Cuba, A Place Like No Other

We were in Cuba for a week, the plan was to spend two days in Trinidad, a town apparently stuck in the 18th century and 6 hr bus ride from Havana. Then we were to come to Havana for three days before flying out to the Bahamas (our last two day stop before we headed home). Cuba mostly went to plan. There were a few hiccups here and there but in the end it all worked out. Although we hadn’t even left the airport yet when we hit our first obstacle in Cuba. The whole scenario went something like this.

We touched down (yay!) in Cuba after a laughably short flight. That was nice and easy. We’d bought our visas at the airport (supplied by the airline) and that went seamlessly, thankfully. So we made it through customs and immigration and all that. The problem occurred when I tried to take some money out for our time in Cuba. We knew the ATMS would be few and far between and almost everywhere was cash only so having cash on us was a must. Between the taxi ride to the airport in Mexico and buying the visas we didn’t have any Mexican pesos to change over so the ATM was are only option. Throughout the whole of Mexico Callums bank card had refused to work (for reasons unknown) so I’d been taking all the money out and he’d just been transferring me half. If was a pretty good system that had served us well so far. Until I tried to take out money from the airports ATM and realised I only have $100 or so dollars in my bank account and that was all we could get out. I needed to transfer money over into my account and in order to do that we needed data on our phones. Callum wanted to get himself a SIM card for the week we were there. As the SIM place was literally just outside the airport we decided to sort that out first. Then Callum could download the bank app and I could transfer some money to myself and we could be on our way. Easy peasy.

 So across we went, spent what felt like 30/40 minutes standing in the slowest and smallest line ever. Callum finally got the SIM and the woman told him SIMs in Cuba don’t come with data, but there’s free wifi in the airport. So back to the airport we went, couldn’t figure out how to log on so we asked someone. Apparently we needed to purchase a wifi card from the place that sells the SIM cards. Where we just were. The woman at the counter for the SIM place had completely failed to even mention we would need a wifi card and she could supply one. So we were stuck. We’d spent more then an hour messing about with phones already. Did we go back to the line or just try and make it to Trinidad on what cash we had and figure it out from there?

In the end, through a very confusing conversation with a maybe-taxi driver, Callum ended up trying his card just to see if it would work. Thankfully it did. So that was one problem solved, the next was how to get to Trinidad. That was solved relatively quickly though by our new taxi driver friend who gave us a lift to the bus port. We didn’t end up catching a bus though, instead we caught a collectivo with a (weird) American couple. It wasn’t like the collectivo’s in Mexico which were more like mini buses. This was a car, just a regular car which we were sharing with this other couple. The collectivo was only $5CUC more then the bus (the bus being $25CUC) and it was leaving then and there. So we took it and apparently shaved 2 hours off of our total trip, although it didn’t really feel like it. To be fair though for the four hour taxi ride I was sitting in the dreaded middle seat which was incredibly uncomfortable. But we were dead tired from the plane so we slept most of the way there, thank god.

Arriving in Trinidad we found our hostel with minor fuss. The hostel turned out to be a little house owned by the nicest people we were going to meet in Cuba. I’m still not sure as to the actual size of the family as they seemed to have people and kids coming and going at all times. But there was a lovely older couple who owned the house and ran the “hostel”. They didn’t speak any English so we mostly communicated to their son who, from what I gather, took people out on snorkelling tours. His English wasn’t the best, but it was far better then our non-existent Spanish so we were grateful.

By then it was early evening and all we’d had since the breakfast on the plane was half a frozen sandwich at a gas station on the way down. So we were more then a little peckish. The son of our hostel family suggested a place for us to eat that night that was right next to a wifi hotspot. He told us he’d ring ahead and we just had to show them the hostel card and we’d be all good. So with that, once we’d dumped our stuff, we were off in search of some dinner. Dinner came in form of some divine pulled lamb and pineapple potatoes near the square Plaza Mayor.

We also bought some 1 hour wifi cards for $2 CUC each off of some people selling them in the darkness of the street. Was a bit of a weird experience having someone murmur to you, “wanna buy some wifi?” like they’re selling you drugs or something. Either way the wifi was too overloaded so we couldn’t get on that evening (we definitely tried). After having a mojito from a stand that claimed to have the “Best Mojito’s Ever” which stood next to a stand that said “Best Mojito’s in Cuba” we went back to our new room and collapsed.

The second day in Cuba we mostly wandered the cobbled streets of Trinidad. We found many a shop that sold many a wooden thing we were weary about bringing into the country (Australia naturally having some of the strictest, if not the strictest, quarantine laws in the world). We followed the Lonely Planets walking/photography guide for Trinidad and ambled around in the hot sun. Our walk through the cobbled streets was filled with lots of stray dogs, a skinned pigs head (which we originally thought was a dog but now think that hopefully it was a pigs), many a horse and cart, and taking the odd photo of an old car. It was a good day even if we didn’t achieve much. At the end of it we went to a restaurant our hostel and the Lonely Planet had recommended a Vista Gourmet which was lovely. The restaurant was a rooftop ordeal and we were accompanied by a dog wandering around the neighbouring roof. Clearly the roof was his backyard and everyone in the street was trespassing. It was cute but a little unnerving watching the dog stand on the edge of the roof and just stare down at the ground.

At the beginning of our trip in Mexico City we had run into another Australian who had been to Cuba and had recommended Trinidad as a place to go. Which was actually partly why we were there. One of his warnings about Cuba though was that the food was crap. I hadn’t found the food too bad thus far which was a relief. But I think the difference between Cuba and Mexico is that in Mexico everywhere from street tacos, to proper restaurants has good, yummy food. Whereas in Cuba I think you get what you pay for (insert traumatising flashbacks of the $1CUC frozen ham and cheese sandwich).

The second full day in Trinidad was… interesting. We set out in the morning because I was determined to find us someone to take us horseback riding. It was a big tourist attraction there and something I was really looking forward to. I did horse riding as a little tyke an age ago and I was interested to see what it would be like again (answer: sore). So we wandered around, checked in with the wifi where there was some, and then eventually found a man offering horse rides for $15CUC. Bargain! So we disappeared back to the room to grab bathers, as the ride was to a waterfall (even better). Then we found him again and we were shown to our horses.

Now I said I used to ride horses, but I was smaller then and to be honest don’t really remember that much. The horses we had in Cuba were pretty skinny and I don’t think they were too happy about the cobbled streets and us on their back either. Also it turns out the horse ride was $15CUC per hour, per person. So it ended up being pretty fucking expensive trip. So there’s a word of warning for you. But we gritted our teeth (I really wanted to go), paid (I was also already sitting on the horse when our “guides” cornered Callum and told him the real price), and we were off! Our guide was not the man who we’d made the transaction with but a younger fellow with not much English who rode behind us the whole time and just directed us which way to go. Which was a little off putting but not too bad. He tried to make conversation and was pretty nice the whole day. So I have no complaints about him.

The horses slip and slid along the cobbled streets which was completely nerve-wracking before they made it to the sealed road that led outside of Trinidad. So we were off down that at a trot with the odd car coming past and us unsteady riders on the side of the road. The journey was about 40 minutes there and 40 minutes back. We stopped for lunch in the middle and got to see how they juiced sugarcane. It’s amazing how much they can get out of a few sugar canes.

