Puerto and the life.

hello all!

Sorry i havn´t written for a while! We are still here in Puerto Escondito and it has been a bautiful place to spend time on the beach. We found a great place to stay called Cabanas Edda owned by a really sweet old german,mexican lady. Here we met some great people to spend time with including Sky (the hippie from Califonia), Louis (the bricklayer from Denmark), Tari (the too-cool Aussie), Flo (The quiet Frenchman), Steve (The Canadian schmoozer), Jeorge (the German who sold everything) and JP and Mythrel both canadian who have since left.... Anyway, we´ve had a great time getting to know so many different people and trying to speak a lot of different languages. We´ve spent most of our time lounging on the beach, cooking food, walking around, playing beach volleyball and reading.

Unfortunately our trip is getting cut short because we feel we want to be back home with friends and family since hearing about the new that one of Dustins good friend´s Aaron Elliot has passed away. We managed to get a change of flight and bus to Mexico city for this evening.

Dustin is currently trying to surf, so i better go and watch so that i can make fun of him! Damn i have a lot of mosquito bites!

Thanks for following the journey, i hope to see everyone soon and i´m sure stories of the trip will come up for many years to come.

Linds


Tari serving an AMZING serve i´m sure!

Cooking dinner,BBQ at Cabanas Edda!

Dustin chillin in our hammok, i think he should put this on his business card!

The puerto Escondito Surf.

beach volleyball last night.

beach

hey all, we are here and safe, still at the beach and found some nice people to spend time with.

Bad news from your way. Dustin,s good friend Aaron Elliot passed away in a car accident last night so we,re a lot confused.
Don,t worry about us, well be in touch soon and after i make any sense of this i will find the words to write.

linds

beach bums....really

hello all you followers!
Not much to report on since we are now at the beach and thats pretty much it. Our days consist of eating, swimming, sitting, reading, drawing and trying to stay out of the sun. The waves are pretty crazy but its nice because the water is warm and Dustin will actually go swimming. We found a couple good spots to eat here in Zipolite and although the days are pretty warm the nights cool down comfortably to sleep.
Today we got up enough energy to make it up the coast to Mazunte to check out another beach and pretty much did the same thing there that we do here except that we went for a hike along the rocky coast... hahaha. We will be headed to Puerto Escondito tomorrow i think, which is about an hour and a half up the coast. We hope to spend more time there since it seems as though a bit more is happening. Things slow down here around 10 pm at the latest so we bought a deeck of cards to play crazy eights! I won last night. The slow pace is nice but not really our style. I{m trying to appreciate it since before i know it i{ll be back in the thick of things at home.
We just came in from sunset so i didn{t have my camera with me, i{ll try to post pictures tomorrow if i find a place in Puerto Escondito.
Talk soon
Linds

Market in San Cristobal

Yes can you belive it another update so soon! We are hangin out around town today (San Cristobal) waiting for our bus for the night and getting a couple souvenirs. We also walked through the market where locals buy and sell food of all sorts. It was overwhelming and incredibly loud and busy with a lot of chickens all over the place! POLLO FRESCA! The produce was beautiful and colourful but unforutnately we won{t have the time to cook dinner this eneving so instead of buying and tasting i took pictures. Check it out....

A large open space in the market...the rest of the walkways were about a person wide!

Woman carrying fresh chickens!

Beans beans and more beans!

POLLO FRESCA! (Fresh chicken)

Back from the Jungle...up next...the Beach

Cooking dinner at Hostal Babylon in San Cristobal.







Getting ready for the bus trip to Palenque.




hello all!
Relax people, i am fine, my face did not blow up like in Peru thank you very much. I am trying to update as much as possible but remember i am also trying to get away from the everyday and relax. So calm down Canada. To make it up to you, i have taken the time to post a lot more picutres. And by popular demand...pictures of me ofcourse!!!!

We have just arrived back to San Cristobal de las Casas from Palenque and will be heading to the coast tomorrow night on an overnight bus.

Palenque was amazing! We stayed right in the jungle outside of town in El Panchan which is a little backpackers oasis with a bunch of cabanas and hostals all set in the jungle with iguanas and howler monkeys!!! ahha We didn{t see any monkeys but we heard them...crazy!

Anwyay, we arrived in El Panchan and we were looking for a Palapa (which is a thatch roof hut to string up hammoks since this is what Dustin did last time he was here and it was innexpensive and fun.) We never found the palapas and were a little discouraged (i was happy because i didn{t want to sleep in a hammok outside while getting eaten alive my malaria carrying mosquitos.)Just then, a van pulled up with a friend that Steve had met (yeah for friendly Steve) and they were all staying at a place called Jungle Palace. We were hot and tired and told Steve to go check it out and he scored us an awesome cabana with a private washrooms, hot water, and a sweet balcony that overlooked a stream. We used the balcony often to have some drinks and play cards and also to hang my clothes line; although noghtin dryes very quickly in the humidity of the jungle.

