On 9th July, after exploring Japan for almost 2 months, I caught a direct flight across the Pacific to Vancouver in Canada. I was a little sad to be leaving Asia, but now I had the Americas to explore!
My flight arrived in Vancouver in the early afternoon of 10th July and I traveled directly to a hostel on Main street, in the downtown area. The friendly hostel was located in a pretty seedy part of town with a large number of undesirable people. The weather was cool but sunny, ideal for exploring the city and the large Stanley Park. My preconception of Vancouver was of a pristine modern city and so I found the large number of beggars and drug users quite a surprise. Stanley Park was certainly beautiful and I spent several days walking around the 'Sea wall' and visiting the outdoor pools. As always with North American cities Vancouver didn't really hold my attention and so I planned a trip up to the Rockies.
I met a Swiss guy called Eric, and together we
decided to hire a car for a week and explore the Banff & Jasper National Parks up in
the Rockies. We managed to recruit two other travelers for the trip, a German girl called
Aino, and a Japanese girl called Shoko. On 16th July we collected our Grand Am V6, loaded
up and set of for the Rockies. The first day we drove for about 10 hours and arrived at a
campsite just outside Revelstoke at about 22.00. After building a campfire we cracked open
the beers and were laughing and joking to 2.00am - not to the amusement of the more
serious Canadian campers! The following morning we continued our drive up through the
scenic Glaciers National Park to Lake Louise in the Banff National Park.
We spent 5 nights traveling up the Icefields Parkway
between Lake Louise and Jasper. Over the five days we did some great hikes including Lake
Louise, Lake Moraine, Lark Valley, Sentinel Pass, Columbia Icefields, Athabasca Falls,
Angel Glacier and Maligne Canyon. One day we did a short but exhilarating white water
rafting trip down the Malign River - great fun! While in the Rockies we managed to see a
good deal of wildlife including Black Bears, Elk, Big Horned Sheep, Moose and some large
birds of prey. We all agreed that the scenery was some of the most beautiful we had seen
anywhere in the world.
I returned to Vancouver and then traveled across to
Victoria on Vancouver Island. Victoria really was a little corner of England with Double
Decker buses, red telephone boxes and High Tea served throughout the city. After a few
days in Victoria I joined a one week camping tour of the island. There were about ten of
us in the group with people from England, Switzerland, Holland and Canada - a friendly
crowd! Our first main stop was Long Beach in the Pacific Rim National Park on the ocean
battered west coast of the island. We also visited the magnificent Cathedral Grove with
it's centuries old Douglas Fir and giant Red Cedars. Another highlight of the week was
trekking in Strathcona National Park and climbing to the summit of one of the peaks, where
we were rewarded with views right out over the Straight of Georgia across to the mainland.
On 18th August I caught the Victoria Line Ferry for
the sailing from Victoria to Seattle in the USA. On the four and a half hour sailing there
was great scenery and it was cool to arrive in Seattle by sea. Seattle was a nice enough
city but I was really interested in going south, so I set about getting a group together
to hire a car for the drive down to San Francisco. I managed to arrange a group with two
English girls, Vanessa and Karen, and a Swiss guy called Martin. We hired a car for a week
with the objective of following the coast down to San Francisco. We set on the morning of
21st August, dropped into a large supermarket and bought a slab of beer and five litres of
wine, and then headed for Mt. Rainier. Mt. Rainier is an awesome glacier covered 14,411
feet high volcano. We drove as high as we could and set up camp at Mowich Lake in the Mt.
Rainier National Park. From the campsite we did a 5 hour hike up the mountain to a
beautiful high alpine area and then returned to our basic tents for a very chilly night.
On the drive south past past Portland, Oregon, we
had spectacular views of the infamous Mt. St. Hellens and then we picked up the coastal
Highway 101. We spent a fun night at the beach in the Fort Stevens State Park and made
quite a dent in our alcohol reserves! We all went out on a whale watching tour form
Depoe Bay and managed to see whales within a few minutes, however, the 10 feet ocean swell
made the whole trip more like a white knuckle ride. Further south we stopped in a deserted
campsite near Florence and the Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area. The campsite was
amongst the sand dunes, and since we had the 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert' sound track
we decided to have a wild evening of cross dressing and alcohol abuse. It was certainly an
evening to remember, but we had the run the car battery completely flat, so it took us a
couple of hours to find someone who would jump start us. Another highlight of the trip was
seeing the giant trees of the Redwood National Park in northern California.
