TravelStream™ news feed for member mcginlays on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/mcginlays en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:46:38 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1238870580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1238870580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1238870580/tpod.html Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:46:38 -0400 Mexico and South America

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Tarija, Bolivia, Pacific Coast, Bolivia

I'm getting fat!
It comes from having your meals prepared for you and not doing any exercise. I've also been longing to get in amongst the hills here, I mean what the hell We're in the bloody Andes! I got myself motivated and headed out early one Saturday morning. My destination was an Inca trail starting in the Tarija Valley and heading up into La Reserva Biologica Cordillera de Sama. This 108,000 hectare reserve includes part of the flat Southern Altiplano with peaks up to 4,600m and the valleys and foot hills down into the Tarija Valley at 2000m. The Inca trail was a trading route connecting the fertile valleys of Tarija to the Altiplano. It is still used today by the few communities that live in the reserve.

I left the house and drove to the Village of Los Pinos where the trail begins. I left the car at 8am looking forward to a good days walking in the hills. The hike to the town of Calderilla is meant to take about 4 hours, with the first three pretty much straight up. The trail was pretty easy to find once I got passed the foot hills and the trail started into the steep section. It was paved and wound back and forth across the steep slope. Amazing to think that these rocks were placed centuries ago and still used by the same people. It didn't take long to get some great views over the valley.

About three quarters of the way up I started seeing condors. The huge birds were thermaling effortlessly along the ridges above. Photos don't do justice to the size of these birds and their graceful flight. It lightened my heart to see condors in their natural environment. So much better than the ugly awkward creatures that you see cramped in cages at the zoos. At one stage I was huffing my way upwards when I heard the sound of rushing air. I turned to see one of the huge birds wings folded and diving. Just like the New Zealand Falcon only about 20 times the size. I stopped for a while watched the birds and took in the scenery. Chamois would go nuts over here. The country is perfect for them, lots of steep slopes, bluffs and loads of tucker. I sat for a while imagining them running around and popped a few more coca leaves into my mouth.

I reached the top in just under two hours and followed the path down into a small valley where I had to cross the river five times before coming out of a gorge and arriving at the town of Calderilla. The town consisted of a few adobe houses with straw roofs. Each house had its own little farmlet surrounded by stone fences. Most of the houses were in the centre of the large circular valley on a dome of ground about 100 hectares. I spied a track heading up a large hill and thought it would make a nice climb before heading back home. On the way I passed close to a house where a Chapaca Senora was carding some wool. I had a nice chat with her and her husband and was invited to almuerza. They had three kids who were adorable and were excited to have a strange gringo chatting to them. The family grew a variety of small potatoes which they took by burro down the Inca trail to Tarija to sell at the campesino.

While I was eating my soup, the Senora started spinning her carded wool into yarn. It gets pretty cold here during the winter so I guess the wool is mostly used for their clothes. I was fascinated by this family who lived a simple subsistence life and were very happy and enjoyed doing so. They were so friendly and welcoming and offered to give all the McGinlays a room for the night and meals when we came through again.

The Senor directed me to a nice hike that would meet up with the Inca Trail again so I started off. I walked across the caldera and climbed the other side till about 1.30pm when I decided to turn around. I had climbed to about 3,800m and only had about 200m more vertical to get to the top where I could view the vast expanse of the altiplano and the Lagunas Tajzara. By this time I was pretty buggered and didn't have a torch for a late return. I was bothered at having to turn around so close to the top but it will give me something to do another day.

The walk back took less time than I thought and I got back to the car at 4.45pm. Near the base of the first climb I ran into two people on their way up. I had a quick chat with them as they had a ways to go and it was already past 4. A little further down I ran into two groups of locals on their way up with burros loaded up. The burros obviously knew the way as they were just walking on their own with their owners keeping up a good pace behind them. One of them was the shopkeeper from Calderilla who was taking up all sorts of goods. He was really friendly and also offered to put me up for the night on my next trip.

I had one hiccup on the whole trip. When I got back to the car I unlocked the door and put the keys and backpack on the seat while I took my boots off. Well to cut a long story short I leaned against the door and locked it, then when I took my boot off the door shut and I was locked out!
Feeling pretty sore for myself and not wanting to walk the 16km to the nearest town I used all that I learned from "Matraville High" (in joke for the aussies) and took off a windscreen wiper and used it to pop the lock, Whew!

On the drive back to Tarija I gave a lift to three different groups of people. The first was a family of 7 heading to the next town. This was quite interesting fitting all of them in the two door Suzuki Samurai. About two kilometres after dropping the family off I picked up two Chapacas on their way to another town. They were very happy to have a lift and I could see why as the town was about 10km away. After dropping them off I picked up two Argentinian mountain bikers. They were finishing a multi day ride and were stuffed. They threw their bikes on the roof and relaxed on the ride into Tarija.

It was a good walk that I badly needed. The mountains and the condors were spectacular but the most memorable thing would have to be the friendly people. Everyone I met was so friendly, it goes to show that its not money or possesions that make happiness.

