Antigua City Tour

This morning, we had a leisurely breakfast inside the walls of our quiet little 16th century monastery hotel, and then were off for our half-day tour of Antigua. The town where we are staying was founded in the mid-1500s and has quite the colonial charm. Cobblestone roads around an old square, which has a cathedral on one side, is the typical setup for towns like these, and Antigua is no exception. We started our town in the city center in the plaza grande. In the middle of the square was a fountain with several mermaids lactating water.






After talking about the history of the town and the buildings surrounding the square, we made our way to the municipal building where we talked about the social structure of Guatemala and other stuff, while having an amazing view of the main cathedral and plaza area.






After that, we walked all around town and very quickly felt the town getting crowded by hundreds and hundreds of people wearing stickers. We soon realized that a Celebrity cruise ship had docked in Guatemala and 10 groups of their passengers had descended upon the town. We visited the back, ruined part of the cathedral.



Afterwards, we continued walking, visiting a jade processing factory and finally ending at our hotel, which is also a museum. After the tour, we decided to go shopping around town and ton check out more of the town that we didn't see while on the walking tour. We were looking specifically for the famous yellow arches of the town, and eventually found them, and more.















Just a gorgeous town, and a great day visit most of it's beautiful sites. Tomorrow it's on to Chichi, the largest market in Guatemala for shopping!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Antigua, Guatemala

Chichi shopping trip, leaving Guatemala, arriving in Costa Rica

This morning, we had a two-and-a-half hour drive to Chichi, which was hailed as the largest, most colorful market in al of Guatemala. It did not disappoint. After walking around for a few hours, getting the lay of the land and figuring out some of the prices (dirt cheap, by the way), I began my Guatemalan shopping spree. I bought hand-embroidered textiles, bags, masks, paintings, t-shirts, shirts, etc. We also made time to visit the main cathedral of the town.



Here are a couple more pictures of the market area. I didn't want to get pictures of people's wares because I didn't want to upset anyone or then have them ask me for money for taking a picture of their things.









All in all, he trip to the market was a great success, and the bargaining process was a lot of fun. Thankfully my Spanish has progressed to the point where I can get by in these daily type situations and I was really able to enjoy myself, as well as pick up a lot of souvenirs to remember this trip for forever!

After we returned to Antigua from Chichi, we had dinner, began the packing process, and eventually went to sleep. We arose the next morning, had breakfast, finished packing and then were on the road to the airport of Guatemala City. Our flight to San Jose, Costa Rica was about an hour-and-a-half. We were met at the airport and whisked away to our hotel for the evening. It is a former coffee plantation that has been turned into a hotel, resort and spa which is far above San Jose and a hill. I wish I was able to get a picture of the view before it started raining; however, these pictures of my private cabana will have to do for now.









Tonight we have a welcoming cocktail party (there will be several new people joining us on this part of the trip) and then off to dinner/dancing in San Jose.

A picture from the balcony before we leave reveals the thousands of city lights on the horizon.



Apparently, Friday night is a lot of fun in town. Time will tell... Tomorrow we go zip lining over the canopy of the rainforest and then make our way to our beachside resort which will be our home for the rest of our time in Costa Rica. Should be great!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Guatemalan Volcano!

This morning we awoke in our monastery, had breakfast, and were off to the most active volcano in Guatemala. We were told the "hike" up would be about 1.5 hours. I was excited for the exercise and the challenge of climbing an active volcano. My first hint that things were not exactly how they had been described came as several men with horses followed us up a steep incline, constantly asking us if we were ready to ride a horse yet... It felt almost as if we were going to be trampled by these horses that were following us closely behind, but our tour leader Bryan eventually told them to stop following us. Shortly thereafter, we came to a crossroads. Our guide told us that of the two paths, one was much easier, but the other had the better view and more things to see. Part of the group went up the easier path, and I, against my better judgment went up the more difficult path. I had several doubts about the decision, and only agreed once I had ascertained that after 15 very difficult minutes of climbing, the rest of the way would be a cakewalk. So, I decided to go up the difficult route in order to take some pictures of what was promised to be some spectacular vistas. Of course, what would have been 15 minutes of difficult climbing turned into an hour and a half die to the fact that we veered off the main path and were soon climbing a vertical face of the cliff with loose volcanic rocks underfoot... After what seemed an eternity, we reached the top and I did get a few photos of the volcano spewing steam.










We followed the trail into a cave that was SO hot with geothermal activity that I didn't take pictures and didn't stat in long because I was so afraid that the heat would damage my camera and lenses. After an eternity, we eventually made our way back down the volcano. It was worth the trip, but my god, my ass and quads are so sore....

