Day 156 - July 23rd 2007 - San Francisco, Pismo Beach, Los Angeles & the LAPD

23 Jul 2007

Alas - I found myself in the city by the bay and back in the 1st world - San Francisco - late at night but I was ready to take in it's glory. Scott Mckenzie once said in his song San Francisco "Be sure to wear flowers in your hair" - well I wasn't going to wear flowers in my hair - but he was right - I would meet some gentle people. As you take in the endless hills of the Golden City you can see "Starship" were right when they wrote their Classic 1985 song "We Built this City! (on Rock & Roll)" - well maybe not entirely - but if you aren't too careful you will find yourself rolling up and down the hills with the sheer exhaustion of the whole experience.

There's a lot to take in while your in San Francisco - The Hills of course, Mrs Doubtfire house, The Laundrette from 40 Days & 40 Nights, The Trams, China Town, The Streets that Steve McQueen Drove so eloquently, The buildings from Vertigo, The Dirty Harry Wannabe Cops, The Golden Gate Bridge driven frantically over the wrong way by Dustin Hoffman as The Graduate and of course The Rock aka Alcatraz home of Al Capone and of course more recently Sean Connery & Nicolas Cage!

Walking around San Francisco taking it all in - I found myself in a daze - maybe it's the venues i was hanging out in - but it's certainly fun city - there could be more bars - but I've always believed this where ever I've been. I was fortunate upon arriving back in the USA to find some like minded characters. The first who I would later travel down the coast with went by the name of Warren from Johannesburg - a laid back individual who had been traveling around Europe before finding himself in San Francisco. I also found company in a chilled out Scandinavian called Sven - however he would remain in San Francisco before heading to South America.

Just like London & New York - San Francisco has it's own Hoxton & Meat packing district, however here it is known as the Mission. The Mission as you would expect - is in the ghetto part of town - where there is ghetto there will be artists, and where there are artists you will find interesting nightlife. And I'm not kidding when I say interesting. Now many of us would of been to London's Soho so would of had come across the rainbow experience many many times - well this doesn't compare - there was a bar Warren and I walked into the day before the Gay Parade I might add - that was just full of hard core lesbians - not the experience you go out looking for - but interesting nonetheless! However, a good selection of bars can be found in this part of town should you find yourself in San Francisco - my personal favourite the ever reliable chain bar "The Beauty Bar" - they had a "Smiths" night on when I was there - who would of thought you could dance to non stop back to back Smiths for 4 hours solid.

One thing that I noticed from walking miles and miles each day up and down each and every hill in San Francisco is a car would come in very handy - especially if you want to do the bendy road in style however, the reality is San Francisco is one of those few cities in America where you really don't need a car. However, as Warren and I had decided to venture down the Californian coast we would eventually rent a car and do as the americans do - and get ourselves a Chevy! We got a good deal on price and also discovered we were the first to drive the car as it only had 5miles on the clock - so it was all fresh and newly scented. Chevy's - hmm - never been a favourite of Clarkson's - but I had never driven one before so I would give this one a chance. Yes it was an Automatic with cruise control and all the cup holders you could need if you figured you needed to go to that needed drive-thru and get yourself a gallon of Diet Coke. So right away I felt part of the American dream as I shifted it into drive and suddenly found myself on the other side of the road in a car that is a lot Longer than anything I have ever driven. They Call the boot a Trunk over here in the New World - You can see why - the Trunk was the size of Mahogany Tree Trunk that had been in the wild for the last 300 years. However, this so called economical car was what was to get us from A to B - so Warren and I were happy with our Silver Chevy!

Leaving San Francisco behind on of all days a Saturday - we decided to head South down the coast along route 101. Heading towards Santa Cruz - safe in the knowledge that The Thrills had spent some time here - we made it our mission to check it out. Unfortunately because it was a Saturday every man and his dog was checking out Santa Cruz and her touristy coast line. Motels - No Vacancy, Hotels - Booked, Hostels - What are they? So unfortunately - we came we saw and we left Santa Cruz having really seen not too much except a lot of large folks queuing up for Hot Dogs and Ferris Wheels.