The second day in El Panchan we pretty much just hung around el Panchan since it rained for almost 24 hrs. i would say. It was nice and relaxing though. There was also an amazing restuarant (DON MUCHOS!!!) with live music and a fire show at night. It was set in the jungle ofcourse with a large thatch roof and open air eating area. The Italian food was great which was a welcome relief from so many tacos, quesidillas and tostadas (that all pretty much tast the same!). Last night i had an awesome thin crust pizza!

Yesterday we went to the Mayan ruins in Palenque and after i lost Dustin for a bit i had a chance to draw since the day was overcast but not raining. The ruins were obviously very impressive especially because of the junlge backdrop! I should admit that after seing quite a few ruins from ancient civilisations (Machu Pichu in Peru and Angkor Wat in Cambodia as well as the Great wall) They all kind of begin to look like a lot of stones placed together in some unimaginable way! I still very much appreciate the opportuinity to see them but i think i need to brush up on the history of the stones a bit more!!!! I do know that Palenque was first occupied around 100 B.C but it wasn{t until 1837 that the ruins were properly documented and investigated by an archeologist from New York. When we were walking throught the ruins i was thinking how crazy it would be to make it thought the jungle and come upon this lost world. I encourage you to google the ruins if you are interrested because that about all the history i can handle for the day!!!!

It is nice to be back in San Cristobal at the Hostal Babylon with the Italian owner Alexander and our Mexican friend Eder who are very friendly. Tomorrow girls stay free for Valentines day (unfortunately we are leaving) but it is also the President{s birthday so we will have a party before taking a 10 o{clock bus to the coast.

NEXT STOP Puerto Escondido (The beach!!!! for the rest of the trip!)





Dustin playing with headlights while we were bored. Classy guy.




Fire show at Don Muchos.







Steve and I at the Palenque ruins.





The ruins again. (Dustin is the little speck sitting sitting on the ruins to the left center; its hard to see him!)






There i am going up to our Cabana! Awesome Stairs.






Dustin and i hanging out on the cabana balcony.



Dustin and Steve playing cards on the rainy day.

funny kids...pictures too

OLA AMIGOS! Como estas?

All of the comments are halarious, thanks for the laugh.

I am sitting here waiting for photos to upload to show all of you and it is taking a while so i figured i would write another entry. I have posted photos in my last entry as well as at the end of this one.

I got some drawing done today which was nice. While drawing, children who are supposed to be selling things congregated around me to watch. I asked if they spoke English and they did not so we spoke my broken spanish. The 12 year old who was selling bread asked me if i was single. hahah i said no. I finished my drawng of the church and thought i should probably ask them for money since i had entertained them but decided not too be an ass. They thought it was pretty cool and said they also liek to draw.

The children here are so adorable. Almost like miniature adults, they work all day and night selling things or taking care of their brothers and sisters. In Oaxaca one of them tried to get into the frame of the picture i was taking of the cathedral and then asked me for money! ahha they are very smart.

Last night we had drinks at the hostel and got to know everyone staying there. Almost everyone has english in common so that is what we spoke most of the night. Which i suppose is good for us but definately makes us all want to learn another language. Three friends from Switzerland are staying at the hostel and they say they can{t speak english well and then get into a lenghty discussion about politics only stoppiong to ask how to say a couple different words they don{t know....hmmm yeah ... when i say i don{t speak german i MEAN i don{t speak german!!!! And then another Spanish girl who wasn{t talking all afternoon starts into our conversation after saying she doesn{t speak English....scam. It is nice that we can all communicate though.

Tonight we will make pasta for dinner in the hostal{s kitchen to save money and have something a bit different.

It definately feels like we{ve been gone longer than a week .But we also have way too much to do in only 3 weeks left!!!!! I am looking forward to getting to the beach forsure.

Talk to you again, from Palenque i think, depending on the internet availability in the jungle!

Arriving in San Cristobal in the morning fog.

Church in the market at night. (San Cristobal)

outside Babylon (our hostal) waiting for everyone to go out.

Adios Oaxaca , ola San Cristobal

Ola todos!

Thank you for the comments, they are entertaining!
In our last day in Oaxaca we went to see the ruins on Monte Alban which were beautiful! (i will post pictures once i find a USB port!) It offers a 360 view of Oaxaca which was amazing. I got a little too much sun on my legs but kept my hat and a long sleeve shirt on. The weather has been beautiful; cold in the morning and evening and hot during the day. Very comfortable.

