TravelStream™ news feed for member sammo on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/sammo en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 17 Dec 2006 13:48:29 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1164228420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1164228420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1164228420/tpod.html Sun, 17 Dec 2006 13:48:29 -0500 Surf n Sombreros. A west coast escapade of Mexico and Aentral America.

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Panama City, Panama

Arrrggh,

ok Im naughty for letting the blogs slide, despite promising I wouldn`t..... things just started happing really fast and before I knew it I'd been through 4 or 5 countries.

So I'll attempt a brief overview of what I've done and where I've been since last blog....


Crossed the boarder into Guatemala, where I met an Aussie fella named Brad. Bussed with him to Quetzaltenango, also know by it's Mayan name Xela (pronounced Shayla). The bussing experience in Guatemala is true to its reputation, -absolutely jam packed.

Xela is a cool colonial city. Like a lot of the other Guatemalan cities, it's set in the highlands, with smoking volcanoes nearby. It was a refreshing change in temperature. Found an interesting hostel where the manager had recently left her job, so there wasn't really anyone to handle day to day affairs - like new customers arriving. It worked out quite well though, we sort of ran it ourselves.

Checked out the area for a couple of days and enrolled at a language school. Did a week of intensive Spanish which was great. Quite exhausting to begin with but has been very beneficial. The package included staying with a local family to maximise the immersion thing. I was quite lucky to get a nice family with a nice house, but from stories it can be a bit of a lottery.

After a week, bussed through torrential rain (with backpack on the roof) to San Pedro. A really chilled out sort of hippie community on the edge of a big crater lake surrounded by volcanoes. This is a really cool place to visit. Really cheap and laid back with quality restaurants and bars. Plus a crew I'd met in Xela turned up, including Nic, a kiwi girl, Brad, and some others from the school I was at, to make for a fun few days. Did some more study here, but the schools were not up to the same level so didn't learn as much. Took advantage of the extra curricular activities they offered though and went kayaking, cliff jumping and exploring.

Bussed south to Antiqua. Another nice colonial city. But feeling the need to find some waves again soon, I only stayed briefly. Managed to do a night time-hike up Pacaya, A live volcano and renowned tourist attraction, but well worth it. Was a unique and surreal experience. You get within a couple of metres of flowing lava! Not sure if you could do something like that in NZ?


Travelled for a day through to El Salvador and out to the coast at La Libertad. Salvador is quite a small country and not overly touristed. I think the majority of foreign visitors, definitely during the rainy season anyway, are surfers. The cities seemed quite developed with heaps of American fast food chains etc, but out of the cities was more primitive. La Libertad was actually kind of scary. A really airy concrete town with crack heads loitering the streets. The surf there wasn't so good so headed to a nearby spot called El Zonte, which was a lot nicer with friendlier locals. Was a couple of days before the swell picked up, but good when it did. Met a guy from Oregan, Trevor. He had a rental car and we managed to find some mint waves to ourselves a few miles away at km 59.


Had heard of some good spots to the east, so missioned down to Las Flores (still in El Salvador). Almost decided not to give it a miss as was stuck in a remote place waiting for a bus as it was getting dark. But glad I continued on, as in the next 8 days or so I was to have the best surfing of my life. Stayed in a town close to Las Flores the first night where I met a group of Americans who had chartered a boat to Punta Mango (a reef further down the coast inaccessible by road) early the next morning. They invited me along, and had a great few hours session in near perfect, often barreling right hand reef break waves. In the avo I found some accomadation right on the beach front at Las Flores, which is a very consistent right hand rock point with a sandy bottom.
Mint as wave, and the swell was on for the week. Is actually possible to improve your surfing when can do it 3 times a day in perfect waves (as opposed to once a fortnight in crowded Lyall Bay). There were 3 other kiwis staying at the same shacks and 4 Americans. We would continually come in from a surf and be blown away by how good it was! It was relatively uncrowded too. The ride often being so long that the line up was always shuffled.

Spent about 8 or 9 days there, getting up at first light (about 5am) and crashing not long after dark and a few beers and a feed. Great times.

