Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Folks,

I've had a really relaxing week, mostly here in Isla Mujeres, an island off Mexico.

The pic of the week shows El Castillo (the castle) Pyramid in Chichén Itzá. It's so quiet because I got there early.

Chichén Itzá
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This is the most famous Mayan site. It was voted one of the new seven wonders of the world in the recent poll, and they're over the moon. There are Maravilla del Mundo t-shirts everywhere.

It's very impressive. I have to say, though, that I was a little spoilt by having gone to Tikal first. Tikal seemed a little more extensive, and also because it's in the jungle you feel like you're discovering it. Chichén Itzá is much more open than Tikal. It's like a big park rather than jungle.

For all these sites I now try to get the earliest bus in the morning, and get there before the crowds, and it was the best way to see Chichén Itzá. It's enormously impressive. There are many pyramids, a large pitch where ball games were played, and many other structures still standing.

When I finished my tour, I came back into the main area, and relaxed and read my book. When I got up to leave, it was like a different place. The tour buses had arrived, and tourists were milling about everywhere. In addition, there were at least a hundred souvenir sellers who had set up stalls all around. I never saw anyone selling anything in Tikal.

Getting around
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One thing that surprises me is how easy it is to travel everywhere. There are local buses going everywhere. Whenever I travel from one place to another, it's really easy to pick up the next leg of the journey. And I'm getting to places quicker than in my plan. I often plan to go from X to Y, stay overnight before going on to Z. But, in practice, when I get to Y there's bus there already going to Z, and I can save the extra overnight.

Isla Mujeres
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I fly to Cuba tomorrow from Cancún, which is why I'm in this region of Mexico at all. There are lots of flights from Cancún, as many people from the States use it to avoid the travel restriction.

I decided to stay in Isla Mujeres, because I read it was less of a tourist resort than Cancún itself. It's a tiny island, 8km long and 1km wide. In fact, at the end of the town just up the street it only takes 30 seconds to walk from the east to the west coast!

It's called Isla Mujeres, or Women's Island, because when the Spanish arrived there they found a painting of the god Ixchel, surrounded by a court of women. It's also an old pirate island.

The water is an incredible turquoise, and it's crystal clear. If you saw it on a postcard you'd think it had been photoshopped. I'm in the middle of the town, but the beach is just at the end of the street. I hired a bike yesterday and cycled around the full circumference in just 2 hours, and that was stopping for a drink halfway.
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It's late now. It poured with rain tonight, and the street is flooded. I had to wade out out my hotel with the water up to my ankles earlier. Actually, there is lightning now, so it's some sort of a storm. I am heading to Cuba tomorrow. I get the 9 o'clock boat to Cancún, then a taxi to the airport and a flight to Havana. So I better go and pack.

Until next week.

Chau,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Journada: Governors protest at US anti-immigration measures

Tikal

I'm now in Valladolid, Mexico. I travelled from Guatemala, through Belize, into Mexico on Wednesday.

The pic of the week shows the very impressive Temple I in Tikal. It's 44m high, and the pic is taken from the top of Temple II, on the opposite side of the Grand Plaza, from a height of about 38m.

Tikal, Guatemala
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Tikal was absolutely wonderful. It's the ruins of an old Mayan city. I was staying on the pretty island of Flores, in Lago Petén Itzá in the north of Guatemala. I got an early bus to Tikal, leaving at 6am, and arriving shortly after 7. It was great to go so early, because it was virtually deserted for much of my visit.

You enter via a pathway through the jungle. It was so impressive to see, directly in front of me, the first temple rising out of the jungle. It was like something out of Indiana Jones.
It turned out to be the back of Temple I, or The Temple of the Grand Jaguar, built around 700AD for King Moon Double Comb. I spent hours going around the many temples, pyramids and acropoli (if that's the plural of acropolis). It was a wonderful place to visit, and amazing to see something so impressive with so few visitors.

Throughout there were monkeys, toucans and pisotes, which are animals that travel in packs and are quite like racoons.

A group of three people got onto the bus on the way back. I heard the first girl greet someone 'Howarya, José' in a strong Kerry accent. It turned out they were from Dingle. Also on the bus I got talking to a Canadian couple. They had sold up literally everything they owned in Canada, bought a motor home, and have been driving since 2004, most of that time in Mexico. They have no plans to stop.

Journey to Tulum
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I got a minibus from Flores to Chetumal in Mexico. This was a 5am start, and we travelled through Belize. I'll be back in Belize later on my journey back south, but it was so strange travelling through Central America with all the signs in English.

I smiled as we passed the Marion Jones Sports Complex in Belize City. I wonder if it's due for renaming.