On a Recommendation from Laura we headed further down the coast to check out the artistic and very flash coastal town of Carmel - a beautiful Californian retreat with its white sandy beaches and quaint little shops. However - it was way out of the budget to even think about staying here - so we simply admired the beach took in a few of the sights - and then after a quick thirst quencher we made our way back on to the road.

Cruising down Route 101 along the Californian coast is a little like driving through the Lake District, the French Riveria and the Norfolk Coast all at once - some really diverse scenery - especially when you come off the coast for a little and check out the Red Wood Forests around the Big Sur (another place The Thrills apparently liked to hang out - woo! Got to love that semi-average band!). Now when you go on a road trip through the States hindsight has taught me it would be a good idea to have a reservation somewhere - unfortunately this is me - and I don't make reservations very often. So we drove and drove through some amazing picture postcard scenes - we kept stopping to check it all out - then the realisation came that we weren't going to find anywhere to stay - Motel after Motel had No Vacancies - I couldn't believe how busy this area was. Very few people were on the roads - yet everyone seemed to have some place to stay - at this stage the tents we could of bought earlier started to look more and more appealing. Alas - for we had no tents - so after stopping a very drab American Bar/Restaurant for dinner in a town I couldn't tell you the name of - we decided for it was too late (midnight by this stage) - we needed to pull over and sleep. I wasn't keen on sleeping in the car where people might see us - so I found a Motel where the car park was nice and hidden. Upon parking up I discovered how useful it is to have a brand new clean car with a huge "Trunk". I successfully ended up sleeping in the back of the car with my head in the trunk while Warren slept the other way, I care less about claustrophobia. Money saved that night - so a result!

The next day as you would expect - having "larged" it big time on a Saturday night in a car we were up early - so we headed for a classic American Diner which we found meters away from where we had parked. We ate and freshened up in the Restrooms like true homeless people. After our Tea & Coffee we were ready for the day we set off in search of some place more interesting that a Motel car park - we wouldn't be disappointed - only another 30mins down the road we came upon Pismo Beach. This beach attracts a lot of surfers and a party crowd (oh how we would of liked to of known about this place the night before - forward planning - something I'm taking on board). Having arrived early we secured ourselves a nice spot on the beach where we were able to appreciate the breaks from a distance - as we hadn't packed our boards for this trip - we figured after a morning on the beach we would do something a little more civilised than surfing. Having been inspired by the Movie Sideways we went to check out a multiple array of Vineyards that were scattered around the area. As we sipped on the various Californian wines this was a chance for the South African and the Englishman (that would be I) to reflect on our journey so far - both of us realised we had been very fortunate to of seen what we have seen over the last so many months - and it was great to know that more adventures were on the way. Having stocked up on a multiple array of wines for our consumption later in the trip we set off sometime in the afternoon to arrive at our next destination - Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara is a classy place - the best way to describe it is to think of Cannes & Falmouth and then put the classic grid line American city together and you have Santa Barbara. It's obviously a place lined with palm trees but it also has the shops that you might find in Beverly Hills as well - however, this would be a perfect place to settle for a few days while we relaxed and checked out the vibe. One of the things I will walk away from my time in Santa Barbara will be the nice reminder that compared to many other US cities - Santa Barbara is very localised - and you can to the amazement of myself walk around and get from A to B! Of course while in this West coast city - many bars were explored - Karaoke was sung (alas very badly) and beaches were hung out on. It's a hard life right now.

Fortunately while Warren and I were in Santa Barbara we met a Brit who was more than up for joining us for the ride down to LA - he was a Brit from Birmingham who went by the name of Mark. It was nice to be driving a 5 seater car and to have someone else in it that would be happy to contribute to petrol and car rent - so leaving a very pleasant city behind us we headed for the giant metropolis urban sprawl that is Los Angeles.

As we headed down the coast we made a few relaxing stops - mainly at the many beaches that litter the Californian coast line - Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice - all these beaches on the doorstep to every LA citizen - makes you wonder why they are always complaining. All year round this place is sunny - it's rare for LA to have an overcast day - something which is quite the norm when in sunny England. After leaving the beaches behind us we cruised up the Sunset Strip in our American automobile - taking in the scenery in the form of Bel Air, Beverly Hills & West Hollywood before making our final destination in Hollywood. Fortunately without reservation we managed to find ourselves checked into a cheap place right behind the Chinese Mann Theater, moments away from Jeremy's, Scott's and I's favorite place to stay last time the "Hollywood Roosevelt". A place that would be frequented on many a sunny day by poolside.

