Archive for ‘Mexico’

January 15th, 2009

What has been the best year of your life?

In one of my conversation clubs in school here in Ukraine, I asked my students what the best year of their life has been. Questions like these, followed with a simple, “Why?”, are a great way to get them all to talk (my main goal for my classes), while also killing a ton of class time. However, a lot of the time they like to turn it around and ask me the same thing, so after thinking for just a few seconds, I confidently answered:

“It has definitely been 2008.”

“Why?” they asked (They also probably thought this was a good way to kill class time!).

I felt kind of odd answering their question. Imagine trying to explain to people in Ukraine, most of whom have never even left their own country, that travel has been the most amazing thing you have ever done. Instead of rambling on about my travel lust, I tried to keep it short and sweet and save all the details for my lovely readers (that’s you!). So, here are some of the wonderful reasons why 2008 was so great!

1. I got to travel… A lot!

In 2008, I saw many different countries: Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Poland, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Hungary.

In the grand scheme of things, that probably doesn’t seem like much. It was a whole year, afterall! But, I like to think my approach to travel is still just as interesting as those people who are taking on the whole world in a single year. Don’t get me wrong – I love to be on the move (I miss it right now actually!), but hitting up a major site for just one long weekend doesn’t quite give you the perspective I’m looking for. What happens when people go back to work and all the tourists go back home? How does life look then?

2. I did some interesting things!

3. I met some amazing people!

The people you meet on the road really make it something special – they set the tone, and even shape the memories of a place forever. Travel with someone for a few weeks, or few days even, and you feel like you’ve known them forever. I would say I’ve been lucky to have encountered such interesting and wonderful friends from my travels – all the way from my Bishkek Crew and my Baltic Gang to my now Ukraine Posse. Yup, lucky. Last year will forever be shaped by the people I’ve laughed with, cried with, smiled at, hid from, been annoyed with, been surpised by, dreamed with, dreamed about, hated, and loved.

4. I learned a lot about myself!

As cheesy as it sounds, I did learn a lot about myself during my year of travels. Well, maybe learned isn’t quite the word I’m looking for. Perhaps notions about myself, and the way I am and deal with life, became fact in my mind. No, there were no life-changing, earth-shaking discoveries, but I would say I have a better understanding of where I stand.

Cheers to the good and the bad! Nothing is perfect. In spite of all its amazingness, 2008 still had its breaking points. Oh, I’ve been all over the place. I’ve been up, down, left, right – happy, sad, you name it. Maybe I’ve been good at times at hiding such things from my blogging life, but maybe other times I haven’t. Heck, I sometimes even forget that people are actually reading this! But, what else can I say? I wouldn’t change any of those experiences or decisions in 2008 because without them, where would I be now?

What about you? What has been the best year of your life? I’d love to hear back from my readers! ;)

CategoryEstonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Ukraine | Comment5 Comments »

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September 1st, 2008

Illegal border crossings are now vacation ideas?!

So I happened to be perusing the feature articles on vagabondish.com when I came across an article called “7 Bizarre Tours You’d Actually Sign Up For… Maybe“. It is seriously full of great ideas, but nothing in that list beats old numero uno – The Illegal Border Crossing Tour in Mexico.

Is this for real?!

Yes, it is for real, and they have the link to the NY Times article of the writer that actually participated to prove it! Of course, it is only a staging of the actual act – getting arrested by border patrol for most is not a desired vacation idea – but it still sounds very thrilling. So, next time you’re in Mexico, this could be you:

border crossing

*Image from the NY Times article.

CategoryMexico, Random | CommentNo Comments »

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February 13th, 2008

From Palenque to Tikal – Muchas Ruinas

It’s been a while since my last post since Brian and I have been on the move practically every other day. I believe we left off at Palenque, Mexico – the home of one of the best preserved (or reconstructed) ruins of such a grand size. We heard many stories from other travelers (we were guidebook-less for Mexico) on how the city of Palenque is the pits, and the true charm of the area is found by sleeping in a hammock in a cabana outside of town. I, being completely freaked out by the thought of sleeping out in the jungle, decided we should take a look around town first before resorting to this option.

