: June 11, 2014 in Central America, Costa Rica
Tags: Flutterby house, Jaco, Jaguar's Jungle, Manuel Antonio National Park, Parque National Corcovado, sloths in Costa Rica, Uvita

At the Costa Rican border we said goodbye to each other with Nikki, she went to Monteverde and I went to Playa el Coco..Mistake! The only reason I went there was to dive but it was like a worn out ghost town..100% americanised and low season..if you happen to be there do not go with Summer Salt dive centre! They stood me up by saying they would have a trip to the Bats Cave (best dive site where mantas and hammerheads are common ) the day after, so I waited, but when I appeared at the dive centre at 5.30 in the morning it was closed and nobody appeared up until 6.30 am (trip was meant to be at 6am) so I packed all angry and left.

The next destination was not any better: Jaco. The only reason I came here was to see a friend of mine Gil, whom I met in the Corn islands. The town is full of expensive beach shops, surfers (mainly gringo), but it was nice to hang out with the girls for a night.

After this I spent a night in Quepos so I could have an early start to Manuel Antonio National park the day after, which did not quite happen cause the girls took ages to arrive from Jaco but it was ok. I saw my first sloth!! Mission completed for Costa Rica:)

Sloths are incredibly slow..they live high up on the trees and only come down once a week to poo. They made me laugh. I saw one with the baby!!

The national park was nice but way too touristy and half of it was closed because of maintenance. Raccoons are cheeky, they attack the backpacks while tourists are chilling on the beach.

Next stop was Uvita. Now this place is less touristy and beautiful. I stayed in a wonderful hostel called Flutterby House where I met a really nice girl who worked there. I had a tree house just for myself..very much enjoyed this jungle house!

It´s a bit scary to get to this hostel after dark as the bus drops you off about a kilometer away and I was walking on a dirt road for about 20 mins with my iPhone´s flash light but in the end I made it.

Next day I visited the Marino Ballena National Park ..I have never seen such a stunning beach! It was low tide and you had to walk about 200m to reach the water..

On the way back I chatted to a lovely Tica lady (this is how Costa Ricans call themselves, Ticos) who fixed a nice lift for me to the waterfall where the rain got me and I walked back in pouring rain. Was fun:)

After Uvita I headed to the Penisula Osa (Bahia Drake) where I wanted to stay in the national park 1 or 2 nights..I haven´t made any arrangements yet and I chose to go to a hidden gem called Jaguar´s Jungle which is a hostel in the real jungle ..with nothing nearby (town is 4 hours walk among poisonous snakes ). Let me tell you about the way to Bahia Drake, cause it´s not that straight forward. In Costa Rica buses are not great. You have to change a lot and they are not frequent at all. So from Uvita I took a bus to Palmar Norte where sadly there was no bus to Sierpe so I took a taxi for $15. In Sierpe there is a morning (11.30am ) and afternoon boat to Bahia Drake (around 3pm). I made the 11.30 one and requested a lift to Jaguar´s Jungle..they wanted to charge me more (regular price is $15, so they said cause it´s way further out than Bahia Drake I need to pay $25 which I refused so they called Leo, the owner who wasn´t in the hostel but on holiday and he arranged the lower price for me.

As the boat dropped me off, Osvaldo and David greeted me. David was a volunteer, Osvaldo was a Tico. They had lovely seafood coconut soup so I had lunch and just wondered around..I was the ONLY guest. Which seemed kind of cool at the beginning..things got complicated when I told them my plans..I wanted to dive the next day in Isla Caño, then go to Sirena (the ranger station in the National Park with the most wild life) for 2 nights…sadly Leo did not leave them phone numbers..even if he did there was only one spot by a coconut tree where there was reception…but yes not having contact with agencies made things complicated. They tried to call Leo several times but Leo was happily surfing somewhere instead of picking up his phone and trying to help Osvaldo and David (who hats off, tried everything to get me on tours).

Next day the diving boat did not come to pick me up and i felt stuck! It was a paradise but I only had 4 days left as I had to leave Costa Rica within 12 days (I could have stayed longer but I wanted to spend 3 weeks in Colombia so I planned it this way) and I did not want to ´waste´these 4 days by not doing why I came to this amazing wild national park.

Osvaldo walked with me to the next place which was a biological centre with similarly no guests or students at that moment. At least the guy there had one agency´s contacts but sadly that agency wanted me to go diving with them so because they didn´t have trip for the next day they did not made a phone call around other agencies and dive centres if they had a trip ..

Also spending 2 nights in the national park would have cost me a fortune..(around $350) cause the guide was obligatory and expensive, camping there was expensive, food was expensive, so I decided to do a day tour at Sirena which was rated average in Lonely planet as to see wild life you really need to wake up early and catch the animals. There are tattoos, tapirs, monkeys, ant eaters and many other animals to observe..I just wanted to see a tapir! So I was very lucky cause we had an excellent guide who was a marine biologist but knew a lot about the animals in the park too. We found fresh tapir tracks!!! So we followed the footprints which lead us to the big male tapir who was having the nicest dreams:) We woke him up. He is not afraid of humans. It was superb and exciting to see a tapir for the first time!

We saw 3 type of monkeys, excellent birds, a deer, coaties, Cayman, crocs..and on the way dolphins too! This tour was incredibly good!

I decided to move to the town (Bahia Drake) to arrange my diving, so I stayed in Casa Murillo with excellent ocean view, and I managed to go diving in the end to Isla Caño where I saw some great sharks ..actually the place reminded me of Richelieu rock in Thailand..it was a great day! we did 2 dives, lunch at the beach, and I walked back to town through the jungle (3 hours).

Sadly I had to leave as I only got 12 days stamp in Costa Rica, but I wouldn’t have time to stay any longer anyway. The border crossing went just fine.

In my next post I’ll write about Panama and the 5 days sailing trip on the San Blas islands to Colombia.

Nicaragua..world of Toña, Flor de Caña, Sunday FunDay, Lava shot, Volcano boarding and many more..

Posted: May 11, 2014 in Caribbean, Central America, Nicaragua
Tags: Big Corn island, Casa las Olas, Casa Oro, Cool Spot, Esteli, Granada, Leon, Little Corn Island, Masaya, Ometepe, Paraiso resort, San Juan del Sur, Surfing Turtle Lodge, Volcan Maderas, Volcan Masaya, Volcan Mombacho, Zopilote

My first stop in Nicaragua was on the North, a town called Esteli. I planned to visit the Miraflores natural reserve to finally spot a quetzal but sadly my health decided for me..

