Just loving it in San Marcos de Laguna at Lake Atitlan

It is just amazingly beautiful here at lake Atitlan and I am truly enjoying the peaceful and tranquilo life in San Marcos.

I start my days with 8am morning yoga and massages in the afternoon and then just relaxing by the lake soaking the sun. This is life! I will never want to go back to reality.

Namastee!

Made it to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala

After 7 buses and 1 boat ride I made it to San Pedro de Atitlan in Guatemala from San Cristobal in Mexico.

Made it in 9 hours which wasnt bad at all as I started at 7am and the Guatemalans really took care of me today directing me from one bus to the other and I switched buses in seconds while my backpack in split second were thrown from one bus roof to the other. Really nice people! I had a blast in the bus as well as I was the only white peson on the old american school buses the use as local transport in Guatemala. The buses were packed and I got directed to sqeeze down on a seat were 2 people already sat... ehehe.. We were 6 adults sitting from one side to the other on benches that is made for school children... We defintely made use of the space.

The ride itself was like a rollercoaster as we went up and down, right and left in the beautiful mountains as the bus driver was speeding as it was no tomorrow. So We all had to really hold on as not to fall off the benches. I had a blast and couldnt stop laughing at one point. But then a Guatemalan women got seasick of it all and threw up in the bus... that was a bit yacky I have to say.... thank godness I had to change bus.

So it was quite a day. Now I am staying at this coool tranquil place called Zoola in San Pedro and in the coming days I will just do nothing... nada and then I´ll do some yoga.

;)))

Merry Christmas, God Jul, Feliz Navidad!

hohoho! Julen e har!

Har idag officellt firat julen i Mexiko. 20 st av oss pa vandrarhemmet kokade en stor julmiddag, Var och en fjalptes at och det blev grillad kyckling, kott, ugnspotatis, massa olika sallader, majs, och sa klart tequila med Fresco limsa. Vi dekorerade takterassen pa vandradhemmet med lite julgrejs och en fin liten julgran. Sen satt vi at och hela eftermiddagen i solskenet i 25´c varme. Ah sa skont.

Jattetrevliga medresenarer har pa Bachpackerts Hostel i San Cristobal. Alla fran olika lander och de flesta av oss reser ensam, sa det var trevligt att vi alla at julmiddag tillsammans.

Nu till kvallen har det blivit kallt igen och brasan ar igang. Jattemysigt har.

Har shoppat idag. Inhandlade ett vackert armband i ljusgron sten som jag redan har tappat... buuu... kanske jag hittar det imorgon i solskenet. Kopte ocksa en liten handvaska i akta mexikanst lader fran en gammal man som jag doskuterade med pa spanska. Vi fick ganska myclet diskuterat aven om min spanks inte ar sa bra.

Men nu ar det dags att ga och sova. Jag ska stiga upp klockan 06.00 imorgon och ta bussen till Lago de Atitlan i Guatemala. En busstur pa ca 8-9 timmar beorende pa hur lange vi maste vara vid gransen.

God jul at er alla!

KRAM :)

San Cristobal, Mexico

Efter att ha kollat Maya ruinerna i Palenque klockan 8 pa morgonen tog jag en minibus till San Cristobal. Endast 200km mellan staderna men tog 5 h att kora eftersom det gick uppat och nerat och ringlande mellan bergen hit och dit. Nastan sa man blev aksjuk. Men aah sa vacker vy over bergen och Mexiko.

Detta var forsta gangen jag hade akt helt ensam som vit turist med lokalbefolkningen. Men det gick bra och billigt blev det oxa. Betala endast 90 pesos vilket ar si sa dar 5 euro. ;) Bara bra det!

I san Cristobal sa hittade jag ett bra hostel (http://www.backpackershostel.com.mx/) med trevliga backpackers. Imorgon ar det ju julafton och vi ska laga julmiddag tillsammans och dricka lite tequila. Hehehe.

Men det ar kallt har...brrr.. San Cristobal ligger 2100m over havsytan och det kanns. Blev att dra pa sin jeansen och flera lager skjortor. Som tur ar sa fick jag tva varma tacken for inatt och sa har vi varma dushar. Annat det har an varma beachen i Belize.