After lunch the track turned to dirt. Which resulted in muddy puddle water getting flicked all over us as the horses clomped through the odd puddle and stream. We had a few hairy moments as neither horse wanted to be at the back where are guide held a makeshift whip so they pushed past each other at the worst possible times. And at one point the front of my horse took a dive as she slipped on the uneven dirt rode. So it was kind of fun, but also kind of not.

We eventually stopped though and walked up to this little hut by a river where we were served coffee and given a complementary cigar. Callum ended up smoking one and I tried his. My first cigar, pretty sure I didn’t smoke it correctly but I didn’t die. So that’s a win. After the coffee we left our guide there as he pointed out a winding path that led up stream. So we followed that till we came to the waterfall.

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Now it was’t as impressive as the waterfall we went to in Palenque but it was gorgeous all the same and the water was very cold. Super refreshing after a hot tiring horse ride. It helped too that some entrepreneur had balanced a drinks stand on the rocks that sold beers and mojitos. So I went for a swim in the fresh water and Callum sat on the side with a beer. We’d rocked up just before a group of people so we had a few minutes to have the waterfall to ourselves before the people invaded. I could’ve spent more time there but our hours were ticking away and we didn’t really want to pay any more then we had to. So a quick swim was it then we were back off to the horses.

The ride back was a lot less nerve wracking. I think the horses knew their part was almost over so they were much more lively about dropping us off then they were about bringing us there. It’s when we got back to Trinidad though that our trouble started.

Before I get into that however I’m not really sure how I feel about the whole horse riding experience. On one hand I’m not a horse person and can’t really tell a well treated horse from a working horse (is there a difference? Should there be a difference?). On the other hand I’m not sure I was totally comfortable with the state of the horses or their tiredness/tripping. Is that normal? I don’t think so. I think if I was to do it again I’d go through the Lonely Planet’s recommendation and would pay the extra money for a well treated animal. At the same time though, maybe the horses were just working horses and were coming to the end of their day (it was early evening when we got back) and they were just tired. I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I don’t know for sure. I think I just would’ve been happier with myself if we had gone with a more “official” horse riding guided tour. One where you know the animals are treated well so there’s none of this back and forth about it. So yeah, there’s my thoughts on that. Now onto the unpleasantness of the evening.

The day took a downhill turn as soon as we got back to Trinidad. We got off the horses, the guys from before who’d hooked us up with the horse-guide were there asking if we wanted to buy cigars. And yes, we did do the dumb tourist thing of buying fake cigars off of the locals. We were too trusting, and too nice. So we ended up buying two boxes of fake cigars. Even having to go to the ATM to take money out (as most of what was left had been given to them already, for the horses). Afterwards I mentioned to Callum my doubts about the cigars authenticity. Which resulted in us heading down to the wifi spot and googling it; and yes they were definitely fake. Fake, fake, fake.

Callum was pissed, I was pissed, we were annoyed at ourselves and to be honest kind of at each other. Callum at me as I didn’t say anything when we bought them, me at Callum for thinking I should’ve said something (I wasn’t sure they were fake. Maybe he knew something I didn’t) and mostly both of us were just pissed at those guys. We’d just paid for a very expensive horse ride which had almost shot our daily budget right out of the water, and then they’d sold us fake cigars which definitely shot our daily budget to shit. Then after selling us fake cigars they both had the audacity to ask Callum if he had any clothing he was willing to give to them! Which of course we said no.

Amazingly though that wasn’t the worst rip off of the day. Both of us still fuming and trying to take our mind off it we went to dinner. Same place we went that first night. We chilled out there, had a cocktail, ate the amazing pulled lamb again, calmed ourselves down, and decided to talk about something else. There wasn’t much we could do anyways.

So after dinner we were innocently walking back to our rooms when this man shoved a grasshopper made entirely of reeds into my hands. He claimed it was free (nothing is free). So we paused. I was now the owner of a reed grasshopper. The man quickly whipped one up for Callum whilst we were trying to be polite and make excuses to give the one we had back and leave. He gave Callum his new reed grasshopper then proceeded to make me a flower and Callum some weird necklace. At this point we were both just standing there watching him unsure of how to make him stop or go away.

Once he was done forcing reeds upon us he asked for a tip. We’d just taken money out of the ATM earlier so my wallet was kind of full which I think was our fatal mistake. So I opened up my wallet, and pulled out a $10 as he objected when I went for the $5. What about his family?! I gave him the $10. Then he turns to Callum. I’d given him a tip, where was his tip from Callum?

Now this is where the experienced or sane person walks away. Which is clearly neither of us as Callum took a look in his wallet, told the man he only had a $20. So the grasshopper man said that was fine just give him the $20. Which he did, and that should’ve been the end of it. But no. Then, then, the grasshopper man turned back to me. Callum gave him a $20, where was his $20 from me? I only gave him a $10. My wallet was already open I looked into it, tried to pull out a $5 a $20 came out with it. He snatched both right from my wallet. Then he turned to Callum, his hands already reaching for his reeds, and I was done. His reeds were just too expensive. Which I told him. As we walked away, very quickly. The reeds cost us $55CUC all up. It was the most impressive rip off of the day. He got $55CUC for reeds he probably picked from a river. So be wary of all grasshopper men and free gifts.

The whole experience was like a friendly mugging where we got crappy reeds we couldn’t take into the country anyways. To be honest the whole experience kind of made the night. We walked away from him poorer in cash but richer in spirit as the ordeal was hilarious. Who cares we’d just bought fake cigars earlier that day, we’d just paid $55CUC for goddamn reeds. How funny was that? Looking back I’m super annoyed at myself for letting him do that. But at the time it was just the best thing. We’d just been conned again and this time we had nothing to show for it. Not even fake cigars. We were laughing all the way back to our room as we placed reed grasshoppers on random cars. Callum even tried to give away his reed necklace to a man on a bench. The man didn’t want the necklace, but he would pay Callum $2CUC to buy his T-shirt that he got in LA for $50US.

At that point it kind of felt like the whole place was out to get us and rip us off. So we retired to our rooms for the evening in the house of the nicest family in Trinidad and we finally did our first sensible thing for the day and went to bed. Tomorrow was an early start. Tomorrow we were off to Havana. Tomorrow we’d try again at life.

Over and Out,

Rachel

Tulum Jungle Gym

Tulum Jungle Gym, the reason we were in Tulum, our mission on the morning of day two. We didn’t end up renting a scooter. Apparently those needed to be rented a day or so in advance. So we spent the morning traipsing over Tulum. The truck stop feeling was starting to encroach as the town wasn’t that big but it was spread thin and wide along the highway and trekking through it unsuccessfully looking for scooters wasn’t that fun. But we picked up our laundry from the day before, walked back to the hostel. From there we caught a taxi to the Tulum Jungle Gym. Glad we didn’t decide to cycle that as it was a ways down. And tucked away behind a hotel, so I’m not sure if we would’ve even found it.

Now I hate the gym. I’m flat out not a fan. This would be the second gym trip of the holiday which is two gym trips more then I’d like. Saying this if you’re into the gym I’d definitely recommend the Jungle Gym. The staff were so friendly, there was quite a bit of equipment, and the location was gorgeous. The gym even came complete with some scary body builder types working out in the sun and the sand.