When we crossed the border into Mexico, a group of us got together to hire a minbus. Some of us were going to Tulum and some to Playa del Carmen, a beach resort further north. I was going to Tulum, because I wanted to see the Mayan ruins there, and also to change direction and head inland in preparation for my visit to the most famous Mayan site, Chichén Itzá.

Tulum
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I was a little disappointed in Tulum. It's very much a backpacker town. I checked into a hostel that was recommended in my guide. But I didn't like it. It was basic and dirty, and the it cost €20 a night, which is way more than it was worth. I was shown to my room by Martin from Urlingford.

After just one night, I left to go to a cheaper and better hotel. It still wasn't great, but it was an improvement. That afternoon I went to see the ruins of the old Mayan port city. It is in the most beautiful location. In my guide it said that this was surely where Mayans would have requested a transfer to work, because it's right on the Caribbean. In the middle of the ruins, there is a tiny white sand beach with incredibly turquoise-blue water. It was so idyllic it looked like it was a film set rather than something real.

Valladolid
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I decided to relocate to Valladolid. It's hardly mentioned in my guide, but it's a good location for Chichén Itzá, where I'm going tomorrow. The bus broke down on the way up, so we were an hour and a quarter sitting in the bus waiting for help. I heard the driver on the phone saying 'I have 5 passengers. What will I do with them?'

I kind of dozed off, so I'm not sure if someone arrived, or the driver got it running again by itself, but we were on our way.

I'm much happier here than I was in Tulum. It's an old colonial town, but it's not particularly touristy. It's got a couple of touristy restaurants. But I'm in a lovely hotel for just €16 a night. And when I went out for a walk earlier (on possibly the hottest day of my whole time in Central America) I enjoyed seeing places like the barbers, with a tailor working away on a sewing maching in the corner. Now, this feels like Mexico.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm off to Chichén Itzá in the morning. It's one of the sites that was voted as one of the new seven wonders of the world in that recent poll. But for me, it will have to be truly excellent to be more impressive than Tikal.

So until next week,

Chau,

Éamon

Today's Headline in El Universal: Panistas unveil statue of Fox in Veracruz

Panajachel, Guatemala

Folks,

It's been a busy week. I left Santa Teresa, returned to Heredia, and flew to Guatemala.

The pic of the week shows 13-year-old Pedro, who was my guide in the town of Santiago Atitlán this morning.

Leaving the casita
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On the last day when I told Ariel (the gardener) I was going, he asked if I was leaving anything behind. I showed him some kitchen stuff and he was delighted. Then I told him that if there was anything out with the rubbish he could have it as well.

He eagerly went through the rubbish, and found t-shirts, jeans, and CDs that he was delighted to take. He went off with two packed sacks.

I laughed when I saw him after lunch, and he was walking up the road in a t-shirt with a message emblazoned across his chest 'Is fearr liom buachaillí'.

Heredia
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It was wonderful being back in Heredia. It felt a little like going home. I was delighted to meet back with people in the school. A few of us went out for a few beers in my regular bar, El Cholo. It was just like old times when Abraham. the barman, saw me arrive and asked, 'Pilsen Red with a glass of ice?'

Arrival in Guatemala
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I had conflicting advice on whether to stay in Guatemala City itself, or Antigua - both are close to the airport. Guatemala City is fighting a bad reputation on security, and Antigua is considered 'prettified' and manufactured for the tourist. I hadn't decided where to go, and read up on both in my guide on the flight. I discovered that Antigua was a UNESCO World Heritage site, and that made up my mind.

It's a very pretty colonial city in the shadow of three volcanoes, full of art galleries and not very typical of Guatemala. But I didn't mind spending my two nights there, and seeing all the kids going to school in the morning made me feel that at least it wasn't totally manufactured.

First impressions
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My first impressions of the country are that people are a lot poorer than Costa Rica, but the roads are better. There are also a huge proportion of indigenous people, most of whom still wear their colourful traditional clothes.

They also know how to pack a bus. On the way up here we were like sardines. But everyone was laughing, smiling, and in good form. It was like they were having a day out, although I imagine it was their daily commute.

Lago de Atitlán
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For my first overland journey I've already abandoned my plan and come west to Lago de Atitlán, on the recommendation of a couple of friends.

I'm staying in Panajachel which is the biggest town on the lake. The lake is a beautiful body of water with several towns nestled under two enormous volcanoes.

The country is in the middle of the run-off in the Presidential election, and political posters and billboards are everywhere. It's apparently very close, between the Centre Left candidate Colom, and the traditionalist Pérez, who many fear is too close to the military. I'll be interested in following how it goes after I leave.
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Well, that's it for this week. I leave early tomorrow to travel north-east to the Mayan ruins at Tikal. After that, I move on to Mexico.