We took an overnight bus last night to San Cristobal de Las Casas and arrived at around 7;30 a.m... i was lucky and slept most of the bus ride because we had a lot of room and i am good with bumpy car rides however this would not be a good experience for Aunt Claire (who get motion sickness in Chatham!!!!) Dustin brought us to Babylon; a hostel he had been to on his previous trip through Mexico and we are happy that is is only 50pesos a night (about $4.75 Can.) ! We also found a picture of Dustin and Steve Schepers with friends hanging in the hall from their last trip. Pretty cool. And ofcourse not knowing italian has followed me once again since the owner is italian as is Miguele (one of the guest). Alexander (the owner) now answers me in both italian and spanish since he is upset that i do not speak italian. He said he wanted to call my mother and speak to her about this. He even knows where Castelvedere Sul Calore is!
This afternoon Alexander, Miguele, Eder (who is mexican learning italian) and a couple from Angentina and us all went out for an authentic mexican meal with endless amounts of food and drinks ( i had soda water because my stomach wasn´t doing so well) and after our meal Alexander told us we each owed 50 pesos (30 for me which is about 3.50 Can. maybe) CRAZY!!!
It was great to be with a local since we would not have known to have gone so far out of the way to eat.
My spanish is definately improving, as is my italian since there are so many italian travelers here to learn spanish since it is so affordable and similar to their language.
San Cristobal is beautiful with Cathedral´s at the end of every street and amazing markets selling leather goods and colourful textiles. Tomorrow i am looking forward to spending the day walking, taking picutres and hopefully being disciplined enough to do some drawings. Luckily i dont eel much like shopping! I should pick a couple things up however, or i will regret it.
Eveything is well and we are really enjoying our time.
We will stay here for one more night and then on monday make our way into the jungle to Palenke. Once we make it to the beaches we will settle down and stay put a bit longer.....i wish i had more time. Most travellers that we´ve met are here for 3 to 7 months! amazing!
Adios, Ciao, bye!
Linds

This was an amazing church in Oaxaca. The inside roof was completeley covered in paintings and sculptures.

Me jumping at Mont Alban ruins outside of Oaxaca!

Mont Alban ruins.

Last day in Mexico city and now onto Oaxaca.

ola!
Only two days since i wrote last and already a lot to say. There has been a lot of rain here unfortunately but thankfully today seems to be a clear day so far. We have befriended an italian and a frechman in Mexico city, which are very nice. Salvatore (the italian) speaks a small bit of english (which makes me upset that i don{t know italian) and travelled with us to Oaxaca. And MAthieu the frenchman speaks english well (which is frustratin because i COULD actually speak french to him but i don{t need to...) eh well.... We are all here in Oaxca and MAthieu has plans for our evening. We have met alot of nice people here and Steve has made friends to travel with beyond his time with us.

We left MExico city yesterday on a 6 hour bus ride here to Oaxaca. The bus ride then turned into 8 hours because of flooding! We made it through and arrived in Oaxaca which is a rather large city with a lot of colonial inspiration and a beautiful city center (el Zoccolo) where we had taco and beers last night whiel listening to a band. I am told that they have live music in the Zocoolo every night under the gazeebo so i am looking forward to taht.

Before we left Mexico City i did manage to get to The Freida Kahlo museum (Casa Azure) which was the house her father built and she lived and died in. There was a nice selection of her work as well as her painting supplies and the furniture that enable her to paint while she suffered from injuries to her back. The house was very beautiful all painted blue with large walls surrounding the exterior to form a variety of courtyards and gardens.

We took the metro to Freidas house and that in itself was insane. I nearly lost Dustin and Steve since the subway doors were closing and they were on the other side. They managed to force the doors to stay open and we all made it in the same car. I don{t think the locals were too impressed once we all entered and Steve simply said OLA! ahahha we tried to use the metro to return since it costs about 20 cents. We made it to about 3 stops from our hostel and when it came tim eto transfer trains we realized that we were not in toronto anymore and that to face to face squishing of our rush hour does not compare to the 3 o}clock squish to Mexico City. Old ladies were yelling to let them on and this huge bellied guy was trying to shove his but into the car leaving only his belly to be squished my the doors. We stood there for a while and quickly understood it was abetter option to navigate our way back on street level.


Dustin ,Salvatore and Steve further ahead.


WE DID IT!!! WE ATE STREET MEAT AND SURVIVED!!!! This is Dustin preping his goods.



Garden courtyard at Freida Kahlo s house. At the top of the stairs through that doorway is her bed in which a mirror was attatched to the upper canopy so that she could paint herself while lying on her back.


