Tulum

AHHHH!!!
Ok, So I know it has been a long time, but life has been so good to me that I`ve had no time to update everyone on what I am doing. Here it goes...
I left Isla Mujeres after two weeks of hanging out with an amazing group of people and could have probably stayed there forever, except that there is so much more that I need to see and experience and as difficult as it was to leave I took a bus to Tulum.
Tulum is a few hours south of Cancun on the coast and there you can find amazing beaches with beautiful blue waters and a gorgeous ruin that sits on the edge of a cliff by the beach. I arrived in Tulum and walked to the weary traveller which is a hostel on the main road. I arrived there alone, but as soon as I walked in I ran into people I had previously met in Isla Mujeres and instantly felt better, it´s nice when traveling to run into people you already know. I got myself a room with Justin who I had met earlier in my trip and his friend Nitai. My first night was very mellow, hung out at the hostel met some new people and went to bed fairly early. The next day we got a group together and went to the beach, the plan would be to hang out there and later go to the ruins which are very close to the beach.
The beach in Tulum is absolutely gorgeous, the sand is as white as it can be and the water a very light turquoise, further out you can see the coral reef and dive boats taking their trips. We got to the beach and instantly went into the water. It felt amazing and we just laughed, talked, floated and reminded ourselves of how blessed we are and how good our lives are. We hung around the beach and I decided to go for a run. The beach here is kinda long and not small beaches like in Isla so it was a lot easier to run. I put in my ipod and ran accross this beautiful beach from rock point to rock point, looking at the beach side cabañas and the ruins on my side, it had been a while since my last beach run and it was great to feel the sweat on my body and my legs working out. After the run and some sit ups we decided to hit up the ruins.

Now the ruins here are not very big, and are not well preserved, but seeing how they lived, at the edge of the cliff, seeing how their temples were organized is incredible and an amazing sight. These people really knew how to live and found a great place to do it. We walked around the ruins, observing their beauty and talking about our lives, then we went home, had dinner and finished off the night with a few beers and card games.

The next morning I woke up and made myself some delicious pancakes at the hostel and decided I would go diving in the Cenotes, which are underground freshwater caves. There are a lot of them in this area of Mexico and Icould not miss my opportunity. Usually you have to book diving trips the day before and most leave early in the morning, but thankfully in Mexico things work a little differently. I was planning on diving in the afternoon, but went to the shop in the morning to find out some information. The guy told me the morning group had not started their dive yet and he would personally drive me to the site. We got to a beautiful park where I met the dive master that would be taking us into the caves. You have to have special training for that and carry two tanks. He explained to us the dive, how long we would be under, all the info and handed me a flashlight. This was my first freshwater dive and jumping into the water felt very different. The visibility is insane and the fishes are very small and few. We started in a big opening and slowly swam down to a deeper cave. It is so scary and beautiful at the same time, using a flashlight for guidance and sometimes the sunlight would shine in through holes. I did two beautiful dives where we swam trhough different caves obeserving rock formations, shining my flashlight on little fishes and seeing huge shadows against the cave walls. It is so quiet, serene and beautiful underwater and coming out of a dark cave into a beautiful blue opening with sunlight shining through the water is amazing!!! I could not have been happier with this dive, it was very different from my previous dives, but very special in its own way. Pictures will be added soon, so please check back!
That same night Justin and I took an overnight bus to Palenque where new adventures were waiting for us.

Isla Mujeres, el paraiso.

As I sit here writing this I am thinking about the great days that have passed and how I`ve been doing nothing and still haven`t had time to sit down and update the blog. I have however been thinking about all of you and how much I want everyone to experience this.
My last day in Mexico city was great. I went with an Argentinian girl, Simona, who I met the day before at the pyramids, to this incredible area of Mexico City that I had no idea even existed unitl I got here. Xochimilco are a bunch of canals in an area of the city. These canals are beautiful, with little homes on the sides, lots of nature, and trajineras floating around. Trajineras are these long coloful boats where you can fit about 14 people. These canals when they are happening get packed and go on till 4 in the morning. Mexicans come with their family and friends and spend the nights floating around and partying. There are other boats floating around that come to serve you beer, tacos and you can even call over the mariachi boat and they attach themselves to your boat and play songs as you are floating through these beautiful canals. So I spent the day floating around the canals eating delicious tacos and drinking coronas. It really is a magical place full of life and fun in the middle of this huge city.

