23 Dec-2 Jan 2013: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala

New York is relatively close to Central America…which is why I decided to do a 10 day trip through Mexico, Belize and Guatemala with Gecko. This included Xmas day and New Year's eve. 

Mexico

Tulum 

Tulum 

Tulum

I did this trip with a friend Terreis Sierra (also skiing buddy) who flew out from London.  There were also 14 other people on the trip and surprisingly the majority of us were from the southern hemisphere...in particular, Australia! The guide, Alonso, was Mexican and would be with us for the whole time.

We started out in Cancun where most of us did either snorkelling or ziplining/caving. I decided to spend the day in and out of the water snorkelling the second largest reef in the world near to Maroma.  Not much wildlife to see but the water was crystal clear (if not a bit chilly!). It was Xmas eve so we celebrated it in style at a restaurant - drinking frozen margaritas, eating great tasting food, wearing balloons and being entertained by the staff! Unfortunately we had an early start on Xmas day for our drive to Tulum which is a spectacular pre-Columbian walled city ruins overlooking a beautiful coastline.  It is perched on a cliff and with amazing views over the ocean.  A hot day, but bareable.

From here we got a local bus to Chetumel to spend the night before heading into Belize.

Belize

Snorkelling

Snorkelling

Caye Caulker

Everyone chilling on Caye Caulker

Tikal

Caye Caulker

Tikal

Caye Caulker

A very quick visit to Belize...straight over the border to Belize City where we got a speedboat to Caye Caulker - 33km from Belize, and only 7km from north to south.

We got to spend 1.5 days here in quite basic accommodation (where we all got bitten to death by fleas/sandflies...or whatever they were!).  It may not have actually had a nice beach, or clear waters to swim in, but the snorkelling trip we did the next day was absolutely stunning!!  There were lots and lots of turtles, mantas, stingrays, sharks, fish and very beautiful coral.  Some of the best snorkelling (and diving) I have ever done! Another bonus for the island is the seafood…very very tasty!  The lobster was $40 and some of the best I have ever tasted.  

Guatemala

Antigua

Antigua

The tour group!

New Year's Eve - Antigua

Sunset in Antigua

The next stop was the border to Guatemala - this meant an early get up and a long day driving to Flores and to a small picturesque town (Itza) on an island in the middle of Lake Peten.  Lots of cobblestone streets and a gorgeous lake that we all jumped into to wash off the grit and sweat from the day.

The next morning was a very early getup so we could visit the ruins of Tikal - the largest excavated Mayan ruin site in the Americas.  There are 5 main temples of which we climbed three of them, the highest at 90m.  The site is still used for ceremonies and is surrounded by jungle - which includes animals such as a crocodile, parrots, toucans, howler monkeys and tarantulas. Alonso (a sun worshipper) did a blessing for us all....which was amazing to experience in the ruins.

We were off again that night to catch an overnight bus to Guatemala City...a 10hr bus ride that only covered 500km!!!  Very slow, very cold in the bus and at 2am in the morning there was a little bit of confusion over one of us nearly missing the bus after a pit stop (which luckily didn't happen!).  After getting to Guatemala City we got another bus to Antigua - a very beautiful town and former capital of Guatemala. 

Antigua is a colonial town set deep in a valley encircled by three volcanos and at an elevation where you had to wear a jacket at night. It is also a protected UNESCO town.  There was lots of walking about, shopping and for those who had the energy, an early morning hike up a volcano.   

We spent 3 nights here, including New Year's eve. I really enjoyed my time in this town, there was a lot to see, to experience and to shop for (especially jade, coffee and chocolate)! This is where we saw a lot of local Guatemalans holidaying - more than foreign travellers! As for New Year's eve....everyone congregated down in the market place where everyone was letting off fireworks....including metre+ lengths of fire crackers.  We couldn't tell what was 'official' fireworks and what individuals were letting off.  All in all the atmosphere was relaxed, friendly and chilled out.  Lots of kids about too.