We made our way back to our hotel and had a nice swim and relaxing afternoon in the jacuzzi, and after that I had a small siesta (the frozen margaritas I had in the jacuzzi helped...) and then this evening we went out for an amazing meal at. Local restaurant! I ate so much, but it was so good and I figure after such an active day today, I had earned it! Tomorrow we will have a walking tour of Antigua, a shopping afternoon, and then our farewell dinner, as the following day will be some people's last day here. Should be a good day!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Guatemala

Tikal and Guatemala City

Yesterday morning was an early one. The 4:30am wake-up call came way too early. We met in the lobby of the hotel at 5am to take the shuttle to the airport. Once we got all checked in, we got on a tiny prop plane and flew to Flores, the largest town near Tikal. We were picked up by our guide and driven the hour to Tikal. When we got there we took a walk through dense jungle and finally came to the site where we saw this:






























More pictures are on my Facebook page.

We also saw tons of howler and spider monkeys.




















After we left the park, we drove back to Flores Island, where we had some drinks as we waited for it to get closer to the time of our return flight back to Guatemala City. We were there for sunset, which was nice.

When we got back to the airport in Flores, we found that the electricity was out, and the airport was completely dark. Eventually he lights came back on and we were able to fly back to Guatemala City. It was pitch dark as we were flying over Guatemala, and we were able to see inside some of the volcanoes we were flying over and could see rings of fire inside.

This morning, we got all packed up and checked out of our hotel, and were met in the morning for our tour of Guatemala City. We went first to a museum, where we saw tons of Mayan artifacts. These were a few of my favorites:















After the museum, we went to the cathedral in the main square. I didn't take any pictures, because it really wasn't that impressive. After that, we crossed the main square and headed to the palace. It was a green color, inside and out, and has the nickname "guacamole palace." Here are a few pictures from inside the palace.

After we finished the tour of the palace, we said adios to Guatemala City and headed to Antigua. This place is gorgeous, and you will have to wait for another day for pictures, as we are having our tour of the town on Wednesday (tomorrow we are climbing a volcano). I spent the afternoon walking around the shops, and then swimming in the hotel's pool. My hotel for the next four nights is a former monastery (and is presently also a museum), and the grounds are gorgeous. The rest of the week should be great!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location: Guatemala

Cancun to Guatemala

So yesterday was fairly uneventful. Tere picked me up in Tulum a little before noon, and I had to say goodbye to my beautiful little beachfront bungalow. We drove through Playa del Carmen on our way to Cancun. Playa was a crowded, bustling little beach town with tons of tourists, hotels, hostels, you name it... A little before two, we arrived at my hotel in Cancun, the Ritz Carlton. It was very nice, and my room had an amazing view of some of the bluest water I have ever seen in my life. After the float in Sian Ka'an, I turned a bit pink, and needed to stay out of the sun. Luckily, my hotel room had a balcony, where I could sit, read, relax, surf the web, etc. all with a beautiful landscape right in front of me. I called it an early night since I had to be up at the asscrack of dawn this morning for my flight to Guatemala (via Panama).

I woke up a few minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off (just before 4:30am), got showered, shaved, packed, and met Tere in the lobby. She drove me to the Cancun airport, where we said our goodbyes, and I checked in and waited for my flight to Panama City. The flight was just under 2 hours. I made my way to my connecting flight to Guatemala and a few minutes later boarded a much smaller jet bound for Guatemala City. The flight took just over 2 hours, but we gained an hour with the time zone change... The flight landed and I did the normal customs and immigration thing, and eventually I was met by a driver to take me to the hotel where I am staying in Guatemala City (the Westin). After I got checked in, I got a call from Bryan, the tour leader of the trip I'm on asking if I'd like to meet him for a late lunch. I did, and eventually the rest of the group made their way down to the pool area where we were sitting and all 7 of us hung out by the pool, had some margaritas and mojitos, and got to know one another. It should be a fun group!

We are about to have a group dinner and then call it an early night because it will be another early morning tomorrow... We leave the hotel at 5am to get to the airport in time to check in for our flight to Tikal, where we will be spending the day tomorrow for Easter. Should be a great day! I'll definitely take tons of pictures tomorrow!

Tulum, Muyil, and the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve

Today, the morning began when the sun peaked through my curtains at the ass crack of dawn. Literally. I was at first annoyed, until I got out of bed and saw the magnificent sunrise over the Gulf... It was a nice way to wake up. Not much later, Tere was at the hotel ready to take me to the seaside Mayan ruins known as Tulum. We thought we would be the first ones there this morning, but we weren't... Once we had walked to the entrance, we walked passed it to what Tere called the VIP entrance. Overlooking the ocean, we took a much lesser traveled path right on the cliff above the ocean to the ruins. This is what we saw:




My friend Marius would have been in herp-heaven as he would say with all the iguanas and other reptiles...




A view from the beach.




A view from the hill.

It was the 21st of April today, and apparently on the 21st of each month a group of sun worshipers come and have a ceremony there on the grounds. I didn't want to take pictures of a religious ceremony in progress, but the way they were blowing conchs and whatnot, I figured they didn't mind. I took this from way above on a cliff with my telephoto lens, so they wouldn't notice.




Crazy sun hippie prayer circle.