But, as it will happen a lot in this trip, it was time to leave and I repacked my huge bag and headed to the beach for a nice time in the sun. I flew into Cancun and they announced as I arrived that it was 36 degrees. Instantly a smile took over my face and i could foresee the amazing days I would be spending on the beach. I took the bus from the airport into the city center and walked a few blocks to catch a taxi to the puerto Juarez, because it would be chaper away from the bus station. The few blocks that I walked with my gigantic bag in really hot weather made me drenched in a few minutes. I honestly don`t think I have ever sweat so much. As I arrived at the port I came to face with truly gorgeous water, the turquoise is so beautiful and powerful that the far away rain clouds were not just grey, but reflected the bluish green of the ocean.The ferry ride was about half an hour long and I arrived into Isla Mujeres. A tiny gem in this ocean. The island actually reminds me a bit of parts of Ilha Bela, how quiet and beautiful it is, also all of the bugs. I walked through the small streets in the burning heat all the way to the hostel Poc Na, which is a peace of heaven in this world. It is located on the sand, with a beach bar,volleyball court, awesome people and a great staff. It is really a home for all of the traveling folk and here I`ve met all sorts of people from different places and the majority have been traveling for a long time, 6 months, 1.5 years and even 8 years on the road. The travel bug is really contagious around these areas and everyone has been to the most amazing places and have incredible plans for the rest of their travels. It`s great being around people on the same page and exchanging stories.

My first day on the island I decided to rent a bike and ride it to the south side of the island where there is supposed to be this great snorkeling spot. The island is 8km long and the short ride to the other side was beautiful and hot. on the way I stopped at a turtle farm and got to see hundreds of baby turtles as they get ready to be released into the ocean. At the snorkeling place I spent a few hours laying in the sun, going in and out of the amazing water and snorkeling with beautiful little fishes that would follow me around. For lunch I ordered some ceviche from the beach bar and sat watching the water and enjoying my day. Out of nowhere this huge iguana appears and starts to walk towards me. It was a huge animal! A baby dinosaur coming towards me, I instantly froze. This animal kept coming and it looked like it wanted my food. I sat quietly and ate, waiting for the animal to leave but it just sat there concentrated watching me eat and later retreated back to the shade. So weird! At the beach I met a couple from madrid and we decided to ride our bikes back into town. As we are riding and laughing I can`t stop thinking about how good life is and how much I love riding bikes. As I am thinking that, two boys in a moped ride by and the the one in the back extends his arm and takes the bag that the girl from Madrid had placed on her basket. They ride away as she is riding behind them screaming powerlessly as they speed away till we can`t see them anymore. She stops in front of a hotel, crying and panicking about her bag and documents that were inside it. We then started to speak to the people around, calling thepolice and trying to figure out what we can do about this situation. We hear from a person that was selling shell necklaces and another guy that was on his bike that they knew who the driver of the bike was. Both say they know the mother of the kid who must have been around 17. They leave before the police get there and we then talk to the police to see what can be done since we now think that we know who this kid is and it is a pretty small island. The husband says he will not leave the island until they find this kid. We then climb to the back of a police pick up and ride around the island looking for this kid. We get to his house, he is standing outside and quickly goes back in. We then go get more police and some other people with badges and finally go into their house, recognize the kids who admits he was driving the bike and tells us who his friend was. By the time I left the crazy situation, which I ended up getting a tour of island in the back of a police pick up and a ride back home, they were looking for the second guy. I left the couple from Madrid who looked confident that they were going to get their bag back, not wnating to press any charges just wanting their documents so that they could leave. It was a really interesting experience in this island. The night before I had met other locals and everyone was so great and now as I walked back into the hostel I had such a strange feeling of uncertainty and false security. But thankfully nothing had happened to me and I look past this accident to be able to enjoy the island.