Hollywood - as our group of three - we stuck around the area for a few days - but unfortunately Northerner's tend to be tight with there money so after a few nights out - Mark went his separate way to progress towards Fiji. A route that I will later take. For it did not matter - Warren and I would venture south towards Melrose - to discover a cheap place where Heather Locklear might not be staying. Melrose for those those that know it is a funky part of town - especially for shopping and people watching - not that I was in the business to be shopping with only a limited amount of space in my bag - but granted I was tempted. I stumbled upon a place on Melrose that reminded me of Amsterdam (no it didn't have a red light bulb in the window) this place sold Marijuana to the general public - all kinds! I'm not kidding you - this was the USA I was in - and there's a place in Melrose that sells all kind of Johnny C weed - strange but true. How can a licensed premises in the USA sell weed? Well sensibly the state of California has gone down the route of allowing it's citizens to get medical cards that allow them to use Marijuana should there Doctor say it could help. For a society that I saw as repressed in many aspects (drinking age being at 21) - this is a great step for any society - a step I would favour should I ever get any political clout in the UK.

I took the step to use LA as my base - as it's such a big city so using Melrose as my base for a couple of days I went in search of an apartment I might be able to sublet. Now, having lived in London for all of my working life - the prices of apartments in LA - pale in comparison - which is a good thing - however, finding a place that's suitable for the short term is more a problem than finding a place for a longer period. Everywhere I looked; places where available for 12months or 6months sometimes - but 1 month or less this was going to pose a problem. However, after a fair amount of searching I managed to find myself a place right off Hollywood Boulevard, minutes walk from all things Hollywood. Now if your impression of Hollywood is Pretty Woman and the Hugh Grant escapades - a lot has changed in that time - it seems like the Governator has cleaned up this part of town. Yes, you still see the odd homeless person, but you don't see the pimps with their products like you would of seen should you have ventured down the Boulevard back in the 80's and early 90's.

However, this being the USA - the homeless and undesirables haven't simply been taken off the street they've been moved on elsewhere (The Governator hasn't Terminated them - he has simply moved them on). The famous LAPD have systematically picked the dregs of society off the streets by arresting them for petite crimes such as J-Walking and then taken them to Downtown LA. In the Downtown LA they are processed in the system and then once they've served there jail time - they are spat out on Skid Row - normally with little or no means to get anywhere else in LA. I swear to you Skid Row is another world - I've been to third world countries that look after their homeless better than they do in LA - the best way to describe this place is to remember the last Zombie movie you saw - multiply the scene where you suddenly see all the infected numbly roaming the streets - and then your half way there to imagining Skid Row. It's a real sorry state of affairs because if you're homeless in LA the most profitable place to beg would probably be Beverly Hills or West Hollywood - but alas - if you are seen to be out of place in this part of town - you will be quickly removed from the street - arrested - then processed and put back on skid row - where it is my belief the system hopes you will promptly die.

We all know the quote: "a nation is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens". Credited to the American Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey. The longer version of the quote goes: "The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped." to me at least, Humphrey was asking back then: what opportunities are we providing? What protections are we giving? Do all people have equal access to the most basic needs for survival? Money is not always the answer - however if you don't have it in this town or this country you are royally screwed. The chances of getting sick on skid row double for every day you spend there, and that's before you factor in the chances of being raped, abused, mugged, shot or simply infected by some kind of messed up needle. The citizens of LA don't care much for what happens to those less fortunate than they are - this can be exhibited by what happens to you when you get sick - if you're poor and you have no health insurance - you better hope you simply don't get sick, the hospitals won't help you, the rich doctors living in Bel Air won't help you, maybe you're be lucky and be picked up by some charitable organisation (but the reality is the aren't many of those) - so effectively if you get sick as soon as the hospital realises you can't pay the inflated medical bills you're going to get dumped in Skid Row in a Taxi paid for by the Hospital. All this comes with the realisation that the NHS seems to translate into a strong backbone for society - an investment that should never end - I just wish the American public would kick up enough of a stir to demand their own NHS - this may indicate that they really do care.