Jag har gjort en resekarta nu sa ni kan folja med var jag har varit och ar nagonstans. Kartan finns langst ner pa bloggen. Jag ska uppdatera den sa fort jag har tillgang till en bra dator.

Ska dra till vandrarhemmet nu och dricka min ol. Kopte en mexikansk ol som heter SOL men men citron och salt smak..ska bli intressant.

KRAM!

:)

Palenque Maya Ruins

After a cold sleep in El Panchaan and an early rise at 6am (!) I hiked to the Maya Ruins for the sunset. However, when I got there it only opened at 8am... :( But I was not the only one there, met this German guy that was doing an amzing trip from Alaska to Argentina for 1 year. We had a good talk and were the first people to check out the temples and the pyramids. Got some fab pictures :)

Palenque, Mexico

It was a short and sweet stay I did in Flores, stayed only 2 nights and this morning I headed for Palenque, Mexico. Had to wake up at 04.30 (!) to take the minibus to Mexico. It was a long a bumpy ride with a lot of changes. We drove to the border on this damn bumpy road for 3 hours, that took us to a river. There we changed transportation and got in to this tiny long tail boat and headed north up the river for 1 h to the Mexican border. Felt likeI was sneaking into the country illegally. From the Mexican border the roads were so much betta. i have to say that there is a biiig difference in between Mexico and Guatemala. Guatemala is just poor, Mexico aint.

However, the silly minibus driver didnt take us all the way to Palenque instead he dumped us all of in a cross town 1 h away. Everyone had to go out and change bus AGAIN. Silly we thought, money they were thinking as it turned out that we had to pay 20 more pesos to get to Palenque. Annoying as we had all paied to get to the the final desitnation. But hey what can you do.... so in we squeezed in this little minivan with all our backpacks on the roof and off we went.

Palenque is a small little town with not so much to do. People just come here for the Maya ruins and stay a day or two. I am staing in El Panchaan tonight in this little shack in the middle of the jungle. Betta not be any spiders around. It is a beautiful little place with cabanas and huts but I think I will only stay 1 night. But hey when you pay only 60 pesos a night you can not expect too much. 60 pesos is like 3 dollars, which is like 2 euros and even less pounds. Damn it is cheap.

Tomorrow it will be another early morning as I will go and check out the ruins and then head south to San Cristobal to celebrate x-mas. I still cant belive it is xmas eve in 2 days!

Hasta luego todos y feliz navidad!

Tikal, Guatemala

After a lot of rum, hanging with Canadians and learning how to speak Garifuna creol in Belize it was time to get back to reality and do some serious backpacking. From Placencia I took a bus to Flores in Guatemala to check out the Tikal Maya ruins.

Stayed at Hostel Dona Gayo and hooked up with some people to go to the ruins with. Set in the middle of the jungle in Guatemala, these ruins where impressive. We managed to climb up on three temples, the highest being 63 m. Was a bit scary to go down I have to say as it was so damn steep. Luckily it didnt rain, otherwise I would probably be dead by now as I would have slipped and dumped right down to the ground.

The view from the highest temple was just amazing, so beautiful. Taller than the highest trees you had the view of the horizon, the jungle and the random tall temples you could get a glimpse of. Really beautiful and so peaceful. We also managed to spot the odd animals and a monkey swinging in the trees. I will upload some pics soon.

They also had some sort of a Maya festival at Tikal on the same day so there was a lot of people meditation and chanting at the temples. Good vibes I have to say. I tried to meditate a bit as well for a while. I would have loved to stay and do some yoga there. Zeli would have loved this!

Spent 5 hours at the ruins and slept like a baby that night.

Hey rudboy!

Rum punch for ya all!

One More Night

What else can I say than One More Niiight, One Mooore Night , uuuuh uuuhh uuuh :)

THE beat is Belize :))

Reagge, rum punch and the beach

Can it get any better? Caye Caulker was by far the best place I have been to on this trip. It had everything I was looking for... sunshine, clear blue water, beach bar with reggae bits pouring out of the speakers, rum punches all the long, the odd people, the sweet people, the loud people, the Rastafarians, a bit of tropical hurricane, more rum and a breezy attic.