Got to say, though it was only 10 days in length, the entire group got on exceedingly well, everyone had a fantastic time and we got to see the highlights of these 3 countries.  Guatemala is definitely a favourite of mine, and I would love to go back and see it in more depth one day. 

Highlights:
- Seeing the Tikal ruins
- Snorkelling off from Caye Caulker
- Chilling out in Itza, Belize
- Spending time in Antigua

Tips:
- Have a guide when going through Tumul and Tikal
- Bring dimp with you as the sandflies will eat you alive!
- Do a full day snorkelling trip from Caye Caulker
- You can't exchange US$ to Quetzels in Guatemala...either ATMs (which may or may not work), or exchange money at the border
- If catching local buses, bring a coat as the air con is put on high!

6-14 October 2012: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

After a very long year with so few holidays it was time to just chill out by the beach in Mexico! 

Myself and two friends, Alex and Sera, decided on an apartment just 40mins from Puerto Vallarta - the town was called Punta de Mita. 

For 6 glorious days we sat on our balcony, swam in the sea or pool and did some stand up paddling. At night we would venture into the small town for frozen margaritas, octopus or whatever we fancied. 

The temp was usually around 90-95F which was a bit hot for me, but thankfully the apartment had air con and you could easily escape the heat by going back into the apartment. 

The beach was clean, the water like a bath, and the neighbours and townfolk friendly.  The other bonus was we were out of season so not many other tourists about.  In fact, one night we were the only ones at a restaurant.

29 Feb-3 March 2008 – Altenmarkt, Austria (skiing trip 2)

Some of us decided to head back to Altenmarkt for another weekend of skiing (myself, Carla and Terreis). Very much like last time, but the weather was warmer and there was less snow about (the warmest any local has ever experienced in February).

Saying that, the field was closed for two afternoons due to high winds (talk about being blown down the mountain) and we also had wet weather and snow one night. We spent the afternoons shopping (well Carla and Terreis did) and eating and drinking.

On the Friday night we went out night clubbing and as C and T aren't the young bunnies they once were, they ended up sleeping the whole next day to get rid of their hang overs! I was on the skifield skiing my heart out - the weather wasn't too nice, but the snow was good and there were not many people about.

The consolation prize was the last day when the sun was shining very brightly and we had a fantastic day skiing over in Flachau - another ski field but in the same general area. This ski field was wider and not as steep as Zauchensee, but was it busy! Every man, woman, child and dog was on the ski field and it took 4 chairlifts to get to the top of the mountain. At least in Zauchensee it was at most two.

At Flachau there was great, OK and just plain ugly snow conditions as the sun was quite hot and there were lots of people about. Talk about quad-burn on the last run down - it was a combination of moguls and slush! But we all had fun and I came back injury-free. We are already thinking about next year's trip....

17-20 January 2008 – Altenmarkt, Austria (skiing)

There were 16 of us in total meeting up in Altenmarkt (45mins from Salzburg airport) for a long weekend skiing. Seven of us were coming from the London Credit Suisse presentation team, and nine from the Frankfurt Deutsche Bank presentation team (a big thanks to Wolfgang, Alex and Vesko for organising this).

Some of us from London were flying in on little sleep – for me I had no sleep as the flight was at 6.30am and I went straight from work to the airport. It meant that when we got to the ski resort, we dumped our stuff at the very lovely apartment we were staying at, got the shuttle bus to the ski slope, got our hire gear and pass and skied for the afternoon.

The skifield (Zauchensee) was great – lots of runs to choose from and though it was snowing, there was no wind and little people about. The runs were mostly intermediate with some black runs thrown in. With it snowing there was lots of powder and we had reasonably good visibility. We skied the whole afternoon and then got the shuttle bus back to Altenmarkt (only 20mins away).

The ‘Germans’ were coming by train and didn’t get there till that evening. When they turned up we got ready and headed out to dinner with them. I was literally falling asleep at the table by 10pm, so I excused myself and went to bed. Some stayed out a little later but most of the us from CS were in bed by midnight. The Frankfurt guys were out later, but they had slept the previous night!

