TravelStream™ news feed for member lauramills on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/lauramills en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:01:22 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1185136740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1185136740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1185136740/tpod.html Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:01:22 -0400 North and Central America

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Cusco, Peru

Sunday 22nd July
We got up early as we had been told to be ready by 8.30am for collection. Noone turned up, but the company in Lima did phone the hostel and tell me i was very rude because i had roganised to go through a different company. Well......this was breaking point, this compnay had refused to contact me, constantly asked for money in advance (which it turned out they did sod all with as nohting was booked for us) and we met everyone they told us to and did what we were told and then We get accused of being rude! The audacity. After this phone call the guy Ariel went back to check his facts and funnily enough i didnt hear from him again. Eventually people from the Cusco company turned up, and said we werent going to leave until 11amdue to the confusion in Lima (great coordination of companies eh). So we killed some time until then picking up some extra bits we needed for the trek. When we returned at 11am we were told we were leaving at 1pm and got sent off for lunch. We finally left around 2pm and arrived in a town called Cachora around 5pm, having supposed to be there at 11am to start walking. We camped in Cachora, and we were pleased to see at least that we had brand new camping gear, and we didnt have to set it up at all. Our cook made us popcorn while we waitd for dinner, then we had a soup and a rice and meat meal. This set th standard for the food over the few days, which i have to say was excellent. Whilst eating we chatted to our guide henry who has pretty good english, and seems very sweet. He was very pleased to be able to return to Choquequirao as he did his project there to graduate as a tour guide. he lived up with the contollers for a month so has good friends up there. He said more had been uncovered since the last time he was there six months ago. It made us very excited about getting there.

Monday 23rd July
The first offical day of the trek. We walked 24km in total on this day. The first two hours were relatively easy and flat. we then had 3 hours steep downhill walking before we stopped for lunch down next to th river in the valley floor. The scenery was unbelivabl. Literally, it looked like a backdrop or blue screen. We could see snow capped mountains, massive green mountains, and a river gusinh below. Spectacular. The next stage meant climbing up the other side of the valley. So after lunch we climbed for 2 hours more. It was in the heat of the sun and very steep uphill. Very hard work. Th day wa espcially hard as we had to fit 2 days walking into on due to the screw-up yesterday. Thankfully we had had panckaes for breakfast plus a big lunch plus snacks to keep our nergy levels up. We camped in a place called Santa Rosa. We both had washes in a freezing cold stream running down th mountain and i even managed to wash my hair which i was impressed with. It was this night we first started getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Lovely! During dinner Henry palyed all the 80 rock music he had on his MP3 playes through his mini speakers. Was good fun.

Tuesday 24th July
Sorry for the nastiness of the next part but i was up several times in the night with very bad stomach (if you kno what i mean). It was particularly charming givn the nature of the toilet facilities. An 'Inca toilet' ie a hole. Upon getting up was no better.i felt very sick and couldnt eat. This made the next 2 hour climb very tough as i had no energy. Having an upset stomach on the side of a mountain is no fun either i have to tell you. We were slower than we should hav been as a result. I really feel for poor Dave who had to ndure my moaning for those 2 hours when im sure he would hav just liked to hav got himself up that mountain as quickly as possible. He was grat though, very patient and understanding. We reached a plateau at Marampata and from there the 1.5hour walk was much more plasnt but still with is steep ups and downs. We got fanatstic view of the ruins as we kirted round the edges of mountainsides. We were supposed to have arrived mid morning to have th whole day at the Choquequirao ruins, however i slowed us up and we didnt reach the Choquequirao campsite until around midday and Henry told me to sleep. Again i couldnt manage my lunch, but out of concern the chef made me camomil tea with fresh camomile to try and help. After another rest we cloimbed the half hour to the ruins. The climb wasnt too bad, but i struggled terribly. We arrived at Choquequirao which means 'Golden Wall' in quetchua (inca) language. Choquequirao is said to be the lost city of the incas as it is where they escaped to when the Spanish invaded in 1532. This was when they started building the site, it did not exisit before (whereas Machu Picchu was built in 1476) .The ruins looked beautiful, espcially in the late afternoon sun and the surroundings and the silenc made it even more spectacular. We walked around the main body of the site where we saw soldies quarters and a factory where womn made the soldiers clothes. There were few buildings as it appears that the majority of inhabitants were soldiers, to protect the city from spaniards. There were also preiests, the Inca (king), his Inca Princess (usually his sister - yes they bred within the same bloodline) his virgins of the sun, and a few women to work. There were not many average womnn due to the tough conditions to get there from Machu Picchu. We then climbed down to see some terraces uncovered in th last two months which have patterns of Llamas made out of quartz. Quuite incredible, but also a little hairy, jutting out of the mountainside. There was a viewing platofrm we could walk to but i couldnt manage it so we went back up to the main area again. We climbed the circular tower where the priest used to perform sacrifical rituals and preict the future. Only h was allowd up there, even th king had to ask the priest for permission to go up there. After this i started to flag, and Henry seemed quite concerned about me and said that other guides at the campsite had been too. He startd to discuss other options for the trek as the next day was due to be a very steep hard climb for 7 hours. We had dinner, which again i couldnt eat, and this time the chef made me fresh mint tea, bless him. We sat in the controllers hut for dinner as they knew henry and again listned to his music. We discussed options and based on how i was feeling we decided that rather than continue ou trek through the mountains we would go back the way we came (meaning we would do the traditional Choququirao trek) and join it on to another trek to get to Machu Picchu. It also meant we could spend more time at the ruins th next day as I hadnt appreciated it at all. I carshed out after dinner.

