Very quick update for you all.
Here in Utila, Honduras but am leaving tonight to hit up Vegas Baby.
For those that aren't aware yet..... im going to be home next week. Friday! (May 20th) Free your schedules for some serious catch up time!
Lots and lots to tell and share.
Miss you but see you soon.
Mwah
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
San Pedro
WOW!!!!
I can´t believe i have been here for a month already. It feels like only a week. A lot has happened in this month though... for instance i can now even hold a conversation in spanish... something i though would take me a lot longer than 4 weeks.
I´ve made some very good friends here who i definately wont ever forget. My teacher at the school i attend is super awesome and someone who has kept me sane around this crazy place. I definately am very greatful for my other friend Oliver who has been here the whole time as well. Things would be a lot more intense without some normality around me. These Guatemalans can get crazy ;)
Usually my days are filled with classes during the week. In the morning i learn spanish and in the afternoon i teach english to local children. I love it so much!
······················actually 2 weeks have past since i started writing this post. UPDATES
I´ve now left San Pedro but am still cruisin around Guatemala at the moment.
Highlights in San Pedro;
So far this week i have already managed to visit Chichi markets, Coban, Semuc Champey and now am in Livingston. Unfortunately bloody sick again which is not great in 40 degree heat. Sucking it up though. Nothing will destroy the last few weeks of my trip.
Sorry for the short update. I know its been a while but physically cant do a lot in this moment. Struggling to sit on the chair upright let alone keep typing.
Just know i miss you all and will see most of you pretty soon.
Lots of love
Tam xoxoxo
I can´t believe i have been here for a month already. It feels like only a week. A lot has happened in this month though... for instance i can now even hold a conversation in spanish... something i though would take me a lot longer than 4 weeks.
I´ve made some very good friends here who i definately wont ever forget. My teacher at the school i attend is super awesome and someone who has kept me sane around this crazy place. I definately am very greatful for my other friend Oliver who has been here the whole time as well. Things would be a lot more intense without some normality around me. These Guatemalans can get crazy ;)
Usually my days are filled with classes during the week. In the morning i learn spanish and in the afternoon i teach english to local children. I love it so much!
······················actually 2 weeks have past since i started writing this post. UPDATES
I´ve now left San Pedro but am still cruisin around Guatemala at the moment.
Highlights in San Pedro;
- meeting lots of amazing people
- my brithday party (from what i remember)
- cooking dinner with my homestay family
- TIGO fest with Shakira, Don Omar and Chino y Nacho
- getting my butt whipped at pool LOTS
- sunday bbq at the pool
- visiting all the little side towns
- Semana Santa.....waking up at 3am to make the carpets for the procession with my homestay family
- classes with Maribel
- so so so many more but im pushed for time at the moment
So far this week i have already managed to visit Chichi markets, Coban, Semuc Champey and now am in Livingston. Unfortunately bloody sick again which is not great in 40 degree heat. Sucking it up though. Nothing will destroy the last few weeks of my trip.
Sorry for the short update. I know its been a while but physically cant do a lot in this moment. Struggling to sit on the chair upright let alone keep typing.
Just know i miss you all and will see most of you pretty soon.
Lots of love
Tam xoxoxo
Monday, April 18, 2011
Lazy/Busy me
Ok so i know i have been super slack with the blog updates. My only excuse is that im having an AWESOME time here in Guatemala.
I know i have a bit of backtracking to do to update you all but im going to try and keep them short and sweet.
For your sanity and mine.
So here goes.....
BELIZE
Belize was very bitter/sweet for me. My first night there was spent in Orange Walk where it ws necessary for me to literally lock myself in my hotel room for the whole night and catch the first bus out in the morning. Not a great town and i certainly wont be in a rush to go back any time soon.
My planning soon paid off though when i arrived the beautiful Carribean island, Caye Caulker.
I couldnt have asked for a more amazing place to chill out for a few days if i tried. I even got to tick off a thing from my ´bucket list´. I was lucky enough to go out snorkelling with sharks and rays. Something i do back home but with reef sharks... Here it was pretty impressive... AND SCARY. Lots of fun! I met some really cool people i hung out for a while. Found and awesome reggae bar ( i can hear your hearts break now lol) and danced (as Sarah would put it) my face off!
Unfortunately towards the end of my stay on Caye Caulker i started feeling pretty sick. Usual travel belly but on heat.