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So Callum worked out and tried to get me to attempt (somewhat unsuccessfully). I think he enjoyed himself (he said he did) despite me trailing grudgingly along behind him the whole time. After our workout was finally done we were on our way back to the hostel to have a shower (cold for some reason, still mourning the loss of hot water we had on the first night) and get ready for what was left of the day.

Had a seafood lunch “for three” in Playa this was our view

With what was left of the day we caught a collectivo to Playa Del Carmen and explored around there. And oh boy, there were more big brand shops there on the strip by the ocean (apparently central Playa according to the phones) then there were in the whole of Mexico! It was filled with tourists and souvenir shops. Also many a place to drink and party. I understand why it is the spring break area for the states. So we wandered around avoiding hawkers and the odd drug dealer, poking our noses into a few shops. The experience was interesting but again I’m glad we were staying in Tulum and not there.

And so ended our last day in Mexico. The next morning we were flying out to Cuba. The Mexico Chapter of our travel book (volume one!) was ending. Looking back it was all pretty great, favourite day was probably the waterfalls in Palenque, but my favourite city is either Oaxaca, or San Cristobal. Not sure. Callums favourite city was San Cristobal, and we both agree about our favourite day.

All For Now

Rachel

Beaches & Bikes

After Valladolid we were off to Tulum. The Lonely Planet describes Tulum as sort of feeling like a truck stop because the town lies on the main highway traveling to Cancun. To be honest I can see where it was coming from but at the same time I really enjoyed our time in Tulum, and I’m glad we didn’t go stay in Playa Del Carmen or Cancun instead whilst we were there.

It seems the closer to Cancun we get the more touristy everything is. For example I was amazed I didn’t have to pay to use the bathroom in Chichen Itza, and it had toilet paper in the cubicle itself! Totally different from the rest of Mexico.

Our hostel in Tulum was lovely very open and felt super beachy (despite Tulum not being on the beach). The room was huge, we had the biggest and comfiest bed of the whole trip, and we had our own bathroom and all the taps in the bathroom were conch shells. It was very cool. I would’ve appreciated hot water on more nights then the first (we stayed three) but oh well.

 

Wish I could eat it all again!

Also if anyone is in Tulum and is sick of Mexican food there is an awesome place around the corner from our hostel (which is across the street from the bus station). Uno sells the best ramen bowls, and some pretty yummy sushi. We went there twice and it was awesome both times. And please, if you’re around say hi to the pooch out the front he’s very friendly.

Our first full day in Tulum didn’t exactly go to plan. We figured we’d go to this Tulum Jungle Gym which was an outdoor gym on the beach and basically the whole reason we were in Tulum (Callum had seen it advertised ages ago on Facebook, whilst we were still in Australia). Our bathers were still damp from being shoved into bags and never properly dried out so we passed on those figuring we could buy some cheap ones when we got to the beach, our first mistake, our second was thinking we could ride the bikes to the gym.

So we hired ourselves some old fashioned bikes from the hostel and took to the streets of Tulum. We rode down the main thoroughfare stopping and checking out some shops along the way before we really decided to be on our way. From Tulum to the beach there’s basically just a massive road. The bike ride took us around 30 minutes to get to the “beach” in the hot sun and unfortunately when we got there and checked the maps it was another 4km to the gym. So we decided to go to the gym tomorrow and catch a taxi, or rent a scooter or something to get there. Cyclists we are not. So the beach it was.

Now coming from Australia where some places it feels like if you keep walking you’ll eventually find the beach Tulum was a little off putting. We just sat on our bikes staring at the wall of jungle before us knowing that the beach lay on the other side. The jungle led parallel to the road as far as the eye could see and was dotted with the odd unwelcoming gate. We ended up braving one of the gates and was greeted by a bunch of semi-pushy staff who I have a feeling wouldn’t have let us onto the beach if that had been our goal. But we’d missed breakfast and as the unwelcoming gates led to hotels and restaurants we told them (all of them, we were asked by at least three people who seemed to just pop out of nowhere) we were after food. So we were grudgingly let in to a fancy beach hotel with many seats facing the water, some canopied sun beds sitting on the pristine beach and a whole bunch of oily tanned tourists lounging about in varied states of undress.

I don’t actually know what the rules are in Mexico regarding private beaches. I was told in Cancun a lot of the beach is cut off by hotels and lobby’s, but you can just walk through and go to the beach. They might try and charge you but they have no right to. I can see how people can get confused though but I’m not even sure if those rules apply to Tulum (surely they would though). So we had the most expensive breakfast we’d eaten thus far and decided to maybe go looking for a beach in a less fancy area. So we googled where the hell the “public” beaches were and realised we’d ridden past them. So it was back on the bikes after breakfast and back to the beaches.

We found the beach, but it was lacking the usual shops that always seemed to crop up everywhere in Mexico, except apparently the beach. So we had nowhere to buy bathers and our other bathers we’d put into a laundromat that morning to get a little TLC with all our other clothes. So we cheated and locked up our bikes there, caught a taxi back into Tulum and hit up a few shops till we found somewhere that sold bathers for a decent price and would let you try them on. Once that was done it was back to the beach!

The sun was hot, the air was still, and the sand didn’t burn your feet like back home. The water also wasn’t exactly warm but it didn’t take your breath away with an unexpected chill. It was nice and not too busy so we set up camp and settled in. Callum drank a coconut and we lounged around soaking it all in. There was the odd wanderer coming through trying to sell their wares but they weren’t pushy and it was a good time there on the beach in the sun. Nice to have finally made it to the ocean.

We were calmly chilling when some guy offered us a boat ride out to a reef so we could snorkel. We’d bought ourselves some snorkels earlier in town (figured it might save us the price of hiring them out) so we agreed and we were whisked away to a boat with some other tourist types.

Now we don’t come from the side of Australia with the Great Barrier Reef, but everyone’s seen the pictures and we have a few reefs here and there. This reef, and I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure it was dead. Or dying. Usually they’re pretty colourful right? There were fish but they were the brightest thing around. The whole thing was a bit depressing and I was just waiting for someone to try and break something off to take it home (a BIG no, no for the health of the reef and the fishes). Either way it was an experience but I wouldn’t really recommend it.

By the end of that it was late afternoon and Callums ravenous stomach was starting to make some growling noises. So we wandered further down the beach and found a little area that had food, massages, and a hostel. I have a feeling that was Paradise Beach which was recommended to us and is apparently a nice place to stay (and a bit more of a pricey for a hostel). We had dinner there officially smashing our budget for the day to pieces as it was yet another pricey meal. Then it was back to the bikes and we rode home in the dark. Also FYI there aren’t any street lights on the road back to Tulum, so make sure your bike comes equipped with a light if you’re planning on riding back at night. Ours, naturally, didn’t so it was an interesting experience.

All For Now,

Rachel

Dogs & World Wonders

Valladolid! Now there are two things we wanted to do in Valladolid the first was obviously visit Chichen Itza, and the second was visit a cenote (see-note-tay). We had one day to achieve this and thankfully we did with ease. It would’ve been nice to visit some more cenotes and do some of the other things there was to do in Valladolid but oh well. We spent our extra day in Merida and now we had to make up for it.

These gambling machines were everywhere in Valladolid. To the point where there were shops full of them. 