Feeling very fulfilled I decided it was time to do some travelling again. Bussed to the El Salvador/Honduras boarder and while at the immigration window I met a group of 4 American guys who had driven down from Lake Tahoe in California (which is about 2weeks straight driving!) They had a couple of pick ups and told me I could throw stuff in the back and that they'd give me a ride across the bridge. We worked out we were going to the same place so they gave me a ride right through to Leon in Nicaragua. Stayed a couple of nights there and partied a bit with them. They were really fun guys and invited me to travel with them as far south as I wanted. This was a really sweet deal, and suited me perfectly. Was definitely a change in the style and pace of the travelling I'd done to that point. Their mission was to to drive to the canal and back (and throw hotdogs in it - some joke about smuggling 4 weaners into Panama!), surf, party and attend a friends wedding in Costa Rica on the way.

Nicaragua, is noticibly the poorest country in Central America, with some quite sad scenes of poverty and people doing anything to flesh out a living. We tried to find a couple of surf spots in the north but were disappointed by 1 and discouraged by hostile locals at another.

So drove straight on through to Tamarindo in Costa Rica. Tamagringo is basically a tourist town flooded with Americans learning to surf. But despite the sweltering heat and dive of a hostel we stayed at, we had a fun time there. Basically partying for 3 days. We met a couple of cute Swedish girls there too, who the guys miraculously also found room for in their trucks. They travelled with us for another days drive south to Nosora, where we surfed and had a cool night in a comfy surf camp/hostel. Then another day driving... Dropped the girls at a bus station on the way and we continued on to Dominical. Basically just stopped for the night then through to San Carlos in Panama. These fellas were really on a mission. It was exciting to be in Panama and a relief after the atrocious roads in Costa Rica.

Finally we arrived in Panama city. This is a really cool place, and different to anywhere in Central America. Obviously prosperous due to the wealth generated by the canal. The city is a beautiful, modern and compact, but also very cheap to live in, with some stunningly attractive women!
Spent 4 or 5 nights here, checked out the nightlife, the canal and parts of the old city.

Said goodbye to the boys here as they headed back up north to get to their friends wedding in Costa. I reluctantly reverted to the common traveller mode and bussed for a day out to Santa Catalina, midway up the country on the Pacific coast.

Had 4 really nice days here in a comfortable and modern hostel and found some ok waves. One memorable surf was at a spot called Punta Roca (Rock Point) which is a 40minute trek over rocks to get to. Went with 2 other guys from the hostel. We had a secluded, short but clean and pitching left hand point to ourselves, with a beautiful rock and jungle back drop. My poor boards are getting a hammering. Wiped out here on the first wave and made a fair dent in my board with my knee. Both were still functionable though and managed till the tide got too high.

Got the board fixed by morning the next day, and bussed (for a whole day....again) to the city of David. One night there then out to Bocas del Toro on the Carribean. Is a really cool vibe here with loads of travellers milling about. Have bumped into heaps of people here who I've met through out the whole trip, including a couple from Wellington who were on the same plane over from NZ as me.

Starting an open water dive course tomorrow, -is so cheap here $155US for the whole deal. Too good to miss, then will start making my way back to Mexico city, before flying home on Dec 13.


Sorry this lacking a bit in detail, and for the scarcity of blogs, but will see a lot of u soon, for stories in person.

All the best, lots of love - Alex.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1159844940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1159844940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1159844940/tpod.html Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:34:34 -0400 Surf n Sombreros. A west coast escapade of Mexico and Aentral America.

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Tapachula, Mexico

Hi


....has been a while.

Spent way longer than I intended in Mexico, but finally am in Guatemala now. Here's what I've been up to since the last blog.

Spent about 4 more days in Zihua. Kayaked, snorkeled and explored during the days. Afternoons - beach or poolside, sun and swilling obnoxiously large cocktails. The pretentious ones people on cruise ships drink, with tropical fruit tacked onto a pineapple to make a smiley face.

