April 13, 2012 | No Comments yet
From cute little stalagmites along the path (I was so tempted to crush them) and gigantic ones about ten times my size, to thin stalactites that hung precariously over my head and mammoth ones that seemed like pillars supporting the mountain above, the caves were full of fascinating calcium carbonate structures...
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March 17, 2012 | No Comments yet
Valladolid took me by surprise. A really simple town with nothing much to do but it had a certain vibe that kept you there. I got off the bus and while it the terminal was in the middle of the town, there were hardly any people lurking around. Get out of the bus terminal, walk across the street and buy a glass of sugarcane juice while asking the guy for recommendations for places to stay and go an...
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March 13, 2012 | 4 Comments
In addition to the fact that the Acropolis is a structure with 108 steps (108 is a spiritually significant number for eastern religions) and a temple at the top, the surfaces of the acropolis has a number of rooms with stucco statues that look like winged gods. There are some more statues showing divine figures standing or sitting in mudras that are commonly seen in Hindu/Buddhist temples...
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March 10, 2012 | 4 Comments
Due to its proximity to Cancun and Mexico’s party zone, this place attracts a huge amount of tourists. Most tourists visit Chichen Itza get picked up from their resorts, driven to this site by luxury buses and get dropped back in the evening after some souvenir shopping, in a very insular form of tourism.
I think it's really difficult to NOT like Chichen Itza if you can ignore the c...
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March 6, 2012 | 3 Comments
A kid screams from the window of the first car that zooms past. I stand at that spot for 15 minutes, making a sign at every soul that drives past, determined to catch a ride. A dozen cars and pickup trucks pass but other than some enthusiastic waves, some shrugging, some fishy looks and a mandarin peel, I get nothing.
Other than sunglasses and a backpack, there is nothing quite touris...
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March 3, 2012 | 3 Comments
There is nothing more disappointing to an independent traveller than arriving at a popular tourist site and finding it filled with busloads of tour groups. I like to have the vastness and emptiness of archeological ruins all to myself and don't mind sharing it with a select few who, just like me, have worked hard to get there first thing in the morning....
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December 29, 2011 | 4 Comments
This year I travelled to two new countries: Mexico and Ecuador. Besides that, I got a full time job, a house and things like that.
Taking time off for travelling will certainly become increasingly difficult, but I will make it happen anyway since travelling is the best way to spend money, don’t you agree?...
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December 23, 2011 | 5 Comments
Pyramid of the Sun (Pirámide del Sol) the third largest pyramid in the world is located at Teotihuacan, an hour north of Mexico city. The view of the surrounding ruins is quite spectacular; I can only imagine how the place would have looked during its golden age. The top of the pyramid was believed to house a temple but now it only has tourists thirsty for water and for pictures...
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