So Valladolid, it was a quick one hour bus ride there which was breezy. When we got there we checked into our hostel which for some reason came with two double beds though I’m pretty sure we booked for two not four but eh, our bags now has their own bed to sit on. After getting ourselves sorted we ventured out to find some lunch and see a bit of Valladolid. The zoca square we lovely, we found a place to eat straight up and just sat down and ordered ourselves some well deserved tacos. There were also so many stray dogs for us to pat and scratch and sneakily feed under the table before the poor restaurant staff would try and shoo them away for the thousandth time.

We’d met some New Zealand girls on a tour in Oaxaca who said that they’d bought dog food and had been feeding it to all the dogs. When I mentioned we should do something similar Callum thought it was a great idea and was amazed that we hadn’t thought of it before (clearly he hadn’t been listening when the New Zealand girls mentioned the idea). So after lunch we traipsed around the tourist trap shops that seem to encircle the square in search of dog food. We sound some dog biscuits being sold in a dollar store and bought ourselves a bag. We then set out to find the doggo’s we’d been petting.

This is the one that remembered us

We probably fed about four or five, some in better shape then others. What’s really surprisingly lovely about Mexico is beyond the odd snappy dog all the stray dogs have been so gentle. Which is so different from visiting other places where the stray dogs are just mean and you don’t pet them unless you want to loose some fingers. But the majority we’ve met have been happy doggos down on their luck.

We spent the rest of the day feeding dogs, going back to the room to have a small rest, and then venturing out in the evening to look for dinner (couldn’t really find anywhere inspiring to eat so we ended up back in the same restaurant). And thus ended our first half a day in Valladolid.

The next morning we woke up with a mission: find a laundromat and get out clothes cleaned. We used one in San Cristobal and whilst we did bring stuff to do it ourselves these places charged by the kilo, and not much, and we just had to drop it off and pick it up, easy. Finding one though wasn’t so easy as we ended up traipsing around what felt like half the city looking for one. We did find though a health food store where we bought some snacks to get us through the day, and a chocolate store selling homemade chocolates and cold chocolate drinks. We’d progressed from hot chocolate to cold chocolate, which was delicious as the day was toasty.  We also found a restaurant where we planned to have dinner that night.

After the laundromat we made our way to the bus station, all thankfully a few blocks from each other. I’d googled it the night before and there were collectivos that would bring us to Chichen Itza apparently parked out behind the bus station. We almost at the bus station when we found them, or rather they found us. You can’t really miss the collectivos as they’re trying to fill up the cars as quickly as possible before they leave so someone will come up and ask you where you’re headed. Then they’ll either bundle you in or direct you in the direction of the one you’re looking for. So into the collectivo we went. It was full of locals and two other tourists who would’ve looked more at home at Burning Man rather then a collectivo in Mexico. Turns out they were from Australia and the couple was very nice but more on them later.

So it was a 30/40 minute ride to Chichen Itza online it had said the collectivo would only cost $35 pesos but the guy wanted to charge us $70 per person. Unfortunately for him he didn’t have change for a $500 and we only had $70 on us in smaller notes. Not $140 so he took the $70 and called us even. So there’s an unintentional tip if you’re traveling, pretend (or do as we did) to only have the amount you want to pay and only have big notes otherwise. To be honest it’ll probably work most of the time as despite their inflated currency no one really seems to have change. Almost every place we’ve been when we’ve paid with big notes for small-ish purchases people have had to run down the street to other shops to get change. So boom, not a Traveling Tip Learnt the Hard Way, but a Traveling Tip Learnt Unintentionally.

Since I’m full of advice today here’s another tip if you’re bringing in a camera to Chichen Itza (say my innocent and beloved go pro) put it in a bag (say Callums backpack) otherwise they will charge you $45pesos on top of the $215 entrance fee for the pleasure of bringing in your own camera to take photos with. I’m still very mad about that.

Now Chichen Itza recently named a wonder of the world and to be honest I’m kind of curious as to why. We didn’t have a guide for this so maybe it’s in the history of the place but Teotihuacan was far more impressive and the Palenque ruins is far bigger (only 2% uncovered!). Maybe I’m being biased though as I was disappointed that we couldn’t walk on/around Chichen Itza like we could everywhere else. The stand out ruin though was the ball court (no good photos I’m afraid as there was a huge blob of touring tourists standing in the middle the whole time we were there). I’m so curious as to how they played the game (and did you know, as we learnt from our guide in the Palenque ruins, the winner was the one who got sacrificed?). As far as I’m aware it was teams of 5 and you could only use your elbows and hips. I bet it would be an intense game to watch, probably much better to watch in person then say a basketball game with ridiculous sound effects (if that reference went over your head, where have you been? Go check out the posts from LA).

Chichen Itza was also full of people trying to sell their stuff. Or whoever’s stuff it was as one stall was much the same as the next. The favourite catch phrase seemed to be “almost free” or “one dollar”. The currency here in the Peninsula seemed to cater to American Tourists as a lot of places seemed to take pesos or USD. Which was sort of annoying as we had the pesos to AUS dollar down, we didn’t really need another currency thrown in there. Surely the Americans will survive some currency calculation.

We got lost in Chichen Itza amongst the crisscrossed paths that led to the odd ruin. Paths that were filled with eagle eyed boisterous hawkers. It was a little exhausting being battered by voices and merchandise from all sides. We eventually found our way out through and decided it was time to try and make it to the cenote the collectivo passed on the way in. We weren’t sure where the collectivos picked up from so we ended up asking a taxi their price and then splitting the trip with two other people who wanted to go to the same place. Two people who were none other then the Burning Man couple from the bus. That’s how we know they’re Australian, and planning to keep traveling to many more months.

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

The cenote was called Ik Kil and it was awesome. I’m sure there are others that are less touristy, or not as busy, but it was close to Chichen Itza and a cool experience regardless. We got there around 3, it closed at 5:30 and started clearing out around 3:30/4. The cenote itself was deep in the ground, had to climb down many a slippery step to get to it. The water was also 50m deep (so don’t drop the GoPro) and full of catfish. Callum did spend a good half an hour trying to catch a catfish (he almost managed to catch one of the baby ones, almost). There was rope in the water that you could cling to when you got tired which was ingenious otherwise the whole thing would’ve been exhausting. There are also very modern lockers, bathrooms, change rooms, and showers you can use. Far more touristy it felt then our waterfalls in Palenque but what can you do.

After that we devoured our snacks, caught the last bus at 5 back to Valladolid (and who was also waiting for said bus but our Australian taxi companions), and went our to dinner near the laundromat.

We ended the evening with another round of stray dog feeding – one of the dogs even remembered Callum and literally bounced around him whilst he got the dog food ready to put down. It was adorable and well worth the minimal cost of the dog food.

Then it bucketed down with rain and we had to make a dash for the hostel. And so ended our first and last full day in Valladolid. We achieved everything we wanted to and slept soundly in a nice bed after a warm shower. Unfortunately one of our last warm showers on our Mexico adventure, but we didn’t know that yet.