After my recent Acid reflux I was not expecting getting one again!! But sadly it came back and put me in bed for 4 days. This reflux is an awful thing..there is no relief. You should not lie down, you are too weak to walk though or even sit..you are hungry but you can only eat dry stuff that absorbs the acid..defo a good way to drop a few pounds down! I met some lovely people though in the hostel. Once I was strong enough I took the bus to Leon with Wayne. Leon is an incredibly hot town..I’m talking about 35-40 degrees..The hostel we wanted to stay in was full so we stayed in Cerro Negro, just in front of the other one. I very much liked this hostel..as apart from people it had everything..pool table, comfy chairs, hammocks, bamboo swing, and a rubber kids pool. This is where I spent my first afternoon.

Leon is a nice little colonial town..there is an excellent juice bar just by the main park where you could choose among more than 50 juices.

I was in Leon at the start of the biggest Latin American celebration, the Semana Santa. For us it’s Easter but they celebrate the whole week and there are possessions where they dress up and carry Jesus Christ on their shoulder..

I met Nikki in Honduras and she said she might come to celebrate my birthday to the Surfing Turtle Lodge (Near Leon on the beach) and she came to the same hostel as me and Wayne so we hang out the 3 of us for a day before the Turtle Lodge.

Leon was memorable for me because I decided to go to the hospital and check if I have gallstones given that this acid pain usually moves to the back the last couple of days. The doctor sent me for blood and urine tests, and ultra sound (this latter was private).

So I spent a morning doing all these and turned out I had no gallstones. First thing I’ll do when I’m back in England is to do a helicobacteria test as I read it’s a common cause of acid reflux.

So after these adventures once I got better I went to the Surfing turtle lodge around the 16th of April to spend my birthday and the rest of Semana Santa there. It’s a little paradise..There is not much to do..only surfing if waves are good but while I was there they weren’t. The other activity is to watch turtle eggs hatch and when the sun goes down send the little turtles on their way to the ocean. It’s important to do this in the evening as they have more chances to survive.

We played every day at 4pm volleyball and the losers had to go up to the bar and have a little dance for Ice Ice Baby and then down at one go a Smirnoff Ice..I was almost every day on the bar:)

So a few words about the group…I think Surfing Turtle was the foundation for the rest of my Nicaraguan travels when it comes to fun people to travel with! Ben and Imogen (Australian couple) is defo my fave couple, we shared joy, tears and beers in our Nicaraguan stay. Nikki I talked about earlier is a super cool chick, traveling with her little guitar, passionate about tattoos and has a great voice! She is from Canada..Kevin! He arrived! I met him in Copan Ruinas and although our ways separated for the rest of Honduras he promised he would come for my birthday and there he was! With a bottle of rum from Roatan and a bracelet and ring from another traveller friend of his! Sweet! Alina and Celine. I met Alina in Leon, we travelled together to the lodge and hung out there together. She was very nice and lent me her local phone so I could call La Costeña to book my plane ticket to the Corn islands (next destination, more about it later).Her friend Celine came only for the last night so I didn’t chat to her much that time. And an unmissable addition to our group was Wayne..well..he is a tough one. So Wayne was a great travel companion up until the Lodge..

He is one of those people who claims that he hates hang out with travellers but he still does and tries everything to appear cool and not a ‘gringo’ (Latin Americans call foreigners gringo. Originally this word was used for North American people but it seems to apply now to everyone.) His agenda for the 5 days in Surfing Turtle Lodge was to get hammered..so he started drinking in the morning most days and finished last …unless he climbed on other people’s bed and was sick in them. By the end he managed to have more enemies than friends..in a way it was very sad and I felt sorry for him but he earned this for himself and somebody who doesn’t want to be helped cannot be helped.

After 5 days of fun we left the turtle and some of them stayed in Leon, I went to Managua, spent a night there just to be able to leave a few things before flying to the corn islands due to weight restrictions. That one night in Managua was fun, I went to the cinema and watched Rio 2. I miss cinema!!!!

Next day at 2pm I had my flight to Big Corn. I went to the airport on chicken bus..thought to save 20$ before the expensive Caribbean islands…

Flight was one hour, as soon as I arrived at Big Corn I took a boat to Little Corn island which is the backpackers’ favourite. Just a note on the flight..if you are planning on going there and you don’t know how long for do not book it on the website! call them or buy the ticket in an agency so you can get an open ticket for the same price (return 165$).

When I got off the boat I met Gil, lovely Canadian lady and then Nienke (The Netherlands). Lovely girls, great to hang out with! I shared a room in Cool Spot with Nienke so like this we paid 7.5$ each instead of 15$. We discovered some great restaurants, Happy hour in Tranquilo was a must every day. I signed up for a 10 dive package at Little Corn Dive centre but sadly I got sick (flu) so i could not continue diving there but I did 3 and I saw some nice things..but overall Little Corn diving is quite low key..

Few days after Nienke left and Immy and Ben arrived along with Alina and Celine so the turtle crowd was back!!! Except for Kevin and Nikki.

Here are some pics on Little Corn Islands:

Internet on the island is not great..My internet strategy was ..breakfast at Iguana where I would connect with the world, stock up with water, play a little game where you had to hook to a metal ring on a string to a metal hook and have the best (and sweetest) French toast on the island. The last 2 pics above were taken at Iguana.

With Immy we discovered the most expensive resort on the island..300$ a night..great view and great little bungalows..but a little expensive in my opinion..

Immy and Ben, and Alina and Celine stayed but I decided to spend a night (almost 2) in the Big Corn island.

I took the morning ferry to be able to explore the big island..There are more locals on the Big Corn and you can actually get some cheap local food not only touristy expensive one. I splurged though on my last night and I stayed in Paraiso Resort in a fantastic bungalow with a/c and comfort. Bear in mind at Cool spot I had a mouse on my last night so I really deserved a bit of a splurge!

I would say people who travel to the Corn islands..give a chance to the big corn as well cause it has more beautiful beaches than the little one ..yes you need to take a taxi after dark and during the day cause there are much longer distances but i walked around the island in a day with beach stops.

