Almost there !
Harri and Hayley from the UK
The most famous face at Copan 
This is what the temples looked like when you walked inside the pyramids
This is what the temples looked like when you walked inside the pyramids
10 September 2007
08 September 2007
Pictures
All my pics are available here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jonathan.A.Espiritu
Still slowly trying to update my blog
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jonathan.A.Espiritu
Still slowly trying to update my blog
06 September 2007
Climbing the Pacaya Volcano
Early wake-up at 6am, ugh. The view and the experience were absolutely worth it.
Extremely tired and smelly - but very happy to have made it to the top. I think this picture sums it up.
Decending into the middle of the volcano.
We enter the middle part of the volcano
Finally - at the center of the volcano! Some other guy who stayed in my hostel. If you look closely you can see the moving lavaPics Finally - Antigua, Guatemala
Random walks through Antigua - the entire city is a UNESCO Heritage site.
Parque Central
The main church downtown
Downtown Antigua - The architecture was amazing. This was my 1st day in Guatemala - this is what I get for coming during the rainy season
03 September 2007
Back in the States
Well,
After a long travel day, I finally made it back to NYC. The trip was, of course, amazing. I shall post pics soon!
After a long travel day, I finally made it back to NYC. The trip was, of course, amazing. I shall post pics soon!
Last night in Cancun!
A visit in Cancun would not be complete without partying Cancun style in one of the many mega-clubs on the main hotel strip. So, we bought some alcohol and pre-partied at my hotel before heading out to Daddy O's and having a crazy, crazy, crazy night.....we'll leave it at that. :)
....Ugh, flying home hungover is NOT a good idea.
....Ugh, flying home hungover is NOT a good idea.
Last Day in Cancun
The end of the vacation has come...and I made sure the last day and night was a good one. Two British girls from my tour also stayed behind and we spent the entire day on the beach (the little that was left). Because all the beaches in Mexico are by law public, hotels cannot stop you from walking through their lobby to get to the beach. So, we picked one of the poshest hotels in Mexico, the ME by Melia, to walk to the beach. This was definately a hot hotel, it was a place for beautiful people to be seen. They had gorgeous pools, a DJ that played techno music, and a supermodern design. It seemed like a perfect place for me, even through I looked really scrubby and brought my own old and smelly towel.
01 September 2007
Chitzen Itza
Running on no sleep.............Eeek!
Since there are so many travel agencies in town that do day trips to Chitzen Itza, I thought it would be easier to sign up for one of those rather than to do it on my own. It cost me about $45, a lot considering that I´ve been spending less than $30-day (Although, I was really happy to hear that most people on teh same bus paid about $100 for the same tour). A shuttle picked me up from my hotel at 7AM and took me to a big bus where all the tourists from the big resorts met up. What was incredibly annoying was that after all the organization, we didn´t end up leaving until 9 AM.
The site at Chitzen Itza is absolutly amazing. The annoyance is that it is packed with tourists. When you arrive, there are about 30 buses in the parking lot and the place is mobbed with tour groups. Additionally, there are vendors everywhere approaching you and trying to sell you things. The highlight of the site is the main pyramid which is in the center of the site. It is actually a calendar, telling you what day of the year it is depending on which step of the pyramid the sun hits.
Another big highlight was the ball courts, where players played in order for the honor of being sacrificed. The loser had to hold the winner´s head! I met an American couple who were on their honeymoon and 2 guys from NY on my tour.
After leaving the site, we went to visit a cenote (sink hole). It seems as though the sinkhole is about 10 stories deep, and you are allowed to swim in the water at the bottom. This would have been an exellent idea had I not forgotten to bring my swimming trunks.
Of course, the best part of the cheesy day tours is that you get buffet lunches. At about 3PM (waay after hunger set in) we went to an all you can eat buffet with traditional Mexican dancing. I have to say that although it was completely fake and for tourists, I still enjoyed it.
Back to Cancun, unfortunately most of the people from my tour had left. However, 2 British girls had stayed behind, and we got dinner in the local part of town. I paid about $1.50 for a great dinner!
A bit of shopping, before I finally turned in....almost 40 hours without sleep.