Luckily, town has a great hotel/hostel area, and, dripping with sweat, we found a place we were happy with, and with cable TV. I’m glad we chose to not listen to everybody else on this particular route especially because we discovered a restaurant with THE BEST nacho chips we have ever had in our lives there!

palenque in general

The following day, Brian and I braved the sweltering jungle heat to explore the gigantic ruins. Being too cheap to pay for a guide, we often found ourselves wandering aimlessly and making up stories about each temple along the way. If you go to Palenque, make sure you hit their little museum (included with entrance fee) because it definitely helps to fill in the gaps. After sweating all day, we thought it would be nice to hit up Agua Azul for some cooling off, but unfortunately, we were unable to find proper transport from the ruins straight there and decided to just call it a day.

From Palenque, we booked a ride crossing the border back into Guatemala and all the way to Tikal. There was the possibility of booking this same trip back in San Cristobal, but for 100Q more. Brian and I both felt good about waiting until in Palenque to set this up. The ride involved a shuttle to the border, a jungle boat ride across the border, and shuttle after straight to Flores (the town that acts as a hub to Tikal). Don’t be fooled by the emphasis on “jungle boat ride” because in actuality it really just felt like taking a boat down a dirty river with little vegetation. Our ride was also saddened by some news we received along the way. We met up with a Belgium guy from our hostel in San Cristobal and he told us how another girl from the hostel, who we had hung out with a few days before, drowned at Agua Azul the same day we wanted to go. It was very sad to hear about. Apparently, there are some very unsafe places to swim there, so please be aware of the warning signs if you are planning a trip to this area.

The trip had a way of redeeming itself when we were dropped off at the Guatemalan migration office. This building was very interesting in the fact it was a) in the middle of freaking nowhere, and b) surrounded by nothing but cows. You could tell these guys were bored by the fact they found such joy in annunciating and nationalizing my name.

Finally, 8 hours later, we were in our hotel in Flores and wanting to crash, but unable to call it a day just yet. We heard about a sunrise tour they do to Tikal on the bus to Flores and were determined to shop around for a better deal. We only found one, but it required you to leave the park at 11am. We didn’t like the idea of being forced to leave at any certain time, so we eventually decided to pay the 300Q for the package, which included

1) the 150Q admission to Tikal (Be aware they recently upped this rate for foreigners. Our guidebook said admission was about $7, but it is now around $20!!!)
2) roundtrip transportation
3) ability to enter the park at 4am to climb Temple IV and watch the sun rise over the park
4) guided tour for 4 hours of the temples and jungle life

Also note that if you are wanting to do a tour like this to buy the packages that INCLUDE your admission fee to the park. The people on our bus that did not pay beforehand were actually skimmed of an extra 10Q each.

sunrise tikal

The sunrise tour was great, and not so much for the sunrise, but for the ability to sit in silence and listen to the jungle wake up. Howler monkeys, parrots, and crickets filled the air. It was also nice to see most of the park in the morning when it is less busy and a lot cooler. The guide was a great addition because he helped up see wildlife we would not have otherwise – spider monkeys, tarantulas, giant elephant beetles.

That night we slept like babies, only to rise and pursue yet another adventure.


Palenque to Tikal from Brooke Schoenman on Vimeo.

CategoryGuatemala, Mexico | CommentNo Comments »

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February 4th, 2008

Money. Money for the school.

Normally, when in Guatemala, Brian and I would encounter countless kids on the streets that would break our hearts – begging for something, anything, just a measly 1Q for whatever worthless piece of junk they had in their hands. It is for these kids that we would really, truly want to help out. It’s amazing to see how a piece of gum, or a glass of agua pura, brings a little life into their faces.

Mexico has been like a vacation from traveling. We probably have a very skewed perspective of the country since we’ve only been to three very large cities where tourists come in droves, but so far we haven’t encountered any kids that have made us feel the way we did back in Guatemala. No, the kids here are craftier and definitely more vulgar if they need be, or so we found out.

Brian and I were in one of the main plazas in San Cristobal de las Casas, where we were approached multiple times by small kids wanting us to write our names in their notebook. “Please, please, your name here in English for my school,” they repeated in English. Finally, we gave in. Ok, ok, we’ll write our name. I went first.