Few shots on Big Corn:

Even though it wasn’t high season..I failed in my attempt to reserve a return flight to Managua. So the only solution was to go to airport on stand by and if people didn’t turn up for the flight I could go. There are 2 flights a day from and to the Corn islands. From is at 8.30 am and 3.30pm..next day for the 8.30 am I did not manage to get on. I did manage to get onto the 3.30 pm one though so it gave me the chance to return to my favourite beach (Arenas) and enjoy for another half day this paradise.

On the flight I met a couple (English boy, Brasilian girl) and as they were heading to Granada we decided to split a taxi instead of taking a bus. It was a total of 25$ for a 1.5h journey so it was well worth it. I picked up my stuff from the hostel and we arrived at Granada around 7pm. I was recommended a hostel called Oasis which had a perfect position and across the street there was an excellent Japanese restaurant where we had sushi…LOVED IT! I missed sushi so much!

I spent a few days in Granada, met Kevin again and then Immy and Ben too, I climbed Mombacho and Masaya volcans, went for a day to Masaya market (if you ever go there and want to buy things go to the old market which is about half price as the new market.) This hostel was excellent value..very spacious and free pancake and fruits for brekkie. ($9 a night)

At Mombacho I was climbing with a German guy who was travelling for 2 weeks with his mum! such a great effort by the mum to see his son in Nicaragua and climb a volcano with average inclination of 60 degrees.

At the Masaya volcan I was walking with a Nica boy and an El Salvador boy. They came to the market with me after. Nice people!

I met Alex as well in Granada which was a great surprise ! We went for dinner ..big crew! I loved it then we went out partying. Sadly Immy and Ben didn’t come with us but it was an excellent night!! We started at a local place playing salsa, latin, 70s, rocky! Then we went to Granada’s greatest club called I ❤ weekend. What a night!

After Granada I went to Ometepe which is an island in one of Nicaragua’s big lakes and on the island there are 2 volcanoes. Concepcion (the higher one) and Maderas. Nikki booked a hostel for me ( Zopilote farm)..very organic and nice place. I got there, nice people in the dorm, we had a pizza night, met Nikki finally and Monica from Spain and we decided to hire a scooter for next day so we were cruising around the 3 of us on the bike. Loved it! The highlight of the day was Ojos del Agua natural pool from volcanic crystal clear water.

The next day Monica and I decided to climb Maderas volcano..humid..hot..rainy, muddy. Based on these take the necessary equipment. Great cloud forest though and I even saw the most dangerous snake on Ometepe, red and black colour which lets you live 2 hours once it bites you:) What a lucky girl I am not having got bitten!:)

Getting around in Ometepe is not easy. There are some buses that are not very reliable. Hitching is a possibility, To get the ferry back to the mainland we had to hitch from Santa Cruz to Moyogalpa. Now that was a serious fun!

I forgot to mention that while I was in Granada I discovered that someone scammed me…Probably one of the cash machines I used was read by hackers and they took almost 600 pounds from my account. I blocked it immediately and ordered a new card to San Juan del Sur (to where I had no intention of going cause it was known being a party town of teenagers hosting this fantastic event of Sunday Funday) as I didn’t know how posts arrive to Ometepe. I picked a hostel in San Juan and said to the customer service rep. He promised 7 days so..I was hanging out a few days in San Juan staying at different places. Why?

1. Casa las Olas, owned by an Aussie couple in their 50s..it’s a beautiful place with an infinity pool but there was a group of Aussies who were drunk every day pretty much during the day and night which took away the charm of this lovely place.

Next day we moved to the hostel I ordered my bank card to, Casa Oro. They mentioned to me earlier that they would charge me $5 for this post with is ridiculous. When we occupied our beds I found bed bugs!!! These are my biggest nightmare! I notified the staff so they came into the room with a special liquid which turned out to be tequila! so they got rid of the mattresses, sprinkled the frame and lit it up!

They suggested I do the same thing with my backpack without the lighting it up bit.

The process didn’t help. I couldn’t sleep because of the evil bed bugs so I moved downstairs to a different room in the middle of the night. Grrr

For the evening we hired a movie with Nikki (The shrink) it was a great movie and proves you can do different things in San Juan del Sur not only drinking.

Next day we moved to another hostel and went to a surfing beach called Maderas. It was a lovely beach but we didn’t surf so we came back next day to do a surfing class. This class gave me the final proof that surfing is not my sport. Too much hassle and once you stood up once it doesn’t give you that amazing feeling ..but that’s the case with every ‘non first’ I guess..

The conclusion of my Nicaraguan trip was that my card never arrived so I blocked it (Barclays really should deal with situations that can occur during travelling) and ordered it to London. San Juan was not that bad although young travellers should watch out cause there is a drug problem there…2 travellers died while I was there.

Nicaragua was awesome! Very safe and fun! You always meet people and your money lasts long! Also true that I haven’t seen another country where so many T-shirt merchandise is being sold! Every other traveller has either a Lava shot or a Volcano boarding, a Toña beer or Flor de Caña rum T-shirt. I only bought a surfing turtle lodge one!

In my next post I’ll talk about Costa Rica and Panama. Stay tuned;-)

Honduras! Not many people’s cuppa, but mine was!

Posted: April 30, 2014 in Caribbean, Central America, Honduras
Tags: Aguas Calientes, Bird watching at Lago de Yojoa, Copan, Copan Ruinas, D&D brewery Lake Yojoa, Gracias, Iguana Azul Copan Ruinas, Intercontinental Hotel Tegus, Lago de Yojoa, Mango Inn, Tegucigalpa, Utila, Utila Dive Centre (UDC)

First stop in Honduras was the famous Utila! I remember this place very well from my first trip as my first open water dive instructor did his instructor course here (and he almost let me drawn). Also, Richard’s instructor Diego spoke very highly about UDC (Utila Dive Centre) so once the ferry docked I went straight to UDC. If you happen to be on this island and have no idea where to dive or stay don’t despair, there are plenty of people waiting by the dock selling their dive shop/hostel.