Wednesday 25th July
I woke up feeling slightly better but my appetite still hadnt retunrd fully. I did manage to struggle down som tasty pancake though, along with some celery tea which was also supposed to help my stomach. Lol. We dcided for definite not to do the the mountain trek as firstly we didnt feel we had seen enough of th ruins, and secondly, once you start that trek there is no turning back and no civilisation for 3 days. I felt very bad as I knew Dave had really wanted to do that to push himslf and reach the 5200m, but again, he was great about it. After brakfast we walked up to Choququirao again and it didnt seem so hard today. The sun was still rising and the site looked even more beautiful than yesterday. We climbd up t another lookout where there is a natural spring and where th priest and king lived. We saw the area where the Virgins of the sun bathed. These were 10 girls sleceted as being the most beautiful girls in a town t about the age of 8 and spend thir whol lives worshipping the sun god. At some point they may be given as a gift as a wive to the ruler of a town who allies with an Inca city, nobles, or for the king himslef if there is no Inca Princess. Originally the word Inca referred only to the king which i didnt realise but has become coloquialised as a term for the people who were actually Quetchuas. In cusco qutchua is still the main lnguga ethat is spokn. Interesting eh?! We then went back downto see the Llamas (on the wall). It was a steep climb down for 20 mins and this time we went out to the viwing platform and boy was it worth it. In total there were 20 terraces with 21 llamas, and one tiny frmer made of quartz, a spectacualr site, again made better by th dramtic scenery around. As most of these have only ben uncovered inm last 2 months (and platform only been there 2 months) we were seeing things that very very few peopl have which was very exciting. We then climbed back up to the main square, tooik more picturs and walked out to th site which was where th contollers of the city had lived and stored supplies etc. We then went back to the campsite for lunch, and more funny tea. Then had siesta. We decided Henry probably was glad of more time there with hsi friends which is why we had breaks etc. We got trated well beacuse h knew them though, being able to eat inside with elctricity rather than by torchlight in a tent like other groups. After lunch we climbed a very steep climb down to the agricultural terracs which were HUGE. There was also a water temple down there. The sheer size of the terraces leads one to believe that thre must have been more peopl living there firstly to tend them and secondly to eat all the food grown there. Therefore it is assumed there are lots of buildings still lying undiscoverd under the blanket of forest. Whilst down thre w could see workers xcavating other parts of the terracs which was fascinating. Very steep climb back up to campsite (located halfway between terraces and main ruins). On the way back up we saw a clearing that looked like a football field, and laughed about the problems if the ball got kicked too hard ie would fall 1000m down a cliff. On getting back to the campsite me and Dave were presented with new walkign sticks by th contilles. They saw we had been walking with rubbish bent sticks (as having a stick was a great help on step slopes), and they had cut and sanded down sticks for us and sharpened the end to dig in the ground. They had mad a littl light one for me anda havier mor solid on for D. Was really sweet. We then did th 1.5 hour walk back to Marampata, it was very plasant. Although i hadnt flt on top of th world it was a fantastic day, really enjoyable with mazing views and the chance to experience some real history. While we were eating that evening one of henrys controller friends dropped in. He had receivd news over the radio of a family mergency and was walking through the night to get back to Cachora. Whilst there he mentioned the football pitch, and said it was used by the workers excavating the site. They playd with 40 people. Two teams of five and 30 people making sure the ball didnt go over the edge. This really tickled us having laughed about it earlier.