We drove across the Golden Gate bridge and arrived in
San Francisco as planned on the afternoon of 27th August. That evening I met up with Eric,
the Swiss guy who I had done the Canadian Rockies trip with, and we agreed to hire another
car and head down to San Diego. Eric and I had decided to travel down through Mexico
together, but agreed we would spend a week relaxing in San Diego first. While out drinking
one night we met a couple of US Navy guys and they took us on to the Naval base and gave
us a tour of the huge aircraft carrier, US Kitty Hawk - we even go to go up on to the
bridge. While in San Diego we visited the world famous Zoo, but the real highlight was our
15,000 feet free fall parachute jump. We opened the shoots at around 4,500 feet, so we
fell for around 10,000 feet which gave us around a minute of free fall - mind blowing!
On 16th September Eric and I took the San Diego Trolley bus to the border and walked through the rotating steel gate into Mexico. There were no US or Mexican immigration formalities, so we had to search out a Mexican Immigration office to pick up our Tourist Cards. The lack of officialdom for the entry into Mexico was sharply contrasted by a huge facility for the entry into the USA! From the border it was a ten minute walk into the center of Tijuana. Tijuana, although Mexico's 4th largest city, was rather featureless, sun bleached and dusty - but there were some great bars!
From Tijuana we traveled on to Mexicali, from where we caught an express bus for the 24 hour journey down to Mazatlán. Just after leaving Mexicali the bus took us through the Desierto de Altar, which had a landscape of sand dunes, Cinder Cones and dark lava flows. The following morning, just after crossing the Tropic of Cancer line, we arrived in the coastal town of Mazatlán. We checked into a lovely old colonial hotel in the historic part of town and then decided to get into the spirit of things and have a siesta. The old town was not surprisingly very Spanish in character, with several peaceful plazas, a busy Plaza Mayor with a Cathedral, and a recently renovated 17th century opera house. The old town contrasted sharply to the tourist Mecca of the new town, which was featureless and swarming with Americans with too much money. We spent a week in Mazatlán relaxing, enjoying the beach, adjusting to Latin American culture and planning our trip through Mexico.
Next we took a 7 hour bus trip up to the city of
Durango, at an altitude of 1,924m. When we left Mazatlán it was 30 degrees Celsius and at
the highest pass there was a sprinkle of snow on the ground! From Durango it was another 5
hours onto Zacatecas which was even higher at 2,495m. Zacatecas was a lovely city, with
winding narrow flagstone paved streets lined with ornate colonial buildings. There were
many small plazas, ornate fountains and an impressive cathedral dating from 1750. We spent
four days exploring the city and took in a concert at the old colonial Teatro Calderón.
From Zacatecas we also visited the nearby Mesoamerican ruins of Chicomostoc. The ruins
were beautifully located up a hillside looking out over a dry Nopal cactus landscape and
included an impressive 'Pyramid of the Sun' and 'Palace of Eleven Columns'.
The old university city of Guanajuato was our next
stop. The city has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Zone and was certainly very
attractive. Built in the narrow gorge of the Guanajuato river at an altitude of 2,010m and
surrounded by dramatic countryside, the city has a beautiful setting. Apart from the
numerous old colonial buildings the city has an unusual network of subterranean streets.
We spent five days in the city and did an interesting day trip out to one of the nearby
silver mines. Guanajuato also had a large population of travelers and expats so the night
life was pretty active.
From Guanajuato we traveled to the major city of
Guadalajara where we spent a few days before continuing onto Uruapan. We stopped at the
pleasant town of Uruapan to do a trip out to the ruins of a village called San Juan. San
Juan had been engulfed by a river of lava when the Paricutin volcano had erupted in 1943.
The village was totally destroyed except for the church who's spires still stood in the
sea of black lava. It was amazing to see how the lava had literally flowed into the church
and somehow the spires had remained standing.