So at UDC I met Sarah (English lady, super nice), who gave me a brief intro about the dive shop and facilities. I was mainly interested in doing my Rescue Course here and she explained the structure. There were already 2 fellow divers just starting the course, Alex and Lisa, so I joined in the next day. In medias res! I like it! I got free accommodation during the course in the Mango Inn, official hostel of UDC which I very much liked..who wouldn’t like this?

Just a bit more about Sarah..and there is a reason why I dedicate a separate paragraph to her. I think we were meant to meet as she fulfilled a big dream of mine..She and her husband were living in London having fantastic jobs, and a great lifestyle..but something was missing. And what is the rare thing..that for both of them the same thing! They were both freedom lovers. They realised that life is too short to live in a crowded big city that however offers so much to someone who is in great financial situation, it doesn’t offer sunshine, warm climate or freedom to keep a healthy balance between work and these two. They were both beach and sun lovers, so one day in their 40s they decided to pack their bags and move to Utila and dedicate their lives to their passion..diving!

As I am writing this Sarah just posted the most amazing thing on Facebook that I have to quote..

‘20 years ago today, I stood on a beach overlooking the ocean, with my soul mate beside me. In front of dear friends and family, I promised to love him forever…

Today I stand in our beach front house in the Caribbean, overlooking the ocean with my soul mate still beside me.

To my darling D.D I love you more today than ever. We have had an amazing life together so far. We have lived, laughed and loved….here’s to many more years of that.

I love you forever…….’

She is an example for me ..and even if for now I made my decision to go back to London to the person I love, the dream of one day living on a beach and having enough sunshine that a human being needs in order to live a happy life with the person I love has not been forgotten…

The rescue course started with a one day EFR (Emergency First Response course). I did this for my driving license 13 years ago but it had to be within 2 years so I repeated it in English this time. During the rescue course the people doing their dive master courses are ‘helping’ by being victims. So during the 4 days we have about 2 hours theory and 3 hours in the water doing skills.

The 3rd day was the toughest but in the end I completed the course and I was very happy that I did it! The biggest challenge was not the course though but to resist the temptation of not continuing to next level. There would have been no point though if I wouldn’t work with it..so I made my decisions. After my 2 fun dives I got a flu so couldn’t dive anymore..

Few words about Utila. If you are looking for a quiet island don’t go to Utila. It’s a party island where there is nothing else to do but diving. There are several people doing their zero to hero courses (Open water to dive master) in one go while getting hammered in the evenings.. It’s expensive, locals are not very friendly and all conversations are about diving. If you see the whale shark you are lucky! I was there in the right time but sadly did not see it..but there was always somebody coming back to the hostel super excited about seeing one or two. There are some good bars and restaurants like Munchie’s or an absolute must near Mango Inn: The Jade Seahorse. It took the owner 25 years to build the place (you can stay here but obviously prices are not on backpacker levels.

Few pics:

After Utila I went to Copan. This was my favourite place in Honduras, lovely town, great variety of things to do. The ruins were not that great as I have seen so many by this time that I couldn’t appreciate anymore, but I went one day to the hot springs and one day horseback riding. I met some great people here too and stayed in a superb hostel called La Iguana Azul. Oh and by the ruins there are a lot of macaws. They are bright red and loud. Awesome birds!

After Copan I went for a day to Gracias- recommended by Lonely Planet..well..it’s a nice little town but unless you have a lot of time and want to see everything it’s not a must. There is a cute little jar shop though that is worth a visit (called Lorendiana), and some nice churches and a fort. There are no hostels, only slightly or very expensive hotels. (for a backpacker)

After Gracias I chicken bussed it to Lago de Yojoa which I very much loved! I stayed in a microbrewery called D&D which had a pool, excellent beers, great tourist information and a bonfire every night. I met my friend Alex here (we did the rescue course together in Utila), we did a walk up to the view point over the lake, took a Flor de Cana bottle of rum and celebrated our efforts in 40 degrees!

I met a super nice girl here Nikky, we wanted to have an overnight jungle trip (Santa Barbara cloud forest) to check out this famous quetzal bird (official bird of Guatemala but can be spotted here too) but D&D was crap in organising tours..great info source but not great action behind.

I met Kelly and Wayne here too. I enjoyed their deep psychological conversations and debates by the bonfire every evening so one day we visited a national park together to watch birds.

Just before the last night the brewery ran out of beer …so we were drinking wine…5 of us..8 bottle..NOT GOOD!

that evil night after a few days just when I got to Nicaragua triggered my acid reflux so…next time I’ll think twice.

I also did an excellent trip to the Pulhapanzak waterfall. If you get the chance go behind the waterfall..it’s an adrenaline rush!! Walter, the tour guide took me there with his motorbike (unofficial tour lol)

One day Wayne and I went to the coffee farm next door, it was a nice afternoon with some great scenery. Same day we saw a Mot Mot bird in the brewery!! Such great wild life here!

So a few words about Wayne. He is an English guy, very clever but a little bit of a lost soul. This hasn’t turned out just yet..he will be in my next blog too. Anyway he used to work as an IT consultant in England and had some hotel points accumulated. He kindly invited me to spend a weekend with him in the Intercontinental hotel in Tegucigalpa (with no bad intentions, purely because he needed company I guess) and I was thinking why not splurge a bit for free and refresh in a nice hotel, dye my hair, have a proper shower etc.

We got a direct bus at 6am to the capital of Honduras (2nd highest murder rate in central america) ..and cause we couldn’t occupy the room yet we went across the street to a shopping centre. Wow..what a rush I had going through those amazing shops! too much time in basic places gives me back that genuine enthusiasm and appreciation for things we take for granted in the first world.

So after I did the ‘beauty session’ we went out with Wayne to the centre to check out a few bars and we ended up going with 2 locals to a Cuban salsa bar…I LOVED IT! Was dancing the whole evening. Wayne didn’t have this enthusiasm for dancing so he opted for drinking. We closed the night in a very fancy roof terrace.

The next day I left Tegus and took the bus to Nicaragua. Next time I’ll continue from here.

Guatever!

Posted: April 20, 2014 in Caribbean, Central America, Guatemala
Tags: Ati Divers, Casa Perico, El retiro, honey bear Rio Dulce, Iguana Perdida, Lake Atitlan, Lanquin, Livingston, Rio Dulce, San Pedro, Santa Cruz, Semuc Champey

In the previous post I already started talking about Guatemala. Flores, Tikal were amazing, Antigua..super rich city with many fancy cars, lots of foreign people studying Spanish etc. After Antigua I went to one of my favourite places in Guatemala to Lake Atitlan.