OK - enough with the political rant - back to far more interesting things - namely Theme Parks! California just like Florida has a never ending supply of high quality theme parks, this place is a mecca for thrills entertainment - my favourite so far has to be "6 Flags - Magic Mountain" - a place under the power of the Warner Bros' Studio's hence a lot of references to their most successful characters and films. This place has some of the best roller coasters I've ever had the pleasure to have been on - I'm not even exaggerating here - these rides are extreme - they had this one ride called Tatsu; that claims to be the tallest roller coaster in the world - it's insane! The ride lasts an astonishing 2minutes - which isn't bad for a roller coaster, goes up to 62mph, has some 263feet of plunges, I believe this is how Superman would feel should he be real when in flight - yes its of the scale in terms of terror - but bloody good fun. I will be putting up some pics of myself on this ride at some point on my facebook photos - but honestly it looks like I'm going to die of fear - but the reality was I was having a lot of fun! Honest!

One thing you notice being a Brit in LA or America for that matter - Everyone Love's the English or as they say "The Brit's". Anyone that's been to the USA will be able to vouch for this - but it does make for a good night out. First of all if your new to London - walk into a bar - you're going to need to put in the work to get to know anyone - without coming across as some sort of loner weirdo - but in LA (or the USA) - simply by getting someone to notice you're English is enough to start a conversation going. The American Guys want to buy you drinks, the American women want to buy you drinks, of course with this comes the downside - they all want to do their English accent. I'm not kidding - everyone thinks they can do an English accent - it's a lot of fun to listen to all their attempts but my word - it's painful! But, alas once the English impression has been done the next thing on every one's mind will be to talk about English Music - this part I love - everyone in LA (especially LA) is a big fan of English music - be it the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's or now (all decades basically from 60's onwards). The rant and the bonding will begin on how so and so from this place in England defined this musical genre and this guy from that English town defined another genre - it always makes me proud to be British with our strong musical heritage - even when I'm talking about Culture Club. However, I can actually see why the British actors have been doing so well in Hollywood in recent years - ignoring the fact that the majority are very good actors - it could have something to do with the fact that everyone loves a Limey these days. I'm not sure if this love has increased in recent years or it's always been this way - but it does make for a very pleasant and sociable stay in the good USA amongst the rebellious old colony.

I was expecting a backlash several weeks ago on the 4th of July - but the reality was - the Yanks I met were happy to have Brit's amongst them. My wish for these warm Brit loving Americans is the desire that they could only be as loving to all the other nations from all over the world - maybe it will never happen (it's certainly not that way in the UK yet). But - just maybe - the Yanks will see all nations as lovable as their old Mother England (now relegated to Lap Dog Great Britain thanks to Tony) in future years.

I've missed out so much and neglected to tell most of the stories - but If I went on you would probably have an aneurysm with all this waffle - so I shall stop here.

Once again - many thanks for all your e-mails - my next stop is Fiji. I have uploaded some more photo's of the trip so far - mainly - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize & Guatemala (see below)

Alexander

You Tube Video Clips: http://www.youtube.com/VANTERHEYDEN

Guatemala Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=5706&l=f82df&id=703401214

Belize Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15124&id=703401214

Nicaragua Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7536&l=a482d&id=703401214

Costa Rica Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8977&l=16a17&id=703401214

Day 141 - July 8th 2007 - Mexico, Acapulco, Taxco, Laura's departure, Sushi, The Hyatt.

Having last left off from my account in San Cristobal - I shall resume there. Arriving in San Cristobal you are immediately thrown into shock by how friendly everyone is. Maybe it has something to do with the large Gay population living in San Cristobal that leads everyone to be over the top friendly - but if this friendly nature was to be found in all of Mexico then Mexico could be voted the friendliest country on the planet. Alas - I was later to find this wouldn't be the case for all of Mexico.

San Cristobal's cobbled grid streets resting a couple of thousand feet above sea level, centered in the region of Chiapas is a place to get lost on a warm sunny day. San Cristobal reminds me of the quaint sections that you will find hidden away in Barcelona. It's buildings are beautifully random some with colonial features and others hitting you with the feel of the wild west, everyone once in a while as you walk from street to street you have Clint Eastwood memories hitting you. Due to the elevation of the city you find yourself getting very cold at night - the jumpers come back out of the bag (last seen in the elevated regions of Costa Rica) - yet during the day the sun will bake down on Cristobal's streets frying those tourists insane enough like myself to be out in the midday sun.

