Hey everyone!
I am now in Esquipulas, Guatemala, just inside the border. I got here today after an arduous bus trip that started at 6:30 this morning in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Try pronouncing that one!
Anyway, the past few days, nothing has really happened that´s much to speak of. for one, I left Nicaragua Monday morning after a barbecue with Kevin and Marita, my Austrian friends in Leon. I decided not to go to Estelí, because, despite the fact that it sounds somewhat cool to visit, it´s 4 hours on apparently the worst road of your life, and I already lost two days in rainy San Juan Del Sur.
The traveling has been fun, I finally made it to the FSLN (Sandinista!) museum in Leon, took in a view of the whole city from the roof, have been practicing Spanish, helped Kevin and Marita and their friends make a SHIT TON of gnocchi, made the best grilled veggies ever, spent 2 whole days busing, made a travel buddy in Honduras yesterday, checked in with Kittie Fatass in Granada, and...that´s about it. I should be arriving in Xela tomorrow at around dinner time, hopefully all will go well on the way there.
The past two bus rides have been absolutely hilarious. I haven´t even been on Chicken Buses, and they have been cramming people in as if it were one. Last night I had the misfortune of being on the last bus of the day to Tegucigalpa, and they were actually cramming people underneath in the luggage hold!! I´d never seen anything like it. Today I spent the San Pedro-Santa Rosa leg of the trip standing up. No big deal though, Ryan (travel buddy from Lake Tahoe, CA) is a cool guy and has a lot to talk about a lot of things. He got off at Santa Rosa de Copan, and maybe will show up in Xela before he heads home.
Anyway, I think that´s all there is right now. I´m looking forward to Xela, and looking forward to any work that I´ll be doing there...stay tuned!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Leon
Hey everyone!
I´m back in Leon, Nicaragua. For those that don´t remember, Leon was my favorite city in one of my favorite countries, and considering what I´ve seen so far, that´s pretty big. I met up with Kittie Fat Ass in Nicaragua and finally took a picture of her and her overgrown furry self. Also, today, I met up with Kevin and Marita, and I´m looking forward to hanging out with them in the next few days. I also hope to see some of Leon that I didn´t the last time, and I'll hopefully get some pictures in.
I feel as if I´m a little behind schedule with my original goal of making it to Quetzaltenango by the 20th, but if I can get there even by the 22nd, I´ll be happy. Who knows. The absence of interesting things in Western Honduras might bring me to Xela more or less on time.
Stay tuned!
I´m back in Leon, Nicaragua. For those that don´t remember, Leon was my favorite city in one of my favorite countries, and considering what I´ve seen so far, that´s pretty big. I met up with Kittie Fat Ass in Nicaragua and finally took a picture of her and her overgrown furry self. Also, today, I met up with Kevin and Marita, and I´m looking forward to hanging out with them in the next few days. I also hope to see some of Leon that I didn´t the last time, and I'll hopefully get some pictures in.
I feel as if I´m a little behind schedule with my original goal of making it to Quetzaltenango by the 20th, but if I can get there even by the 22nd, I´ll be happy. Who knows. The absence of interesting things in Western Honduras might bring me to Xela more or less on time.
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Nicaragua!
Hey everyone,
I´m currently in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. I made it here the other night, when my original plan failed thanks to the bus company in Costa Rica. First of all, the bus didn´t leave until about 40 minutes after it was supposed to. Second of all, we were held up for about 45 minutes (and even went BACKWARDS!) after the driver broke the windshield after driving into a tree branch...
We got to the border crossing by 5:30, and by this time there were no more buses anywhere. Fortunately, I had met a couple from Seattle, and they were heading to San Juan del Sur. I figured it would be safer to tag along with them, and it worked out cheaper after we split a cab. We were also traveling with a pair from Norway.
We got to the hostel, went to dinner, and then hung out for a while.