Blue walls in Freida}s Casa Azura (Blue house).


Picture i took this afternoon in Oaxaca. Festival in the Zoccolo. Beautiful colours!


talk soon,
linds

Some pictures as promised!

hi there again so soon
we are about to get going on the day...its very rainy here at the moment so I am thinking museums today.
Here is a picture from the rooftop or our hostel where we have dinner and breakfast and drinks. This was taken last night.
The other two pictures are from around town. Maybe i will force Dustin to take a picture of me today!

We made it.

Hello all. We have made it to Mexico city and it is beautiful. The weather is comparable to a fall day back home so i{m glad i have a scarf and layers. Our flight felt long although i did get a window seat which was nice while flying into the city. From above, it looked like a colorful pix-elated mess and as we got closer it was obvious that we were definitely not in Canada anymore. Green, red, yellow, blue and shades of brown composed the birds eye view of apartment building and small shack roofs.
We took a taxi from the airport to the city center which is about 30 mins. away for about 9 dollars Canadian and found a nice cozy clean hostel with internet. The cab ride was great, it was nice to see the city a little bit and definaltey revived the travel bug in us after the flgiht. We just got back from a quick walk around the main square and cathedral and i am more than ready for a nap.
Everything is great, we are excited to get a fresh start on the day tomorow and will probably hang out at the hostel rooftop bar and maybe a walk later.
I will post some pictures once i find my camera cord...check back in a bit.

bye for now!
Linds

Almost ready.

I am almost ready (as if I'll ever be). This is a photo of my desk at the moment. Everything is everywhere and I'm trying to organize what I'll need when, as well as trying to eliminate things i don't think I'll need. I'm at the point where i'm second guessing everything. I'm normally that person who is always prepared and when in doubt i bring it. Not such a good idea when backpacking. I would normally rely on my parents, sister or hosts for things like toothpaste, shampoo, toilet paper, a hairbrush, advil....but considering I'm traveling with two boys I'm thinking they'll be asking me for things. I think i will slip some of the heavier things in Dustin's pack when he isn't looking.

Talk to you in MExico City!

Wow

Yes i know, its early.

Although Mexico may be 16 days away i was thinking that there is no reason why i can't start my 'Lindsey in Mexico' blog NOW. Starting now will enable me to procrastinate all of the things i should be doing instead of writing about Mexico (or not writing about Mexico, since we've already established that I'm not there yet).

I am very excited for a change of pace. I have been doing some research online as well as in my trustee Lonely Planet guide book and i think that we are in for a good time. We will be flying into Mexico city on February 2nd, 2010 and will concentrate on taking in the beaches along the Pacific coast before possibly making our way inland in the south of Mexico for the last week of our trip, and then back to Mexico city to fly out on March 5th, 2010. What this means is that i have no idea what we are doing, when we are doing it or what to expect. I suggested we maybe write out a ROUGH timeline and Dustin said very simply "no". I thought maybe we could at least book our hostel in MExico city since we know where we want to stay but again Dustin said very simply "no". I am now going to relinquish every planning tendency i have and when mistakes happen i will say simply "see, i told you." hahahaha I figure its actually a pretty good position to be in and that will be my game plan for the trip.

I will take this opportunity to introduce you to my fellow travelers so that you will know who they are in the pictures (hopefully we will still be friends when this month is through).

Lindsey (me):
Age: 25 and a half years young
Hair colour: blond (for now)
Eyes colour: brown
Height: 173 cm.
Favorite hobby: Drawing
Favorite Spanish word or phrase: Una Mas, Por favor.
Favorite foods: Cheese and Bread (of any kind in any combination)
Favorite colour: Red


Dustin
Age: old
Hair colour: blond (for now)
Eyes colour: greenish blue
Height: tall
Favorite Hobby: hobby? Work.
Favorite Spanish word or phrase: Rojo
Favorite food: Macaroni and cheese with cut up hotdogs. (ewe)
Favorite colour: Brown no green no brown, no green; it depends what its for.

And last but not least the intrepid traveler who will be out-traveling us by two months:

Steve
Age: 25
Hair colour: Dark brown
Eye colour: hazel
Height: 6"
Favorite hobby: Studying 'Rosetta Stone Spanish'
Favorite spanish word or phrase: Manzana
Favorite food: Steak
Favorite colour: Blue

There you have it. !6 days to go!
I'm not sure what to expect but after some research i hope to have a good time with the locals and find this guy. Nothing says party like a MASSIVE hat:



...and maybe these guys, they look outdoors 'ish'. I like to be active while travelling:




...i will do my best to stay away from this guy. I think he's a little too intense.He's probably one of those guys my family has been warning me about! See mom, i know trouble when i see it.