Hasta Luego
Don Juan
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1234627860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1234627860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1234627860/tpod.html Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:13:48 -0400 Mexico and South America

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La Paz, Bolivia, Pacific Coast, Bolivia

La Paz Bolivia
Our processing through La Paz was pretty easy. Haley was the only one with an American passport and now all Americans have to get a visa and pay $135USD. None of our guide books mentioned this, but they are both from 2007. Apparently Bolivians need a USA visa, so now USA citizens need a Bolivian visa (tit for tat). The visa is good for nine years. For convenience there was an ATM right there in the airport that dispensed both Bolivian Pesos and US dollars! Luckily we had the kids use their New Zealand passports and I used my Australian.
We were all very tired. We got a taxi to La Paz. The airport is on a plateau above La Paz in a rapidly growing city (slum) called El Alto. La Paz is downhill and there is quite a scenic view of the city on the mountain. Haley requested the touristic scenic route to our hotel. There was a bit of traffic because a protest in the central area had just ended. Apparently, protests are a weekly occurrence.
We reached our hotel and checked in. It was about 3:00pm. Haley was suffering from lack of sleep and a headache from the altitude. She and the kids went straight to bed. I walked down to a cozy cafe and had a bite to eat. At midnight, everyone was awake.
The next morning we were all VERY well rested. We did a lovely walking tour around the main plaza, the senate building, and along the street markets. We went to two museums. One had various exhibits of intricate textiles, some pottery, and a room full of carnival masks used around the country. We watched an interesting video showing a peasant community making well crafted pottery jugs from the dirt of their village.
The other museum was completely devoted to musical instruments-very interesting for the children. We all had a yummy lunch at the cafe I visited the previous day. I had a toasted sandwich, Haley had a chicken stuffed pita bread, Galen had ham and eggs, and Lindsay ate pancakes and bacon. Then, we retrieved our luggage from the hotel (a steep uphill climb) and got a taxi to the airport.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1234108620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1234108620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1234108620/tpod.html Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:00:18 -0400 Mexico and South America

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Mexico City, Pacific Coast, Mexico

Mexico

some of my thoughts on Mexico,

The food in Mexico is great, but not in the restaurants. We have consistently been disappointed with the restaurants. The food is generally over priced and not that great. There is also the difficulty in ordering the food. Once in Chacala we ordered a breakfast of pancakes with an egg and bacon, french toast with an egg and bacon, chilaquiles and a bowl of plain yoghurt. What we received was three plates of bacon and eggs on toast and yoghurt with muesli and fruit. Another time at a cafe in UNAM Haley ordered a plate of chile rellenos and received a bowl of chicken soup.

The street vendors food on the other hand has been spectacular. The first we tasted was a little poky road side stall on the way from Zacatecas. The cook came out and showed us a great big steel pot about the size of half a 44gallon drum. In it was some dodgey looking oil and it was fired by a gas ring underneath. He used a spoon the size of an oar to fish out a piece of meat that looked spectacular. It was from a leg of lamb. He fished it out and shredded it and placed it on the table with some bowls of Pico de Gallo, jalpenos, salsa and some tortillas. It was fantastic and we all stuffed ourselves.

In Mexico City we ate most of the time at the street stalls. Lunch was tacos or tortas and a fruit smoothie (cocteles de fruita) which had banana, coconut, vanilla, milk and some other secret ingredients. For dinner we went to one taco stand every night. My Mum would die if she saw the food and how it was cooked. My favourite was chorizo and pork. The tacos consisted of a small soft corn tortilla and the meat, you then put on onion cilantro (corriander) and some guacamole and either salsa verde (picante) or salsa rojo (mild). I ate at least seven each night! Haley enjoyed the lengua (tounge) and cabeza (head meat, tounge, eyes, lips, brains) They also had a soup which had god knows what in it but was very flavourful.
The kids who are still very bad at trying new foods would only eat Hot Dogs or Hamburguesas. These were cooked by another stall over charcoal and were very nice. Lindsay is much more adventurous than Galen and will at least try some of the food. She also doesn't mind a bit of spicyness. Galen on the other hand won't touch even the mildest of spice. Galen uses Lindsay as his food taster and she knows if he will eat it or not. Although we have corrupted Lindsay a few times to tell Galen he will like it, much to our amusement and Galen's dismay!
There are so many food stands I wonder how they all do business, but I suppose there are a lot of people in Mexico City!

I guess I wasn't really sure of what to expect in Mexico City. My preconceptions were not all that favourable, I guess as they are to any large metropolis. However I was very pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the city. The city is beautiful with many art works, statues, trees, old colonial buildings, and relatively clean. The people were very friendly and the public transport great and very cheap, although the Metro was pretty crowded. Once on the Metro it was so crowded that we missed our stop. Lindsay nearly got out of the door without us but luckily Haley pulled her back in and she only got her hand jammed in the door! I don't know what we would have done if she had got off without us! We were a lot more careful after that. However, the next day the opposite almost happened-we were pushing ourselves onto the Metro and the kids were pushed on when the doors started closing! Luckily a strong, burly local prevented the doors from closing and we jumped on with our children!
We caught many buses and a few taxis. One fun thing with the buses is hoping you get the right one and knowing when to get off. Once, we had to catch a bus going the other way because we got off too late. Another fun thing is trying to figure out where they will stop. It seems there is no rhyme or reason where the bus stop is and they tend to get hailed down randomly.
Galen's and my arms are still recovering after our visit to Mexico City. We have been playing slug bug (where you hit someone when you see a volkswagon beetle). Every fourth car in the city was a bug. A lot of taxis are also bugs and we caught a few much to our amusement.