Next we visited the pretty town of Pátzcuaro built on the shore of Lago Pátzcuaro. The town is regarded as one of the prettiest in Mexico and has narrow cobbled streets, shady plazas, and white and brown painted houses. Around the lake are many Tarascan Indian villages which gives the whole region a distinct character. We also took a boat out to the island of Janitzio which has a large Indian population.
On 16th October we arrived in Mexico City, one of the world's largest cities. We caught the subway to the Zocalo (Plaza Mayor) in the center of the city and found a comfortable little hotel nearby. Despite it's reputation we found the city clean, efficient and friendly. We had a couple of good nights out in the Zona Rosa and found some good bars with live music. A couple of the highlights of our visit were the world famous Museo de Antropologia and watching bull fights in the world's largest bull ring.
From Mexico City we did a day trip out to the
spectacular ruins of Teotihuacan, some 50km NE of the city. Just as we arrived we saw a
display by the Voladores - acrobats who throw themselves, tied by the feet, from the top
of a 30m pole and let the rope gradually unwind and lower them to the ground. After the
acrobatic display we entered the extensive complex of ruins. First we walked along the 3km
long 'Street of the Dead' to the gigantic 64m high 'Pyramid of the Sun'. We climbed to the
top of the huge terraced pyramid for a bird's eye view of the ruins. The complex was
apparently built by a pre-Aztec civilization around 300 BC, and the city is thought to
have had a population of 250,000 people.
Despite its rather passé reputation we decided that
we would spend a week down in Acapulco. We caught an express bus down from Mexico City and
managed to get a great apartment near to the beach. The beach, although backed by high
rise hotels, was still impressive and there was a fun atmosphere. It felt great to be back
in the heat after the best part of a month up in the sierra. While in Acapulco we went
down to see the famous High Divers do their stuff and visited the markets in the old town.
After Acapulco we continued to the town of Oaxaca. Oaxaca was another beautiful colonial city and seemed extremely popular with the tourists. We explored the town, but the highlight was probably the Monte Albán ruins set on top of an artificially flattened hill. The ruins were of the ancient capital of the Zapotec culture and included pyramids, terraces, tombs, ball courts, plazas and ceremonial platforms. Back in Oaxaca we watched the 'Dia de los Muertos' (Day of the Dead) celebrations.
From Oaxaca it was a 12 hour followed by 5 hour bus
trip to the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque. The ruins were enchanting and included a
palace, temples and tombs, dating from 300 - 600 AD. We climbed to the top of the 'Temple
of Inscriptions' and then down into the funerary crypt of Lord Pacal, Pelenque's greatest
ruler. In all we spent several hours exploring the site - a magical place! After Palenque
we traveled back out of tropical lowlands to the town of San Cristobal de las Casas, in
the state of Chiapas. San Cristobal de las Casas had a good size indigenous population
which gave it quite a different feel from the Latin towns and cities we had previously
visited. The markets were particularly colorful and great places to see some of the local
indigenous people in their traditional dress.
On 8th November we caught an early morning bus to the border with Guatemala at Ciudad Cuhautemoc. We crossed the border into Guatemala without any bother and boarded a 1st class bus to Chimaltenango. The 7 hour journey took us through spectacular scenery with lush mountains rising all around us. We went via Huehuetenango and saw several groups of people dressed in bright, multi-colored traditional costumes. From Chimaltenango it was a further 20km ride on a local 'Chicken bus' to Antigua, the old capital of Guatemala.
Antigua was set on a 1,500m high plateau and
surrounded by large volcanoes including Agua at 3,760m, Acatenango 3,976m and Fuego
3,763m. The city felt more like a town with single or double story colonial style
buildings and quaint cobbled streets. A large proportion of the inhabitants had some
indigenous ancestry - quite distinct from most of Mexico. Antigua had long been one of
'the places' to learn Spanish, so there were a good number of foreigners and backpackers.
Eric and I decided to spend a couple of weeks learning Spanish at one of the schools. We
ended up choosing a school called Don Pedro de Alvarado which had a great package for
US$95 per week. The deal included 4 hours daily one-to-one tuition with board and lodging
at the house of a local family.