And then it all went wrong…

…The next morning I was skiing along happily (and doing pretty well considering I hadn't skiied for two years) when I stupidly got my pole in the way of a ski and took a tumble. Not a bad fall in any way, shape or form, but I did fall awkwardly and ended up tearing my left calf muscle. By the time I got down the slope I couldn’t even clench my calf muscle without it screaming in pain! I ended up going to the hospital and after an ultrasound came back negative on a haematoma (bleeding in the muscle), I limped out with painkillers and 1-2 weeks of no activity ahead of me.

Though I couldn’t ski, I still managed to hobble around and keep occupied. There were others who kept me company as they were either injured or tired so I wasn’t completely bored. Still managed to enjoy meals out, go to a nightclub and have fun with everyone. I just couldn’t walk very fast, or put any weight on my calf muscle.

In fact my injury kept me from making a very unwise decision on the Saturday night – to go down a very long, steep and icy slope that had no lighting except for the moon, on the back of a sled with people who had been drinking since 8pm that night! Let’s just say that there were a few more people not skiing the next day!

Being injured was not the scenario I had in mind for the long weekend but I did get some fresh air (except for smoking in public places which is allowed in Austria), met some fab people and had a good laugh.

24 Dec-3 January 2008 – Lanzarote, Canary Islands

The three of us decided that a good way to celebrate Xmas and the New Year was to surf in the Canary Islands…yes it is winter, but it had to be warmer than the UK!

We flew in on Xmas Eve to a small sleeping town called Famara – on the north coast of Lanzarote – the best surfing location on the island (and far enough way from Port del Carmen)!

I flew in with Sera (my travelling buddy from Morocco and good friend), and we were picked up by her pal Marcel who flew in earlier than us. He hired a car, did the shopping and generally potted around until we got there. As it was Xmas Day the following day, we did the shopping on the basis that nothing was going to be open – I am glad we did as nothing was open!

Xmas Day was spent not doing much. Lanzarote is a very windy island so sunbathing on the beach is not always the ideal thing. It wasn’t particularly warm on Xmas Day and the wind was blowing – and without a balcony we had no option but to eat and drink the day away. Saying that we did manage to do a BBQ meal for dinner – albeit cooked on the pavement outside the apartment! Thanks to Marcel for getting an early flight so he could go food shopping while the shops were open...otherwise we would have starved!

The next day was my first day of surf school (Surf School Lanzarote)! I had booked for 5 days of surf school, Sera for 2 days and Marcel none as he had been surfing since he was 8 years old. The day would start at 10.30am, do a warm up, and hit the water until 1pm when we got lunch. There would normally be a talk about things such as surf board design, rips, waves etc over lunch, before heading back into the water until 4pm. I found the first few days exhausting as my muscles got used to the workout and I got a bit more proficient on the surfboard. It also didn’t help that I had picked up the cold that was going around London (even the surf instructors were struck down with it).

By the end of the course I was on a hardboard vs. a softboard (more buoyant, larger and easier to learn on), and was standing up on most waves I caught. Surfing is lots of fun and you get such a blast when you get a good wave, stand up quickly, feel completely balanced standing on the board and you surf the whole way into the beach without falling off! It is tiring though, and all three of us were in bed around 9.30pm most nights.

We did pluck up the energy to celebrate New Years in Famara at a little bar called ‘Lenny’s’. About 20 of us were there celebrating and after demolishing a wide range of alcohol, Sera, Marcel and myself called it a night at about 2.30am. We had thought about spending the night in Port del Carmen – but I am glad we stayed put as our apartment was a block up from the bar (ie stumbling distance)!

The weather over the 10 days was sunny, but the more the wind blew, the colder it was (we were wearing a 3m full wetsuit so it could have been much colder). Thankfully the surf was pretty good on most of the days – though some days were better than others. And I have come back with a tan – if anything to cover the many bruises I picked up! On top of that, I nearly broke my big toe, my sinuses became blocked up, I had the cold the whole way through, and my fingertips / palms were shredded after hauling the beginner softboard to and from the beach over the first few days.

