Tulum, Mexico

Tulum was the next, and not quite last stop on our tour.

The main hotel strip by the beach in Tulum is known for its push to be clean and green, whether this was wind power, salt water showers, or electricity only from the hours of 5pm - 10pm. The hotel we stayed in was our least favourite, with a general damp feeling taking over as soon as we walked in. Luckily, the hotel was about 20 metres from the beach, it was close enough to not stay in our room.

Hung about the hotel were a number of hammocks, which we spent a large amount of time in, in the shade of the trees. As part of the relaxation that was the last part of the tour, we spent a large proportion of time lying, reading and sleeping.

Tulum is known for it's ruins, which are right on the coast (and can be seen at the end of Tarantino's 'Planet Terror') were fortified with the sea on one side, and stone walls around the other 3 sides. They were very small in relation to the others we had seen on the trip. To get to them, we hired bikes, and a group of us cycled down (keeping with the green theme).


Our guide had suggested that we go out early as large tour buses arrive dropping people off 50 at a time. It was good advice. We were practically the only ones on the whole site when we arrived, and leaving was particularly difficult with hundreds of people flooding in.

We were starting to realise that the tour was coming to an end, with only one more stop left on the itinerary, the very touristy Playa del Carmen was up next.

Caye Caulker, Belize

25 January 2009.

We arrived at Caye Caulker after a ferry ride from Belize City. This was the start of the laid-back, relaxing part of the tour after the first part of hectic travel and quick stops.

It was certainly a different style to what we were used to, blue, blue water and white, white sand - the Caribbean as you would expect it.

The first afternoon that we arrived was hot and sunny, so we went swimming down at the split. The island used to be one, but after a hurricane, was split in two. There was a concrete pier, with a bar along side and everyone was parked up enjoying the sunshine.

Dinner that night consisted of a BBQ lobster dinner at Jolly Rogers Grill. His grill was a converted 40 gallon drum, and the restaurant was little more than a corrugated iron shack.





































We picked up some beers from the local bar, and sat down to enjoy. It was good!





























During the afternoon the group had arranged a snorkeling tour for the next day, where you sail out to three reefs, and spend the day swimming with the fishes, and the promise of rum punch on the return journey.

We woke the next morning to pouring torrential rain. Snorkeling cancelled, rain pouring, we thought it would be a good chance to catch up on the news of the world outside. There was Canadian sports bar which had wireless internet. Unfortunately, the power on the island seemed to be out. The Canadian bar was still where we ended up, playing cards and staying dry - reality pushed aside for another day.

The weather promised to be sunnier the next day, so we were hopeful that we would get our snorkeling trip. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty close, so we decided it was a go.

There wasn't a lot of wind so we mostly had to motor out, but had the sails up for a short while.

I, due to some irrational paranoia about not being able to breathe with a snorkel, stayed on the boat with a book and took some photos of everyone lazing around in the ocean, leaving Ruth to it.



















At the first stop however, the weather started to turn, so we knew we were in for some rain. It was still really warm though, so we were not too worried.















It was patchy, but everyone still managed to get in and see the sights - it miraculously cleared up each time we stopped with the sun breaking through.

A highlight was standing on the bow of the boat, motoring along, with the rain pelting down. There was just something about the feeling that is hard to describe.

After everyone had exhausted themselves with the snokels and swimming, we made our way back home. The rum punch arrived with a freshly chopped shrimp cerviche, which fought off any chance of anyone getting cold. There was a lot of punch...

... and the sun came back out, just as we were arriving back. Everyone was a little wobbly from their time at sea, so we headed back down to the split for more swimming, and a cooling beer.

At some stage in the proceedings, we decided that a full scale sea battle needed to take place, leading to shoulder fighting - and generally a lot of hilarity.















The seabed was quite uneven and the extra height we had was hugely beneficial. Needless to say, Ruth and I were victorious.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset, then a second lobster dinner finished off our time on the island, heading back to the mainland and Tulum, Mexico the following morning.

San Ignacio, Belize

You're not in Guatemala now, Dr Ropata.

Crossing off our 5th country, we arrived in Belize in the rain. This part of the tour is supposed to be all sunshine and relaxation after the hectic trip through Mexico, so we were worried when it rained for our entire bus ride across the border.

However, we had a plan - just about the only thing you can do while it's raining is drink tequila and play cards. We started in a hotel restaurant on the edge of San Ignacio, and didn't leave until we'd drunk them out of tequila. Did I mention that it was just 5 of us left? Yes, the others had all come to their senses and headed home to try and find some food, cards and perhaps some more tequila.

We, the less sensible ones, had stayed on, enjoying drinking under shelter and watching the rain and toucans in the trees. But, finally, we were forced to admit that we needed to get home, and headed out. And headed down the road, or what was left of it. The roads in Belize tend to be somewhat sandy, and with the amount of water falling, they were now almost entirely mud. But we didn't care - we were dancing and slipping and sliding and covered in white mud by the time we got home.

At some point we had arranged to go on a tour of the Macan river. There was rum involved in this decision, but it was one of the best trips I think we did. We canoed upriver for about 3 hours, guided by Daniel, who was an expert at spotting the wildlife. We (Hamish, Ruth and Sarah from our tour) were still hoping to see a banana-beaked toucan, but we only managed to see one of the other varieties (again!). What we did see were a lot of iguanas. One of them was bright orange, others were perched on the very edge of very tall trees hanging over the river - they like to get as exposed as possible so that they get as warm as possible. Hundreds of bats were sleeping under the overhanging rocks, and our guide enjoyed flicking water at them to make them fly around us...