Bussed south to Acapulco. Shared a room with a mad Argentinean in the final phases of recovery from a mescaline excursion with highland natives. He was a bit strange but handy as a Spanish interpreter. Ended up bumping into him randomly again about 6 times over next few weeks.
Checked out the Quebrada Cliff Divers. They'd held a mystical intrigue for me since I saw mum´s photos of it as a kid. Was pretty remarkable, but I'd imagined them jumping from even more dazzling heights.
Also hit up a surf shop owner to take me out to a local break. The next day 2 Mexican pro surfers who were friends with the shop owner took me and his son to a spot named Revolcardero, which literally translates as to knock down, roll and trample on. It's an angry little wave that sucks up over a shallow sand bar, tubes for a few seconds, before dumping into a sucky undertow. Was an average surf, but good preparation for the punishment to come at Zicatela.
Only spent one night in Acapulco, quite a big and busy place. Not sure what the attraction is really. One curious observation here was a lot of the public city buses are owner drivers, who are free to decorate and personalize their buses as they wish. Most have tinted windows and fancy paint jobs, some theme theirs on a movie or band. I rode in one whose interior was decked out with suggestive red curtains and pink neon lights. It had women's G-strings and other erotic paraphernalia hung in the front window! The amusing, or perverted, thing was most of the passengers were fraying elderly women!

I was planning to stay at a nondescript town about 5hours south, and make my way to a remote surf spot from there. But my bus from Acapulco had some mechanical problem not long into the trip, which meant we sat on a stationary bus for 4 and a half hours! I'd have been arriving about midnight with no accommodation booked, so decided to continue on to Puerto Escondido.

Puerto is a stunning, seductive beach town that tempts travellers and surfers to abandon further travel plans and stay for ages. It has an international reputation for the Zicatela beach break aka 'MexPipe'. Here I saw the biggest waves of my life. Huge hollow barrels I've only seen before in movies. It's unreal to watch. Stacks of people competing for a wave, one claiming it and making a suicidal, sheer vert drop to occasionally make it out of a barrel but more often get eaten and spat into a savage whitewrath. I spent 14 days total here. The first 2 were easily the biggest swell. But disappointingly I didn't have my camera with me to capture it. Got some pics of smaller days though.

Puerto kinda has everything - world class waves, lots of bars and restaurants and a relaxing vibe. Monday night is one of the biggest party nights. Being a magnet for surfers, there's naturally a lot of testosterone floating around. The guy-girl ratio is at least 10-1. Things can get competitive in the water too. Especially at the nearby point break, La Punta. Here I experienced the worst case of localism I've ever faced. Some aggressive pricks with ego problems who ruin it for everyone else. (still bitter).

But in general most people there were pretty cool. La Punta was smaller than Zicatela so surfed there 1st few days. When swell dropped a bit and I felt more comfortable I braved the beach break. Was awesome. Even the smaller waves have an incredible force. A huge surging wall of water, displaced by a couple of metres, causing a screaming fast tubing wave. Such a buzz being out there and because I had my wits about me (being slightly terrified) I surfed a lot better. You never want to get caught inside or turn your back on the wave or you can be in trouble. People die there and many get seriously injured. Everyday heaps of boards get snapped. And usually no one uses a leg rope. Partly because it will either rip your leg out or rip through your board and partly because your board is apparently less likely to get snapped. I surfed it for a couple more days, then got a bit casual and was taught a lesson.....

Was out one morning when it was a bit bigger, hovering a little away from the main peak. But got impatient during a lull so paddled further inside. Picked up the first wave of a hefty set. Was a righthander, which I rode directly into the impact zone! I wore the next 4 waves on my head! And can unreservedly say got the working of my life! Was scarey - Big waves! I felt like a piece of dust in a storm. Was at the total mercy of the wave, being contorted and thrust about against any effort of mine to move. I survived, albeit shaken up and humbled.

Aside from the surf, it is a pretty social place. Stayed at a hostel initially where met loads of travellers including a Canadian girl who I ended up sharing a room with and touring with for a while. We did a trip for a couple of days to nearby beaches, Zipolite and Mazunte. Visited a crocodile reserve and enjoyed a break from Puerto. Unfortunately Reyna started getting sick and I recognised her symptoms as similar to when I got Dengue fever in Asia. Sure enough that's what she had. That was a bit of a downer. She ended up going home to Canada.