But I am not complaining – I had a fab time away with Sera and Marcel, I learnt lots about surfing (and improved my surfing lots), and was glad to be somewhere warm for Xmas/New Year. And we even did a bit of site seeing on the island with the hire car we had.

17-24 November 2007 – Red Sea, Egypt

Oh what a trip! Six nights on a boat, on the Red Sea scuba diving my little heart out.

I had always wanted to do a ‘live-aboard’ trip but had always ended up doing land-based trips. Not this time. I booked myself on a trip to Egypt through a dive company in the UK (http://www.oonasdivers.com/) and picked a trip around the northern Red Sea. It was definitely the right choice.

I flew into Sharm el Sheikh and immediately joined the boat. We were moored for the night but the next morning we took off. The boat (M.Y. Juliet) was well kitted out…the cabins were pretty good and I got one to myself with bathroom as well. Five cabins all up, with a bigger one on the main deck that costs a bit more. The ‘lounge’ was very comfortable and that’s where we ate as well. As for the main decks, they all had large cushions everywhere so wherever the sun was shining, you could lay out and soak it up.

The other divers consisted of nine people: three Spaniards and the rest from the UK (the five from the UK were from the same dive club). It didn’t matter that I went by myself as we were all there for one thing…diving.

On the Sunday we got up at a leisurely time of 8am and had our first dive at 10am. It was an easy one as everyone was still a bit tired and it was the first dive of the week. The water throughout the time was around 26-27 degrees, and with the sun out I got myself quite a tan. Saying that, it was very windy in some places which bought the temperature down somewhat.

Our days usually began at a 6am wakeup call, a dive at 7am, breakfast at 9am, lazing around until about 10.30am, another dive, lunch, lazing around until about 2pm, our third dive, afternoon tea, and then our last (night) dive around 6pm. The sun set each day about 4.30pm so it was dark by 5.30pm. Dinner was about 8pm and most of us were soundly tucked up in bed by 9.30pm! Scuba diving is exhausting work!

Our local dive guide Wael was experienced and with his knowledge and the captains, we got to see a whole lot of hammerhead sharks, dolphins, turtles, string rays and fish/coral. None of us left disappointed – particularly when we were scuba diving and were visited by a pod of 13-14 dolphins who played around with us for about 5mins. Amazing mammals. And the hammerhead sharks…they kept their distance but still near enough for us to appreciate the size of them (c.2.5 metres)! We also spied a white tip reef shark on the last day.

The highlights of the trip include:

• Diving with a pod of dolphins
• Seeing the hammerhead sharks (about 11 in total over the 6 days)
• Spying the white tip reef shark
• Coming across a massive turtle (about half my body size) while doing a night dive on the Thistlegorm wreck (which was being chased by about 6 divers with their flashing cameras)
• Diving on the Thistlegorm wreck was truly fantastic – it was a WWII steam freighter and sank in 1941 with all its cargo…which meant we got to see jeeps, trucks, ammunition, rifles motorcycles and many more things. We got to dive in and around it and because work was being done on it, rumours were around that it was closed. Lucky for us that it was open on the day we visited it and only three other boats in the vicinity. Usually in peak season you could have up to 20 boats parked up!!

I had such a good time and would definitely recommend the boat and doing a live-aboard – it gets you away from the day-trippers and gives you far more flexibility.

10-14 October 2007 - Poland

Krakow

Krakow is a fantastic town...right from the first moment when we (me and Sheree who is another of the bride's friends) got off the train from the airport. It was such character and the historical buildings are wonderful. We visited the 'old town' which were were actually staying in (thanks to my sis for the Green Hostel recommendation) and the square (the oldest one of this size in Europe) which is really busy with tourists and locals.

We ended up having a dinner of dumplings which is very traditional in Poland. Can't say we stayed up very late but did go and have a traditional Polish beer called Tyskie - a very light beer and one I may actually try to find in the many Polish shops we have in London now.