At night there was another party at the beach bar and we danced in the sand and had a great time, with all sorts of languages being spoken at different point in the night.The next day I
decided to go diving. What an amazing day!!!!!! Now the watwr was beautufil and the fish I saw were great, but the best part of this diving trip is that my guide was also spearfishing, Now I think there is some rule about spearfishing and not using scuba equipment, but clearly these guys did not care about it. It was so much fun to dive looking for something. We caught all sorts of snappers and other fishes and I had to carry the bag full of fish as we dove. Which freaked me out a little. Its a little bit sacry to carry a bag of bleeding fish and not think about a shark coming my way. I guess it if it did I would have two choices to drop the fish and cry as I swim away or attempt to negotiate my life for the bag of fish. Thankfully no sharks came along and it was a pretty smooth two dive day trip, well partly smooth... the tiny boat, they wait between dives, the movement of the ocean and the drinks from the night before did make me feed the fish as we waited for the other divers to come up. After we got back to land, the boys cleaned the fish and sent it to a restaurant to cook them for us. As we waited we cut onions, tomatoes, cilantro and chilles to make fresh pico de gallo. The cooked fish came back in a paper box that was placed on the center of the table right next to the warm tortillas, right there we dug into the whole fish grabbing huge chuncks of fish and eating the freshest and most delicious fish tacos I've ever had. We sat in the back of the shop, toes in the sand talking about dive stories and just stories in general and eating delicious fish we had just caught. It was such a beautiful and amazing experience and everyone I've met in the island has been so great. I had planned on staying in the island for 3 nights, but have met such a great group of people that it is so hard to leave and I can see my plans continue to change. Here everyone is in the same mindset, living this island/travel life where we remind each other of how good life is every other minute, I've seriously never heard so many people saying how much they love life and as many times as i have heard here. I'll be leaving in a few days, but for now the daily routine of waking up, having a fruit salad with yogurt and granola, going to the beach, swimming around,hanging out, getting food, going back to the beach, getting beers, playing beach volleyball - I've gotten pretty ood playing everyday, haha-back to the beach for sunset swims and then a relaxing night on the beach bar. Ir sometimes crazy nights of dacing and eating scorpions which then are washed down with tequila. Yes! I ate and chewed a scorpion and as soon as I figure this out I will post more photos and a video. It's hard to get things done here in the island, but I will try my best to write more updates and will be leaving soon to the ruins of Tulum. for now Paz y Amor, life is absolutely beautiful and sunset swims are incredible!

Ciudad de Mexico

I arrived in Mexico City half an hour earlier than the scheduled time, it was five-thirty in the morning an pitch black. I had imagined arriving in the morning and having my first sight of the city in daylight, instead I arrived to see a gigantic yellow full moon in the sky. It was a beautiful sight and I was very happy to have arrived.

I paid ahead for a local taxi to take me to my hostel which is located near the Zocalo in el Centro Historico. As we drove by the cab driver explained to me the bad neighborhoods an places I should not be alone at night. He pointed out the prostitutes in the streets and we drove by a small street filled with cops looking into and opening parked cars. Already I was seeing many different sidea of the city, that may be scary sights at first, but get blurred and forgotten after being in the city and seeing what it is really like.

As we drove to the hostel we passed el Zocalo, which is the plaza de la contitucion, located in the middle of the city surrounded by the Palacio Nacional, government offices, shops and on the north side the beautiful Catedral Metropolitana. After getting to the hostel I quietly slipped into the dorm room and slept for a few hours before going out for a city tour. I know comparisons aren´t very good, but I think as human beings sometimes we need comparisons to explain something we see or feel. Mexico City to me is beautiful and lively, so many people in the streets, lots of things happening. It reminds me a little of cities like Buenos Aires, Barcelona and Sao Paulo. Very busy with big avenues and statues spread throughout the city. The number of outside cafes and bars is incredible and you get this amzing sense of being alive as you walk through the city.



My first two days I spent walking around the city through different neighborhoods, visiting parks, markets and museums. The city has so many museums, from Frida Kahlo´s house to a castle on top a mountain, to the Bellas Artes, Diego Rivera´s murals and so far my favorite the Anthropology museum. This museum is all about the indigeous groups in different parts of mexico and their development. I absolutely loved it! Seeing stautes of chac mol reminded of AP Spanish Lit in high school and all of the history I had learned but forgotten. At night I met with my friend Isabel´s cousin Antonio and his friend Pepe and they took me out to eat and visit different parts of the city like Coyocan and Condesa where I had delicious sea food! They´ve been awesome in taking me around, teaching me about the city and giving me a real taste of Mexico so I don´t feel too much like a tourist. With them I´ve also been praticing a lot of my spanish and trying to pick up on the local lingo. It really has been great!

I went to visit the piramids in Teotihuacan and had an amazing day, met a really sweet German girl who is traveling alone for 12 months and who I plan on running into later in my trip as well as french girls whom I got to us a little bit of my rusted french with. The pyramids are an incredible sight, there are flutes being played and the warm wind at the top of the pyramid was really powerful and an amazing feeling. It really is crazy looking at how developed these societies were such a long time ago.

One of the coolest things I´ve seen so far is the Agave plant and everything they use it for.
They wrap nopales in it for cooking for flavor, they got their first paper out of the plant, they used the tip of its heart as arrows and sweing needles ( which have the fiber of the plant as thread and can be died using flowers!!), and finally they make tequila and agave licquor out of it. I really was amazing to see all of these things and how ingenious nature is. After the pyramids I went out with an Argentinian girl and some guys from Colombia. It has been really great meeting people and learning so much about Mexico. I plan on staying in Mexico City for a few more days to really get a feeling for the city but then I am running away to the beach! My body really is thirsty for the salty water and big cities as cool as they may be remind me of how much I want to be laying out in a small island sipping on coconut water...