Thursday 26th July
We were allowed a bit of a lie in this day, until 8am! This day wasnt too hard, it was consistent walking but it was all downhill tp start. On hour to Sanata Rosa, a furthe hour down to Playa (by the river where we had lunch th first day) and then one and a half hours up to Chiquisca. We had lunch here ( a delicious betroot salad) befor walking on more hour up to th campsite. This mean that the mornigs walking would be a bit asier. The climbs today wer quit tough but the weather was cloudy ad so it was quit cool. It was a relaivly enjoyable day of exerice, we were definitely gtting mor used to it by now, and aching much less. The scenery was not to spectacualr today as it was obscured by cloud, bu as i said this made the walkin easier. We arrivd realtively early at the campsite so had a long time to relax. Was starting to feel dirty by his point as we hadnt washed since that first spring. We sat and watchd the sun go down behind the mountains. We were sitting in lin with the river so we watched it flow through the valley. It was beautiful. We had the usual popcorn, tea, food and bed. My vody clock was getting seriosuly confused by these early nights!

Friday 27th July
We woke up at around 6am ready for th final leg of this part of the trip. We had delicious fresh hot chocolate before we left on the 1 and a half hour uphill slog. It wasnt too bad and we entertained oursleves by asking inane questions like 'if you could at one more food for ever what would it be?' 'if you could have a magical pet, what would it be?' etc. It seemd to do the trick! After that it was just ove 2 hours relatively flat walki back to Cachora town. Again it was actually a very nice walk, but the views were not great. We were ucky to have had such spectacular views that first day. Henry managd to get us a car back to Cusco that had just dropped a group off. We had bumped into som peruvians on the trek on the way back and they were sharing with us and the taxi driver tried to charge them less. The cheek! Henry took us back to Apus orld office in Cusco, explained the situation ie the difficulty the first day in having to do 2 days walking and my illness etc and suggsted we do the Jungle Inca Trail for the next 3 days to get to Machu Picchu. They seemed very obliging in helping sort us out and booked us on a bus to start the tk later that night. Henry and our cook Justo Would not be coming with us though. We would be staying in hostels and eating in restaurants. So we said goodbye to them and went to our hostel to ditch some of our stuff before returning to get the bus. We aslo had a coupl of spre hours and so we watchd Die Hard 4 while we ate dinner. It was very surreal to b back in Cusco. We went to get the bus at 8.30pm, but therein begins another adventure and i have been on the internet ages doing this part.

So i hope this has given you a taste of our trkking experience, and the nxt installment is to follow. W fly out to Florida tonight so the next part may have to come when i get home so apologies in advance but itll be 2 weeks max til i write again. Lots love xxx
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Cusco, Peru

After a very brief stop in Lima (ie one night) we headed back to the airport to fly to Cusco. stayed in an area of Lima called Miraflores, which is the tourist area. It is very lively, busy, lots of shops and restaurants and is very attractive. Lima itself is huge, and , much like any capital is home to many nationalities of people and has a lot of money.

Arriving in Cusco it was clear that this town was very different to Lima. It was STUNNING. All the streets are cobbled and the buildings are small and low. The town has a very colonial feel. The centre square is just beautiful, with large cathedrals on 2 sides and a backdrop of mountainside in the background. We spent our first two days in Cusco wandering around, taking in the scenery and getting used to the altitude. The place was buzzing, with backpackers and tourists of all ages and nationalities, a really nic and fun atmosphere. The only thing that detracted from our enjoyment was the absolute mess--up oir trek seemed to be. Despite having emailed the company several times in the week preceeding the trek we had not heard back from them and had no details. When we finally heard from them, they simply asked for money. No details. I refusd to pay until we knew what was going on. Things were finally cleared up at 10pm the night before the trek It turns out the company we booked with is in Lima and they outsource to companies in Cusco. The two companies had not been communicating and there had been a lot of confusion. I was SO not happy. I intend to write complaint letters to them both and to travel guides to make sure noone else experiences the nightmares we did. For anyone searching for treks to Choququirao, Machu Picchu, Salkantay, or any of the other treks around Cusco stay well clear of APUS WORLD in Cusco, and the website www.choquequiraotrek.com.