We had arrived in the late afternoon and by sunset were were shivering away as the night temps for our stay in Poland was around zero at night and about 9 degrees during the day. I can still feel the cold! Thankfully I had my fleece with me but could have still done with another layer.

Aushwitz/Birkenau

On the second day we got up (very) early and got a bus to Aushwitz and Birkenau concentration camps (costing all of 14zl return...which is a couple of pounds). It was a 90 minute journey time but between looking at the passing scenery and nodding off, the time went quite quickly. We got there just in time to join the English tour and over the next four hours we got to see, to some extent, the misery and horror that prisoners went through. There were some bits worse than others, especially when we saw the initial movie of the camp being liberated and the actual shoes, hair, glasses and clothes that the Nazis horded in warehouses.

What took me by surprise was the that the buildings at Aushwitz were made of brick and it looks more like a modern day prison than a concentration camp...I was expecting huts made of wood or something similar. Birkenau was more primitive with wooden huts (or what I would call barns) which was really barbarically basic. I have no idea how they could have survived a winter with no heating, barely any food, hard labour and one layer of clothes.

The guide ended the tour at Birkenau which housed most of the prisoners and I found that his grandfather had been held in the camp. It makes you realise that this can't simply be written down in history books and left as is, but it should continually highlighted as an example of what humans can do to each other and ensure it doesn't happen again (which of course it has in places like Croatia/Bosnia).

After the tour we headed back to Krakow and by the time we had found somewhere to have dinner and a coffee to warm up, we headed to bed for another early wakeup to see Wawel Hill - there is a castle and cathedral worth seeing there - and to get our train to Warsaw.

Warsaw

The train to Warsaw was on time and took us just over 2.5hrs. We got tickets the day before and it was actually cheaper to buy them at the train station than over the internet (which you can do). Warsaw was wet and cold when we got there but what warmed up us instantly was the beautiful hotel we were booked into (Le Royal Meridian Bristol). It is placed right by the 'old town' so we didn't have to go far to see some of the sites in Warsaw. The old part was actually rebuilt after WWII (as it was completely bombed out) and the Polish demolished a town in Germany to get the necessary material!

We didn't do much as it was wet and very cold so went down to the hotel bar for a couple of (very expensive) drinks and meet up with Ewa (bride), John (groom) and some of the groom's family. It wasn't a late night as we had the wedding the next day and the beers were just too expensive!!!

The wedding (Warsaw)

We woke on Saturday to see the sun shining but the temperature wasn't going to be hitting double figures as there was a bitterly cold wind blowing. We did go for a wonder into the old town again and visit a palace, but more to find a decent coffee than anything else. We needed to be ready for 1.30pm so after getting back and dressing, we were heralded into waiting taxis for the ride to St Anne's church. It is a stunning church, and is one of Poland's most notable ones.

The service (and Catholic mass) was done in Polish and though John is English he knew what was basically being said and what he was signing his name to!!! It was about 1hr and there were some photographs taken afterwards but it was so cold outside that we went back to the hotel. Some of us then headed to the 'local' bar for some more decently priced alcohol and the soccer for the blokes. We got back to the hotel for 7pm where the reception was being held.

Two thirds of the guests were Polish and the rest of us English but that didn't stop us socialising with each other as there were a few who understood English and translated. Ewa and John had 2 or 3 'English' people sitting at each table so we could get to meet some of the Polish wedding guests, and frankly, after the music began, everyone was up and moving around anyway.

It was such a fun evening, and with shots of Polish vodka to keep everyone going all of us made it till midnight when the wedding cake was cut. As to after that, some of it is clear and some of it is not so clear. I know I got to bed about 4am and think I was one of the last. The Poles certainly know how to party, and they certainly know how to drink vodka! I think the last of the guests left about 5am...and I don't think one English person had lasted the distance!!

The next morning, with many people feeling sorry for themselves, we checked out of the hotel, saw off the Polish contingent who were driving back to their homes, and headed to the airport for the flight home.

I will certainly go back to Poland (I think I invited myself to someone else's wedding during last night), and found the Polish to be very friendly and welcoming. There is certainly more to be seen in Poland!