As mentioned before San Cristobal has created it's wealth from the Amber trade it has an abundance of. Amber shops litter the expensive streets - just like the Diamond shops you will find along London's Hatton Garden. As fate would have it my Mother's birthday was coming up - so I took it upon myself to acquire a nice piece of Amber that had been channeled into a pretty necklace - this would be a test for the Mexican postal system. I have now found out that the present made it home - it took its time - but with good fortune it made it through customs.

Mexican food is something that isn't nearly as popular in the UK as it is in the USA - where as we have an Indian restaurant on every high street in the UK, the USA has a Mexican restaurant instead. Hence, while I was traveling in the US - I had sampled a fair share of Mexican food. I might add it's not my favorite food in the world - but when you are hungry it sure does hit the spot nicely. However, while in San Cristobal my estimation of Mexican food went up - when I ate at a very smart but simple restaurant - twice it was so good as well as cheap. Unfortunately - the delights of this simple restaurant weren't going to be repeated elsewhere in Mexico without repercussions.

It would of been nice to have spent more time in San Cristobal - but Laura was on a deadline to get up to Mexico city in time for her to catch her flight to Prague, so we had a timetable to keep. Our next stop was to be the Oaxaca; Pronounced as: wɑˈhɑkɑ - something I was unaware of until I was told. Oaxaca - strikes me as an colonial city that has had a lot of industry grow up around it - a large urban sprawl of chaos in a basin engulfed by hills on all sides. The city attracts a lot of artists - hence in the well maintained tourist magnet of a centre you will find an art gallery every couple of doors. Some of the art I found to be very Mexican so refreshing to what I would normally see in London, some of it reminded me of London, several artists had grabbed hold of the Stencil and gone the route of England's Anti-war, anti-capitalist, anti establishment and pro freedom artist Banksy. Banksy, though not recognised as a great artist by some in the art world - when you live in Hackney and you're surrounding by great Anti Establishment art you grow fond of this cheeky chappy - so for me it was great to see some of his contemporaries while in Oaxaca.

I managed to get my leather jacket fixed for penny's while I was in Oaxaca, this jacket had previously been torn by an irate french man, who had lost his temper. Why had he lost his Temper you ask? Simple, Henry & David had been talking to his girlfriend while we sat by the bar in Hoxton's Rivington Grill - The French apparently don't like this - I seem to always get in the cross-fire!

Upsetting for those from there - and for myself as I had heard good things about the place but I felt Oaxaca lacked anything special - it had a club that was circus themed - but other than that I found the whole place to be tedious and unfulfilled.

Moving on from Oaxaca on yet again another long bus journey we found ourselves in the Surfs up town of Peurto Escondido - originally established after the first world war for Coffee trade a highway was built which caused this place to become accepted as a surfing town for Yanks on vacation. This place has hosted countless world surfing championship over the years and you can see why when you first arrive on the beach - the surf is perfect. The town seems to be split between the old town of cobbled streets where the locals hang out and the modern part closer to the better surf breaks where the westerners with money stay who like to surf or just pretend to surf.

Mexico has a large Japanese population in certain parts - and Peurto Escondido seems to be one of those places, thankfully where there are Japanese there are Sushi restaurants - unfortunately being a Sunday - it's strictly not the best day to try and find Sushi, but fortunately this place we found on the beach that looked out on the sun setting had a few choice cuts still left on the menu, so despite the hesitation the fish may of been caught the day before, we dug in to our Sushi selection. Maybe it had something to do with spending the last few months in Central America and eating some of the more questionable dishes - but this Sushi was phenomenal - I just wish I had ordered more - it set me up for the rest of the trip to search out as many Sushi places as I could possibly find - as its been too long since my regular Sushi lunches in London.

Peurto Escondido is a place I would rather spend longer at but as I've said before the clock was ticking so we had to make sharp tracks to our next destination and leave the surf behind. Arriving in a Mexico equivalent to the Costa Del Sol we found ourselves in Acapulco - a tourist hot spot - made popular by the Rat Pack and co back in the day - Sinatra mentions this place in his classic "Come Fly with Me" and Elvis goes cliff diving in the film "Fun in Acapulco"! It's not the most beautiful place in the world with it's crazy large tower block hotels on the bay front, urban chaos in the inner sanctum of the city leading up the hills - and with close to a million people who solely live there before the tourists are even accounted for this place can get very hectic and noisy.

