TravelStream™ news feed for member sammygrim on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/sammygrim en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:56:04 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1229665860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1229665860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1229665860/tpod.html Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:56:04 -0500 Txapela buruan ta ibili munduan - Is there life after Bilbao?

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Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

I've decided to call this the end of the blog. Getting tired of writing up what I'm doing...and I'm not sure how many people read this anyway. It's all in my diary anyway, which, if you're interested, I can show you next time we meet up.I'm not sure how long I'll be here in New Zealand. I'll be spending the next few weeks with my Mum, Dad and brother, then after that........?It's been fun. It still is fun. It will continue to be fun.Over and out.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1229492760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1229492760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1229492760/tpod.html Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:50:37 -0500 Txapela buruan ta ibili munduan - Is there life after Bilbao?

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Los Angeles, California, United States

Considering the contents of my luggage (a machete - Christnmas gift for my Dad - and plenty of subversive literature) my transit time on gringo soil went surprisingly smoothly. Only spent a couple of hours here. More than enough really...
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Mexico City, Central Mexico and Gulf Coast, Mexico

It's been said before by many others, but I have to mention it. Mexico City is fucking enormous! And I didn't even leave the airport. Just the view from the plane as I flew in through the bright yellow smog was enough to make me happy that I hadn't made this place part of my trip. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1228935660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1228935660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1228935660/tpod.html Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:42:49 -0500 Txapela buruan ta ibili munduan - Is there life after Bilbao?

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Cancun, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Thirty-five years ago a virgin strech of coastline in the south of Mexico, was brutally gang-raped by the Mexican government and several private investors. The area was left traumatized and scarred for life. The culprits remain unpunished, and continue to violate this piece of land and, more and more, her neighbouring land too.Cancun is the world gone wrong in a microcosm.That said, if you turn your back to the land, the beaches are incredible. The water is a swimming-pool blue and full of fish.I was there for the wedding of Daniel and Silvia. It was a very fun, and interesting, cultural experience. It was my first Jewish wedding, and for fun value it pisses all over British weddings. Good on you, Dani and Silvia: you're great people and I wish you all the best for the future.And so I bid farewell to Mexico and Central America. It was a sad, sad day as I boarded that flight. I've learned more in the last fifteen months than I did at university and, I dare say, through my school days too. I'll be back to look up all those folks I met and rediscover all those beautiful spots I discovered.Adios, y hasta la proxima!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1227725760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1227725760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1227725760/tpod.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:00:55 -0500 Txapela buruan ta ibili munduan - Is there life after Bilbao?

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San Cristobal De Las Casas, Mexico

Great to be back here, especially now that the rains are over. COLD AS FOKK THOUGH!I caught up with everyone I could catch up with, went to the farm every day, soaked up as much of Chiapas as I could in a week, and got on the bus feeling sad sad sad.On my way to Cancun now (!), so I might as well say goodbye to Mexico here in San Cristobal.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1227552300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1227552300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1227552300/tpod.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:55:47 -0500 Txapela buruan ta ibili munduan - Is there life after Bilbao?

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Antigua Guatemala, Western Highlands, Guatemala

I was only here for a night so I'll make this brief....Antigua Guatemala is a sweet little colonial town, that resembles San Cristobal De Las Casas on the outside. I came here to break my journey between San Salvador and San Cristobal I soon realised that it was as far away from the rest of Guatemala as Guernsey is. It's a very bourgeois, comfortable, clean, boring place. I didn't feel I was in Guatemala here, so I carried out my hoe-buying mission (Manuelito, my farming mentor back in Chiapas, had asked me to bring him one of those ENORMOUS Guatemalan hoes, which you can't get in Mexico), and then left town.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1227055680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1227055680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1227055680/tpod.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:41:13 -0500 Txapela buruan ta ibili munduan - Is there life after Bilbao?

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San Salvador, El Salvador

I can't really explain why I like this place so much. As I said before it's violent and dirty. The people I came into contact with were what made it for me I suppose.Stayed with Karla again, in her new flat. She's living with two other girls, Rosie and Colette, both incredible people with interesting stories to tell. Spent just over a week here and hung out, wandered round, went to the beach (finally got rid of my surfboard), tie-dyed cushion covers, celebrated my birthday with a Mexican meal (20th November was the start of the Mexican Revolution), and had a fun housewarming party with 'Las Locas' and their friends.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1226967420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1226967420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1226967420/tpod.html Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:06:12 -0500 Txapela buruan ta ibili munduan - Is there life after Bilbao?

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Managua, Nicaragua

I didn't like it last time and still don't like it. There was still that hostile atmosphere I'd felt last time. If you're reading this and you're from Managua, please don't take offence. Please write me with good things to say about Managua.Went to see the new Bond movie. Dark and violent. Reminded me of the place where I was watching it...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1226621220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1226621220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1226621220/tpod.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:14:36 -0500 Txapela buruan ta ibili munduan - Is there life after Bilbao?

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Playa Maderas, Nicaragua

For some reason I was feeling really bummed after I left Popoyo. Certain things on my mind that I couldn't shake off....So I went back to Maderas to give myself some surf therapy. My plan was to surf non-stop for three days. No lounging around on the beach, no socializing, no snorkeling, just surfing. And this I did. On my return to the beach I jumped in the water and stayed there for three days, getting out only to eat and sleep. I was first in the water each morning, half a hour before first dawn light, and last out of the water, well after dark. Then I'd eat something and go to bed. No conversation, no beer, just sleep. Then up again the next day before dawn's first light.And dammit it worked. I was exhausted, but felt fit. I'd scored some of the best waves of the trip, small but long and perfect. And my smile came back. Time to leave the country....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1226436840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1226436840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammygrim/suramerica2007/1226436840/tpod.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:05:01 -0500 Txapela buruan ta ibili munduan - Is there life after Bilbao?

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Playa Popoyo, Nicaragua

Only spent two days here. Surfed and did very little else. Beautiful spot. Great wave. What more to say...Well, while I'm here I ought to mention the Flor De Mayo dispute. The local community of Las Salinas is locked in a land dispute with a gringo developer, Mr. Phil Christopher. I'm not going to go into the details of the dispute a) because I don't know them all and b) because when it comes to a dispute between someone who wants to build a multi-million dollar resort with condos and luxury hotels and a group of locals who need the land to make their living producing salt, I'll side with the locals. Whatever the legal ins and outs are, there is less need for luxury condos than salt in this world. Condos don't contribute to the local economy. Condos are a blight on a beautiful coastline. Condos are another way of bringing rich Americans to Nicaragua, without these people ever seeing Nicaragua as it really is, thus reinforcing the existing prejudices that most US citizens have of Central America.So, a couple of friends of mine down here have been in touch with community leaders and have set up a solidarity camp on the disputed land. They hope to spread the word about what is happening and would like to encourage anyone who is going to Popoyo to surf to get involved with them. If you are reading this and want to stop gringo development in front of classic waves, get in touch and I'll pass you on to those involved. 
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