All For Now

Rachel Connolly

Killing Time

Our last day in Palenque didn’t really go according to plan. The plan was we get up, check out as early as possible, head to the bus station and catch a bus to Campeche where we had a hostel booked to spend the night. What ended up happening was we got up, we packed, we left to get to the bus station around 10:30, we got there and found out the next bus to Campeche (6 hr bus ride) left at 8:45pm. So we decided to skip Campeche, cancel that hostel and head straight to Merida so we wouldn’t be behind schedule. We ended up behind schedule anyway, should’ve headed straight to Valladolid (our true destination as Campeche was just an overnight stop). But oh well.

So we spent the day killing time in Palenque as we had 9 hours to kill. We managed that by stowing our luggage at the bus terminal then heading off to find some snacks (once we’d booked a hostel for Merida). We had some beer and food at one little bar before we wandered down to another and repeated the process. At the second place we ended up ordering shrimp with coffee beans which was actually amazing. So that was a win in a day that was mostly a loss. It was probably the hottest it had been since we’d gotten there and we both did not appreciate that at all.

After the second food stop we went back to the bus station and finished off watching India Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark which we’d started the night before. Stupidly there was only one wall socket to plug everyone’s electronic goodies into so we were camped out on the floor by it watching the movie. After that uncomfortableness we walked into town and ended up having a massage. That was lovely although at the end we weren’t really sure what to do as no one spoke English and they just sort of left us in this room with the lights off. So we ended up finding a bathroom in the room and taking a quick shower. Still don’t know if that was what we were supposed to do but oh well. By then it was finally evening so we had an average dinner (even though when the food came out we realised neither of us was actually hungry) then headed back to the bus station for the extra hour or so to go.

Then we were finally, finally on the bus. It was unfortunately also the worst bus ride. Because Palenque had been so hot and we had such a long wait before we could leave we’d packed out jackets in our bags and the night bus was freezing. So we went from too hot to too cold. It was also bumpy and curvey (what do you expect though, it was pretty jungly) so not much sleep was had and we ended up being dropped off in Merida at 5am. We’d told the hostel we’d check in at 12 (earliest we could do) but they said they had 24hr reception so we figured we could sleep on a couch or something. When we got to the hostel we couldn’t figure out how to get in as all the doors were closed and gated. So we lugged ourselves and our bags to the closest 24hr cafe, which was thankfully not too far. There we collapsed and had some food. At 7:30 we tried our luck again and found the front desk manned by a tiny old Mexican man who spoke no English. After talking in circles for a bit and showing him the translator app he couldn’t figure out how to us he clearly got fed up of us and ushered us into a spare room. At least I think he understood that we had made a booking.

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

The room wasn’t the best. The building seemed to be some kind of warehouse with very high ceilings. The private rooms we’d booked were basically sections off from the regular dorm rooms by two walls that didn’t touch the ceiling so you could hear everything, and your lights in your room would annoy people. The bed was also made up of vengeful springs and stained sheets. The dorms looked pretty good though from what I saw but the privates rooms weren’t worth the extra cash. Didn’t really notice any of this though at 7:30am we were just grateful for a bed so we crashed on top of the sheets and fell asleep.

Merida would’ve been better if we’d planned more. But we ended up waking up at 10-ish, starting another Indiana Jones movie, the Temple of Doom (real into the movie trilogy at the moment apparently) till 12 came around so we could check in for real. As at that point we didn’t have a key and hadn’t paid for anything. When 12 came around I dragged myself to reception and sorted us out. Then we got dressed and hit the streets in search of food.

We found a pizza place and devoured a grande pizza between the two of us we then wandered around bought some basics but it was hot, we were still tired so we went back to the hostel watched some more Indie and napped.

In the evening we created a game plan before heading out. We found a few places nearby we wanted to check out and had a route to walk around. So our evening adventure was much better. We went to some tea rooms and I finally had a decent cup of tea. I’m an avid tea drinker and I’ve been struggling along on instant coffee and iced tea so a nice cup of tea was the best. Definitely the highlight of Merida for me. After that delightfulness we wandered down to a park, Callum got bullied into buying a little skeleton necklace charm, and we just roamed. Merida during the day when we were out was hot and without very many people. It could’ve been the area we were in (we were exploring a different area to the day) but the night just seemed to come alive with music and people and lights. It was gorgeous.

So we explored and we’re led around a bit by a guy we met in the park who showed us a few shops. And after all that it was dinner time.

Now the moral of this story is don’t trust Irish Pubs in Mexico. They’re never what you expect. We went to an “Irish Pub” in Mexico City and the Irish pub ended up being a fish pub. The food was good but I definitely wouldn’t have called it an Irish Pub. So we were wandering around the streets of Merida when we heard some nice live music coming from an Irish Pub so we naturally decided to investigate. We went inside, it was dark and a lady in a fancy dress came up and asked us if we had a reservation. When we said we didn’t she pointed us towards to squished stools at the bar. The place was packed, it looked way fancier then any Irish Pub had any business being so we were making our excuses when we were whisked to a private little table out the back in their garden. Whilst we were debating if we should make an escape out the back door the complimentary breadsticks were brought out. Between that dinner and the skeleton Callum bought I think Merida ended up being the place we spent the most in a day. Thankfully it was only just over budget. So we can cling to that and make ourselves feel better. But the two steaks we ordered were delicious, I guess that makes me feel better too.

We had a less restful sleep that night as we got attacked by stray springs and the odd bed bug. We got up early packed and headed to the bus station to finally get to Valladolid. We didn’t even have to wait as the next bus was in 5 minutes so we literally bought the ticket and hopped on. A nice change really.

Till Next Time!

Rachel

Going With the Flow

The shock of the humid and hot weather after San Cristobal had us craving a swim. So we looked up a good place for one in the Lonely Planet book and set off in the direction the front desk waved us in to look for a collectivo to take us there. Two things were a bit unexpected firstly no one was going to where we wanted to go but apparently to another waterfall that was better so we ended up there. Secondly our collectivo was not the regular white vans we’d become used to but rather a truck, or if you’re an Australian a ute. Some people sat in the truck but we got to sit in the back. It had seats and a cage that you sat it. It was open at the front above the trucks cabin and that’s where people put a lot of their stuff. They also stored it under the seats. But we shrugged it off and just went with the flow of the day. Sure we’ll go to somewhere we don’t know in an interesting looking vehicle, why not?

So we endured the half hour bumpy ride with a horde of locals and two Germans in the back of the truck with us. When we got to the waterfalls it was just us and the Germans who got out. We had to pay $20 pesos to get into the waterfalls and somehow we ended up with a guided tour. Which was cool as he showed us where it was safe to jump in from as high as you can get, and where caves were hidden under the waterfalls. It was a series of waterfalls that ran into pools of beautiful blue water that slipped down into another waterfall ending in another pool and repeat. There’s not really much to report about the day. We’d had a lazy morning so it was the afternoon by the time we’d gotten there. We spent the few hours there with the guide and the Germans who had been on the collectivo. Thankfully they spoke English and some Spanish, and the guide spoke a little English so we made it through alive and unscathed. It was an awesome afternoon, and I finally got to test out the GoPro’s waterproof claim which was thankfully good.

Once we finished at the falls we wound back up in town and ended up having a lovely dinner with our two new German friends who were unfortunately leaving that night. So after dinner we walked them to the bus station saw them off and went back to our hostel. Queue the photos!