So, for this week,

Chau,

Éamon

Today's headline in Prensa Libre: Rotation of senior police chiefs

Adios, Costa Rica

Folks,

And so to the end of my last week living in Costa Rica. I leave on Wednesday for Guatemala, and although I'll be back once or twice over the next couple of months (I fly home from here in December), I will just be staying for a night or two.

The pic of the week shows the writer at work. Probably my most typical pose (although I usually face the ocean, I just did it this way for the camera). You can see that I'm putting quite a strain on the poor hammock, and lets just say it now bears the scars.

The 'real' Costa Rica
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One of the reasons that I wanted to move to the coast was because I thought of it as the real Costa Rica. In choosing to come to Costa Rica, the two coasts were a major deciding factor. However, having lived in the central valley and now on the coast, I realise that the central valley is actually the more authentic.

Heredia
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Living in Heredia gave me a sense of how real ticos live. I learnt about tico life from my students and I lived a similar life. I used the same markets, shops and sodas. I lived on a nondescript street off the Avenida Central. I woke in the morning to the loud bustle (too loud for some of my guests) of the city getting its early start. I walked to work every day. I went to local bars.

In Heredia, everything is tico run.

Santa Teresa
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I have loved my three months here on the coast. I think I've been happier living in my one room casita than anywhere else I've ever lived (ok, so not having to go out to work helps). But it's not the real Costa Rica.

It has all the beauty in the mountains, the ocean, the lush vegetation and the animals. But in terms of people everything is built around the tourist dollar, or the dollars of people from the States that have moved here. There are big houses on hills overlooking the ocean everywhere, but I don't know any that are owned and lived in by ticos. The supplies in the shops and the menu in the restaurants are all geared towards holiday-makers. You hear lots of English spoken and a large number of businesses are run by foreigners.

That's not to say that it's touristy or pushy. Everything is laid-back and relaxed, and it's a wonderful place to take a break away from it all. It's just that for me, on reflection, life in the central valley is how ticos live.

Looking back
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I have loved all of my time in Costa Rica. I think back to getting off the plane in April 05 without place to stay, and looking for a job in which I'd virtually no experience. I sometimes wonder how I had the courage to do it!

I feel I have been incredibly lucky. People tell me they don't believe in luck, and that life is what you make it. But in getting the job in Intercultura, the apartment in Heredia, the casita here, it's just incredible how everything always fell into place.

I have met wonderful people, particularly in Intercultura, some of whom I will always keep in contact with and hopefully meet again.

In particular, I've met some wonderful Americans. The Americans who have chosen to live in a country like Costa Rica working for buttons are very different from the loud, whooping Americans you so often encounter on travels. And they'd make you wonder how George Bush could ever scrape a few votes together.

I will also never forget the beauty and variety in this tiny country. Remember that it's about two thirds the size of Ireland, and has the diversity of the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, volcanoes and mountains 4 times the height of any in Ireland.

There are monkeys, egg-laying turtles, sloths, iguanas, geckos, whales and many animals and creatures that I don't even know the names of. Including the green thing that's just landed on my desk. It has six percent of the earth's biodiversity in just 0.03% of its landmass.

Of course there are also earthquakes, scorpions, tsunami alerts and tornadoes.

I've loved my rich experiences here, but I'm sure that there are more to come.

Possessions
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I arrived with one rucksack. It's been supplemented by other rucksack-loads after visits home, things visitor brought from home, and by purchases over 2 years until my stuff fairly filled a 2 bedroom apartment.

Then I had to downsize to what would fit in a car to move here.

Now I have to downsize to what I can carry back on the bus to Heredia.
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And so the end of another phase. I'll continue with my mails one a week, but depending on where I am and when I'm travelling the days I send them may become a little erratic.

So until next week,

Pura vida, y adios,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: Poll: Better for Yes, but it is a virtual draw

Scorpions

Hi folks,

Well, I'm heading into my final week, and I'm going to be so sad leaving my lovely casita. I've been so happy here over the months, and it's better, rather than worse, for all the drama.

The pic of the week is a scary view of my latest scorpion, who gave me another nasty sting.

Hidden Scorpion
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The other day I was getting ready to go out for my walk. I finish working about 5 or 5.15, and with sunset now at around 5.40 I'm always in a bit of a dash. I grabbed my bag, lifted it up and put it on the bed. I put in stuff like my book, my camera (just in case the sunset is particularly spectacular), my little iPod thing. When I was ready I grabbed up the bag to put it over my shoulder.