Since there are so many travel agencies in town that do day trips to Chitzen Itza, I thought it would be easier to sign up for one of those rather than to do it on my own. It cost me about $45, a lot considering that I´ve been spending less than $30-day (Although, I was really happy to hear that most people on teh same bus paid about $100 for the same tour). A shuttle picked me up from my hotel at 7AM and took me to a big bus where all the tourists from the big resorts met up. What was incredibly annoying was that after all the organization, we didn´t end up leaving until 9 AM.
The site at Chitzen Itza is absolutly amazing. The annoyance is that it is packed with tourists. When you arrive, there are about 30 buses in the parking lot and the place is mobbed with tour groups. Additionally, there are vendors everywhere approaching you and trying to sell you things. The highlight of the site is the main pyramid which is in the center of the site. It is actually a calendar, telling you what day of the year it is depending on which step of the pyramid the sun hits.
Another big highlight was the ball courts, where players played in order for the honor of being sacrificed. The loser had to hold the winner´s head! I met an American couple who were on their honeymoon and 2 guys from NY on my tour.
After leaving the site, we went to visit a cenote (sink hole). It seems as though the sinkhole is about 10 stories deep, and you are allowed to swim in the water at the bottom. This would have been an exellent idea had I not forgotten to bring my swimming trunks.
Of course, the best part of the cheesy day tours is that you get buffet lunches. At about 3PM (waay after hunger set in) we went to an all you can eat buffet with traditional Mexican dancing. I have to say that although it was completely fake and for tourists, I still enjoyed it.
Back to Cancun, unfortunately most of the people from my tour had left. However, 2 British girls had stayed behind, and we got dinner in the local part of town. I paid about $1.50 for a great dinner!
A bit of shopping, before I finally turned in....almost 40 hours without sleep.
Cancun
If you want to have the cheesiest vacation ever, go to Cancun. I guess this must be why so many Americans are here. There is every American chain you can think of (TGI Fridays, Hooters, Outback Steakhouse, etc) really cheesy clubs - that are super overpriced, and everyone wants to take your money off you. Its a bit annoying. I think this is a great example of what resort towns shouldn´t strive to be.
We arrived at our hotel in downtown Cancun (not on the beach, where most tourists stay) and took a bus to the beach. After my obligatory visit to the Hard Rock Cancun, we tried to hang out on the beach. Unfortunately, the beaches are currently in an atrocious state. Hurricaine Dean washed away most of the white sandy beaches and instead there are rocks, the water smells, and seaweed everywhere! Its so bad, that dump truck loads of sand are being sent to the beach to try to make it look ¨normal¨again.
Another side of Cancun that I did quite enjoy was the downtown part, where the locals live. Since this was the last night of our tour, we decided to go a little crazy. First, we had dinner at a local Jazz club where there was a 1-man act being performed, as well as jazz music into the evening. Afterwards, we headed over to a rock band, just down the street. The cover band was amazing, and they sung many modern songs in Spanish. Our last stop was a local gay club where we caught a drag show and danced into the night.
I finally got into my room at 5.30AM, which was perfect since my bus was leaving for Chitzen Itza at 7 in the morning. No time for sleep............
We arrived at our hotel in downtown Cancun (not on the beach, where most tourists stay) and took a bus to the beach. After my obligatory visit to the Hard Rock Cancun, we tried to hang out on the beach. Unfortunately, the beaches are currently in an atrocious state. Hurricaine Dean washed away most of the white sandy beaches and instead there are rocks, the water smells, and seaweed everywhere! Its so bad, that dump truck loads of sand are being sent to the beach to try to make it look ¨normal¨again.
Another side of Cancun that I did quite enjoy was the downtown part, where the locals live. Since this was the last night of our tour, we decided to go a little crazy. First, we had dinner at a local Jazz club where there was a 1-man act being performed, as well as jazz music into the evening. Afterwards, we headed over to a rock band, just down the street. The cover band was amazing, and they sung many modern songs in Spanish. Our last stop was a local gay club where we caught a drag show and danced into the night.
I finally got into my room at 5.30AM, which was perfect since my bus was leaving for Chitzen Itza at 7 in the morning. No time for sleep............
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