The view from the back of the collectivo heading back to Palenque

Jungle Ruins

Palenque was our next stop after San Cristobal. We also took our longest bus ride thus far to get there. It was roughly an 8 hour bus ride which wasn’t too unpleasant, but I was definitely happy to get off. Although I did get off and was immediately welcomed to Palenque by a giant ant attack. I thought it was the zipper of the jacket I was holding pinching at me until I lifted the jacket and found a giant ant attacking my arm. Blood was even drawn, welcome to Palenque indeed. When we got out of the bus station we also seemed to enter into the middle of some kind of very loud Christmas themed parade, I think? Was definitely an unexpected welcome.

San Cristobal had a chilly nip to the air and cold nights. Palenque was the opposite. It was hot, sweaty, and humid. Not the worst humidity but you felt sticky after being outside for more then half a minute. In the Lonely Planet book we have it suggests staying in a number of bungalows on the outskirts of town. Despite our best attempts we couldn’t contact the more budget end bungalows that were suggested. I think they’ve either gone out of business or have just given up on the internet (which is fair, the service and internet in Palenque is terrible). So we ended up getting somewhere “in town”. Or rather on the edge of town amongst little drips of the jungle and other hotels.

We were staying at a hostel called Taxkin Hostel but it was a hostel that wanted very much to be a hotel – which they basically were. It was the most expensive place we’d stayed and one that sadly didn’t have free breakfast, and the free wifi was only in the reception. And just a heads up to fellow travellers the prices on their website are in US dollars. I have to admit I was kind of upset over the lack of a free breakfast. The assortment of fruit that’s usually served had been my nod at health. But whatever we made do (they did have a restaurant and bar attached so it’s not like it was a struggle to find food).

On our first full day we decided to head out to the Palenque Ruins. We were determined to do it ourselves sans-tour and sans-guide. Many people offered, as soon as we had gotten off of the bus the night before two flyers from two different tour companies had been given to us. We went into town found one of the Collectivos to take us (another ubiquitous white van) that had ruinas scrawled on the front. We originally thought the collectivos would have some kind of HQ where we bought passage but nope. You just get into the van that’s going to the ruins (or somewhere along the way as they drop off) and then you pay when you get there.

So after that mini adventure we were dropped off by the ruins. We paid for a little wrist band entrance thing into the wildlife park that the ruins were situated in. Then we had to pay for entrance into the ruins themselves. The wristbands were around $32 pesos, and the ticket to get into the ruins was $35 pesos. So not too bad but annoying you have to pay for both. We then started making our way through the hawkers to the entrance for the ruins when Callum heard someone yelling about maps. So we made a small detour to buy a map and somehow ended up with a guide.

So there went the plan of DIY-ing the ruins. But to be honest the guide was good, I would’ve had no idea what we were looking if he hadn’t been there to explain. Now Palenque has a huge amount of ruins in its national park of which only 2% had been cleaned. The rest were buried amongst the jungle, unexcavated for jungle conservation purposes. The 2% that had been cleaned away consisted of a palace, three tombs, three temples, and a few other walls that used to be buildings that we didn’t look at so I don’t know what they were for. The ruins we were at were 100% Mayan ruins, and didn’t you know Mayan apparently is taken from maze, which means corn. The Mayans were all vegetarian their diet mostly consisting of corn, beans, and other vegetarian deliciousness. They also didn’t have a very long life expectancy (not related to their diet) but the pyramid tomb that had been uncovered was the resting place for a great king who had ruled for 69 years. Each step in the pyramid was for how many years he’d ruled, so It was quite tall with 69 steps. The inside was also hollow, although we couldn’t go inside, or climb up.

We also saw the palace which, for those art and architecture nerds out there, has Islamic arches in it. Which basically means that the arches were pointed at the top meaning they could be built higher then other arches. The same kind of arch that is used in Gothic cathedrals in Europe, one that (from my rusty art history memory) I’m pretty sure only came to Europe after they’d discovered the arch in Islam during the crusades. So interesting to find it here in a Mayan palace. Mostly though the arches consisted of the classic Mayan arch, which was two walls, a sloped ceiling bringing them together then it was flat across the top and apparently had wooden beams to keep it all stable and lasting.

What is also really cool about the whole thing is that pack animals and wheels were introduced to Mexico by the Spanish. So all these towering buildings I’ve been talking about and showing pictures of have been put together by hand. The rocks brought from sometimes hours and hours away on the backs of people (usually slaves). Which is crazy to think about how much manpower that would’ve taken. Speaking of slaves as I said earlier there were three tombs. One for the king, the second for the Red Queen, and the third for all their slaves, who were all killed when the royalty died so they could serve them in the afterlife. Which, from a modern 21^st century view is rather depressing. The slaves couldn’t even escape in death.

The other positive to the guide is that we spent an hour at the ruins and then an hour doing a small walk (trek? It felt more like a trek) through the jungle. A trek which was cordoned off to the public so I guess the guide was worth it. The trek took us past so many crumbling temples that were half hidden under the jungle. Ones we wouldn’t notice until the guide would stop (let us catch up) and say “and now you’re standing in a temple” and we’d look around and suddenly see the dilapidated walls and windows hidden under the vines and leaves. We also saw a number of trees and plants that he told us the properties of. Ones to help with upset tummies, ones to keep away mosquitos. Vines we could (and did) swing off like we were Tarzan. He showed us parts of the aqueducts that the Mayans had built for their city that had housed 60,000 people at its peak. A city that they’d abandoned and whose ruins we were walking through. All up it was an awesome experience and one I would definitely recommend.

After our tour we wandered around the ruins a bit more then made our way down the slope their on following a waterfall and a winding path to the museum that sat at the bottom of the hill. By now we were both hot and sweaty so we didn’t go into the museum we just caught a collectivo back to the main area of Palenque. We ended up heading back to the hostel where we had dinner and went to sleep. Another end to an interesting day of adventuring.

That’s All Folks!

Rachel

Plastic & Canyons

So the inevitable finally occurred. We booked ourselves in for yet another tour (definitely think we’ll be taking a break from them though for a while) and it was completely in Spanish. Completely. Thankfully it was only half a day, and we were seeing a Canyon, not a Temple. But still, bit of a waste.

We booked the tour through the hostel and I guess either we got booked into the Spanish tour, or they just don’t do them in English. But the whole thing was in Spanish, our driver didn’t seem to speak much English. We had this joyful realisation about five minutes into our one hour bus trip. But what can you do? So we decided to go with the flow and just followed our fellow travellers, all of whom looked foreign and could all apparently speak Spanish to some extent. So we disembarked from the bus and embarked on a motorboat that took us into the Canyon.

The canyon was gorgeous. We saw a sleepy crocodile lounging on the banks of the river, an active little turtle dipping and diving in the water, some regal pelicans perching in their trees, and potentially a monkey? I didn’t really see the monkey but in its defence, I wasn’t wearing my glasses so all the greenery was a bit of a blur. There was also a skull shaped rock, and a strange little cave that had a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe in it. It was moments like those that I wished we spoke Spanish, as I’m still very curious as to why that was sitting in a cave in the water; and why the tour guide shined his little pocket laser at particular stones. But who knows, it will remain a mystery of the universe until I wiki it.

We also saw a mini waterfall. Well, less of a fall and more of a trickle. But it had created a cascading algae effect on the plants beneath it. It was a cliff face covered in staggered algae/plant umbrellas that pushed the water out. That looked amazing, and again wish the guide spoke English so I could know more what I was looking at but oh well.

