Happy Feet in Merida

I have now arrived in humid, intimidating Merida, located in the Northern Yucatan state of Mexico. We are now entering the hottest season of the year and I have already experienced 40 degree Celsius weather...not enjoyable. The city keeps me busy with a plethora of activities, galleries, libraries and cafes. Today I visited the Gallery of Contemporary Art where I fell in love with an artist named Castro Pacheco. This painting really captures my love of feet!

I also found a great English library here where I have been spending several hours a day reading and relaxing in the gorgeous garden. Monday evening they hold group actitivies for English speakers so I'm going to check out what all the fuss is about.

I will be staying in Merida for a week before heading to the Caribbean coast to meet up with my parents. Merida is full of fun, free activities...really important for me as I budget scuba diving into my trip. Every night live music concerts are held in several of the downtown plazas. I have also tried to learn salsa dancing at my hostel where free lessons are set up for us awkward gringos. Luckily, Nestor, the dance instructor here, is patient and a really cool guy. Tonight after a Latin Jazz show we are going to meet up, hopefully away from the dance floor as it seems I have been born with two left feet. Qué puede usted hacer? What can you do?

San Cristobal de Las Casas

A tumble of colors, aromas, sounds, and faces greet the senses upon arriving in magical San Cristobal de Las Casas. The city is overflowing with artisans, cafes, organic coffee and produce, colourful old Volkswagen Beatles, great live music and an abundance of international food with a Mexican flare. The perfect city for me! The original plan was only to stay here a few days, but I fell in love with this peaceful, cozy little town and have been here almost two weeks.

The weather here is absolutely perfect. After being up in the northern tropical jungles I was ready for some cool mid to upper 20´s, perfect for walking around. Situated 2200 m above sea level, in the highlands of Mexico, SC experiences very fresh air with a distinct clarity of light.

The hostel I am staying in has a wonderful ambiance and I was able to strike a deal since I was staying so long. I paid $5 (50 pesos) a night which included my room, use of the Internet, kitchen, hot showers, free water, outdoor patios and hammocks and a TV with DVDs. The kitchen was the real selling point for me because I haven´t cooked for myself in 7 weeks. I was even able to whip up some yummy pesto to remind me of home.

San Cristobal is surrounded by stunning valleys, mountains, deep forested areas, awesome waterfalls, deep canyons and an abundance of wildlife. On the outskirts of San Cristobal you will find many indigenous Maya villages, rich in cultural traditions. I was lucky enough to be able to visit San Juan Chamula over the weekend. People from all the surrounding villages walk miles to reach Chamula in order to pray, conduct rituals and seek healing in the main temple.

Religion here is a mixture of Catholicism and Maya Ritual. Chamulas revere St John the Baptist above Jesus Christ; St John's image is more prevalent inside the church. I entered the church and froze immediately. There were thousands of candles (you could feel the heat!) on the floor, tables and alters. Dozens of saints surrounded the large room and families were spread out conducting rituals. The Temple of San Juan is covered in pine needles: the pine tree is an important part of Chamula culture because their towns and villages are surrounded by pine trees. Symbolism is strong as soda is used in rituals, eggs are used to absorb evil; and chickens or turkeys are sacrificed…all of which I saw. While I was fascinated and intrigued I also felt like quite an intruder in a very private, sacred place.

Another highlight of San Cristobal is the famous Na Bolom Museo, meaning "House of the Jaguar". This elegant colonial mansion was most recently owned by a philanthropic couple from Switzerland Gertrude Duby-Blom and her husband Frans Blom who died in 1963. After falling in love with Chiapas, they moved here and spent the rest of their lives exploring, surveying and studying; educating and protecting the local indigenous peoples. Today the house is packed full of their work including photographs (55 000 taken over 4 decades!), archaeological finds, and books.

To my surprise The Banff Mountain Film Festival was in town last weekend! This is their first time showing the festival in the state of Chiapas and luckily they showed a different lineup then what I viewed in Edmonton early this year. ¡Que casualidad!

The colours here are intense and one can get quite swept away by the beauty of San Cristobal and the gorgeous surrounding areas. But, not all that shimmers is gold. There is still tension, nervousness and anger left over from the Zapatista rebellion that surmounted in 1994. The group was formed by Marxist revolutionaries and later indigenous radicals of Chiapas. They have much to rebel against. The state is controlled by nine wealthy families and, particularly in the highlands, the locals have no rights and no security. For more info if you are interested check out:
Link


The love affair ends at 18:20 hours when I depart for Merida, 12 hours north in the great state of Yucatan. I hope to return to San Cristobal de Las Casas near the end of my travels and perhaps volunteer in a nearby village.

¡HASTA LUEGO!

Some Colour for your Weekend

National Geographic

As you will notice I have not taken many photographs of Mexicans or Guatemaltecos. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, I do not want to invade their privacy by being like a typical annoying tourist, constantly snapping at anything that catches my eye.

Secondly, I find that while travelling, if I become obsessed with taking pictures, I lose out on many experiences. If my camera is always in front of my eyes I can´t truly see and therefore, I forfeit those moments forever.

I have fallen in love with these beautiful, vibrant countries and the wonderful people I meet. Guatemala and Mexico are rich and diverse countries, full of opportunities for photographers. The age old question becomes, ¨to shoot or not to shoot¨?