We took a touristico taxi to the piramides for a half day trip. There we visited an obsidian artifact manufacturer and had a tour complete with a tasting of ##@@@# (an agave wine), tequila and mescal. There are two main pyramids, el piramide del sol and el piramide de la luna. The pyramid of the sun is the largest in Mexico and we climbed to the top for a lovely view of the many ruins around the area. Many tourists and many vendors selling their wares (nearly out numbering the tourists!) They can be quite persistent but we were not to be persuaded.

We left for the airport to catch a plane at 11.30pm to Lima. Everything went smoothly which was great for me. I'm not sure why I am so nervous in Airports, I haven't missed a plane in years! The flight was about six hours and uneventful. Lindsay slept about half the time and me about half an hour. We had to wait four and a half hours in Lima to catch our connection to La Paz.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1236009060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1236009060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1236009060/tpod.html Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:55:06 -0400 Mexico and South America

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Tarija, Bolivia, Pacific Coast, Bolivia

The Campesino

On Saturday Morning at five am I went with the Help to the Campesino with a truck load of table grapes to sell. The Campesino area is a large market area that sells all types of produce and bits and pieces. We followed some other trucks heading in that direction and we all stopped nose to the kerb in one street. I had a fantastic time. The place was alive with people even at 5 in the morning. People had come in from outlying towns with their produce. There was tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, peas, beans, peaches, grapes, coca leaves, lettuce, chiles, and a hundred other fruits vegetables.

The producers all parked in one street and sold their goods out of the back of their truck, car, motorbike to the innumerable vendors. These vendors would then take their goods into the market and re sell them. Some would take them to other little stalls around the city. The place was like an industrious ant farm with people going every which way but all with a purpose. Some with heavy sacks on their backs, others would pay the many men with bicycle wheeled carts loaded to the brim to take their goods to the market. I helped some of these guys push their loaded carts up the small hill. They were so loaded that even though the hill wasn't that steep they had to zig zag across it.

There were many indigenous peoples in traditional dress with their colourful blankets slung over their back with the babies inside barely visible. There were children everywhere, sleeping in the cabs of the trucks or even on top of the sacks of peas. The whole time I was there though I never heard one crying child. Not one kid who was bored and was nagging his mum "this is boring, I want to play on the video game, or go watch telly, or Sammy keeps hitting me".

Unfortunately the white grapes were much more popular than the black grapes. The truck next to us sold out of their white grapes before we had even sold one box. As it was slow going Sebastian, (I call him the winery manager) took me on a tour of the market. There would have been close to 700 stalls all closely packed together, with a lot selling the same goods. Sebastian was telling me all the spanish names for the fruits and veges. Some strange looking ones I had never seen before. Of course I'd be lucky to remember one of them now. In one ear out the other! People were busy setting up their stalls. Putting up canvas shelters and displaying their goods. At the end of the day they leave all their goods there and put the canvas shelters over them and sort of tie it all up.

We went through the fruit and vege section and into a large warehouse type building. This was filled with butcher stalls. Meat hanging everywhere just as you see in the travel magazines. Whole carcasses hanging with the butchers working away hanging the cuts of meat around the stall. And yes there were the bits there that us gringos think is funny to be selling at all. There would have been at least 60 of these stalls. Some only selling pork, some beef, and some "the bits".

After the meat section we went through an alley with handicrafts. Mostly pottery and wood products. Some amazing pots and urns that would be great back home but you would never get there. When we were in La Paz and visited the Ethnographic Museum we watched a video on how these pots are made. It was an amazing detailed process from sifting the clay dust, making the clay, making the pots and firing them. Another alley I called junk alley. Full of chinese crap. I didn't even bother going down there. We made our way back to the truck through the Fish alley. I think that Sebastian and I agreed we both liked fishing and he offered to take me. Either that or we both agreed that fish tastes best in an old shoe!

Not many grapes had been sold by the time we got back so Sebastian and I left the ladies to the vending and caught a "micro" back to the house. I'm not sure why I enjoyed the visit to the market that much. It just had a vibe of humanity that seemed to be uplifting.