One day, I was coming back to the hostel and as I was about to step in the front door a snake came cruising out! Fumbled for my camera but was a bit late. Got my adrenalin going though! Stayed there a few days before moving to a hotel closer to the beach with a pool, kitchen and balconies to hang hammocks on. Some mad Aussies there. One was going home and wanted to sell his surfboard. It was brand new, so I bought it and managed to on-sell it for a profit - Sweet! You can get some crazy cheap boards here, as it's quite expensive to fly them out of the country.

Eventually wrenched myself away from Puerto, 11hours inland and south to the temperate city of San Cristobel. Was a relief after the sweltering heat of the coast. Stayed there for 4days, checked out the markets and did a day trip to the Palenque ruins.

At the beginning of my trip I met a Welshman in Mexico City who told me about an Orphanage run by an Australian couple in Tapachula, a town close to the Guatemalan boarder. I emailed about volunteering for a week or so and was welcomed to visit.

Pam and Alan Skuse volunteered for 1 year in 2000, but while they were there the organisation they were working for folded. So instead of deserting the kids, they stayed on and set up Mision Mexico. 6 years later they support about 35 kids between the ages of 2 and 16. It was a really cool experience. And neat to be part of their family for a while. Andy, another volunteer from Aus, and I were blown away by the energy and affection we got everyday from the kids. Some were so cute it was hard to imagine they had been abandoned or come from abusive pasts. The environment Pam and Alan have created, and the opportunities the kids now have is the result of years of their hard work and sacrifice. Their website is www.lovelifehope.com if you want to find out more.
I mentioned a background in art and before I knew it was at work on a mural for them. Pam had the idea of a space theme, so I used a design from a mural I'd done about 8years ago. Having not really painted for a while it was way easier than the stress and time it would take to design something new. Was quite exciting to pick up the brushes again, plus I made it cooler than last time, adding a funky background and different colours. There were challenges getting decent paint and equipment, but in the end it all worked out. I still spent time with the kids, but most of my energy went into the mural. Ended up staying there 3weeks! The time flew by. Was actually quite nice to have a break from the cruisieness of travelling and have a bit of an altruistic purpose for a while. There were other outlets for fun and recreation too. We'd go to the beach with the kids about twice a week. There's an awesome house there a friend lends them with a swimming pool and great backyard for soccer games, and many of the kids are promising surfers.

I don´t think Tapachula gets many tourists, so it made it even more interesting being there. And we were probably a novelty to some of the locals. There were some great places to eat. Have discovered a lot more Mexican dishes than I previously knew. My favourites are tacos, quesadillas and sopes. Just round the corner from the Orphanage was an amazing taco stand. Meat cooked on a spit with pineapple soaking into it, sliced up and served on tortillas with salsa and a slice of pinapple. Complimented with coca-cola, it´s an unbeatable taste sensation!

Tapachula is about half an tour from the coast and is near a volcano. For some reason, maybe because of this geography, it gets the most extraordinary lightening storms and heavy rains almost daily at about 3pm. Sometimes the first crack of lightening is so loud and unexpected it would make you sqeal. Once while painting I was taken by surprise, jumped and knocked over a jar of paint and smashed a pottery ornament!
Also, either from a charge of lightening or because of some dodgey wiring (and some bad luck I spose) I leant on the mains box while slipping on my sandals in the house we were staying at, and got electrocuted by the zap of my life! - Luckily it's only 110volts here, but definitely woke me up!

Pam and Alan also have a son and daughter living in Tapachula who are both married to Mexicans. We were well looked after by them and a few other Europeans living in the area. Worth mentioning was the weekly (sometimes twice weekly) poker games, which invariably got out of hand. In the worst case, due to a rule enforced by the non-drinking home owner (go figure?)it was a compulsory tequila shot for the winner of each hand! No wonder I ended up staying there so long! It was also after one of these nights, (I wasn't drinking) that by default I became the designated driver and had my first experience at Right hand driving an oversized van down crazy cobbled roads with direction from pissed Australians!!


So after almost exactly 2months I made it through the Guatamalan boarder. Is great to be here. I begin Spanish classes tomorrow. Will fill you in shortly....

Adios,
love Alex.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1155848040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1155848040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1155848040/tpod.html Sat, 19 Aug 2006 15:46:26 -0400 Surf n Sombreros. A west coast escapade of Mexico and Aentral America.