There was also a huge section of the river that was filled up with trash. Bottles, pieces of unnameable trash just scattered in the water. At the beginning of the tour we’d each been given a wristband and on them was written something along the lines of our donation was going towards the conservation of the national park. It was the same wristband we would be given later in another national park, but that’s a story for a future post. On the river as well as the odd tourist boat there were also bigger barge type things that collected this floating trash and dumped it on board (to be disposed of properly one would hope).

DCIM100GOPRO

To be honest I’m not sure if Mexico is very conservative, or just thrifty but they do a few choice things differently to back home. For one when you go to the bathroom your toilet paper does not go in the toilet, it goes into the bin provided that sits next to the toilet. I googled this when we were in Mexico City and apparently Mexico City doesn’t have the sewerage system for toilet paper. But everywhere we’ve been doesn’t seem to have the ‘system’ in place for dealing with it. This becomes especially annoying, and potentially I guess earth saving, in public bathrooms. Not only is it the norm to pay for a public bathroom (usually about $5 pesos) but when you go in make sure to grab some toilet paper from the machine out the front; as there isn’t any toilet paper in the stalls. The machine out the front also limits how much you can get as you just press a button and the paper comes spurting out. So I guess they’re being green by limiting how much toilet paper you get to use. Which is unnerving but manageable.

I also remember when my hometown decided to swap over to the three bin system. Was very annoying and fiddley at first but over time you got used to it then stopped noticing it. In Mexico every bin seems to be a part of the three bin system (or more). They have a bin for organics, recyclable, and everything else; and a lot of the time the hostels that we’ve been staying in get us to keep the beer bottles/put them somewhere separate as they get money back for the glass bottles. A good example of where thrifty sort of counteracts earth saving though was dinner last night. Last night we had dinner at a taco place, where our tacos came out on reusable plastic plates covered in thin plastic bags. I guess they save on water and detergent, but they use so much plastic and I’m not really sure which one is worse? Either way overall it seems to have a better system in place for some things then back home.

Callum was so annoyed that we’d booked ourselves into a Spanish tour. We were chatting about it and to be honest I found it mostly amusing. Of all the tours he viewed that as the worst (not by fault of our guide, but just that it was a bit of a waste of time as we didn’t speak Spanish). But I disagree. We saw the canyon, we saw some weird building afterwards (that we didn’t know what we were looking at so we went on a hunt for food instead as we had 55 minutes to kill). The canyon was awesome with or without the guide. The tour I personally viewed as the worst was the one we took in Oaxaca. It just annoys me that it was an English speaking tour, aimed at English speakers and our tour guide hardly spoke English, didn’t bother conversing with us, and didn’t even come to the last stop! I felt like we paid this man to do nothing. The only benefit was that these places were spread a part so the bus got us there and back. But his whole participation was non-existent and a bit redundant. But even though it was the worst, in my view, I wouldn’t say it was a bad tour. It just could’ve been better.

That’s All Folks!

Rachel

San Cristobal de las Casas

The morning of the 29^th of November found us catching a taxi, two flights, another slightly more dubious taxi, and an even more dubious van. The first taxi ride from Oaxaca and two flights, one to Mexico City and one to Tuxtla Guiterrez were okay, I was reading my book so they went past pretty quickly. Then we got to the airport in Tuxtla and we had to order a taxi through the airport. We got into the taxi unsure if we’d ordered a taxi to take us to San Cristobal, or a taxi to take us to the bus station so we could catch a bus to San Cristobal (one hour via bus). We’d figured we’d accidentally ordered it to San Cristobal when the taxi did a u-turn on the roundabout and pulled up in front of a big white van. Where our bags, then us, was ushered into. We decided we were either being kidnapped or the taxi driver understood us (somehow). We were then off into the winding hills that led to San Cristobal, through the cloudy mountains, and emerging onto its cobbled streets. Sort of, we were dropped off at the “bus station” and from there caught a taxi to our hostel.

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Our hostel was called the Posada Ganesha, a quiet Indian themed hostel with cute rooms, a gorgeous garden, and yoga classes. It was a lovely stay there and I would definitely recommend it if anyone is looking for anywhere peaceful to stay in San Cristobal. Apparently it was unseasonably cold for the time of the year. Whilst it didn’t feel quite as chilly as the cutting wind in Mexico City that seemed to appear during the evenings, it was cold enough to want to snuggle up under warm blankets (which we thankfully had).

We spent the first evening in San Cristobal taking a small wander down its cobbled pedestrian walkways, it has a huge T shaped walkway that cuts through the city. On either side artisan shops fill the streets, along with chocolate cafes, tempting dinner stops, and bars. We stopped in a very un-mexican restaurant and ordered ourselves a pizza, and Mexican beer (of course). Then we wandered back through the growing gloom to our rooms to snuggle down for the night and plan the next days adventure.

Some delicious hot chocolates as I typed up this blog post whilst we took a break from wandering

The last day of November we spent on the more relaxing side, again wandering the streets, marketplaces, and chocolatiers. The hot chocolates in Mexico are actually amazing. We probably had the best hot chocolate in Oaxaca at an adorable restaurant right next to our hostel. We’d stopped there for dinner, found out it was more of a café, and ended up feeling awkward just walking away so we ordered two Italiano hot chocolates. They came out covered in whipped cream and filled with chocolatey goodness (so we ordered another round). The hot chocolates almost taste like they’ve had spices put in them, which they may’ve. They’ve been awesome since Mexico City, but the one in Oaxaca topped the hot chocolate cake. So we stopped in San Cristobal at a chocolatier. The hot chocolates were very different. Callum apparently taste tested all the cacao nibs in store then they made the drink out of the one he chose. So the hot chocolates we had in San Cristobal were very bitty and had a darker richer flavour as the cacao was stronger. Okay, hot chocolate rant over.

We picked up a few presents as we wandered the streets. It’s hard present buying as you sort of want to grab a few things for everyone, in case some don’t make it through customs back home in Australia and get turned to ash (or whatever they do with them). But we managed (you’re welcome, future gift receivers).

We also had lunch in a Lebanese place with the most intense owner ever. Our poor waitress forgot to give us a drinks menu so when I asked the owner for one he gave her The Look of Death. It was so awkward. I ended up keeping a hold of some Lebanese bread that I’d been nibbling (but didn’t want anymore) as she’d taken the plate away – and I didn’t want to leave it on the table in case she got in trouble for it. There is definitely a difference between good customer service, and being an overbearing perfectionist. He even corrected me on how to eat my own meal, by touching my food. Weird experience to say the least but hey, he spoke English.

Apparently, there are guerillas camping out in the jungle around San Cristobal/Chiapas. Maybe that’s why masks seemed to be on everything

That weird lunch was huge so we didn’t end up having to go out for dinner so we stayed in and finished LOTR: The Return of the King. Finally ending our Lord of the Rings “marathon” which has been ongoing since Los Angeles.

That’s All Folks!

Rachel

Mezcal Waterfalls

Woo! Finally, an internet connection good enough to upload pictures with! I only have to camp out right next to the router. So much to update you all on but I’ll start where we left off. Oaxaca.