Finally however, we managed to sort things out and the trek did go ahead on the correct day....kind of.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1184093580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1184093580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1184093580/tpod.html Mon, 16 Jul 2007 15:11:50 -0400 North and Central America

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Isla Colon, Panama

We arrive in Bocas Del Toro town on Isla Colon on thre same day we left San Jose which was cool. We managed to get a place to stay in Mundo Taitu hostel, arguable THE best hostel in town, and one of the best we have been in the whole trip. It has such fantastic community spirit, largely due to the very cheap happy hours (50cents) in the bar, which has themed nights every night and drwas everyone from around town.

We arrived on tuesday. 80s night, so we got dressed up and got in the spirit and met a load of fun people. When the mundo bar closes everyone goes to Barco Hundido. This is a very cool bar on the waterfront which has a sunken ship in the ater just at the front which is all lit uip and night, and you can swim in there. A really great start to the end of our travels. The days are very relaxed here, spent wandering the town, watching movies, going to the beach and lying in hammocks. The next night was ladies night at a bar across the water called Aqua lounge and was free drinks for girls until midnight. This bar is very cool as it has a trampoline in the water, so the more drunken amongst us (not me i might add) thought it a good idea to go in fully clothed. As you would. Again, we had a great group with us, so we continued the night back in Bocas at the VIP bar and then went back to the sister hostel Heike for a night cap. We managed to get home around 5am. The next night we had a quiet one as we were due to be diving on friday. We did two great dives, and i must say i think the coral here is the most beautiful ive seen in the world. There werent many big fish although i did have a jellyfish rather interested in me at one point! We also spent some time on Red Frog beach, named after the little red frogs that live there, and bumped into a group of people from the hostel. The waves were huge and i got wiped out several times, the salt stripping my nose and throat of skin. We also saw a wild sloth hanging in a tree as we alked back to the boat which was very cool, i havent seen one before, but it just hung there watching us. Very cool. Friday night was more dress-up, either punk rock, goth or gangster, so more fun and antics that night, although some of the original people had left so it wasnt quite so lively. The next day we got a boat for about an hour out to Zapatillos island which was literally a desert island. All it was was a palm tree forest in the middle and white sand all the way round the edge and clear turqouise water for miles. It couldnt have been more idyllic. It was only small, it took about 30 mins to walk around it. There was a huge group of us that went from the hostel so it was very nice. Saturday night was relatively uneventful, just relaxing. Yesterday we were supposed to leave. But didnt. We got together with a group and watched the football final between Brazil and Argentina, then went and played on the trampoline over at Aqua Lounge. The evening was spent in a big group celebrating the last night for a few of us playing 'bullshit pyramid' (apologies for the language, its a drinking game) and just generally having fun. We then ended the night at Barco Hundido, dancing to our final bits of regathon probably before leaving central america. We are getting an overnight bus to Panama City tonight, where we have a day to see the vital things, ie the Panam canal and then wednesday we fly out to peru for our trek.

I cant believe its all coming to an end, its very weird that i should be home already! Cant wait to see the family in Florida though and see as many of you as possible when i get home. Not sure when my next blog will be, but after the trek it is unlikely i will be able to update until i get home, so take care and love to everyone. Thanks for following me for six months xxxx
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Santa Elena, Costa Rica

Well, sorry for leaving you hanging. We certainly had a drama crossing the Costa Rican border at Penas Blancas. The first annoyance was the people on the bus trying to get you to pay them to fill out your immigration form, which was not even the right form. Then right as we got to the exit window, the guy tried to shut it and told us to rejoin another queue. I got very cross and ranted until he dealt with us. And then we had to join a queue that lasted about 2 hours and wound its way all around the building to get into Costa Rica. But thats not the worst of it. There were only two bus companies operating at the border and both went to San José. We wanted to go to Sanata Elena and after talking to the gurads and driver at one of the buses they agreed to drop us off in the neighbouring town of Monteverde. So a few hours latewr they yell ' Montervede!', kick us off quickly with our luggage and speed off. We very quickly realised we were in the middle of nowhere. On going into a local bar we found out we were 35km from Monteverde and ended up paying $45 for a taxi to Sanata Elena. We were not happy. So anyone reading, please do not use Transporte Deldu SA in Costa Rica.