“Here, write your first name,” the little girl said. I wrote my name.

“Here, now write your age and country.” I proceeded.

Now this is where the crafty part comes in. She had the notebook folded in half and then flipped it over and said, “Here’s where you write how much to give to our school.” Ah, I get it now. Little scammers. All the amounts from all the other people were written in the same handwriting. I looked over to Brian, just as the other girl was getting him to sign his name, and told him, “They want our money.”

I tried to give the girl back her notebook, but she wouldn’t take it back and just kept repeating, “Money, money for the school. Twenty-five for me, twenty-five for her.” Brian was trying to get out of his own mess now, too, and told the girl he didn’t have any money, which was absolutely true at the time on his part. The girl he was fighting with pointed to his pocket and said that the money was in there. Nope. Brian pulled out all the garbage from his pockets and proved there was no money there. Very frustrated now, the girls gave up, took their notebooks back, and loudly told Brian to “Fuck off,” and “Die,” as they stomped away.

Way to go, Mexico. Way to breed such aggressive little con-artists entrepreneurs. Even haggling in the markets here is more difficult! Because of the insanely cold temperatures in San Cristobal, the complete opposite of the sweat-pouring-down-your-face climate of Puerto Escondido, I was forced to buy a warm, wooly pull-over, but we definitely weren’t able to talk these people down too much. They’re good. Oh yes, very good.

Like I said, Brian and I have a very skewed perspective of this giant country. I am glad to point out a few things we’ve learned being here:

1) San Cristobal is like a very large Antigua – much richer and nicer. However, there’s not really anything to “do” inside this city, meaning you have to take day trips outside town for the real appeal – which is something maybe a Mexico guide book would have come in handy for letting us know ahead of time.

2) Sadly, I don’t like Mexican candy. I was drawn to the magical building that read “mercado de dulces” and was filled with multi-colored treats, only to be thoroughly disappointed in the end.

mexican candy

3) San Cristobal has a museum on Mayan childbirth. We opted not to endure the graphic display for a calmer museum on the Lacandon tribe. Supposedly, there are a few of the remaining 500 living in the area we’re traveling to next!

4) Puerto Escondido is good to go to if you are a surfer.

5) I’m good at sand art. Or so I like to think. sand-art-turtle.jpgsand-art-fish.jpgsand-art-crab.jpgsand-art-whale.jpg
Here we have a turtle, fish, crab and whale. I usually prefer pastels, but will work with whatever medium I got.

6) The SuperBowl is not so much popular here, even with the Americans traveling. We enjoyed the game pretty much by ourselves in the hostel.

7) We are so ready to get back to Guatemala! We’re planning to take a more adventurous route back, which involves a jungle boat ride sneaking across the border!

Overall, our Mexico detour has been enjoyable, but we find ourselves aching for more Guatemala. Puerto Escondido and San Cristobal are very beautiful cities, so I would recommend stopping by if in the area, but also be aware that these are extremely tourist driven. Also, make sure to watch out for the sneaky “money for the school” girls in San Cristobal!

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January 31st, 2008

Ants!

As we sat at dinner, I started to feel a slight tickle in my shirt. The tickles kept coming and going, while I scratched and attacked in between sentences. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “I have ants in my bra!”

There are few things I hate more than insects. I knew that coming to Central America could pose a threat to me, comfort-wise, in this area, but so far there hasn’t been too much drama. Our room in San Pedro liked to attract big, nasty spiders, such as the one below. Luckily, Brian would take care of this for me without complaints since he knew I wouldn’t be able to relax until it was so.

spider in my room

I guess we’ve just reached that prime climate here on the Pacific coast of southern Mexico because the main problem we’re dealing with is of all the freaking ants everywhere. I was walking down the street on our first day in Puerto Escondido and felt a sting on my toe. I looked down to see a little bitty ant clinging on for dear life. I’ve woken up to many random ant bites on my body. At restaurants, they’ve tried to crawl into our drinks and further onto us from the table cloth.