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In Oaxaca we were staying at the Casa Angel Youth Hostel. I have no complaints, the staff were lovely and very helpful, our room was nice, and it was in a great location. I’m just mentioning it so I can post this photo of Callum and the dog, called Doggie, that had apparently adopted the hostel as its home. It seems out grand plan for Mexico is finding all the vaguely friendly dogs in Mexico and petting them.

So day two in Oaxaca started with us getting up early and signing ourselves up for another tour. Since the one in Mexico City went so well, we figured this would be a good chance to socialise and learn some more about Mexico. It was a semi-success. The day didn’t start off too well with the tour guide talking for about 10 minutes straight in Spanish and then giving us the two second English version. His general “tour guiding” followed much the same route. Which was annoying as there were only two people who spoke Spanish well enough to follow.

Thankfully though when we got to the stops our mob of English speakers was usually fobbed off onto whoever was showing us around. We made five stops, a two thousand year old tree, a rug place, a mezcal distillery, a city of the dead, and a solid waterfall.

The tree was a two thousand year old cypress tree that sat in front of a church. Behind it sat a one thousand year old cypress tree. The tree was amazing. Huge, willowy, and it completely dwarfed the modest church it sat next to. Callum asked me how old trees lived for. I have no idea. Do they die of old age or are they like elves and are immortal if they’re careful? How old is the oldest tree in the world?

After the tree we all hopped back into the mini bus and travelled further out to a small nearby town that was home to the rug makers. Apparently everyone in that village learned to make rugs from the age of five. The man also showed us how they create the colours in the rugs. There were many variations but the most amazing was the colour red which came from tiny dried insects they took off the cactus. Dried they looked like little stones. But they would dry them, crush them, then add the powder to the water, lime juice, and create over a hundred different shades of red. They could add limestone powder to the mixture and create a stunning purple. Theoretically I know a lot of dyes come from this kind of thing, herbs, flowers, roots etc. But it was awesome seeing it first hand and watching them mix the colours. He also showed us the weaving process, but he had his little daughter with him who stole the show. She was apparently about four and she had her own mini machine which she showed her mad skills on.

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After that adventure it was off to the Mezcal distillery to attempt to try their 24 flavours of mezcal. Mezcal is the forefather of tequila. As the woman who showed us around explained; all tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila. It depends on how they brew it but mezcal is known for its smokier flavour. It comes from an agave plant and the youngest plant they can harvest to produce the mezcal has to be ten years old. The oldest is twelve (potentially older, I can’t really remember). I won’t go into the distilling process because to be honest the whole thing seems very complicated and I can’t really remember it. But a horse was involved to crush the plant, and they cooked the plant in huge underground ovens for days at a time, plus at least four or five other steps. Then they would throw the mezcal into barrels and let it age for years. The whole process seems to take an awfully long time. It’s something you don’t really appreciate about spirits, any spirit really, is how long they take to make. A lot could happen in the 8, 12, 30 years it takes to flavour the spirit. Not sure if I would have the patience to brew spirits. How would you even start?

We then moved on to trying the mezcal, which in this country is sipped straight. With, if you couldn’t take it, chasers of orange dipped into a paprika and salt mixture. Mezcal also can have the worm in it. Apparently the worm, which lives at the base of the agave plant, adds flavour to the mezcal and is also good to chew on as it tastes like mezcal, if you’re lucky enough to get it. And yes, someone asked, you do chew. Don’t just try and swallow it whole. Apparently that’s just not done.

We were slowly meeting the others travelling with us on the tour. It is really amazing how many Australians we have met in Mexico. In Mexico City there were four of us staying in the hostel. Besides the Americans that was the biggest group of foreigners from the same country. In Oaxaca there were four New Zealanders, and four Australians on our tour alone. Three of us were all from Perth. It’s really bizarre when you think about it. Especially since most Australians we’d spoken to before going on this trip hadn’t even considered Mexico as a holiday destination. So we figured it wasn’t really somewhere Aussies ventured very often. But here we all are, on the other side of the globe, from a huge country with a tiny population, and we are the biggest majority group of foreigners (beyond Americans) staying in hostels at any one point. There’s no big groups of Germans just awkwardly gathering in Mexico, this is just apparently reserved for Australians. Very weird.

Anyways, so after the mezcal distillery we wound up at the City of the Dead, otherwise known as Mitla. The Zapotecs used the palace we visited as a retirement place for their priests and kings, and the city as a burial place, thus the name. Mitla was also conquered twice, once by the Aztercs, and once by the Spanish. The Spanish, as we know they were wont to do, built a church with the stones from the temple near the palace. So the temple was gone, a church in its place, but the palace itself remained. The palace had thick stone walls with patterns carved into them, the meaning of some he explained. What was really interesting about the palace was between it and the church that sat next to it the church had been repaired more times due to earthquake damage. In the region earthquakes are apparently a dime a dozen on average, according to our guide, there were around 800 a year. This year alone, an outlier, there had been over 2000. The Zapotecs were well aware of this and built their palace accordingly. There is no cement, or anything sticking the stones together. They were just built to fit together. So the whole thing is a jigsaw of custom made pieces each one made to fit perfectly with the other and some with wrap around corner carvings of complicated patterns. All so when the earth does decide to see if it can knock anything down the palace will remain standing. Apparently this wasn’t a tidbit the locals shared with the Spanish.

After the city of the dead we grabbed lunch, and were then driven up a winding mountain path to a solid waterfall. Now our “tour guide” for the day actually ditched us before we even started the long drive up so we just had the driver at the waterfall. He didn’t exactly explain anything about why the waterfall was solid or where to really find it. So we wandered through some stalls selling us food and drinks and then down a slope. At the bottom we found some huge empty pools. Water trickled around them and at the bottom but not a lot. Beyond the original pools we found the one that was filled with water. It bubbled up from inside the mountain we were perched on and trickled out holes filling the lowest pool. In the distance you could see the solid waterfall cascading out of the mountain. The pool just seemed to end on the cliff face. It would be pretty easy to fall off of it, but hey the lack of safety barrier makes for good photos.

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

The stalactites slumping down a hill aka a solid waterfall

Now apparently, which I’ve learned from the fam (thanks Dad) the phenomenon is basically this. The water itself is high in calcium carbonate so what happens is the water trickles out and tiny amounts of carbon crystalizes out. So what we’re seeing is actually the same stuff stalactites and stalagmites are made out of. Because its ground water this means it’s rich in minerals and heat means the saturation level would be higher.

So there you go. I showed my dad a photo of the solid waterfall and he described it as ‘a bunch of stalactites slumping down a hill’ which I guess it technically is. But I’m sticking with calling it a solid waterfall. A natural phenomenon that we were stomping all over and taking selfies with.

“Act Natural” they say

Our day came to an end there. The sun was setting when we left the mountain and by the time we dragged ourselves back to the hostel it was way past dark. Callum and I had some tacos from the same place we went to the first night. They were not as delicious, no idea what we ordered the first night. Google translate didn’t really help us as most of the taco fillings translated into things like ear, and tongue, and other unappetizing things. I have a feeling it was Google translate failing us. But who knows, maybe we had tongue tacos on the first night and loved them.

 

Also, as a side note, we found this adorable newborn puppy and its mum lounging at the top of the pools. What a cutie pie.

Over and Out,

Rachel