As soon as I touched it, I immediately felt the sting. This time I was awake and alert, so I knew what was happening. It takes about 10 seconds for the full force of the sting to hit you. I was over at the sink to run cold water on it. Unfortunately, at that time of the day there is no cold water, it's warm. It was on the index finger of my right hand, and more painful in a concentrated area like a finger, rather than my leg.

I still hadn't seen the scorpion, but I knew the sting by now. I got the spray, went back, and moved the bag a bit, and sure enough there he was. Lurking right at the back.

I tossed the bag so it went on the floor. He still clung on. I sprayed the bag. Then I saw him move out onto the floor. He didn't seem to be reacting to the spray. I sprayed again. He went into convulsions, writhing around lashing around with his tail. After just a few seconds he stopped. I sprayed again to be sure.

I left him there, but when I came back, put him onto a sheet of paper, and took the pic you see above.

Quad bike
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I collected the quad on Wednesday. I want to be able to explore the area a bit more than I've been able to do on foot. Given the state of the roads, I've only been able to explore the beach really.

It was really nerve wracking when I started driving it first. If anything, the state of the roads seems worse on it. Going into the huge potholes full of muddy waters unsure if there are any rocks or stones out of sight is difficult. And when I tried to skirt the edges I was leaning at an angle that made me feel it would overturn.

I'm getting used to it now, and I was able to drive all the way to the end of Mal País yesterday. It gave a wonderful feeling of freedom. But the concentration on these roads, particularly driving back in the dark, is immense.

Thunderstorm
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Thunderstorms are not unusual here, and we normally get a few a week. The one on Tuesday night was the closest yet. The noise was deafening and I would literally jump as it hit. At one stage I went to the door with my camera to take a video clip. One of those instantaneous strikes happened when it was so close that the light and sound are together - the only time I've heard something louder than the tree falling - that I jumped in shock, and then afterwards my hand was shaking. You can see the jump and shaking hands in the video.

The Travelling McDonaghs
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My family are truly on the move at this stage. My sister is teaching in Seoul, South Korea since March, and on Wednesday my mother (who's a Brady!) moved to Nigera, to volunteer for three months. As I travel around between now and Christmas we'll have fun trying to keep in touch. Sharon and Enda are still maintaining a token family presence on the auld sod.
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Well, that's it for this week. Next week is my last. I'll be throwing out everything I possess during the week in an attempt to travel light!

Until next week,

Chau,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: Waste makes absurd journey to arrive at landfill

Día de la Independencia

Folks,

I think I've used this title for the Independence day emails all the time I've been here, so this is the third. It's easy to see whether shops, bars and restaurants are tico or foreign owned as I walk up the streets, because all tico businesses, homes, cars and trucks are festooned with national flags.

The pic of the week shows a girl in national costume at the 15 September celebrations for Santa Teresa/Mal País last night. She was part of a group from the local school that gave a display of traditional dance.

Quad bikes
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The state of the roads has gradually deteriorated while I've been here. I went into Cóbano on Monday and not only were whole stretches completely in mud, but several parts of the road had completely swept away as well.

I have come to dread walking out after a night of rain, because even in my new plastic clogs (€9 in the supermarket) with grips on the soles there are areas where I'm sliding all over the place. Walking anywhere but the beach requires such concentration.

Because of this, the most popular form of transport is quad bike. They're also called ATVs or All Terrain Vehicles. Most of you will know them, they're like a cross between a big motorbike and a tractor. They're perfect for this terrain. Everywhere you go people are zooming around on them. So I've decided to hire one for a week before I go, and I'll pick it up next Tuesday or Wednesday. It's a bit of an extravagance, but I've lived quite a frugal life since I've been here, and it will allow me explore a bit more before I leave.

The internet cascade
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As I've said before, by far the most difficult thing for me here is a) not having internet access in the casita and b) the really slow speed of access even in the cafés. On Wednesdays and Saturdays I'm always there for between 3 and 5 hours!

I haven't missed TV at all, but I miss the internet so much. The positive side has been that it's less of a distraction from the writing. But on the other hand I so often have things that I need to look up that it slows the process down a lot too.

My two biggest saviours in all this are two free programs that are fantastic. One is Google Reader, which everyone who uses the internet should try out. You 'subscribe' to any sites you want, and it will bring you any updates from them. So you don't need to constantly visit the sites. For example, I have a feed from the Irish Times. Every story that is in the Irish Times comes into my Google Reader list. I get the headline and first paragraph. Other sites make the full article available. But the real power for me is that you can access it offline. So I plug into the internet on a Wednesday and a Saturday, and it downloads all pages that are updated (to a maximum of 2,000). I carry them home on my laptop, and can read them at my leisure in the evening.