I returned with the family in tow one Sunday and took the camera this time. The kids did not enjoy the "press of Humanity" as it was packed with shoppers and vendors. Photos to come!
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Tarija, Bolivia, Pacific Coast, Bolivia

TARIJA

Tarija is a city of 100,000 people. However, it feels smaller because it is quite compact. I guess many people share one home. There are MANY banks, about seven churches, and zero high rises. The town is set up in a compact grid with the mercado and two main plazas in the centre. There is a river with three vehicle bridge crossings and two more bridges for pedestrians only. Like Albuquerque, the other side of the river is mostly for housing. Oh yeah, there is also a small zoo I talked about in my e-mail telling about Linda's birthday. The zoo is about half the size of Pollard Park in Blenheim or about the size of Tingley Beach in ABQ.
The main 'commercial area' has a large 'open air' (roof only) market where you can buy all sorts of meats, fruits, vegetables, grains, breads, and basic toiletries. There are many things I cannot identify especially in the stalls that seem to sell medicinal herbs. There are a few stalls with 'junk' items of things made in China like plastic toys, socks, handkerchieves, and children's flip flops. There are always stalls of chewing gum and candies as well as pirated DVD's.
Besides the 'Mercados' there are many shops-each selling a specific product, e.g. stationary, soaps/toiletries, cloth materials, electronic goods, kitchen ware, China made junk, and shops devoted to selling party items. There is not a Walmart that sells all.

We arrived in time to enjoy Tarija's celebrations of 'Carnival'. We will decribe this in a seperate entry.

Our House
We are living in a Hacienda about 12 kilometers from the main plaza. The Hacienda is set back from the road (a very bumpy half dirt half cobblestone street). In front is a small vineyard a the small winery along with 3-4 houses where the workers reside. Next door on one side is a large hacienda of a famous Bolivian family with ties to a president. On the other side is a small dairy that gives off smells of cows on a still evening.
Our house reminds me a lot of the Ranch House of Laura's family in Capitan, New Mexico. There is one hallway with guns and old weapons hanging on the wall and another hallway with old spurs, bridles, etc. There are six bedrooms, four bathrooms, a tv room, a dining room, a lounge room and an office (and a kitchen of course). We are in the front wing (down the hallway with horse tackle decor) and occupy two bedrooms and one bath.
In the back there is a very nice pool, a very nice covered BarBQ area (similar to Ian's patio), and a covered porch where we eat breakfast every morning.


Breakfast usually consists of breads, pate, cookies, jam, avocadoes, cheese, fruit squares (sort of a block of dried/preserved fruit you slice), tea, coffee, yoghurt, and sometimes a bacon/egg bread pie thing. On Sundays the cook prepares pancakes or waffles and hot eggs.

Lunch is the main meal. Always cooked. Many times it has been soup-one is a peanut soup with chicken a lot like peanut satay, another is a delicious chicken soup with rice, potatoes, and egg. Other times we have enjoyed boiled meat and potatoes or lasagne or BarBQ. The cook has gone back to Santa Cruz as our hosts live there. Our hosts are returning to Santa Cruz this weekend. So, the food may change a little.

I have managed to find my way around the house and feel more comfortable in the kitchen. Plus, getting to know what foods are available is needed before you can decide what to cook, etc. It takes time. So far we have managed to cook our own pizza, quesadillas, and hamburgers.

School
The kids are finishing their 2nd week at school. They call it 'El Colegio' here. Linda (aka Lindsay) is having an easier time of it. I think it may be easier for a 2nd grader to learn in another language because they are working more on simple words and proper letter formation, etc. Galen, however, is not learning as much because he is forced to 'copy' the lesson off one of his classmates. It seems that Galen's teacher does a lot more 'dictation' and the students are expected to take their own notes. In Lindsay's class there is more copying the work off the board and adding repetitions.
Their social life at school differs as well. Linda has very good pronunciation and is able to repeat the Spanish word correctly on the first try. Galen has always had a bit of trouble being understood in English much less in Spanish! He is keen to try to get in on the soccer game, but he doesn't know if they are pointing for him to get off the field or to play winger! He seems to have spent his first two weeks being his 'Socrates' self and hanging around the edges observing and taking it all in. There have been some boys following him around and asking him "What is your name?" over and over. That has subdued and I think his peers are getting more used to the only red head at their school.

I have been going for walks around our 'neighbourhood'. There are no sidewalks. If it has rained the night before it is very muddy and almost impassable on foot in parts. A few times, I have been approached by people asking if I need a ride-I explain I'm walking for exercise. Sometimes it is tricky to share the road with the traffic and I am forced to stand well to the side against the trees. The buses have learned to keep driving past me. (This has back fired for the times I actually want to ride the bus!) The main danger, however, is the dog population. There are a few mean mobs and I have been uncomfortable on more than one occasion. I have started making a 'route' that minimilizes the mean dogs, the muddy bits, and the high traffic areas.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1233507840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1233507840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1233507840/tpod.html Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:54:07 -0500 Mexico and South America

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San Francisco, Pacific Coast, Mexico

Hi Again folks,
We hope everyone is doing well cause we sure are having a great time!


Our access to internet is very limited so we have not emailed too many times. Also the whole time we were in Mexico I was too busy doing nothing that I had no time to write. Well a lot as happened since our last entry as I am writing this from Tarija in Bolivia so here is a little update.

We had a great three weeks on the West coast of Mexico around Puerto Vallarta. Tam and Plantate were great hosts. We spent most of the time on the beach lazing around and swimming. Unfortuantely there was not any real surf in the area but there are some good breaks apparently but I didn't make the effort.