My original plan was to leave straight for Granada yesterday, but I figured that, since I haven´t been to the Pacific coast of anywhere during my travels, I would stay for the day. Unfortunately, much of the day it rained like hell, so we basically just spent the day hanging out, and when it wasn´t raining, walking around. It´s a really cool looking place. Very touristy, but this is one of those places where it´s touristy for a reason. It´s been pretty fun. The SEattle couple is very nice, and I´ve had a bunch of chances to practice my Spanish helping them out, since they don´t speak any.
Today I plan on getting some souvenirs and then heading further north. I got in contact with the Austrian couple from Leon, so I´m looking forward to meeting up with them again later this week.
I´m currently in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. I made it here the other night, when my original plan failed thanks to the bus company in Costa Rica. First of all, the bus didn´t leave until about 40 minutes after it was supposed to. Second of all, we were held up for about 45 minutes (and even went BACKWARDS!) after the driver broke the windshield after driving into a tree branch...
We got to the border crossing by 5:30, and by this time there were no more buses anywhere. Fortunately, I had met a couple from Seattle, and they were heading to San Juan del Sur. I figured it would be safer to tag along with them, and it worked out cheaper after we split a cab. We were also traveling with a pair from Norway.
We got to the hostel, went to dinner, and then hung out for a while.
My original plan was to leave straight for Granada yesterday, but I figured that, since I haven´t been to the Pacific coast of anywhere during my travels, I would stay for the day. Unfortunately, much of the day it rained like hell, so we basically just spent the day hanging out, and when it wasn´t raining, walking around. It´s a really cool looking place. Very touristy, but this is one of those places where it´s touristy for a reason. It´s been pretty fun. The SEattle couple is very nice, and I´ve had a bunch of chances to practice my Spanish helping them out, since they don´t speak any.
Today I plan on getting some souvenirs and then heading further north. I got in contact with the Austrian couple from Leon, so I´m looking forward to meeting up with them again later this week.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Costa Rica
Hey Yonki Fans out there,
I just want to let you all know that I arrived in San Jose today, safely and a little bit wet. Next stop is Nicaragua!
I just want to let you all know that I arrived in San Jose today, safely and a little bit wet. Next stop is Nicaragua!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Pictures!
Hey everyone,
I finally got around to posting the pictures that our good buddy Dan took for us from Mindo and Colombia. Eventually I´ll post the ones from the salt cathedral.
www.photobucket.com/ayonki
ENJOY!
I finally got around to posting the pictures that our good buddy Dan took for us from Mindo and Colombia. Eventually I´ll post the ones from the salt cathedral.
www.photobucket.com/ayonki
ENJOY!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Bogota!
I´m in a small village right now called Zapiquirá (I think, I´ll get back to y´all on that one) where the main attraction is a salt cathedral. Yes, a salt cathedral. What they did was dig a whole cathedral into the mountain that was and still is the source of quite the salt mine. It sounds odd, but once the pictures come up (FROM MY NEW CAMERA!!!), you´ll see why it´s so friggin´cool.
So, Bogotá is a huge city, the biggest I´ve been in since we´ve been traveling. 7.5 million people, it´s basically the same size as New York City. And so much of it makes me think I´m actually in New York. First of all, there´s a pizza place that serves pizza (vegetarian friendly, for once) by the slice, and it´s cheap as hell. Second of all, something about the streets, especially the other day when we were looking around for stores. Also, there´s a wicked public transit system that works quite well (though not an underground subway). there´s also a cool bar that makes it´s own (GOOD!!) beer. Yeah, i know, I haven´t had good beer since Guatemala.
Speaking of Guatemala, it´s almost time for me to go back. And for Michelle, it is time for her to go back to Guatemala. I leave Colombia on Tuesday, and will be traveling up to Guatemala by buses and staying in hostels like I did on the way down. This will be an experiment in Yonki Travels on his Own. It may sound scary to many of you, but honestly, since I´ve done it the other way, it shouldn´t be too much of an issue. Besides, there is always the possibility of travel buddies you meet on the road.
Next trip- OSTRICH FARMMMMM!!!!