It was a fun couple of weeks learning Spanish and
staying with a local family. I felt myself improving rapidly and was glad that we had
decided to go to school. In Antigua we soon found our favorite cafe, Cafe Doña Lisa, and
would hang out there in the afternoons chatting and treating ourselves to coffee with
cakes. For the evening, after our homework of course, we found a few basic cantinas for
the occasional beer. While in Antigua we heard story after story of people being mugged or
raped in Guatemala, then one Friday we discovered that a school trip had been ambushed
just outside town and that one of the teachers had been shot through the head. Guatemala
was a beautiful but dangerous country!
Eric and I decided to spend Christmas at the nearby Lago Atitlan, but first we would do a loop up through Belize to the Mayan ruins of Tikal and then back to Antigua. We set off on 25th November and first traveled to the lively and friendly town of Chiquimula. From Chiquimula we traveled north to the port of Puerto Barrios on the Caribbean coast. It was certainly very different down on the hot steamy lowlands with the banana plantations and Negro population. Puerto barrios was a typical scruffy port town and didn't feel overly safe. The following day we managed to arrange tickets for the ferry to Punta Gorda in southern Belize. Before leaving we had to visit the Immigration Office and wake up the official who was sleeping in his hammock, so that we could get our exit stamps for Guatemala.
On 29th November, after our 3 hour ferry ride, we arrived in Punta Gorda, Belize. Punta Gorda was a pretty little town with many small colorful houses built among the palm trees on the sea shore. We quickly caught the James Line bus, an old American school bus, to Dangriga. Dangriga was really Caribbean with an almost totally black Garifuna population. The friendly locals spoke English, but the heavy Garifuna accent made it quite a challenge to understand.
From Dangriga we caught a boat out to Tobacco Caye, one of the coral quays, and stayed on
the tiny island for a week. The coral quay was only 200m across, with about 50 palm trees
and a few huts that that you could stay in. The island was also right on the famous reef
so the snorkeling was wonderful - quite the tropical paradise! Another highlight of our
stay was the wonderful fresh fish meals that we had prepared for us every day. After our
week of relaxation we were ready to move on and so we traveled to the town of San Ignacio,
near the Belize / Guatemala border. Set in the mountains, San Ignacio was a lively little
town popular with travelers. We stayed for three nights and did a little walking and spent
a day canoeing on the Macal river. Our guided canoe trip took us through some great
mountain and rainforest scenery, and we saw a good deal of wildlife including many 1-2m
long iguanas and birds.
On 9th December we crossed the border back
into Guatemala and traveled via Flores to the Tikal National Park. It was much more
expensive to stay in the National Park, but we decided we wanted to beat the crowds so it
was worth it. After some lengthy negotiations we managed to get a good deal at the Jaguar
Inn. Since we were staying right next to the ruins we were able to visit them in the late
afternoon when all the tourists had gone. Tikal thrived between the 3rd and 10th centuries
AD and was one of the most powerful Mayan cities. The huge temples and public building
complexes were spread over a large area in the rainforest. We watched the sun go down from
the top of Temple IV, from where we could see dense jungle in all directions punctured by
the towering temples of the ancient Mayan city. The following morning we watched the
sunrise from the top of the Lost World Pyramid. I will never forget standing on top of the
pyramid and watching the sun rise over the misty tropical forest, with the eerie
sounds of the Howler Monkeys and the brightly colored Toucans flying just above the tree
tops.
From Tikal it was a couple of days journey
back via Flores and Antigua to the beautiful Lago Atitlán. Lago Atitlán, at an altitude
of 1,562m, was a deep blue color and surrounded by mountains and volcanoes. Around the
lake were several villages named after the apostles and housing three different Indigenous
tribes. We caught a launch across the lake to the pretty village of San Pedro la Laguna
and found a nice little guest house run by American missionaries. The village was set on
the steep slopes of the Volcán San Pedro and surrounded by coffee plantations.
After traveling together
for over 4 months, Eric returned to Switzerland on 21st December for Christmas. I met some
fun people at the hostel and stayed on for Christmas and New Year in San Pedro. Christmas
Day was really great as Glenda, the American manageress, cooked a huge traditional lunch
and in the afternoon we all went swimming in the lake. I became pretty friendly with the
owners of the guest house and ended up running the place for several weeks while they
returned to the US to visit relatives. I had a fairly calm but pleasant New Year at a
local bar with the other guests from our hostel.