I would have made more of an effort except when I went and saw the types of body boards you could rent or buy it wouldn't have been worth it. The rentals looked like some surfers 10 years ago had left them there instead of taking them home. They didn't so much have a fold in them, more like the whole board was one big fold! A blow up li-lo would have been more firm. The ones to buy were only suitable for kids riding foam. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it (and you can't talk Garreth, at least I was at a beach!)

We met some sepo's (americans) on holiday with some kids and spent a few days with them. The kids are learning to make friends very quickly. They spent most of the time swimming and talking english!

The last week was spent at another beachside town about an hour north of San Pancho called Chacala. The hotel was right on the beachfront and had a nice restaurant on the sand. The beach was much more kid friendly than San Pancho as there was a gentle incline and no dumping waves. We really enjoyed it here as there were only one or two beach vendors and they left us alone after the first day. The whole town had a laid back family atmosphere sort of like San Pancho but less hippy.

One day we took a drive out to an area where there were petroglyphs (or pictographs? Which ever one is carved into stone!) Our directions were "it's out near Alta Vista". Those instructions were pretty broad so we ended up driving into the town of Alta Vista which is inland and half way up a mountain. The town was very pretty and obviously doesn't get many tourists as there wasn't a restaurant or hotel in sight. Not knowing where to go we stopped to ask some locals who were just about to open their first beer of the day (it was 10am!). Oscar tried for about a minute to explain where to go but then said the mexican equivalent of "stuff it, I'll just show you". He jumped in and became our guide for the day. He was a font of local knowledge and as we happened to have an esky (chilly bin, cooler) full of beer he was happy to help out. He showed us the way and then walked the 15minutes to the petroglyphs and even paid our entry as we had left our cash in the car. We saw many petroglyphs, many similar to those in Albuquerque. Most were very close to the riverbed and the kids highlight was finding a nice swimming hole.
By the time we dropped Oscar back to his house three hours later Haley and he were best mates, we got an invite to his sisters wedding, knew his families life history and the name of most of the trees and fruits that grew in the area. I gave him a few pesos and a few more beers and he seemed to be pretty happy.
On the way home we went into Las Varas to get a late lunch. As it happened we were there as the police were clearing the streets for the first day of the 13 day long festival of the Virgin de Guadalupe. The hour long wait for the parade was worth it. There were bands, schools, businesses, radio stations and dance groups all dressed up and most throwing lollies to the kids lining the streets.

The rest of the week we spent being lazy on the beach. My mission was to see how many beers I could drink before noon. Dinner most nights was from a taco stand just down the road. Fantastic!

We left San Pancho to head for Mexico City on Galens birthday (7th Feb). Galen only had a few presents to open in the morning, a pocket knife, finger traps, and some educational computer games. We had a fun day though. In the morning we took a friend of Tams to the airport in Puerto Vallarta and then went on to Chucky Cheezes. Galen brought a friend from San Pancho and they had a great time on all the video games.

That night Tam drove us to a nearby town to catch the overnight bus to Mexico City. That story is for another entry.

Hope all of you are healthy and happy.
Hasta Luego,
McGinlays
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1232827140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1232827140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1232827140/tpod.html Sat, 24 Jan 2009 15:06:10 -0500 Mexico and South America

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Puerto Vallarta, Pacific Coast, Mexico

We headed out of Parras quite early and made our way to Zacaecas. We pulled up at the fancy "Hacienda del Bosque" where they have about 30 hook up sites for RV's in their carpark. It wasn't cheap ($25/night) but the kids really enjoyed the pool and I enjoyed the gym.

Haley had done some research on the town and had found us a few museums that were of note as well as a few cathedrals and a well reputed restaurant.
In the morning we caught the local bus from behind the hotel. We were told it goes very close to downtown and it would be obivous where to get off. Apparently not obvious enough. We went on for another mile or so before we realised, so we got off and jumped in a cab.

Taking the cab wasn't a bad idea as he was able to take us to one of the museum via the other sites we wanted to see. This oriented us for the day. The first museum was the art gallery of Manuel Felguerez, an abstract artist and sculpter. The building was amazing, old and beautiful. It used to be a convent and then a prison and then converted to a gallery. Lots of marble and slate. Most of the gallery was dedicated to Manuel Felguerez but there were sections of other artist and sculpters. Galen and I sort of stuck together and Lindsay tagged along with Haley. Galen and I had fun trying to interpret some of the pieces, some of them we just called "art".

From there we went for a walk through the narrow cobblestone streets snooping around in a few shops. The big cathedral was also a work of art. So detailed it must have taken years to build. The second museum we went to was the Pedro Coronel. This was more interesting for the kids but they had had enough of being dragged around museum by this stage and just sat around. There was art from all over the world (except Australasia). A lot of religious art and a huge library that was filled with ancient books, mostly religious. Pedro's brother Raphael also has a museum dedicated to masks and as we had already seen quite an extensive collection in Pedro's we skipped Raphael's

By the time we got out of there all our stomachs were growling. We headed on down towards the restaurant and passed a farmacia where we dropped in and bought 10 boxes of viagra. Nah just kidding, although you could get it over the counter. We did buy some ventolin for the boy to see if it would help his cough out.