The trip upriver (thanks almost entirely to Daniel and Hamish's arms) ended with a walk through the riverside village towards a little waterfall and pool area. We ate our lunch (the ubiquitous rice-and-beans and curried hotdog. Unusual) and then had a refreshing swim under the waterfall.

(Photo by Sarah Rackley)

Flores & Tikal Ruins, Guatemala

Flores is a sleepy little town on an island in a lake in Guatemala. There are amazing sunsets over the lake, and this was our base for our trip to the Tikal Ruins. Because of an accident on the road into Flores, we weren't able to leave in time to watch the sunrise over the ruins, but the sunrise the following morning (available from our balcony) was beautiful.

The Tikal ruins will be a familiar sight if you've watched Star Wars, but if, like me, you haven't, they are most famous for the jungle that surrounds them. Unlike the ruins we had seen earlier in our trip, these ruins are in the middle of a very green rainforest, filled with birds and animals. The Mayans cleared the land surrounding their buildings, and most of the ruins we visited had been cleared again, but Tikal is completely different.













We were lucky enough to see a bird in the Quetzal family - which includes the national bird of Guatemala (and the bird their currency is named after). Our guide was extremely good at hearing the birds (we also saw toucans, although not the most familar 'banana beak' toucans), and could hear the monkeys many minutes before the rest of our group. He also took us to some tiny monkeys, a crocodile trained to come at his call, and we could not avoid stepping into the path of hundreds of fire ants.


















The ruins are also quite different to some of the other ones, as you can walk freely on them, and even climb up to the top of several - although one in particular was an extremely steep climb, with extremely small steps. A challenge if you're not keen on heights.


















Tikal was a little surreal, and a really interesting place to walk around - having a guide was especially helpful as he was so informative about the land, the plants and the Mayans. A great way to finish our time in Guatemala!

Antigua, Guatemala

Antigua! Not as in 'and Barbuda', but Antigua, Guatemala, the UNESCO-declared World Heritage Centre, the city where the bars close at 10pm, the city surrounded by volcanoes, and our home for the next few days.

Our hotel came with a roof-top garden and several swing seats and an amazing view across to Volcan de Agua. Antigua is a really beautiful town with a lot of narrow streets and hidden shopfronts, with much of the city built in a very Arabic/Baroque style - lots of intricate window and door metalwork coverings, tiles, and brickwork. It's also home to the largest fountain in Latin America, and some really interesting little museums about the history of the town and Guatemala.


















Antigua has a unique liquor licensing system - all bars are to close at 10pm, unless you are a business owned by the Mayor. This means that we were drinking our mojitos very early! Our local was a small bar just off the main square, and it also doubled as our salsa club. Unfortunately, Hamish had to miss our first class as he was asleep in bed with a fever and feeling very ill, but he was completely better the next day - and ready to dance. Salsa is such a fun dance, and we all had a great time...














(photo from Victoria Clench)

Antigua has three volcanoes that surround the town, but there are many more nearby, and it was one of these, Volcan Pacaya, that we climbed during our stay. After an early start, we collected our climbing sticks from the young boys at the base of the mountain, and followed our guide up the mountain next to the volcano. This was a long, steady climb, on very dusty paths, and soon we were all very, very dirty. Once at the top of this mountain, we crossed over into the cooled lava at the base of the volcano and made our way towards a large group of people gathered around the area where the lava is flowing.

We had come prepared for this, and set up our frozen pizza (to be cooked in tinfoil), and marshmallows to be roasted on sticks collected on the way up. This was a delicious lunch, and just what we wanted after the morning's exercise!

...6 months on

Because of rather irregular internet while traveling through Guatemala and Belize, then not enough time in Vancouver and NYC, the last 3 weeks of our trip never made it onto our blog.

After being shamed by Hamish's grandmother for our laziness, I/we will attempt to finish up all of the draft entries we have, and perhaps even write some new ones about our adventures over the last few months. We are hampered by a slow internet connection at the moment, so there may not be very many photos until later.

Hamish returned to New Zealand from New York, and settled back into a very familiar routine of work and play, while I went on to London in search of a job. I stayed with friends for over a month, in Putney, before moving to Oval, south-west London. While Hamish was applying for his visa, I was applying to every agency and vacancy I could find, and still attempting to experience some of the lovely things London had to offer! In fact, within the first few days of arriving, I had booked a weekend in Madrid, gone to two galleries and museums and been shopping.

Once Hamish had his passport returned, with visa safely inside, we met in Paris for a week (including my birthday).



















And since then, we have been living and working in London (Hamish-with a permanent job, me-temping and from last week, a permanent job), with a few short breaks; a week in Italy with 3 friends being the most delightful!

Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Chichi is a major market in the Guatemalan highlands. They have two market days, Thursday and Sunday with people from all around the area coming to sell all sorts of goods, from fruit and veges to tools, clothing and other handicrafts - as well as catching up on news and gossip. We were told that apart from those two days, and the setup day before the market, the town is completely dead, with nothing at all going on.

We arrived in Chichi and spent a little time walking through the markets, though there were a massive number of people milling around, so we tried to walk the side streets as much as possible.

The first spot that Andres took us to was the fruit and vege market, which was on an indoor basketball court, it took some time to move from the bottom floor upstairs to where we could have a look at all the action.

























From here we went back out to the streets, and made our way to one of the two churches that face each other in the town. From here we got a good view along the lanes.













We felt it was far too crowded, so found a nice little side street that still had a great selection of things to buy, and took our time walking down there.

We spent most of the time there sitting on the steps of the church people watching - there was a little kid throwing a tantrum for a good period of time and a man building wooden chairs right in front of us.













After looking round the markets, we all met at the church and made our way to a big food hall type thing, where we had a tasty lunch of fried chicken, rice and beans.

After Chichi, we got back in the minivan and made out way to the town of Antigua, our next stop.