After we started to get all crowded out at Tulum (there were SO many people for such a small site), we left, and as we were leaving we saw tons more people on the way. You just can't get to this place early enough to enjoy it without tons of people around. We did see some pretty birds on the way out.




So we left Tulum and made our way to the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve. When we got there, a large Korean group had just taken ALL the boats, so Tere suggested we go to a nearby Mayan ruin called Muyil and visit it while we were waiting for the boats to return. What a good suggestion. There absolutely no other people at this site (as it is quite small and not really renovated), but we were able to climb to the top of the highest pyramid there (although I probably shouldn't have because the place is a deathtrap).




View from below.





View from the top.

There also was another smaller pyramid way back in the woods that you had to hike through some fairly dense forest with only a small, unworn path to lead you there. I honestly felt like I was back in Mayan times! The pyramid has several trees growing on it, which added to the forest feel!





Once we had explored this site to it's fullest extent, I took the nature trail from the site to the Biosphere Reserve, stopping at the watch tower to take some pictures. The view from up there really was amazing. It's a shame my pictures really don't do it justice...




Eventually I made my way back to the boat launch at the Reserve and got in a boat that took me across one freshwater lagoon (the one you can see in the picture above) through a small canal made by the Mayans, which connected the first lagoon to a much larger one.




After making our way through the second lagoon, we entered a natural channel which passed a small Mayan temple. We then got out of the boat and floated through the mangrove for about an hour. Then we were picked up by the boat and made our way back to the boat launch. Here's a picture of what we floated in:




It was nice, cool freshwater and the current was nice and slow. It made for a nice, lazy float through the mangrove on a very hot day. After we returned to the boat dock, Tere brought me back to my hotel, where I spent most of the afternoon in the hammock on my patio, watching the waves lap the shore. I was a little pink after being in the sun earlier, so I had to stay out of the sun this evening. All in all, a great day! Tomorrow is just a transfer to Cancun so that I can catch my early morning flight to Guatemala on Saturday.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Mexico

Chichen Itza and Valladolid

Bright and early this morning, Tere whisked me away to the Chichen Itza. On the short walk to the site, I was informed that "it" in Mayan means "sorcerer" and "za" means "water", so Itza means "sorcerer of water". Leaving as early as we did, I was one of the first guests of the day. I even beat all the workers who were soon busy restoring various ruins and cleaning the grounds and the vendors who were soon peddling their wares upon all of the tourists. Upon entering the site, the first thing you see is the magnificent Pyramid of Kukulcan. Words really can't describe it. It was easy to see why this has been named one of the new seven wonders of the world:

The unrestored side of the Pyramid of Kukulcan.

Me in front of the Pyramid of Kukulcan.

The Mayans really had it together. This pyramid has four sides. There are 91 stairs on each side, for a total of 364 stairs. The top platform makes 365, the number of days in the year. There are acoustic tricks that the holes in the top of the pyramid play on those on the ground level. If you make a loud noise, like clapping your hands, you hear the echo of your clap, but with it comes another explosion of sound, that to me sounds almost like a cat's yell. It's impossible to describe, but impressive nonetheless. Another amazing point of interest is that the pyramid itself is not exactly lined up north-south-east-west. It is slightly askew so that precisely on the summer solstice, as the sun sets, the sun hits the side of the pyramid and little triangles of light hit the snake banister. These triangles make the snake look exactly like a diamondback rattlesnake. I wasn't able to see this firsthand, since I wasn't here on the solstice, but a picture of the event was truly remarkable.

The rest of the site is just as impressive. The further I walked and the more I saw, the more impressed I was and the happier I became that the Spaniards/Catholics never found this place back in the day, because surely they would have razed it to the ground and used the stones for roads or yet another church... Here are a few more pictures of the site:

Me on the ball court. You can see the small, circular stones they had to pass the ball through on either side.

The observatory.

Another smaller pyramid. Here you can really see the snake head staircase.

There are over 700 columns at the site. This is the warrior temple and the columns in front represent Mayan warriors.

After the visit to Chichen Itza, I had to pack my things and head to Tulum, where I will be staying for two nights. On the way, we stopped in Valladolid, which was the third city founded in Mexico, way back in 1554. The historic downtown area is covered with cobblestone and the buildings here are painted in pastels. The main square has (surprise, surprise) a cathedral, and also an amazing park where people can congregate and enjoy time together.

It was not as charming a town as Izamal, but I did enjoy an amazing lunch here and ate what is now my favorite Mexican food. It's called cochinita pibil and it is amazing! It is slow-roasted pork which is covered in banana leaves and then buried as it cooks. It is well-seasoned and adorned with limes and sour oranges as it cooks. I could have eaten the entire pig, I swear. After I was rolled out of the restaurant, we made our way to my seaside bungalow for the next two nights. Here's the view from the hammock on my patio:

 Tomorrow we are visiting the seaside Mayan ruins of Tulum and then the UNESCO listed Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve. Should be another amazing day!