The restaurant turned out to be a real posho Argentinian place and we would not have stayed had I not seen the steaks they were cooking. I really enjoyed my meal but the kids didn't and neither did Haley. It cost us a small fortune in pesos $1001 but at least haley got a doggy bag. The bus stop was just across the street so we headed back to the hotel by bus. As we were nearing our stop Haley realised that she had olive oil running into her lap from the pesto pasta dish doggy bag. It was all over her jeans and the seat and the floor. We all nearly slipped over when we got up to get off. I found this extremely hilarious and kept laughing at Haley all the way back to the Hotel with her big oil slicked pantalones.

We left Zacatecas after a workout in the gym and a swim in the pool and headed on towards Guadalajara. We found out that although the street direction signs are not all that common they are accurate and you just have to wait for them. We made pretty good time so we headed through the city and out the other side. We are now in a tiny place in the middle of woop woop. Its 20km off the main road to Puerto Vallarta very near the town of Tequila. Along the highway there were acres and acres of Agave farms. All over the place, in the valleys and on the hills. There is also an 8degree celcius increase in the temperature to 28, and an increase in trees. It's starting to look more tropical.

Tomorrow we have the last leg of our journey to complete to get to PV. Its only about 250km and mostly on the good road.

Well the day started off exciting! The kids were being pains underfoot so we told them to burn some energy before getting in the car for another long drive. They started riding their bikes as Haley and I packed up the trailer. Shortly after I hear a screaming boy.

As the story goes, Lindsay dropped her shoe in the cattle guard. They had tried to get it with sticks and a coat hanger but it was out of reach. Galen thought that he would fit down through the guard, but funnily enough he didn't fit and got stuck. He was stuck fast chest deep in the guard with just his tippy toes touching the ground. He was not enjoying himself!

I sent Lindsay off to get some cooking oil. Meanwhile an American couple heard the fuss and came to offer assistance. Luckily for all concerned I happened to have my camera in my pocket, so I caught the embarassing fix on film much to the protestations of Galen. But he wasn't in much of a position to do anything about it! (the american couple did comment that it was a bit cruel)

Well after a good oiling up Galen slid right out of there and was much relieved. He is a little bruised and his pride dented but we can now laugh about it.

The drive to Puerto Vallarta was lovely. A few hours of Agave farm dotted hills gave way to fertile valleys surrounding a large volcano. Then we got our first indication of being in the tropics. The road down to the coast was steep long and heavily forrested with tropical trees. The first decline dropped us about 500m in a 5km. By the bottom the truck brakes were smoking. The next decline was for 20km and very windy. With an adjustment of the trailer brakes and some engine braking the brakes stayed coolish.

We arrived in San Francisco, San Pancho, in the early afternoon and met up with Tam. He escorted us through the small town and out to the Hacienda de Plantatae y Tamo. The trailer took a bit of manouvering to get in to position but we figured it out with a bit of help from a passing backhoe.

Their house is a lovely little bungalow with a thatch roof and open to the air. Right outside there is a large cashew tree that the kids have been enjoying climbing and everyone has been enjoying the hammock.

Since we have been here we have been enjoying the beach, the heat, the slow pace, the company, y muchos cervezas!
Adios mis amigos
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/1/1222917180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/1/1222917180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/1/1222917180/tpod.html Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:14:45 -0500 McGinlays Tour de Force

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Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Had fun in Albuquerque visiting family, friends and playing rugby.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1232330340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1232330340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/2/1232330340/tpod.html Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:04:54 -0500 Mexico and South America

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Zacatecas, Mexico

Hi to those who I don't send specific emails to. This gives you the option of reading a long email or not. Below are two emails which tell stories about what we have been up to in start of our Mexico trip. For those who got the email, there are some photos here that relate.
Cheers

Hola mi hermana,
Estamos en Chihuahua Mexico ahora!
We managed to get through migracion and the banjercito (tourist permits and vehicle permits) no worries. We travelled from Near Juarez (Santa Theresa crossing in NM) to Chihuahua. It was mostly desert even with sand dunes. There was an army check point going the other way and it was an eye opener to see the amount of army and guns! loads of Hummers with big machine guns mounted up high and manned. After that we saw about ten different convoys of army hummers and trucks heading North. We thought that they must be readying to invade the US! We also agreed not to piss the army off!

Chihuahua is a big city with some large "residential estates". WOW talk about close living! Other than that it was just another big city and we managed to negotiate through no worries. We found an RV park on the south side of the city and were lucky to get a pull through site with full hook up (we're the only ones here!)
Dinner was at the restaurant out the front, Hamburguesas, sopa de tortilla, chile relleno burrito and, tacos de abrigada. Bueno.

I forgot to mention that before we crossed the border we spent the night at Las Cruces. Lindsay got sick during the night and vomited (a lot) all over her bed and on and in my sleeping bag! SHe was up all night vomiting and sitting on the loo. The next morning she had a shower and only threw up three times in the car. By 2pm she was managing to keep down some gatorade. She had about quarter of the Hamburguesa but was feeling much better. THis morning she is a box of birds again.