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Manzanillo, Mexico

Hola everybody,

Well it's about time I brought u all up to date. Firstly I apologise for a blog which was up previously, I wrote it when I was very tired and meant to save it as a draft, but it ended up being posted. I've deleted it now. The reason I haven't written for a while is mainly because I've been in some out of the way places where internet was scarce..... But I do have plenty of stories to fill u in on!

I'll try to work through this consecutively:

Sunday, before the one just been I bussed from Mexico City out to the coast near Acapulco, then north to a neat and vibrant tourist town called Zihuatanejo (said See-wah-teh-nay-ho). It was relieving to see the smog and concrete of the great Metropolis (some say to be the biggest in the world) give way to sunny blue skies, rolling jungle and low-key villages only half an hour into the journey. My nostrils felt the relief too judging by the welcome absence of the daily build up of black bogies I'd become used to.

After 6hours we hit the coast. I don't think I need to describe the thrill of seeing big clean, green pitching barrels crashing in along the coast as we drove another 3 hours north to Zihua!

Arriving late, I took what accommodation I could get, and found out why it was so cheap. Situated above a nightclub, that blasts music till 4am was the probable cause of my insomnia. But I was so busy, and excited, over the next few days that I didn't get around to finding anything better.

Monday I caught a bus to nearby Ixtapa where I met a really cool young Mexican dude named Ion. He has very good English and is also a keen surfer. He'd been working and surfing in Ixtapa during his university holidays and now had a few days off before heading back to his home city to resume study. This was cool as he had plenty of time to hang out, help me with some Spanish and show me some of the local spots as well as introducing me to some new Mexican food and to some of his mates in the local "surf community". There's basically a surf shop/ bar in Ixtapa where surfers hangout, have beers and generally talk crap while they're not surfing. Here I met some crew who generously took us to the local surf spots and even offered places to stay for free. I ended up spending most of my time over the next 3 days in Ixtapa and bussing back to Zihua at night to crash.

The first spot we went for a surf at was called Playa Linda which is a fairly gentle beach break/river mouth. The waves weren't huge but it was still an exhillerating experience. Imagine paddling out into water as warm as the air temperature (which is bloody warm), pelicans cruising along the unbroken wave metres away, a myriad of aquatic activity all around - fish big and small being chased and leaping from the water, and back on land a backdrop of lush green jungle and a coconut palm fringed beach contrasted with the clear blue sky. My adrenilin was also slightly squeaking as a result of some of the stories I'd been told, some earnest first hand accounts, of incidents at Playa Linda. Now I don't mean to freak u mum, but if I censor my stories on this site, they just won't be as interesting, aye.
Anyway...being a river mouth, on the edge of the jungle, it's naturally home to some of our less amicable relatives of the reptilian variety, namely crocodiles! This one fella from Texas told me he was out there surfing and a log popped up in the water.....with eyes. He high tailed it to the beach and said this thing followed him in then turned and swam toward another surfer. But I think the croc was just curious.... Anyway, I didn't see any!
Oh yeah, curtiousy of Mexicana airlines my (brand new) surfboard received moderate dings to the nose, tail and rail. Bummer aye. I've got ding repair stuff though, so fixed them up pretty good. And overall pretty stoked with the new board, although after some of the other waves I've had since, def think I could have gone smaller to 6'6 or 6'4.

Ion went home and it was time to head north. Leaving most of my luggage (which I have way too much of and now realise I can get by mostly without), taking only my surfboard, a pair of shorts, 2 tee shirts, 3 undies, my sandals and the bare essentials in my daypack I got a local bus and combie north about an hour to a surf spot known as 'Troncones'.

I'd read on the internet about a restaurant there where u can sleep in a hammock for free if u eat at their venue. Wanting to save money I hunted out Jose, the owner of 'Palapas' and my source proved faithful. Unfortunately the swell had dropped quite a bit, but it was a tranquil spot to chill for a couple of days. I spent most of the day reading in a hammock, eating and playing in the small surf.

Mexico is ruled by insects. They're everywhere, colourful and big! Yesterday, from a bus window I could see the ants moving on the ground. I took a few snaps of some of the bugs here in troncones.