In Guatemala the majority of tourists are travelling with shuttles (you don’t see locals in these) just because it does not cost much more than chicken buses and long destinations can be reached much easier with a direct shuttle rather than having to change 2-3 times. This is what I took for 80 quetzales (about £6) for a 3.5 hour journey. The shuttle took me to Panajachel which is the main town around the lake, then I took a ‘lancha’ (boat) to San Pedro which was meant to be the most lively part of the lake with the most backpackers on it. I found a hotel (Hotel Helen) with stunning views over the lake for about £3 a night..quite rare finding a place like this on these rates.

In San Pedro there are some cool restaurants and bars to hang out, there is always a party somewhere and it’s easy to meet people. One day I bumped into 4 Canadian girls with whom we were doing a free Salsa lesson when Richard was still with me. It was a great surprise to see them again so we started chatting and we bonded in the evening during one of the ‘Ladies’ nights’ parties!

One day I went to Chichi market..in Guatemala for some reason buses always broke down…this is what happened on this day as well, and one other thing topped the experience..there was a Swedish lady on the shuttle who like hearing her voice..so she was singing along the great 80’s songs during the 3 hour journey…NOT COOL!

The market itself was a little disappointing after the Bolivian La Paz market…and it was expensive..so i ended up buying almost nothing.

On the way back I took some nice pics of the lake:

After San Pedro and the parties we moved to a way more chilled place called Santa Cruz where we stayed in a home-style hostel called La Iguana Perdida. I did a dive here with ATI Divers (part of TrekCats- Association of Central and South American Divers)..you could see houses, swimming pools, saunas under water and volcanic sand where we poached an egg. The lake is growing due to past earth moves this is why some houses are already under water. The Iguana was nice, dinner together, activities. It’s a tab based system. I had a hair cut here too:) Was a great experience. A travel buddy cut it for me.

After the Iguana I was done with the lake. My Canadian friends went to Guatemala City to catch their flight home so I carried on alone. Next destination was Semuc Champey but I had to break the journey in Antigua, where I spent a lovely afternoon, stayed in the same hostel I stayed with Richard at (Hostel Jacarnda, lovely people and great place!), and had a nice pancake dinner in the ‘Luna de Miel’.(http://www.lunademielantigua.com/ )

Next morning I took the shuttle to Semuc Champey. The road is fine from Antigua until the last hour which is an 11 km dirt road…hence it takes an hour to get to the village of Lanquin. I decided to stay in El Retiro in Lanquin (http://www.elretirolanquin.com/ ), where I met a very nice group of people with whom we did the Semuc Champey tour the next day…well…it’s a beautiful place..

The tour was pretty hard core, we went to a cave first where all you need is a bikini and a candle and some courage:)

We climbed walls, swam through the cave, jumped off cliffs within the cave..so..it was a miracle if somebody finished the adventure without any injury. Then we hiked to the terrace pools, and spent the afternoon sliding down, diving in, having fun.

The day after I took it easy, just did some tubing on the river where i managed to hit a branch and go under my tube lol.

That evening I met an American man who was running a local NGO and explained me that he is recruiting volunteers who would be willing to donate 100 quetzal (around £8) meaning the volunteer would go to a pharmacy with a local doctor to buy medicine for people living in the mountains and walk with the local doctor to visit these families. I was very keen on doing something like this on my trip..well…I did it and i don’t regret it but it was a tough experience seeing some of those houses and generations living together along with the little pig…It put things in perspective and all of a sudden it won’t matter which brand of sunglasses shall i pick up next time when I’m in a department store..

After Semuc another 7 hour trip was coming up (originally 4 but because of the road closures it got extended:) to Rio Dulce. There is nothing in Rio Dulce just a river and a lovely hostel called Casa Perico where I made a new friend, a pet honey bear:)

Sadly During Semuc and Rio Dulce I was sick..(usual acid reflux) but after a few days I recovered and could continue to the last town in Guatemala to Livingston.

Livingston is influenced by Belize as it’s by the border and the people living there are much more Caribbean than the conservative Guatemalans. By the way in Guatemala I had to watch out for what I was wearing because sometimes I got some looks when I was wearing shorts..Very religious country, hence Easter (Or as they call it Semana Santa starting this year on the 14th April finishing on the 20th April) is the biggest celebration in Guatemala especially in Antigua.

The boat ride between Rio Dulce and Livingston is very nice..that was the reason I visited these places:

I stayed only one night in Livingston because I couldn’t wait to get to Utila and dive! The epic journey from Livingston to Utila in one day has already been posted previously, in my next post I’ll share my adventures in Honduras.

As an overall closing line I was expecting a little bit more from Guatemala. I heard many good things about it but the level of development in certain areas was surprising. Still liked it though and would go back at some point.

Best of AlizRoundTheWorld…as a couple..

Posted: April 2, 2014 in Belize, Caribbean, Central America, Guatemala, Mexico
Tags: Antigua, Belize, Caye Caulker, Coco Bongo, Flores, Guatemala, Mexico, nurse sharks, Pacaya volcano, Playa Condesa, Playa del Carmen, Ray and Shark Alley, rays, San Pedro, The blue hole Belize, Tikal, Tulum

So back to one post before the previous one..I am in Mexico..it’ s the 21st February. I took a flight from Mexico D.F to Cancun to meet Richard. I was super excited! I arrived at Terminal 1, he did Terminal 3 and the waiting time was only 1 hour for me. Dressed up as a Mexican cowgirl I was waiting for my cowboy in boots, denim shorts and sombrero. Just as in the movies..very emotional and happy meeting at the airport, then we took a bus to Playa del Carmen around 9pm. Upon arrival I couldn’t hide my disappointment..I totally thought that PDC was less touristy and it’s a perfect escape from Cancun but no..bazaar style main street with silver shops, souvenir shops, agencies etc. We got to our wonderful hotel which was booked by Richie as a post-Valentine treat and roses allover..proper romantic. Again..as in the movies:)

1st full day in PDC we decided that on our route together there will be plenty of dive opportunities so Richard should do his open water certificate to be able to dive without limitations. After a tiring shopping around dive shops (which was quite off-putting for him) we found a very nice freelance instuctor, Diego (Argentina), and agreed he would start diving in a couple of days’ time, which then allowed us to have a mega night in Coco Bongo, the best nightclub in town (similar to cirque du soleil , crammed with shows) where you buy a fairly expensive entrance and have unlimited drinks throughout the night..fantastic night..super drunk:)

Video will be up soon. in the meantime so pics:

Next day..absolutely dying of hangover we booked a tour to Chitzen Itza..7.50 am start..needless to say we did not find funny the Mexican guide’s forced jokes on the 4 hour minibus ride:) Once we were at the site we felt better. Had a stop at a little rather commercial Mayan village, then a guided and free tour on the archaeological site.