Galen on the other hand is plagued by a chesty bronchial type cough. When we get to PV we will get some antibiotics for him. This cough has lasted for a long time and wakes him up at night.

We are just sitting having desayuno en el RV with Haley finding our next stop.

One thing we found is that we don't know shit about the spanish language! But we have managed with what we know and have even told a few jokes. Education will be rapid I feel!

Love to all.
McGinlays

Hola mi amigos,

After the night before, we had a great nights sleep in Chihuahua.We were all in bed and asleep before 8pm.
We were up and out by 10am and on the way towards Torreon. We were looking on the map and saw a big lake with a road going out to it. As it was only 30k off the road we decided to visit. We drove through a very quaint lake side fishing town, Boquilla. We kept on the road until it turned into dirt. There were two old mexicanos sitting on a wall chewing their cud. We hopped out and had a chat to them (in very broken espanol!) "donde hay un lugar para nosotros trailer por la noche?" We deciphered their response to mean "just head over this shady looking track and there is a big place to camp and turn around".

Cut a long story short and we headed over the hill and found an old campo resort "San Estaban" in the area "Los Filtros" that looks like it hadn't been used for years. There was one Senor there doing some work and we had a chat and he showed us around. There is some natural hot springs here and plenty of space to park. He said we were welcome to stay and didn't charge us anything. He told us how to get to the lakes in the area and where to get propane and some supplies.

We unhooked and went for a tiki tour. At the big lake, Boquilla, we saw that there wasn't much access around it so we opted to have a chat to the locals. They had just come in from their daily fishing for Carpo and were cleaning quite a few. We had a nice chat about the fishing and then we got to try some of the fish that they were frying up right there on the shore. (well all tried it except the boy!) We then went and drove to the next lake where there were grandiose hotels that all had huge barbed wire fences around them and were water front. Not one looked like it had any guests. Perhaps we are just out of season. Most looked like they had no maintenance done for a decade.

On our return to our camp the Senor, Antonio, was pottering around with his wife and daughter. We spent about an hour in conversation while the kids were swimming in the natural hot pool (not too hot only about 25deg celsius). We pulled out a bottle of vino and had a few drinks and then they came and checked out the trailer and had a cup of coffee. Lindsay kept the ladies entertained with her Bilingual Computer.

They were a very nice couple and we will do some work for them in the manana. It seems that the hard economic times are here as well as Antonio had no work (this place is his fathers and does not operate) His daughter who is 23 is out of work aswell. After a brief discussion on the world economy they left for home and left us to our own devices. The kids are tuckered out from their lengthy swim and we are just about to go to bed after this last game of Stop The Bus.
I'm hoping to get the missus into the hot tub illuminated by the estrellas and unos candelarias. I'l let you know how that goes ;o)

Adios todos nos amigos

Well its the day after the day I wrote this last email so an update. I did get Haley in to the springs that night but only for a minute as it wasn't as warm as we had of hoped. After we got to bed Galen threw up all over my other sleeping bag (two down!) He threw up the rest of the night and had the runs aswell. In the morning Antonio gave me a recipe for a dodgey stomach.... Mesquite Bark and Spearmint which he got for us and I made a tea. Haley wasn't feeling too good either so she had some aswell.

We decided not to travel in this state so Haley laid down for a rest while I climbed the nearest big hill. I managed to walk/crawl through the thickest bit of scrub in the area. In which even the jeans did not prevent scratches. I'm sure that every plant in the area has prickles or spines of some sort. I eventually got to the highest point after about two and a half hours. A beautiful view! On the other side of the hills was the big lake that we visited the previous day. It was huge! Apparently over 65km long and 15km wide with many arms. It looked like Queen Charlotte Sound. After sitting for a while and chilling out I wondered why I wasn't hungry as it was 3pm and I had only had breakfast to eat. Well maybe it's mind over matter but thats when I began to feel crook. I beetled back down to the trailer and had a quick swim with the kids as they had been hanging out all day for something to do. Then I went to bed, and got up again several times to visit the "Restroom" in which I had no rest!

Haley had felt a bit quezy but had not been sick. I wondered if it was just Haleys ability to never get sick or if that special tea had worked aswell. Probably Haley's amazing immune system which is great when she gets to be the nurse!

We left relatively early the next morning headed for Gomez Palacio/ Torreon about four hours away. A lovely drive....... Until we hit Gomez Palacio! Our fantastic guide book gave us directions through the centre of the city to a hotel that had some RV parking sites. Well after searching in the area, including a few u turns, we came to the conclusion that a "Sams Club" had swallowed up the hotel and the landmark Dairy Queen that we were looking for.

We decided to head into Torreon and see what we could find. Now for those that don't know me very well..... I'm not the best in big cities and you could say they are not my favourite of places. Now times that by a crazy foreign city with no lane markings strange road rules and drivers with no courtesy. Divide that by narrow roads, a thirty two foot travel trailer and several u-turns and the result will somewhat resemble my stress level. In Spanish "No Me Gusta!"

So we ended up driving right through the centre of Torreon aswell! And straight out of it! I had made the executive decision to head towards Parras which is a smaller town about 150 km away. It is an agricultural town with the oldest winery in all the americas. Stress levels decreased to non existent as soon as we hit the country.