So, Bogotá is a huge city, the biggest I´ve been in since we´ve been traveling. 7.5 million people, it´s basically the same size as New York City. And so much of it makes me think I´m actually in New York. First of all, there´s a pizza place that serves pizza (vegetarian friendly, for once) by the slice, and it´s cheap as hell. Second of all, something about the streets, especially the other day when we were looking around for stores. Also, there´s a wicked public transit system that works quite well (though not an underground subway). there´s also a cool bar that makes it´s own (GOOD!!) beer. Yeah, i know, I haven´t had good beer since Guatemala.
Speaking of Guatemala, it´s almost time for me to go back. And for Michelle, it is time for her to go back to Guatemala. I leave Colombia on Tuesday, and will be traveling up to Guatemala by buses and staying in hostels like I did on the way down. This will be an experiment in Yonki Travels on his Own. It may sound scary to many of you, but honestly, since I´ve done it the other way, it shouldn´t be too much of an issue. Besides, there is always the possibility of travel buddies you meet on the road.
Next trip- OSTRICH FARMMMMM!!!!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Medellin (Pronounced Med-a-yeen, not like Magellin with a D)
Heyo everybody,
I'm currently in Medellin, Colombia, formerly the drug trafficking capital of the world, but that lost its title after the impressive execution of Pablo Escobar. For those who don't know, it took an elite team of 1500 men 499 days to find the bastard and they gunned him down like whoa back in 1993....
ANYWAY, let's talk about Colombia (who lots its title of Kidnapping Capital of the World to Iraq in 2005 or something like that).
We peaced out of Ecuador the night after their new constitution passed, which happened the night me and Dan got back from Mindo.
Have I spoken about Mindo yet? It was really cool, it's a cloud forest about 2 hours from Quito, lots of cool nature stuff to do. Me and Dan got soaking wet walking to and from the many waterfalls that were there. In order to access the waterfalls, we took this hair raising journey across the 530 meter cable car, over a gulch about a few hundred feet deep. When I get time to skank my pictures from Dan, those will be posted. Anyway, fun times, and a moth the size of a bat at dinner.
So, onward to Colombia. We took the 5am bus from Quito to the border town of Tulcan, crossed the border in a surprisingly painless fashion, and hopped on the bus to Popayan , the first town of any actual substance after the Ecuadorian border. We got there late at night and stayed in a hotel, and peaced out the next morning for Cali. It was a long ride, but we got there in the afternoon. Cali was really cool, kind of reminded me, weather-wise, of somewhere in Florida. We basically took those few days to relax and just sit out on the hammocks listening to music. Also, as much as I didn't like Aguardiente in Ecuador, the Colombian aguardiente is especially nasty, thanks to its licorice-like flavour.
After Cali, we headed over here, to Medellin. Medellin is quite the city. They have this subway system that is gigantic and ultramodern and clean. Quite nice.
The people in Medellin, and I think Colombia in general, are a little odd. They're very nice...VERY nice...TOO FREAKIN' NICE. To the point that it's a combination of rude, inconsiderate, and condescending.
ITEM- Michelle and I get arepas at this panaderia, and the lady sitting in the table next to us first of all starts cracking up at watching Michelle cut the arepa, and then proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes of her and our lives trying to teach her how to cut the arepa the correct Colombian way...please, it's a freakin' arepa. There's no wrong way to cut it as long as it gets cut.
ITEM- The hostal we're staying at, we can't tell if it's a hostal (there aren't really too many travelers), a halfway house (lots of older transient Colombians) or a drug den (lots of hyperactive, older transient Colombians). The people are very nice, and were really nice about taking care of Dan (somehow he contracted a similar stomach infection as Michelle did and spent most of the other night hugging porcelain), but it got to the point at the 9th person that entered the room to pet him and make sure he was okay.
ITEM- Being woken up like, 12 times in the morning by people coming in and out of the room and having casual conversation in their normal (LOUD even by my standards) voices, leaving the door open to let the light flood in (when we haven't really slept thanks to an older transient Colombian's extreme snoring), or running the water in the adjacent bathroom at full blast with the door wide open.