Reaching Sanata Elena we were shocked to find how high up we were and therefore how bloody cold it was! We had to bring out the trousers and jumpers we had stuffed away after NZ. he reason we came to Santa Elena was to visit the forest. We did a trek through the forest which is actually transitional between cloud forest and rainforest. Something to do with the quantities and varieties of nutrients in the soil which affects its ability to grow Palms (which need large quantities of one type of nutrient and this forest is rich in iron). The walk took us through varying levels as we crossed rope swings through the canopy and walked right down to see the river in the basin. It was beautiful seeing all the trees and vines at different canopy levels. We also got to climb all the way up the inside of a tree that had been killed by a strangler vine and had rotted away inside. Really good fun. However the real fun came after. We did a series of zip wores that went flying through the forest, again at varying levels. Some of them were ovwer 500m long, and you really picked up speed. The views were incredible. There was also a trazan swing so they attached your bungy to a wire and let you freefall basically. It was terrifying but great fun. The guys that took us around were all really nice and made it great fun. It was quite an experience flying through the trees. We are really glad we went through the rigmarole of getting here!

That night we had a brilliant night in Sanata Elena. We had a meal in the coolest restaurant ever, which is effectively a tree house. There is a large tree growing through the middle and the restaurant has been built around it and its all beautifully lit up at night. We then went on to 'Los Amigos' bar, which was full of locals putting us to shame with their salsa on the dance floor. We had a little go though, and everyone was in great spirits so noone cares how stupid you look. There was a locval band performing 'regathon' music, which is the music we have been listening to the whole trip (and i absolutely love it), and they were fantastic, they sounded recorded. We bumped intpo some English guys we had met at the border, as well as some of the guys who worked the canopy who invited us to go dance with them. It was a really good, fun night.
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San Jose, Costa Rica

The next day we jumped on a bus to San Jose and arrived mid evening. We went for a drink in a local bar where we were befriended by a local who bought us a drink and warned us to be careful in the city. We had heard there was a good night life which kicked off late so we headed out around 11pm to an area which ended up being very local, and we were the only white faces there. Its always good to be amongst the locals though. Later we moved on to a place called El Pueblo, which is literally a village of nightclubs and bars that stays open until 6am, plus all the eateries that are there to feed the hungry clubbers. We had a great time, again just talking to randoms, dancing with locals, and watching a wet tshirt competition!!

We never intedended to spend long in costa rica as it is a lot more expensive, but it is a shame as it is an absolutely beautiful country. I hope to come back one day with a bit more money. The other alarming things however, was that even the locals were constantly warning us about danger and thieves in San Jose.

After the first night we moved to 'Costa Rica Backpackers' hostel, a very cool place with a pool, free coffee all day, and a very large screen tv.lol. We didnt spend long in San Jose, enough to explore the local area and also take a trip out to a local volcano, which last erupted last year and has several lagoons and fissures. However, the weather was terrbile. It was very cloudy when we arrived and then after about half an hour the heavens opened and we were soaked through. By the time we got back to the visitor centre at the entrance we just wanted to go, but had to wait for the bus to leave. Not a very pleasant experience in the end. We are here at the wrong time of year though and i think it would have been beautiful otherwise. Following this epxperience we got on a bus to Panama the next day.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1183569060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1183569060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1183569060/tpod.html Sat, 07 Jul 2007 13:30:55 -0400 North and Central America

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Altagracia, Nicaragua

We spet a few very relaxing days in Granada. One day we got a horse and carriage round the city to see all the old colonial buildings. The driver was very informative. It was incredibly hot and sticky so walking around for lond periods of time was out of the question. Instead we spent time lying in hammocks, waching our pirate dvds and reading. We also came to be very fond of te national yukka dish which was often served with 'leche con cacao' (chocolate milk).