A camera can take on a different role for different people. Some people simply want to have a visual record of where they´ve been for future viewing or to share with friends and family. Others see photography as an art form. They try to capture their surroundings and see the people and places around them more clearly.

I´ve also met people who use a camera as a shield. They hide behind this small piece of equipment so that they never have to get close to anything or anyone. They just click away, obsessively, thinking it´s the ¨right thing¨ to do while on vacation.

Even though I can barely speak the language here I don´t want to view locals as merely objects on the other side of my lens. They are fellow members of the planet. I think if you approach them with respect, people will pick up on that, and they will treat you the same.

The last two months I have been travelling around heavily populated Mayan areas. There are many Mayans who feel that the camera can take their soul and have a general distrust of cameras. There is also a persistent rumor that foreigners come to Guatemala to steal children...

A couple of you are reading this last paragraph and giggling a bit because you know I quite often joke about kidnapping all the little, gorgeous kids I see. I can understand this maternal stress and fear as hundreds of foreigners ´oh and ah´ over their precious babies.

And yes I agree that ¨a picture can say a thousand words¨. Don´t get me wrong, I am quite fond of taking and viewing pictures and by no means am I retiring my little Canon. Photography has always been a highlight of my travels. I believe there might be a fine line, but I haven´t quite figured out where that is for me, yet.

Photography by Mike Tournoy

The Link

I´m new at this whole blog thing...the link I tried to set up for Tikal didn´t work so let´s try that again: www.parque-tikal.com :)

¡Tikal!

The alarm clock goes off at 4am...we walk 1 km in the dark like zombies. We climb Temple IV which stands at an awe inspiring 72 meters to watch the sunrise! The fog obstructs our view, but we are treated to the bewildering sounds of the jungle as thousands of animals wake with the first rays of light. About 60 tourists from all over the world join us for this 5am sunrise atop Temple IV. Dozens of birds, howler monkeys and perhaps a jaguar or puma can be heard as we all wait in silence, peering over the misty jungle of Tikal.

Tonight is my last night in Guatemala as Mike and I head for Palenque, Mexico tomorrow morning at 5am. We just returned from a wonderful two days exploring the Mayan ruins of Tikal. Tonight we are going to dine in style, which means spending about $10...since we are growing quite tired of the usual Guatemalteco fare (chicken, bean and rice or eggs). I will write more about my adventures in Tikal and Flores, Guatemala soon. Tikal is the largest Mayan ruins and if you are interested check out some info at: Pictures are on their way, I promise!

Vamos a Mexico!!!

A Breath of Fresh Air

Blessed with some of the most breathtaking lagoons, waterfalls and caves, the road from Coban to Chisec, is a nature-lover´s paradise! The past few days I have spent my time trekking through lush jungles, bathing in sunny lagoons and stumbling around slippery cave systems.

Semuc Champey, a major tourist attraction for foreigners and Guatemalteco´s alike, is framed by steep forested hillsides. The water, a series of turquoise pools, turn marvelous shades of blue and green as the sun moves across the sky. Unfortunately, we visited on a very busy day, but there was still lots of room to hike and explore at our leisure. We swam from pool to pool and had many opportunities to jump from waterfalls to the lakes below. Our guide helped us maneuver around the slippery slopes and took us to an incredible cave with limestone formations that looked like glistening tulip chandeliers.

The next day I travelled to a town four hours west called Playa Grande, which is neither a beach nor grande... It was, however, a good base to explore the national park of Lachua. I was absolutely flabbergasted to find a park with strict rules about waste and land preservation. Guatemala is a very dirty country and sadly not many people are thinking about the future of their land. Although in Lachua, we found outhouses with dry composting, organic waste receptacles and even a fruit disease control-inspection station to prevent the movement of contaminated food! We hiked a 4.5 km trail through the lush jungle where speedy lizards and colourful butterflies abound. At the end of the trail we were treated to relaxing and swimming in a gorgeous, tranquil lake.

The highlight of my day took place in the early evening when we hitched a ride in a pickup truck back to our hotel 20 km away. So far most of my favourite moments seem to take place when I´m travelling between places because transportation in Guatemala is always an adventure in itself! We stopped to pick up a family who needed to hitch a ride to a Jehovah Witness gathering. A beautiful, tiny little three year old girl was passed to me to hold during the extremely bumpy, dusty ride. I was in heaven! She was soooooo adorable! We exchanged a few words and then this little precious girl was whisked away to go celebrate at her church. These are the kind of moments that no travel book can prepare you for and no picture could ever capture!

I now have a great travelling companion so I can relax a little. The latino guys can get a bit annoying when I walk around alone, lots of whistling, staring and a few rude comments now and again. Most Guatemalan´s first impression of white women comes to them via Hollywood movies and advertisements with scantly clad Caucasian women. They seem to associate white skin with these images and slogans. Thankfully, the scene totally changes when I´m walking around with my own personal, Dutch bodyguard named Mike. Mike and I met while taking Spanish lessons in Xela. If everything goes well we are planning to travel together for the next two months to explore the ruins of Mexico, the jungles of Belize and the reefs of Honduras. As many of you may know I usually have a hard a time travelling with other people. Luckily, Mike is a very down to earth guy and we have a very similar travelling style.

I hope everyone has a good holiday weekend. I´ll be thinking about big turkey dinners with yummy apple pie while I eat yet another round of rice and beans...Happy Easter!!!