When it came time to close up the restaurant, Hose strung up a hammock for me on the patio which is a slightly elevated concrete landing above the beach. An interesting phenomenon happens on the beaches of Mexico when the sun goes down - the sand literally moves with all sorts of bugs and creepy crawlies. Most of them are hermit crabs and they're even more frenetic when there's a lighted area such as a restaurant to attract them. They're quite classic to watch though as they think they're being sneaky freezing in their tracks as soon as u move, but resuming en mass as when they think u're still again. Being fairly new to the country and having diligently studied the potential hazards outlined in my travel guide I casually inquired if many scorpions are seen in the area? Hose assured me that the beach in front of his restaurant was regularly sprayed against such pests. Not 10 minutes later an assertive black snake with white bands came menacingly slithering up onto the patio! Shite balls, here I was preparing to spend a night alone, and exposed on this precarious patio!

Hose promptly terminated the snake with a rake handle and reasoned that all this rain must have diluted the effectiveness of the spray! Ya think? Truth be told it was only about 50cm long, but I was still a bit startled. So seeking reassurance I asked Hose if they get many wild animals around these parts? "Oh sure" he casually told me pointing to the hills out the back of his restaurant, "we got tigers, leopards, boas, rattle-snakes, crocodiles...." Not the answer I was looking for Hose. "But it's OK" he says "I've got protection" as he pulls a loaded revolver out from behind the counter! I'm not talking a little pissy 6shooter here, this was a full on hand-held ouzzie, straight out of Terminator. I nearly flipped in my hammock as he released the magazine and 3.0 bullets splayed into his hand. Right, so have u ever had to use it Hose? "Just once, ..... I shot a man in the leg"..... that's a whole other story about the time someone foolishly tried to car-jack him.....

Despite this Hose was a really nice guy and I had some deep and meaningful conversations with him. I stayed one more night before heading north again. When I asked him for the bill for the money I'd spent in his restaurant he said "you're my friend, it's free". Once again I was totally blown away by the generosity and respect I've encountered with many of the Mexican people I've met.

Bussed and hitched a ride with a Corona beer truck out to a famous surf spot called El Rancho. I'd heard a lot about this spot, it was quite difficult to get to, has no hotels and only 2 restaurant shacks. Unfortunately the swell was still small, but I could tell it would be an unreal break when there were waves. Definitely one u need to have a car to safely get there and back from though. Maybe will get the chance to surf it another time. Had breakfast there and caught a ride back out to a nearby town on the highway, where I bussed about 2 and a half hours north to Barra De Nexpa.

Nexpa is also a fairly famous river-mouth/reef break. It's a bit more exposed but picks up a lot of swell. The beach front, lined with Cabanas and a few shops have basically been established by the popularity of the surf break. I got a cheap and comfortable cabana here and met a Dutch couple and a South African and Irishman who were staying in the same hotel. The four days we spent there pretty much followed the same routine: wake up at 7am, surf till 10amish, come in have a snack and rest for a bit, go back out for a surf at 11.30ish, come in about 1pm, have a big feed, whip up some guacamole and tacos, spend the rest of the day chilling in the hammocks, eating coconuts and sipping cold beers until the sun sets in paradise, have dinner, then maybe have a campfire, crash out at about 10.30/11pm, sleep fantastically, wake up at 7 and do it all again! Does it get much better?

Again, the swell wasn't huge as it had been the previous week. But it was a reliable 2- 4 and a half foot wave that was long and clean with some steep sections. Typically it would be off-shore wind in the morning then on-shore in the avo, but some days were surfable all day long. The photos don't really do it justice but I could pretty safely say I caught as many waves in the 4 days here as I did in the 12months before.
The only downside was there were sometimes as many as 20 people in the water (although still plenty of waves and fairly chilled {compared to Wellington}) and, there were pesky jellyfish which stung like heck if they brushed into u. Fortunately I only got stung twice.