After this we got a boat over to Isla Ometepe which literally means island of two vlcanoes in the indigenous language. We stayed in Altagracia at first. The first day we spent a day walking around, about 15km in all. We walked to a beautiful lagoon called 'Ojo de Agua' (eye of water). It was crystal clear, fresh and cold. Really refreshing after the long walk. It was surrounded by lots of vegetation and was very tranquil. We then walked to Santo Domingo beach, supposedly he prettiest beach on the island. This island is in the middle of Lago Nicaragua and the sand is volcanic and black so the beaches were not all that atractive. We walked the entire length to get back tio our hostel.

The next day we decided to climb Volcan Maderas, which meant a 4am start. We were told it was easier to climb than Volcan Concepcion but our guide said that actually wasnt true. We decided to do all this exercise in preparation for peru. The hike was a nightmare. 5km up a steep slope, most of which was like a giant mudlside. I wen over on my bum 3imes! It was very very hard work and getting down was almost harder as it was so slippery. The reasn we climbed it was to see the lagoon in the crater, bu it was very cloudy and s we didnt see much. We otook a dip to say we had but sunk into mud up to our knees. Looking back am glad we did it, was definitely an experience, but a painful one. My legs still ache. It took about 7 hours in total.

Later that day we went to Moyogalapa ready to get the boat back to mainland the next day. We stayed in a very cool hostel and had a very big burger meal fter our hard day then crashed. We then hopped on a boat the next morning to San Jorge, bus to Las Rivas, then another bus to Penas Blancas at the Costa Rican border and what a stry we have for you on arriving in our next country!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1182198180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1182198180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1182198180/tpod.html Sun, 01 Jul 2007 22:25:27 -0400 North and Central America

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Copan, Honduras

Our first stop over the Honduran Border was a town called Copan Ruinas, which funnily enough means Copan ruins which funnily enough is where the Copan Mayan ruins are. It was a quaint little town but very little offer besides the ruins so we only stopped here for a day.

The ruins themselves were spectacular and Copan was rnowned for being the most intricate and creative Mayan city thanks, in large part, to one of its Kings who was said to be the most creative in the Mayan world. He was know as 18 Rabbit. Him and his father and grandfather were considered the most important rulers as together they ruled for over 160 years.

There are some incredibly well preserved stelae, largely represinting 18 Rabbit, but all the other rulers had one each. There is also the hieroglyph stairway which is famous for its intricacy and beautiful carvings.

The city was at its most powerful between the 5th and 9th centuries and had 16 rulers in total.

It was here we also finally leant about the game played on the ball courts of which we have seen so many. It is only played once a year with practices 3 times a year. There are two teams of 5 players. They play with an 8lb ball which they must hit with their shoulder, chest, knee or hip and score points by hitting serpents heads located at the top of the sloping walls. The game only lasts 10-15 mintues as it is so physically demanding, especially due to the weight of the ball. The game is only allowed to be watched by royalty and nobles from the slopes, middle classes from above and the lower classes can only listen from outside. The Captain of the winning team then sacrifices himself, which is considered a great honour. He would go to the temple of tranquility where he would drink a hallucinogenic drink which made him be able to see his gods, thus feel closer to them and prepared to sacrifice himself. Death was by decapitation. Nice!

We were very lucky as we arrived just after a big group of american medical students who hired a guide and offered us to join, and it was definitely the way to get the most out of the ruins. We learnt a lot, but i cant remember it right now so i will consult my diary and add some detail later.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1181264520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1181264520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1181264520/tpod.html Sun, 01 Jul 2007 22:04:45 -0400 North and Central America

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Flores, Guatemala

Yesterday we got a bus across the border to a town [well an island] called Flores. Its very quaint with brightly coloured buildings and cobbled streets. We are staying in Hostel Amigo and its very cool. We have a room that has no ceiling, its effectively a balcony with a curtain across the bed and there are lots of trees all around us. its beautiful and cheap! Babs and James just happened to be here too, but they left on an overnight bus last night. They have altered their itinerary for Guatemala so its unsure when we will next meet up especially due to the sparsity in phone signal.