On the way back to PDC we stopped in a ‘Gruta’ and swam in the natural pool …sadly it was packed with tourists but still was fun.

Richard did his open water in 2 days which is pretty impressive..i was concerned if he would like it etc. but he did!

We made friends with Diego and his girlfriend Ingrid and we went together after the course to the world famous dive destination Isla de Cozumel and did 2 dives where we saw Eagle Rays, turtles, Nurse sharks, lobsters, sting rays, trigger fish, cow fish, angle fishes and many more..It was an insane dive! Just to name them, the first one was Colombia deep dive and the second La francesa. If you guys get the chance, this is the place to go! Also very big surprise at Cozumel..Hagar, a friend with whom I dived in 2012 in Cambodia was sitting in the Blue Magic dive shop!!! What a small world..

Reunited:

We stayed only one night as we had a total of 17 days together and we had to move. Next stop was Tulum. This is an incredibly romantic place on the Caribbean coast..We stayed in Playa condesa in lovely little bungalow, visited the ruins, did some cave diving (Dos Ojos), and just hang out in the hammock sipping great cocktails. I truly loved this place..so did Richard.

Next destination was Belize for us. We crossed from Mexico in a town called Chetumel by ferry to Caye Caulker. At least this was the plan, until someone told us how great the carnival is in San Pedro (neighbour island where the only transport method is by gold carts) Well..San Pedro was not my favourite place, because it took us ages to find accommodation and it was super expensive (all booked up because of the carnival..) not only booked we pricey accommodation which was about 15 minutes walk from the centre but there was no sign of the carnival…So next day we did a trip to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley. In Hol Chan we dived and Shark Ray we snorkelled with sharks and a big rays..you could so easily touch them ..it was an adrenaline rush! Loved it! The only thing that I was not quite happy with was that the locals were feeding the sharks..but otherwise they would not be approachable ..meh..this is one of those things you can either refuse to go because of the ethics or..you just say whatever..I won’t miss this experience.

After the half day dive we took the ferry to Caye Caulker. I preferred it so much more! Smaller island and a bit less touristy and developed. Saying that..there was a Starbucks on the island where the only road available was dirt road. We booked a dive trip to the famous Blue Hole..

It’s a full day trip, as it takes 2 hours on a speedboat to get there..the journey is fairly rough, so consider taking pills if you are sea sick. On the first dive we dropped down to 40 meter..sadly the visibility was not the greatest..you could just about see the wall but I managed to see 3 sharks as well so I was still impressed. The other 2 shallow dives were pretty good with turtles, eagle rays sting rays, schools of jacks and snappers and lots of fun in the water with Richie. Truly amazing day!

I have to stop here for a second and share a fairly funny story that happened just before we left Caye Caulker on the boat. A lady in her early 40s had to go to the loo after breakfast (6am) but the dive shop (Frenchie’s) did not have a toilet. I was in similar shoes and I was told to return to my guesthouse, the boat will wait. As I was on my way to our guest house this lady was running and said, come with me, this local man said there is a hotel where you can ‘borrow’ the loo. This hotel was very close to the dive shop so I joined her. It was too early, so we literally broke into this hotel but there was no toilet. So this lady decided that she will use the garden..she also added that she needed to do a number 2. I only had to do a number one but was not considering using the garden of a hotel. Especially after I bumped into a few staff members of the dive shop and turned out it was the official hotel of the dive shop! 🙂 I was offered a lift though to my guest house so i could go to my own bathroom. As we left the shore with the boat this lady came up to me and said how bad she feels about having to do a number 2 in the garden and she was considering going back and confess her ‘crime’ just in case she would be arrested..I was entertained by this story along with Richard for the rest of the day..

I miss those stunning sunsets of Caye Calulker..

The following morning we left Caye Caulker and headed to Flores, Guatemala. We arrived well in the afternoon and we did not want to rush around to organise our trip to Tikal the next day and given that Flores was a lovely little town with a huge lake we decided to stay there next day. Great decision! We hired kayaks, visited a museum and a viewpoint, met some locals who offered us beers in the heat. First surprise in Guatemala for us was a super developed shopping centre by the bridge between Santa Elena and Flores..western standards..western prices.

We decided not to do Tikal in the sunrise and what a great decision! There was no sunrise the next morning. We left Flores at 8am and returned at 4pm. Tikal was wonderful..a bit like Angkor Wat in Cambodia but with less tourists. Loved it.

We took the night bus to Guatemala..it was very smooth…we pretty much slept through the journey. From Guat we took a shuttle to Antigua which took less than an hour so we were there by 7am.

Antigua was the second surprise for us…I totally thought that Guatemala is still fairly undeveloped but Flores, Antigua and later on Lake Atitlan proved the opposite. We found some amazing bars and restaurants in Antigua but experiencing that our order at a place is taken by iPad…well..I can’t deny my disappointment. Antigua is expensive. A fantastic place to stay though is: Casa Jacaranda. Cheap and you get a choice of 5 different brekkies included. Has a superb garden with hammocks, and the owners when they are there love chatting to tourists.

One day we climbed Pacaya Volcano, which is a still active volcano and you can burn your feet on the volcanic rocks if you stand there too long but you can easily get lost in the fun of melting marshmallows above the heat of the lava. On the way back you get to pick avocados from the tree. It’s a half day trip..not demanding at all. The rest of our time in Antigua we watched the Sunday preparation for the Semana Santa (Easter), walked around, visited markets ,went to Pastores the little leather town nearby where you can buy cheap leather boots, belts, bags etc.