The Irishman and South African (Owen and Roger) who incidentally both live in Wales had a rental car and were heading north, so I hitched a ride with them to La Ticla, the next spot up. The waves were a bit disappointing after being spoilt at Nexpa, but it was a good chance to let the sore shoulders, minor cuts and rashes (from surfing) have a couple of days rest. Stayed the night there and were assaulted by mosquitoes and the dawn cacophony of demented chickens whose population outnumbered people 5-1.

Took advantage of our early arousal and tried driving about an hour north to Pasquales for a morning surf. Pasquales rivals Puerto Escondido in reputation as a screaming barrelling lefthander. Unfortunately we missed the turn off and would have to back-track too far to find it, so we carried on up to the city of Manzanillo. I said goodbye to the boys there and jumped on a bus back to Zihua. Was a long day of travelling but nice to be back to a civilised place where I can catch up on a few things. Zihua reminds me quite a bit of Kuta Bali, but without the motorbikes and incense

Overall am thoroughly enjoying myself and have been blessed with the people I've met and the way things have worked out. I've been astounded by the respect and sense of community the Mexican people have. Blown away by the lushness of the flora, not the barren desert and cacti landscape I'd sort of imagined. The roads are pretty good and the drivers are reasonably sane (compared to Asia). It's rained a little most nights, with one spectacular thunder and lightening storm. I've felt two separate earthquakes. One quite decent sized and long while I was sitting on a beach having breakfast! My stomach and bowels have been holding up pretty well. The heat is sometimes hard to deal with, but relief can be found. I thank God for keeping me safe, answering my prayers and allowing me this opportunity.

Love to u all,

Adios,

Alehandro.
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Mexico City, Mexico

Hey there. Well I've had 2 pretty full on days finding my way around the city. and I'm still on very jumbled sleeping patterns so feels like iv been here longer. Today i moved to a new hostel which is a lot closer to the city and to museums and other tourist points. Its far better facilitated and way more social. Half the price of other place and includes free breakfast, dinner, internet and city tour. + have met far more people to get ideas about what to do\where to go etc.

Today spent a bit of time at a couple of the many places u can see the work of the great mexican muralists- Rivera, Siqueiros and Orozco among others. Pretty cool, especially Diego Riveras - awsome style and super confident painter, altough apparently a bit of an egomaniac.

A guide there was taking a group in spanish and after gave me a personal tour in english. He was finishing his shift soon after, so we got a coffee and i got pretty thorough tour of the art and architecture in the surrounding streets. Quite interesting but a bit bamboozling after a late nite and long day.

Got first mozi bite tonite, arrrgh.

Tomorrow, going on my free city tour, and organizing bus to the coast for sunday.

Adios, Alex.


A
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1154657820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1154657820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammo/centam06/1154657820/tpod.html Thu, 03 Aug 2006 22:34:11 -0400 Surf n Sombreros. A west coast escapade of Mexico and Aentral America.

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Mexico city, Mexico

HI THERE

Arrived in mexico city last night after 17hours of flying and 10 hours of waiting in airports. THE HOSTEL I'D BOOKED INTO DID FREE AIRPORT PICK UPS WHICH IS A REAL BONUS, BUT WHEN I RANG THEM TO SAY ID ARRIVED i also told them I had a surfboard, and they said there vehicle wasnt big enough so id have to get a taxi. IT COST MEX$225 which is about nz$45 which I guess was a bit of a bummer, but I got let off the normal US$75 charge to put a surfboard on the plane from LA TO mexico. Anyway I was in the taxi for 1 and a half hours! It took the driver ages to find the hostel and it was hosing with rain so there were lots of traffic hold ups.

CRASHED OUT IN BED AT 2AM and got up today at 2pm. FOUND MY WAY INTO THE CEntre of town this avo. the metro system here is pretty good, but gets pretty packed. Have managed to keep myself feed and Hydrated. And becoming accutely aware that I need to learn some spanish fast.

the hostels pretty comfortable. willl prob stay here for afew motre days then head out to the coast. Have a bit of a plan of Museums etc to check out in next couple of days.


I{ll use this site to to regular blogs aswell as hopefully sending out some emails with some decent stories of adventures etc. So if u care to keep track of where I am and what I{m up to this is a good way. You can also leave messages or replys to each entry. And I will be uploading photos to this site when I get to that.

Adios Alex.
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