Haley made the executive decision to go via the Libre route (free route) and follow the map. Well to cut a long story short we took about a 150km detour. We went through a lovely little town called Viesca and through the main street that is about as wide as most peoples driveways. We got all sorts of funny looks by the people and bicycle lined street. I guess they don't get many tourists down that way. We were supposed to cross a railway and then turn left. Well after heading 10 km out of town and not finding a railway or a left turn we flagged down a pickup truck load of locals. "No esta camino no existe!" The road doesn't even exist! The railway has been abandoned for ages and we didn't even see a sign of it! We had to go back the way we came and get on the "Cuota" (toll road). We did save 128 pesos though as we got on the Cuota after the toll gate!

That got us into Parras after dark so we pulled up at a gas station on the main road and asked if we could stay there the night. No worries.

We had tremendous fortune the next day. All feeling better we unhooked and drove into town. We drove past a little wine shop and parked up. We tasted a few wines (all of which were no better than draino!) when the owner happened to walk in. Don Ignacio or as he prefers "el Barron de Parras" . He spoke great english and when he found out that we were from New Zealand and winemakers he opened some special bottles. He also invited us out to his Hacienda to meet an Alaskan couple who were living there and also making wine. He was busy that day as he had arranged for three doctors and twelve nurses to come and he was giving the public free medical care and medicine. He drew us a map and also pointed out a few areas of interest in the town.

We wandered around the town and had some food from a curbside stall. Es muy bien. Then we had a little trouble following the map as some streets were blocked with construction (even went the wrong way up a one way street!) The streets are amazing! so narrow with the houses right on the street. We got to the Hacienda de Perote and found it to be a very nice modernised place. The original buildings were built 400 years ago when the winery was there.

The Alaskan couple were lovely and showed us around the winery and the source of water. A spring that comes from a cave where there are many bats living. The winery looked lke it had come from the dark ages and I now know why the wine is crap! The Alaskans on the other hand made their own wine from their own grapes. This was much better. I tried their three wines with lunch at the hacienda. They were very passable especially with the small quantities that they make. They asked many questions about wine and grape growing and we had a good old chat. On the way back to the trailer we stopped in at the local super market and bought some supplies. Haley has taken the kids out to the local cinema to see Bolt. I'm sure they will get something out of it! We plan to leave in the morning to go to Zacatecas. Our fabulous guide book says there is an RV park with laundry facilities. We need it!

Ok hopefully this will get sent before I have time to add another adventure on!

Adios nos amigos.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/1/1220473860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/1/1220473860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mcginlays/1/1220473860/tpod.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:34:13 -0400 McGinlays Tour de Force

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Glacier National Park, Montana, United States

At Glacier National Park we stayed at the Apgar Campground. It was a huge campground but several of the areas had been closed as it was the end of the season. We quickly set up camp and had a bike tiki tour of McDonald Lake.








The water was crystal and the view was spectacular and reflected in the lake. In the morning we went for a bike ride to find a restaurant for breakfast. On the way Haley saw a bear crossing the trail just in front of her. No one else got to see it :o( Breakfast was your typical pancakes with bacon and eggs. The kids pancakes were bear shaped which they enjoyed.

A highlight of the trip was the drive up the mountains on the "Road to the Sun".



Very impressive scenery, steep walled mountains, U shaped valleys, hanging basins and waterfalls. I was glassing the whole way up looking for Rocky Mountain Goats. (Little did I know what we would later see). The road was amazing as well with a very steep dropoff in parts but mostly protected by stonework barriers. Quite a bit of traffic and the kids loved waving to the topless old red tourist buses.









Just before the top we stopped to take a few photos of a group of Rocky Mountain Goats lazing about in a lush meadow. We were only about 20metres away from them. (Little did I know what we would later encounter!)



We also got some great photos of some funny Colombian Ground Squirrels. Industrious little fellas scampering about here and there.





At the top there is a visitors centre which Haley took her time combing through before we set off on a hike up to "Hidden Lake". The trail was very well maintained and had board walk for a good portion of it. There were quite a few people on it but nothing like I would imagine it would get in the peak time. I spotted some Hoary Marmots with the binos but they were a way off. (little did I know how close we would get!)

One of the animal highlights was the three BigHorn Sheep that we saw. Those guys are huge! One had a nice big full curl. These were only about 100metres away.






Further up the trail and we had to stop and walk around two Mountain Goats, a Billy and a young Billy. They were only a metre away and totally ignored us. They looked tasty to me, and warm! I was stoked to get so close.







A little further on we came to the lake over look. Of course the view was again spectacular. On the way back down we saw a Nanny Mountain Goat and her young kid. The kid was frolicking in the snow, sliding and jumping. We saw many more types of squirrels on the way down. Most were very chubby from eating flowers!



The weather had been great but as we got back to the car the wind got up a bit and it started to drizzle. We stopped at a little walk further down the hill. We passed some walkers who had just seen a bear on the trail. Unfortunately we missed it. (Nope, never did see a bear!)

Back to camp for bike riding and dinner. Next stop "Yellowstone"!
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