If you like eco-lodges, pay a visit to the Earth Lodge, fantastic hideaway from the touristy Antigua.

The morning of the 11th March was sad for both of us as the dream travelling together came to an end. I was tempted to go home with him but I thought I might not have another opportunity like this to travel and to be honest I kinda had enough of travelling alone. Now that I experienced how great is to travel with the one you love and share all these adventures, feelings, moments, I don’t really want to travel alone anymore. I am really grateful to Richard that he made such an effort to take almost all his holidays of the year off to be able to travel with me and that he let me share with him such an amazing experience !

In the next post I am going to continue with Guatemala as after the 2 most touristy and developed places we visited with Richard I got a good insight into the ‘real life’ in Guatemala.

The oasis in the desert..or Mexico after Cuba!

Posted: March 23, 2014 in Caribbean, Central America, Mexico
Tags: Cholula, churches of cholula, Cuernavaca, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Mexico, Mexico D.F, Puebla, Rubio tour, silver in Taxco, Taxco, tepoztlan, Tequila

After the hard but rewarding month in Cuba, I flew to Mexico City at 6am on the 3rd February. I was not planning on doing anything on that day given that for a month I was cut off the world. I realised again how difficult is for me just to chill and do nothing apart from catching up with people and admin etc.
I needed that day off still I felt I was missing out. A great friend of mine Maszi introduced me online to her friend who lives in Puebla region so she suggested me to go first to Curenavaca. I was a bit disorganised and planned nothing at all for Mexico..all I knew was that Richard was arriving on the 21st February and by that time I should visit some great places.So I started with Cuernavaca as Ana suggested.
Cuernavaca is a lovely lively city only 30 mins south of Mexico City. It has 2 gardens, churches, a central plaza and palace. Each night of the week you can enjoy dancers, musicians, acrobats and a lot of locals who use the plaza both by day and night as a place to hang out, meet friends and be entertained by many local artists and entertainers. The square and adjacent area is full of street vendors selling everything from bead work to maize on a stick and tacos. Best juice in town can be found in front of Teatro Ocampo.

After Cuernavaca I went to Tepoztlan. The stunning ‘pueblo magico’ is surrounded by beautiful mountains- I climbed one to see the pyramid on top:

Oh I have to add a funny detail here about my iPhone. As some of you know on my first trip the second day of being in Brazil my phone died to I traveled a year without smartphone. On the second trip after 2 days my phone did not recognize any service in Cuba, but I thought it was just a ‘cuban thing’..well the problem persisted in Mexico as well and even though I made a couple of phone calls to my UK provider as well as Apple and tried to restore the phone it still showing me no service so please so not contact me on my UK number, and if you did and you are angry with me for not getting back to you now you know the reason why.
The other great iPhone illness that occurred was that first around 30% then 40 and finally 60% of battery the phone just switched off…again having spent a couple of hours online searching for solution, downloading an app and restoring my phone helped.

After Tepoztlan I went 2 hours south to Taxco. I will take my time here as Taxco was one of my favourite places in Mexico. Imagine a little white jewel built on a hill where the streets are so narrow that only tiny white Beatles can fit as taxis and normal car hardly any. People are very fit in this town as they have to go up and down with their baskets full of empanadas or ‘elotes’ (corn) or whatever they sell on a daily basis. The ‘zocalo’ as they call the central square in nearly every town in the center of Mexico is beautiful with a huge cathedral in the middle surrounded by silver shops. Taxco is nominated as ‘Pueblo Magico’ (Magical Town) with a reason.

In Taxco I met a very nice local man called Evaristo and his sister Patricia. I just walked by their convenient store and we started chatting. In Mexico if you speak Spanish and are not from the US people are super friendly! They directed me to the highest point in town where a statue of ‘Cristo’ was guarding the town. A lovely lady joined me on my walk..just because she had nothing else to do. Again very nice chat. I had a private room with bathroom and kitchen 2 steps away from the zocalo for 200 pesos (9 GBP) called Hotel Casa Grande. When I got back in the evening, I had a pleasant surprise: Evaristo turned up and asked if I wanted to hang out. He remembered the hotel I stayed in and wanted to show me the town. So we went for a walk, got some beers and tequila and had a great night chatting. Next day I was walking around silver shops to get a nice memory from this beautiful town and I decided to order a ring that has a salsa dancing couple on it. Given that salsa and the latin culture is such a huge part in my life I wanted to create something that reminds me all time how much happiness Latin America, the people, the language, the
music and the dance gives me. I requested a ring from a silver shop by next day. I had to explain pretty well what I exactly wanted and even having done so, I was not confident they would make a ring exactly how I imagined. In the afternoon I went to a beautiful cave called: Cacahuamilpa Cave where visitors are mainly Mexicans. Stunning place. It takes 2 hours to complete the visit of this cave..and this is what you can see:

By the time I got back to Taxco my ring should have been well ready..sadly it wasn’t and it wasn’t even close to be.. So I had to look for another silver man to do one for me. I asked him to be ready for 11am the next day because my bus left for Mexico DF at midday..needless to say it wasn’t! Ended up running to catch the bus but I made it in the end. Moral of the story: Whoever want to have a ring done, STAY WITH THE MAN UNTIL HE FINISHES IT otherwise every other order will be before yours no
matter when they came in. Here is the art:

Upon arrival at Mexico DF I wanted to stay in the ‘Zona Rosa’ this time which is full of bars and supposed to be one of the nicest part of the city. Sadly they didn’t have a dorm but Line (from Quebec) offered kindly that she would share her double room with me. I was super delighted. This is the hostel where I met one of the nicest group of people that includes Line (mentioned above), Sean (US), Lucila and Flavio (Argentinian couple arriving a day after me). The day I arrived was a Saturday and I was dying to go out. Line and Sean were well up for it too so we went to the Condensa area crammed with bars and clubs and I truly had one of the best nights on this particular night in a Cuban bar and in a place called ‘Patas negras’.

The next day we wanted to take advantage of the ‘free museum Sunday’ but we were way too hungover so had brunch at Wendy’s then went to one of the most famous museums in MeXico DF :The Antrolpology museum. Sadly it was only free for locals so due to our hangover we opted for skipping the museum and visiting the Modern Art instead.
Good decision. Loved it. We bonded with the Argentinians who travelled with little money but great talent. Flavio is a musician and Lucila juggles with fireballs at traffic lights. The day after we went to one of the most important Aztec ruins near Mexico city : Teotihuacan. We spent a great day there climbing the Sun and Moon temples, fighting off the hassle of fake silver sellers..and had an average lunch..