I will come back and watch Big Steve jump the Split!

All the best to Uncle Ty!

Peace, love and blessings!

Salsa tonight!

After a lazy day on the beach, me and the owners of the hostel and a couple of guys and girls from the hostel will check out the local salsa venue downtown Tulum. I cant wait to dance some salsa in a real latin country! No offense London, barsalsa is great too but cannot beat the real deal.

But first I need to have the daily dose of tacos or sopes for dinner.

Arrrriba!

Now anyone can comment on my blogg!

I have change the settings and now anyone can comment on my blogg. Just choose anonymous as the ID and your comments will get posted! DOnt be shy as I would love to get some xmas greetings!

Nu kan vem som helst kommentera pa min blogg. Klicka pa Comment och skriv en halsning till mig valj sen Anomymous som ID och din kommentar kommer att synas pa min blogg!

Kram,
A.

Swimming in the caves, Tulum

Today, me and a couple of guys from the hostel went to snorkle in the amazing spring caves they have in Mexico. We went to Canote Dos Ojos, the 2 eyes cave. We were boiling hot when we arrived after a 40 min bike ride, on the Mexican highway. Crazy Yes! But so rewarding when getting into the water.

These caves goes deep under water and under the ground. We only snorked but you can also dive..aaah the under water world is so amazing. We ended up snorkling for hours before we biked back to the hostel and then it was time to cool down again in the ocean.

I think I already lost 2 kg after all that exercising LOL!

Such a nice day =) This is the life!

Isla Mujeres and Tulum

Isla Mujeres was a very nice place and the Pocna Hostel I was staying in was first class backpacker hostel with its own beach, beach bar, palmtrees, hammocks and nomads.

I had almost forgot about the legendary hostel breakfasts: Jam and Toast and a banana.... Wow I have so not missed that. So I decided that this time around I will not live on toast and jam so I went to the local supermercado and got myself some decent oatmeal! From here on it is only porridge that rules and of course the banana :)

Isla Mujeres is a small island, 7 km long. I rented a bike the other day and drove around in the hot hot hot sun. Not so smart to start the bike trip so late in the day. But hey, not my fault the bike broke down, luckily I had only biked for like 4 minutes, when one of the pedals fell off! Geeeeez! Got my second bike and went for a nice bike ride, stopped at some beaches to cool of in the ocean and ended up on Playa Norte enjoying the sunset.

Today I left Isla Mujeres for Tulum, a 2 h bus ride south of Cancun by the coast. Im staying in Lobo Inn, close to the beach. Here the bikes are for free and only a 10 min bikeride to the beach. Aaaaahh this beach is just beautiful! I will probably stay here for quite some nights unless the mosqitos will chase me away, already got bitten 3 times.

I will try to upload some pics while in this hostel as their PCs seem quite ok and might be able to handle my Canon.

Next stop, the tacos shop for dinner!

Till mamma och mormor: Jag hoppas ni kan forsta vad jag skrivit. Ska dra nagon vers pa svenska sen. Sol och bad varje dag och forsoker att inte branna mig i solen. Varmt har! Maste vara plus 35 i solhettan mitt pa dagen. Men ett dopp i havet sa hjalper :)

xoxo

Back to DC and finally in Cancun!

After a niiiice week in Montreal I headed back to DC to visit my Alfase friend again. We had a good time and now I know how to make a duct tape wallet!! Arts and crafts is the best with the help of you tube!

When it was time for me to leave DC it started to snow and then I mean SNOW! The ground was all white and i thought my flight to heaven had been cancelled. But fortunately enough JetBlue is the deal and we took off only 1 h late!

So now I have finally arrived in Cancun :) After a sweaty and a bit confusing bus and ferry ride I made to Isla Mujeres. The island for only Women! Heaven might some boys think, but to dissapoint you I have to say there are a lot of guys here for being a female island.

Now I am gonna go and enjoy my first drink in Mexico!

Sweet dreams and I will for sure keep you updated.

Last day in Montreal

The rain is pissing down outside and I take i as a sign for me to leave. Today is my last day in Montreal, heading for DC to meet my dear Alfase :)