The first night in Acapulco it was decided like every other night on this journey money would be saved and we would check in to something cheap - unfortunately cheap in Acapulco doesn't put you on the beach and instead puts you in an area you wouldn't want your Grandmother to experience - however nonetheless we put up with it - as we arrived late in the day to really care where we stayed. However, the next day I put it upon myself to find somewhere where we really could kick back and relax like old Sammy, Frank & Dean once did - I got online, scouted around for some deals - and managed to be extravagant for the first time in months and check into the very fine Hyatt Hotel which sits nicely on the beach. However, it wouldn't of mattered if it wasn't on a beach - as the reality was it had enough swimming pools to take care of swimming and relaxation needs. Obviously, the benefit of spending that little extra when you travel is you get a far better bed - for too long I've been putting up with sub standard beds - well staying at the Hyatt was pure heaven. I treated myself to Sushi once again while in Acapulco - a delightful feast - Sushi should be on every ones menu at least once a week - I subscribe to the view of at least 3-4 times a week.

The city of Acapulco

The journey up to Mexico City enabled us to take in the Silver Capital of Mexico for a night - Taxco. Located in the hills between Acapulco and about 100 miles Southwest of Mexico City, Taxco in the state of Guerrero. Taxco is one of the oldest mining sites located in the Americas. It has retained its natural charm with its colonial ambiance, red-tiled roofs, steep cobble stoned, narrow winding streets and the towering, impressive 240 year old Santa Prisca Cathedral. It's natural wealth of silver attracted early Conquistadors. Today, Taxco still does a roaring trade in Silver - and is seen by any westerner who passes through this quaint town on the steep hill as "The" place to get Silver at a fair price while in the America's - I'm not much of a silver buyer so I took a pass on this - my experience with silver is gambling on the spot price in the commodity markets - however, it was nice to see it in person for once rather than just as two numbers on a screen. Instead of buying silver I spent my time getting lost in the streets as I trekked up the hills of the town - taking in the peace and reflecting over the views of thousands of rooftops. A calming location before making our way to one of the busiest cities on the planet.

Of course the first thing that hits you about Mexico City is its sheer size - according to the last census - 20million people are recorded as living in Mexico City - that's 1/5 of the country, it also makes it the largest city in the Western Hemisphere by a considerable shot. Upon arrival you are warned by your fellow travelers that it is no longer advisable to jump in the VW Beetles that pose as Taxi's - all over Mexico up until this point I had been using the Volkswagen icons as Taxi's to get from A to B for a couple of Dollars. However, unfortunately there seems to be a large amount of kidnappings in Mexico City (linked to VW Beetle Taxi drivers). So, not only do you have to worry about the ingestion of the Mexican Smog you also have to worry about being kidnapped and held up for ransom. In all honesty I felt there was nothing to fear in this department - I walked around the city like a scruff, smart expensive clothes weren't to be found on me - and my hair at this stage was unkempt and in dire need of seeing a hairdresser - so potential kidnappers may not of even considered me for their needs.

Staying in Mexico City of course was going to be more expensive than elsewhere - of course less expensive than anywhere in the US - but still more expensive to what one has come accustomed to paying ($4 a night in Nicaragua!). Though you may pay more you do get a nice place - I stayed at the Mexico City Hostel right in the Historic Centre right by the National Palace & Cathedral - it was clean, refined and a fun place to stay.

Mexico City is a very religious city - Catholicism plays center stage in the beliefs of those that live in the capital, hence while on tour in the city it was appropriate to visit as many as the city's Church's as one saw fit - I think the older members of my family would of appreciated the sites - but it seems once you seen 5 or 6 churches - you've seen them all. There was one insane place I went to that was over the top and very religious "Gaudaloupe" towards the north of the city - it is claimed Jesus miraculously appeared on this priests cloak - since then followers have flocked to this church - and its become a bit of an attraction. When I saw it I didn't look on in amazement - others of course did all I could wonder was how all these people could really believe that the image wasn't man made - it's a quaint painting on a cloak not a supernatural burnt image on a cloak like I was expecting - nonetheless it keeps those of Guadaloupe very happy with all the official and unofficial Jesus merchandise selling.