Now I think this average lunch turned into a regret the day after when we went to Xiochimilco.I will explain why in a minute. Xochimilco is best known for its canals, which are left from what was an extensive lake and canal system that connected most of the settlements of the Valle de Mexico.These canals, along with artificial islands called chinampas attract tourists and other city residents to ride on colorful gondola-like boats called ‘ trajineras’ around the 170 km (110 mi) of canals.

My breakfast was a melon juice..once we arrived at Xiochimilco my dear Hawaiana flipflops broke..along with my heart as those black flip flops walked a few miles around the world..oh well..sometimes you need to say goodbye. Flavio fixed it for the day anyway..if anyone has the problem here is a great way to a temporary fix:

On the boat I started to feel weak and sick..I knew something was wrong so after the boat and museum I made my way back to hostel..sadly I couldn’t go anymore on the metro because i felt too sick to travel, so I took a taxi with Chervel …umm..I didn’t make it to the hostel without being sick in the taxi 😦
The coming evening was the worst on this trip..I had pain, I felt sick..if these guys were not there and the helpful staff of the hostel I would have suffered way more. They called the ambulance and I had blood taken, blood pressure measured, I had fever so they prescribed a medicine that sent me to sleep and the day after I felt much better. Very weak because I could not eat anything the whole previous day and the following 2 days either but I made sure to drink a lot of liquid. I am not sure if I had a bug..probably yes ..and also maybe the spicy Mexican food did not do well to my tummy ..but hey, at least I lost weight and felt superb after I
recovered!

I don’t usually like Latin- American big cities but Mexico City reminded me very much of Buenos Aires. Loved it!

Next stop was San Miguel de Allende. This little charming town (also Pueblo Magico) is a top American retirement spot therefore you hear more English than Spanish here. There are several hot thermal baths in the neighborhood to enjoy (Taxi is the quickest way to get to them but if you have time try the local buses! I boarded one and a national transportation control asked me if I was afraid to ride on this bus.), there is a huge handicraft market and design unit where you can get some inspirations, or just get lost in the bars and fine restaurants..I stayed in Hostel Alcatraz with kitchen facilities. Great staff and good atmosphere.

After San Miguel I continued to Guanajuato. This town is slightly bigger than San Miguel but the centre is absolutely walkable. In Gunajuato you will find great street entertainment especially during weekends.

To mention one and my favourite is to participate in the tradition of ‘callejoneada’ a type of “walking serenade”, during which local musicians dress up in traditional 17th century costumes and weave their way through the narrow alleyways of colonial Guanajuato while playing music, singing popular folk songs, telling stories and reciting local legends.

I was lucky enough to witness a proposal during the serenade which certainly doesn’t happen every day.

In Guanajuato I had a splurge by staying in a hostel called ‘Casa de Dante’..with superb breakfast, stunning views (it is on top of a surrounding mountain so a little bit far from the centre but great exercise opportunity!) and great company! I met Brian here, American photographer, reunited with Chervel again whom I met in Mexico and did Xiochimilco together and met Daisy from England with whom I spent a great day together visiting the Mummy Museum and the city and enjoying the traditional
serenade night.

After Guanajuato I made my way to the last destination towards the West Coast: Guadalajara, the second biggest Mexican city. I found eventually my hostel stumbling around with my backpacks in the night: Hostel Tequila. At first glance I did not like this hostel even if it had a pool but as everything it needed time. First day I spent in the San Juan Market..This is the place to go if you want to buy cowboy outfit, leather stuff, cowboy boots, sombreros, or fruits, veggies, everyday clothes, souvenirs or if you just want to try the market food which is exceptional here..top quality shrimps and fish prepared in white wine or garlic. Don’t ask me why they offer seafood, Guadalajara is not by the sea. I bought a pair of boots for myself and 2 sombreros for the arrival of Richard in a few days’ time!
On the second day I went to Tequila with 2 Brazilan bankers. It’s a 2 hour bus ride from Guadalajara and then a tour in one of the tequila factories. Jose Cuervo is certainly the most traditional and biggest but I went with rubio and I did not regret it! If you happen to be here make sure you eat before because there is some serious tequila tasting going on and you DO FEEL THE DIFFERENCE between a smooth gold tequila with least taste or the very tasty but strong white tequila!

After Tequila we wanted to go to the famous Lucha Libre (Wrestling) but tickets were sold out for that day so I just chilled. Ont he last day I went to Tlaquepaque (another part of Guadalajara), I absolutely loved the creativity of this place. It attracts loads of wealthy tourists from all over the world, lots of wholesale merchants and curious ordinary tourists like myself. If you want to enjoy the great nightlife Guadalajara offers head to Chapultepec, a famous road full of bars, restaurants, live music and every Monday free salsa on the street (alcohol consumption on street is prohibited).

I had a night bus back to Mexico DF at midnight. The journey is 6-7 hours. I slept ok. Once I was in Mexico, I had to change terminals and head to Puebla, where I finally got to meet Ana Karen and her brother (as I mentioned at the beginning, a good friend of mine, Maszi put us in touch). Now..this is a welcome!

I spent 1.5 fantastic day in Cholula where Ana Karen lives. We drank Micheladas (beer with spicy lemony sauce, sometimes with tomato juice added), walked to some of the tons of churches Cholula offers, one is very pretty but you cannot take pictures called:Church of Tonantzintla, which means “place of our little mother” in Nahuatl, comes from the Aztec goddess Tonantzin, the earth mother who became the equivalent of the Virgin Mary when the Spaniards conquered the pre-Hispanic world.

In the evening we drank some Mezcal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezcal) with Ana Karen then headed home to sleep.Next day she prepared a fantastic breakfast:

Tlacoyos with fresh orange juice then Memo brought down his tequila selection and the day has started very well! Ana saw me off to Mexico City Airport (Memo came with us as well half way) from where I flew to Cancun to meet my Love..but this will be a next story..guaranteed entertainment if you stay with me for the next time:)

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