Good Vibes Mon

After 3 buses, 2 taxis, a boarder crossing and a boat ride we land on the island of Caye Caulker, Belize. Did we mention that we slept through our stop on our overnight bus and turned our 14hr trek into a 20hr marathon. It was all worth it. Belize is a chilled out, reggae filled land on the beautiful Caribbean Sea. The island we were on was so small you could throw a baseball from the ocean on one side of the island and land it in the ocean on the other side. Belize is home to the second largest barrier reef in the world and the though of snorkling on the reef with fish of every variety, sea cows and sharks (small ones, "armless") was thrilling. What we didn´t know was that we were followed to Belize by a tropical storm. The threat of it turning into a hurricane was real and so snorkling will have to wait until Honduras. Our stay was short, the island was already split in two from a previous hurricane so our thoughts were to head inland. We loved the slow pace of the island and even in the rain in was hot! The rastas showed us good time on the streets and in cool-ass reggae bars. But alas we HAD to leave. It was off to Guatemala and the legendary Tikal.

Tikal was the most magical of all the Mayan ruins we´ve seen yet. Deep, deep in the jungle, temples shot out of the canopy. We climbed up past the tree tops on ancient stone steps (and some half assed wooden ones) and ended up looking over a vast jungle and at the same time face to face with spider and howler monkeys feeding in the tree tops. At some points we were no more than 10 feet away from the alpha male of the howler clan. There is no way to really express the magesty of this place. We hope the pictures will do it some justice. For now we are taking a rest from the furious travels in Antigua, Guatemala. We will take some much needed Spanish lessons and live with a Guatemalan family. Adios Amigos!

For some more pictures click this link:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2116230518

From coast to coast

In need of a tan, the temptation to make the long journey to the beaches of the Pacific got the best of us. After 10 hours of the windiest, scariest, make-you-sick mountain roads through beautiful coutnryside, we landed in surfer's heaven. Peurto Escondido, on the Pacific Ocean south of Mexico City, is a stretch of beach with international surfing waves anda few hostels, restaurants, surf shops, and lots of surfer dudes, along one sandy road. All we did was play in the waves all day, or they played us. We'll surf when the waves aren't 10 feet tall!

Somehow we tore ourselves away from the beach bum lifestyle that we were told we'd never leave, maybe our sunburns played a part in that. We stayed a day ina quaint colinial town in the mountains, San Cristobal de las Casas. We got lost in a maze of colors, smells, and sites of the Sunday market. Chickens, dead, alive or cooked anyway you like, fruit, clothing, barbequed armidillo, music, and anything you could ever want surrounded you through short, narrow passageways stuffed with people shopping and hollering in Spanish as far as the eye could see.

We took off from there for the jungle and the ruins of Palenque. The true experience of Palenque began when we visited the Mayan ruins. We arrived shortly after dawn as the gates opened and the surrounding jungle was filled with the roar of Holwer Monkeys, yes roar like a lion! The intense howls, lush jungle and incredible ruins gave it all a very mystical feeling. The next day in Palenque was a day to play and bask in the beauty that surrounded us. Our first stop of the day was the mighty waterfall knwon as Miso-hal, you may remember this from such films as Predator. Next was Agua Clara, not so clara but nice all the same, and then on to Agua Azul. We arrived and were awe-striken to find a series of turquoise cascades extending endlessly from a huge waterfall up into the jungle mountains. By mid-day the heat was incredible and we plunged into the beautiful pools between the falls. We frolicked under the cascading waterfalls for hours and picnicked by the shore until alas, we had to leave for it was on to Belize!
Adios for now!!

Check out some more pictures:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/id=2117251335 And more: http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2116232478

We Got Ruined

We left the beautiful San Miguel and our new friends Angelo and Virginia for the hustle bustle of Mexico City. 30 million people can´t be wrong but with the streets too insane for our membranes to handle, we decided to check out some of the sights in the Centro Historico (the Palacio Nacional, filled with murals by the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera and the Catedral Metropolitina). Enormous, colourful and detailed murals filled every wall of the palace and told stories of triumph, defeat and old traditions, while the Cathedral was an awe inspiring monument of religious dedication. Each were humbling experiences. We then jumped on the metro, were tsunamis of people pushed you on and off the train. If you weren´t a good crowd surfer, you were sure to miss your stop.
After several metros and a bus were people would try to sell you anything from food to music to flashlights to rejuvinating cream, we ended up at the Teotihuacan pyramids. We were dropped off just outside the ancient city. What remains of Mexico´s largest ancient city, an empire that spanned from the 1st C A.D. until its decline 700 years later, is a 3km stretch of ruins and pyramids along the main road, La Calzada de los Muertos, (the avenue of the dead). The most spectacular of the ruins was the pyramid del sol, the world´s 3rd largest pyramid. We made the long climb to the top and looked out onto the valley of the ancient city. We couldn´t get over the amazing amount of work, effort and time it took to create this incredible feat. We explored through the ruins for about 4hrs (4hrs of Nick singing the Indiana Jones theme) and headed back to the city for a well deserved Corona Gigante before heading out the next morning for Oaxaca and Palenque. (pictures are coming as soon as we figure it out in spanish) Adios for now.

To check out some more pictures click on the link below:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2117450702

The Jewel Of The Mexican Heartland

We arrived at our first destination, an adorable old colonial town called, San Miguel de Allende. We happened upon this small town for a week full of festivities. With the Dia de Muertos (day of the dead), Halloween, All Saints day (not the female singing sensations), and the weekend combined, there has been non-stop music, markets and an array of beautiful flower made altars celebrating the deceased. Tequilla, cigars and food are laid beside pictures of loved ones in a celebration to remember them. The atmosphere of celebration has spilled into streets and our days are filled mostly by wandering and enjoying the beauty of this old city. Especially relaxing is the people watching in the centre gardens (the jardin) which is overlooked by an enormous Baroque Cathedral which is inturn surrounded by palm trees - quite a sight. Today was a luxurious trip to la Gruta, a natural hotspring just oustside of town. Connecting pools of thermal water lead to a tunnel form where you swim into a hottub like cave. The cave was lit only by beams of sunlight through cracks in the ceiling. I felt like Indiana Jones, it was cool!!! Next is Mexico City where hopefully our limited but expanding Spanish will get us by in the big city.
Adios for Now