Apparently before there was Tequila in Mexico there was an even more popular drink in Mexico - this was drunk by the Mayan's then the Aztec's and then later the early Colonial's. The drink in question is Pulque - an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of maguey. Though commonly believed to be a beer, the main carbohydrate is a complex form of fructose rather than starch. The drink has all but died out (could have something to do with the fact that it can only be homemade and not mass produced) so I went in search of this elusive drink. I had to head into the ghetto to find a bar that would sell Pulque - and what a mistake that was - the bar had people openly snorting cocaine like they were doing shots - however, it reminded me of the East End of London so it made me smile. Pulque tastes like a fruity cocktail smoothie - not great - but you can see it's easy to get drunk on the stuff - unfortunately Pulque is always home made and I believe the water it was made with had a bad effect on me - it spent the next 48hours fermenting in my body causing all kinds of disturbances - highly agreeable to all! I'll stick to Guinness in future.

Mexico City as you would expect has plenty of Art Galleries - I was lucky to see the Frida expedition - the largest collection of moustache work ever put together (poor taste and immature I know!). She seemed to make it in the art world by having a highly entertaining private life - many would disagree with me - but she was like the Mexican Paris Hilton except with much more facial hair! Yes I should see the art for what it is - but I guess I would rather have a Monet on my wall than a Frida Kahlo. However, good to take in nonetheless.

Kahlo - Self Portrait.

For Alas - being in Mexico City - it was time to say adios to my traveling partner who had been with me for the last month - Laura Kelly. She put up with my quirks (some might say charms), bad habits, poor taste and survived. It's been strange traveling Lone Gunman again since she's been gone - she took off and flew straight to Prague to take on more of the Art World. The pictures from this point on won't be as vibrant - as they will mainly contain me - but alas the charms of traveling solo.

I spent a couple more days in Mexico City - mainly exploring the Aztec ruins which can be found scattered around the city - taking in random sights and sounds and chilling out before I boarded a flight to San Francisco leaving Mexico behind me. My journey from the Golden State and onwards will continue next time.

Stay in touch

Alexander

Day 139 - July 6th 2007 - Guatemala, Tikal, Journeys & a delayed entry.

Day 139 - July 6th 2007 - Guatemala, Tikal, Journeys & a delayed entry.

So much time has passed - it's been like a roller coaster blur - Mixed emotions - but all in all an adventure.

I last recounted my travels on the way out of Belize, Belize for some reason has one of the most expensive border crossings in the world. Just for the privilege of crossing the border and getting your passport stamped - you are charged a ridiculous $38, they claim half of this money goes to the environmental reserves (this is a good thing) - but if you ask me it's a little over the top to just leave the country - considering some countries charge nothing or just a couple of dollars.

Upon passing passport control and entering no man's land between Guatemala and Belize, Laura and I were confronted by hoard of small time Money Brokers (you will find this chaps at every border crossing in Central America). Their objective just like any other brokers is to make their money on the spread between the buy and sell rate and the real rate - as they claim not to charge commission. I've learnt to battle these fellas off against each other and normally you are ensured to get a better rate than what the banks are actually offering. Unfortunately, the small time brokers close to the Belizian border weren't prepared to offer anything that was remotely competitive. Maybe it was Karma or maybe it was just coincidence but the strangest thing happened just as they were about to continue walking - with their promises that we would find nothing better - a boom smashed down upon us from the heaven's! A storm had just passed and we had just avoided the drenching, yet their was still lighting in the sky. A few bad prices from the brokers and the next thing a large bolt of lightening explodes on the flag pole just above our heads (metres away!) - fortunately everyone was OK but a very close encounter with mother nature was had - and probably the loudest natural bang I've ever heard (I can still smell the smoke from the burnt flag pole). Seeing this as a sign from the Mayan god's, we quickly boarded a mini bus destined for Flores.