This morning dave and i got up at 3am, yes thats right 3am to go to Tikal ruins for sunrise. It was a struggle but well worth it. We climbed to the top of a temple and sat and watched the sun climb above the canopy of trees and the temples emerging from them. Quite an experience. We then spent until 11am wandering around. We were guided most of the way then had a couple of hours alone, but by 11am it was like a days worth of time! The name "Tikal" is probably not ancient. It most likely derives from Ti-akal, a Mayan place name meaning "At the Reservoir(s)." as there are several large and partially artificial water basins found near the center of the ruins. The ruins were quite spectacular and this is the largest ruin site in the Mayan world. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and lies in the Peten region. Although some of the monuments date back to the 4th centuryBC its peak was between 200-850AD and the site was eventually abandoned by the 10th centuryAD. There are thousands of structures at Tikal but only around 20% has been excavated. We saw six major pyramids named Temples I-VI funnily enough which are all stepped pyramids and we were able to climb most of them with fantastic views. I think temple 4 was the biggest at around 70m. The ruins are quite well preseverd and one area of complex building structure is the most interesting we have seen so far. It is interesting to hear how all the mayan sites are linked though, with Tikal having been threatened by Caracol and Teotihuacan. It was a very interesting morning and i urge you to read up on some of the places i have been mentioning so you can understand their grandeur. I am trying to upload photos but i am way behind so they wont all be up today im afraid. Internet is also sparser through guatemala so it may be a little while until the next blog. I will try to get online asap though.

Love to everyone xxx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1183250580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1183250580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1183250580/tpod.html Sat, 30 Jun 2007 20:50:48 -0400 North and Central America

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Granada, Nicaragua

We stopped breifly in a town called Masaya as it is supposed to be the atesan and craft centre of nicaragua, however, this fact draws the tourists so priices for handcrafts are higher than average. We spent the day walking round a tourist market, and then a locals market and the difference in price was amazing. I was very tempted by a real alligatir purse but decided agiants it, not sure if i could get it into the country.

Every thursday evening in the new market there is a cultural show displaying various dancing, sining and musical acts. It was good fun and we were glad we went to see it. The most impressive act was a group of percussion players and a few dancers. Well, i have never seen hips and bums move so quickly, it was quite amazing. very impressive.

That was just a quick stopover before heading to Granada where we are now, taking it a bit easy seeing the sights and having fun. Now that we are into our last few weeks we just want to make the most. Yesterday we tried the national dish of yukka, pork crackling and cabbage salad, actually very tasty.We will be here a couple of days before heading to Isla Omotepe, wel, thats the pla at the moment!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1182903900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1182903900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lauramills/america/1182903900/tpod.html Sat, 30 Jun 2007 20:38:10 -0400 North and Central America

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Managua, Nicaragua

We crossed the border into Nicaraga and headed straight for the capital of Managua. We had been told that it was a bit of a dump and not worth going to, but after spending the whole day on a bus we decided to stop over.

On wednesday we had a day walking around, getting a feel for the place and its actually a very interesting city. On our way down to the old part fo the city we passed what can only be described at a shanty town. hundreds of makeshift huts made of a large plastic sheet supported by poles. We then wandered down to the Lake Edge where the old Palace, New Palace and Old cathedral were located. The old cathedral looked as though it would have been impressive day, but is now supported by steel structures due to earthquake damage.The old palace is beautiful, now a museum. and the inside had a courtyard filled with tropical plants. It seems to be a big thing over here to have an inner courtyard whith rooms around it.very attractive. Our hostel is like that. The new palace is garishly painted in ornage and yellow and is the royal palace. We walked further and went in the big theatre of which they are very proud and saw a very interesting art gallery by a local artist. His work was using tin cans and man-made material contrasting with natural earthy materials, it was very good. A little further on was 'Parque a la Paz' where they have an old tanks and hundreds of buried AK47s which partially stick out of the ground. Quite chilling considering their war wasnt that long ago.

A long walk to the other side of town presents a totally different picture. There are ultra-modern shopping malls, bars restuarants and possibly the ugliest cathedral i ever saw in my life. It is concrete with concrete bubbles on the roof and id plain concrete inside with odd walls painted bright colours. bizarre. they also have a statue of a bledding christ in a separate wing, which is actually nicely lit by hundreds of holes in the ceiling of the wing. Porbably the only nice bit.

The are our hostel was in was supposedly dangerous, but we didnt see any danger. We just found it a good place to get sheap food with locals in the evenings, but didnt wander too far at night. Even the hostel guy sad to take taxis. But as i said, we didnt see any trouble, so its all fine.
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