However, there are situations where I realise I want the full story and not just the first paragraph. For this I mail myself the link, and when I go to the internet cafe I bring up the page, select what I want to read, and hit a button that copies the whole pages, pictures and all, into the 2nd fantastic program, EverNote. This allows me to get the full detail that isn't in Google Reader.

The only problem is that all this flow of information (I call it the internet cascade) takes time. For example, Pat Rabbitte resigned on a Friday. I got the headlines in Google Reader on Saturday, and marked many articles for reading in full. On Wednesday, I downloaded these to EverNote. So on Thursday, almost a full week after his resignation, I'm finally able to read the full articles.

Overstaying my visa
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My visa ran out on 8th, and I should have done a visa run to Nicaragua. But apart from the expense, this would have taken up about 5 days, 2 days traveling there and back, and 72 hours out of the country. So I decided to skip it. I'm flying to Guatemala on the first leg of my travels on October 3rd, and I don't think they'll even check. If they do, I'm leaving anyway so I don't think there should be a problem.

Supermarket notice
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This notice is in my supermarket, Super Costa, this week. Pure Spanglish!

Super Coast communicates all its respectable clients to him who the day 26 of September the supermarket will remain closed by inventory returning to its normal schedule the day 27 of September. Thanks, Atte: The Management.
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Well, that's it for this week. Just two to go!

Until next week,

Chau,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: Dengue fever reaches epidemic

I'm a writer

Folks,

I was amazed how quickly everything was cleared up after the tornado. This week has been thankfully less eventful. And I need to update you a little on how things have been going with the writing.

This week, the papers were full of warnings about hurricane Felix. It said there was an alert for the whole country. But I really don't think that on the Pacific we'd get anything but bad weather. Being away from news I don't know what happened with Felix, but the weather's been perfect all week.

The pic of the week shows Ronald and the guy from the restaurant whose name I don't know cutting the tree that fell on the red casita as part of the clean-up.

Tornado clean-up
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On the morning after the tornado I went out for a walk. As I went down the road I realised that the chainsaws I'd heard were actually clearing fallen trees on the trail between the casita and the restaurant. It had been impassable in two places.

Along the main road, everyone was out clearing up. Pulling trees off the road and clearing up their property. The town had no electricity.

I got back at 9.30 and there was a hive of activity around the casitas. Ariel the gardener, Adrubal the chef, Ryan, two friends of Ryan's visiting from the US, Ronald (Charlie's partner), and the guy from the restaurant whose name I don't know, were clearing up. They hacked off all the branches of the fallen trees with machetes, and Ronald then sliced the bigger parts of the trees with the chainsaw. Everything had been removed by 12.30, and the electricity came back at 1pm. It had been gone for 17 hours.

The weather was so beautiful for the clean-up it was hard to believe that it had happened.

The red casita survived really well despite the size and weight of the tree that fell on it. There are just three small holes in the roof and no structural damage. There is a hole in my roof too, but it's giving me no problems, no rain is getting in, so they're going to fix it after I've gone.

I'm a writer
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I've made a lot of progress over the past few weeks in terms of my attitude to writing, if not yet the writing itself. I'm getting to like it more and more, and I think in some little ways it's improving. Although, some of the things I've been writing have been terrible!

A couple of weeks back, I read one part of The Right to Write book that says that if you're writing you're a writer. And I'm writing. So folks, I'm a writer. Once I said that in my head it's all fallen into place, and I really feel it's going to work out for me. How it will I'm not sure yet, but it will.

Knock knock
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On the day I had this epiphany, the exact same day, there was a knock on my door. There's NEVER a knock on my door. I thought I was hearing things. It was the girls from the blue casita (this was a few weeks ago). They'd had a few drinks and were looking for matches or a lighter. 'We don't know anything about you,' they said, 'But we know you're a writer and you're writing a book.' I must have put the vibes out.

First article accepted
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Then last week I got a mail telling me that the first article I'd sent off had been accepted. It's a gay guide to Costa Rica, and was part of an assignment for the writer's bureau. The assignment required that I send it off too. So, I sent it off to GCN and they've accepted it and will publish it in the next few months. They've asked me to send them 'an invoice as agreed'. I have no idea what that means, because I have no idea of price and nothing was agreed. But I'll work something out.
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Well, that's it for this week. I only have 3 weeks left in the casita, and I've been making progress on my plans for my travels around Central America, Mexico and Cuba for the remainder of the year.

So until next week,

Chau,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: Health service without medication for colds or pain