On buses, all over Central America, you are likely to meet all types of characters, if you let yourself of course. This time there would be no exception to the rule; Two Zionist Missionaries from Texas in their 20's. Zionists are a little bit like Quakers, very traditional in their beliefs and very certain of how men and women should dress in public; apparently my shorts and my sleeveless T-Shirt would certainly not be acceptable in their religious circle. However, these religious Zionists were complete pacifists - so despite their religious conservative beliefs and stuck in the past views I found them engaging to talk to. The journey passed like a breeze as I engaged their points of view on God and whether the Devil could be real. I did get to pass on a small bit of knowledge to them also, it turned out they didn't know what language was spoken in England! So I asked them "What Language are you speaking?", they pondered this for a moment to then inform me that they were in fact speaking "English!". So, I then let them query where English may of come from, they had their answer 10minutes later after a lot of prompting. Painful how they can be so caught up in memorising the scripture yet when it comes to everyday general knowledge it seemed to have passed them by. However, nice guys, they meant well with their peaceful religion.

Flores is basically an island in the middle of a lake connected to the mainland via a bridge. Cobbled streets leading up and down the hill of the island in all directions make for a very pleasant place to explore for a while, however the real reason anyone comes here - is to base themselves here so they can visit the Mayan Ruins of Tikal. Unfortunately while in Flores, I managed to either loose or get my malaria drugs stolen (I can't be certain they were stolen as I really don't know - but I believe they were). A huge inconvenience - I am still yet to replace them - it's amazing how many pharmacies have been unable to help me! So I'm now hoping I didn't get bitten too many times by the flying infected - so far I've had no side effects - but I will endeavour to get some more tablets before I reach Indonesia.

To get to Tikal - Laura and I took the brilliant decision to set off from Flores early morning before the sun came up with a small tour group. It took 2 hours to get to Tikal deep in the dark jungle - we reached it by 5am - fortunately while it was still dark, but not for long. Marching through the Jungle we were surrounded on all sides by some of the most incredible animal sounds - Howler Monkeys howling, Birds warming their throats for the morning call and Spider Monkeys airing out their their lungs. A good trek deep into the jungle and we had reached the largest Mayan Pyramid. We set forth up the hundreds of man made steps in front of us in the dark to climb the Pyramid and make it to the top before the sun could - Upon reaching the top - a picture postcard sight greeted us - Pyramids in the distance poking out of the overgrown jungle could be seen in the distance as the sun magically appeared breaking through the morning mist. It was a sight to sit back and just enjoy. Tikal really is one of those mystical places that you get lost in when your dreaming - just like the first time you see the Pyramids in Egypt - you will stand in Tikal, look around and simply be mesmerized by its outstanding awe inducing beauty!

The sheer detail and craftsmanship of the city while at the same time being engulfed by the hypnotic jungle surroundings makes Tikal an unforgettable place to visit. Unfortunately as Tourist numbers increase in Guatemala and the various Mayan ruins that are spaced Sporadically around Guatemala get visited in more frequent numbers it is clear the Government is going to need to step in and regulate the sightseeing otherwise with all the feet and hands climbing up and down these ancient ruins all day long they won't last much longer in their present state. The wear and tear can only be devastating to the enjoyment of future generations as well as to the scientific preservation's of one of the more fascinating man-made historic sites found on this planet.

We left Tikal & Flores the next day and with this leaving Guatemala behind for the last time of this trip. Laura and I set off from Flores early in the morning before daylight on a journey that wouldn end late into the night. Traveling across rural Guatemala - it's clear to see how different the north is from the south in terms of development - the roads here to Mexico are nearly all entirely made of dirt - making for a slow journey. To get into Mexico we needed to jump on to a local Guatemalans long boat, this would take us down a fast flowing muddy river to reach the border post of Mexico, despite the long journey it was made more interesting by being in the company of a fellow Brit called Josh. Refreshing to meet someone on the journey who had a real appreciation for quality music - I was able to catch up with the latest Carl & Pete news while at the same time taking in the Bloc Party album "A Weekend in the City" - which I had missed the release of before leaving the UK.

The long journey took us all the way to the old Mayan town of Palenque and then onwards through the night to San Cristobel - a beautiful colonial town that has prospered over the years with its trade in Amber. However, I will leave this log right here right now - it's frustrating how difficult it is to find a cheap computer in LA - I'm finishing this bit of writing on one of the complimentary laptops you will find in the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood (Scott & Jeremy will know this place very well). Until next time I can get on a free PC.

Keep up the contact.