ITEM- They just have too much friggin' energy and I don't drink enough coffee to deal with it.
Anyway, we're bound for Bogota once Dan gets better, which will hopefully be soon. From there, Michelle is headed straight for a volunteer position in Xela, and I will by not too far behind. I start off in Costa Rica on the 14th, and aim to be in Guatemala on or before Halloween. That will hopefully be an interesting experience. But maybe not as much as the ostrich farm outside of Bogota....
STAY TUNEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD (Cue lame ass music...)
I'm currently in Medellin, Colombia, formerly the drug trafficking capital of the world, but that lost its title after the impressive execution of Pablo Escobar. For those who don't know, it took an elite team of 1500 men 499 days to find the bastard and they gunned him down like whoa back in 1993....
ANYWAY, let's talk about Colombia (who lots its title of Kidnapping Capital of the World to Iraq in 2005 or something like that).
We peaced out of Ecuador the night after their new constitution passed, which happened the night me and Dan got back from Mindo.
Have I spoken about Mindo yet? It was really cool, it's a cloud forest about 2 hours from Quito, lots of cool nature stuff to do. Me and Dan got soaking wet walking to and from the many waterfalls that were there. In order to access the waterfalls, we took this hair raising journey across the 530 meter cable car, over a gulch about a few hundred feet deep. When I get time to skank my pictures from Dan, those will be posted. Anyway, fun times, and a moth the size of a bat at dinner.
So, onward to Colombia. We took the 5am bus from Quito to the border town of Tulcan, crossed the border in a surprisingly painless fashion, and hopped on the bus to Popayan , the first town of any actual substance after the Ecuadorian border. We got there late at night and stayed in a hotel, and peaced out the next morning for Cali. It was a long ride, but we got there in the afternoon. Cali was really cool, kind of reminded me, weather-wise, of somewhere in Florida. We basically took those few days to relax and just sit out on the hammocks listening to music. Also, as much as I didn't like Aguardiente in Ecuador, the Colombian aguardiente is especially nasty, thanks to its licorice-like flavour.
After Cali, we headed over here, to Medellin. Medellin is quite the city. They have this subway system that is gigantic and ultramodern and clean. Quite nice.
The people in Medellin, and I think Colombia in general, are a little odd. They're very nice...VERY nice...TOO FREAKIN' NICE. To the point that it's a combination of rude, inconsiderate, and condescending.
ITEM- Michelle and I get arepas at this panaderia, and the lady sitting in the table next to us first of all starts cracking up at watching Michelle cut the arepa, and then proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes of her and our lives trying to teach her how to cut the arepa the correct Colombian way...please, it's a freakin' arepa. There's no wrong way to cut it as long as it gets cut.
ITEM- The hostal we're staying at, we can't tell if it's a hostal (there aren't really too many travelers), a halfway house (lots of older transient Colombians) or a drug den (lots of hyperactive, older transient Colombians). The people are very nice, and were really nice about taking care of Dan (somehow he contracted a similar stomach infection as Michelle did and spent most of the other night hugging porcelain), but it got to the point at the 9th person that entered the room to pet him and make sure he was okay.
ITEM- Being woken up like, 12 times in the morning by people coming in and out of the room and having casual conversation in their normal (LOUD even by my standards) voices, leaving the door open to let the light flood in (when we haven't really slept thanks to an older transient Colombian's extreme snoring), or running the water in the adjacent bathroom at full blast with the door wide open.
ITEM- They just have too much friggin' energy and I don't drink enough coffee to deal with it.
Anyway, we're bound for Bogota once Dan gets better, which will hopefully be soon. From there, Michelle is headed straight for a volunteer position in Xela, and I will by not too far behind. I start off in Costa Rica on the 14th, and aim to be in Guatemala on or before Halloween. That will hopefully be an interesting experience. But maybe not as much as the ostrich farm outside of Bogota....
STAY TUNEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD (Cue lame ass music...)
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