Back at our hotel I noticed ants all over the floor, which I proceeded to sweep out of the room. The next morning, the other bed (we paid for a triple) that had all of our stuff on it was crawling with ants – the little itty bitty kind that hide themselves so well until there’s a swarm. We frantically shook all of our stuff off and hung whatever we could up, but it was of no use. The ants persist.

The ants at the hotel became so bad that Brian and I bared the extreme heat here to cross town in search of another place to stay. Ok, so we also wanted to find another place to stay in order to save some money. Our new hotel is half the price of the other and a 5 minute walk from the beach still. Now, however, we feel as though we’ve traded one bad thing for another because instead of ants we just have tons of surfers. There is far too much testosterone and MTV present downstairs. And just like ants, or cheerleaders, it is possible to put up with maybe one or two at a time, but when there’s an entire group together at once, they just have a way of causing irritation.

*I don’t really hate surfers. Just the ones we have here.
**This is a dramatization of actual events. Well, while some ants were harmed in the making of this blog post, Puerto Escondido is actually quite pleasant.
***We leave tomorrow night for another 13 hour bus ride to San Cristobal de las Casas. Maybe we’ll actually get our butts off the beach and do something now.

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January 29th, 2008

Hello from Mexico

When Brian and I arrived in Xela over a week ago and had to resort to buying what we call “winter apparel”, we both decided a trip to the beach was in order. Unfortunately, Guatemala is not known for its beaches, and since we were already so close to the Mexico border, we headed north all the way to Puerto Escondido, or what we like to call Paradise. It wasn’t an easy trek, that’s for sure. Here’s a little recap:

1. Got rid of hair. Brian has been sporting a beard for some time now, but when he returns to work and goes clean shaven, he doesn’t want a freaky beard tan line. He decided to get a cut and shave from a salon down the road.

2. Said bye to the host family. We had been living with our host family for a week, and you can really tell they have people coming and going a lot because it was no thing to them to see us go. Overall, it was great. The mother cooked us 3 meals a day and provided Spanish chit-chat whenever we wanted to practice. The daughter was also always ready to talk, whether we knew what she was saying or not.

3. Waited for our shuttle to Tapachula. We left on Sunday morning at 7:30 for a four hour trip across the border. If only you could tell how cold I actually felt at this moment. I think I only showered 3 times that week in Xela because the heaters in the shower didn’t work too well on already really freezing water.

brooke in the cold

4. Enjoyed the scenery. The shuttle ride was awesome because you could see the landscape change from mountainous to more tropical plains filled with coffee trees. We also noted the temperature change drastically as we shed every layer of extra clothing we could, converted our pants to shorts, and threw on our sandals. Here’s a cool picture of an active volcano we passed along the way. Supposedly it erupts like every 45 minutes, which you can see is probably true since it, and the mountain behind it, is covered in ash.

ash volcano

5. Tried to speak Spanish. Once in Tapachula, we had 12 hours to kill before our bus left to Puerto Escondido. It was truly 12 hours in Hell, and not only because it was flippin’ hotter than Hades and we had no place to call home except a boring/crowded bus station, but also because we realized that our 3 weeks of Spanish lessons were not paying off. Up until crossing the border, Brian and I both felt pretty confident in our ability to communicate with people only in Spanish, but even ordering a bus ticket in Mexico posed a threat. Simple questions such as, “Can we pay with cash?” and, “What is this thing on the menu?” resulted in major, major confusion. What’s the deal, Mexico?!

6. Rode a 1st class bus for 13 hours. Yep, that’s right. Our ride from Tapachula to Puerto Escondido was a 13 hour, overnight ride. It really felt like being on a plane for 13 hours, so even though it was long, it was quite bearable. Towards the end, however, I did start to feel a bit nauseous from the constantly winding roads.

7. Arrived in Paradise. We made it to Puerto Escondido, and checked into our sweet pad. We are the only people currently staying in our hostel and it has a kitchen, pool, Jacuzzi, fridge and satellite TV in the room, and its only a 5 minute walk to the beach. I’m usually not much of a beach person, but after a cold, cold week in Xela, it was necessary.

brooke beach

beach day

That’s all for now. Nothing much exciting going on. We’re just taking a vacation from traveling and Spanish classes before heading back to the eastside of Guatemala.

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