I left Caye Caulker for the mainland again and on to San Ignacio.San Ignacio was just meant to be a stop on the way to the Guatemalan border. Unfortunately i spent more time than i had hoped as the sickness escalated to the point i was in hospital. After a long wait at the hospital, not because it was busy but because there were NO DOCTORS there (yes AT the hospital) i came out a few days later feeling much better. So i thought. More to be explained later.
I did get to see an iguana exhibit there and hold the freaky things. Those who know me well know how much i deslike any reptile.This was a big move.I was shitting myself lol
I hung out with some old friends from Caye Caulker (and by old i mean i had known them for a week lol) and tried to recover before i went back into a Spanish speaking country. My plan panned out and i took off the following day.
I know i just summed up a whole country in one go but with so much to catch you all up on, it seems the only appropriate way. I dont want to bore you all with the details but just give you a taste of my life over here.
SPECIAL SURPRISE...... Ill be home before you know it!
I know i have a bit of backtracking to do to update you all but im going to try and keep them short and sweet.
For your sanity and mine.
So here goes.....
BELIZE
Belize was very bitter/sweet for me. My first night there was spent in Orange Walk where it ws necessary for me to literally lock myself in my hotel room for the whole night and catch the first bus out in the morning. Not a great town and i certainly wont be in a rush to go back any time soon.
My planning soon paid off though when i arrived the beautiful Carribean island, Caye Caulker.
I couldnt have asked for a more amazing place to chill out for a few days if i tried. I even got to tick off a thing from my ´bucket list´. I was lucky enough to go out snorkelling with sharks and rays. Something i do back home but with reef sharks... Here it was pretty impressive... AND SCARY. Lots of fun! I met some really cool people i hung out for a while. Found and awesome reggae bar ( i can hear your hearts break now lol) and danced (as Sarah would put it) my face off!
Unfortunately towards the end of my stay on Caye Caulker i started feeling pretty sick. Usual travel belly but on heat.
I left Caye Caulker for the mainland again and on to San Ignacio.San Ignacio was just meant to be a stop on the way to the Guatemalan border. Unfortunately i spent more time than i had hoped as the sickness escalated to the point i was in hospital. After a long wait at the hospital, not because it was busy but because there were NO DOCTORS there (yes AT the hospital) i came out a few days later feeling much better. So i thought. More to be explained later.
I did get to see an iguana exhibit there and hold the freaky things. Those who know me well know how much i deslike any reptile.This was a big move.I was shitting myself lol
I hung out with some old friends from Caye Caulker (and by old i mean i had known them for a week lol) and tried to recover before i went back into a Spanish speaking country. My plan panned out and i took off the following day.
I know i just summed up a whole country in one go but with so much to catch you all up on, it seems the only appropriate way. I dont want to bore you all with the details but just give you a taste of my life over here.
SPECIAL SURPRISE...... Ill be home before you know it!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Palenque
Another day, another town!
'Palenque' was the name this time round. A jungle paradise with some funny stories to come out of it.
Lucky for me i was fortunate enough to meet a lovely couple on the bus on the way to town. Scott (from Brissie) and Leanne (originaly from Scotland but had been living in Brissie for a while too). Cool couple who took me under their wings for the next couple of days.
The bus trip there was one of the worst of MY LIFE, even after popping a few kwells to ease the travel sickness. It just SUCKED! We stopped halfway which gave us all a bit of a breather but then it didn't comfort us too much knowing we were only half way.
We finally arrived and made our way out to the 'jungle' accommodations. These were actually really nice and provided me with the first chance since leaving Texas to have my own room. Who would have known how much of an hoo haa this would turn into.
Our first day, well afternoon, was just spent chilling at the hotel with a couple of drinks, dinner and a live band. We thought we would take it easy so as to get up early to go visit the ruins early in the morning.
So here's the situation..... The place we were staying at had Cabana's spread out all across a big open field. The Cabana i was put in was a little way off from my friends and i thought i was out on my own up the other end of the field.
This kind of freaked me out a little (and i dont ge sketched out too easily) as there was just some fly screens around the room and a flimsy door. Someone i had met earlier on in my trip had told me someone had been raped there only a couple of days before which also obviously didn't put me at ease. So here i am, excited to be able to throw my stuff in the room, any which way i like but also nervous im about to get murdered. Oh the scenario's that were playing in my head are probably too gruesome to put on here but im sure you get the gist of it. I finally past out to sleep around 10pm and then suddenly woke up when i heard a rattling at the door. Assuming that it must be my door and being in a slumbered haze, i start to freak
out immediately. I sit up in bed with my Swiss Army knife ready to attack. I try to calm myself down and think logically but all that runs through my head is 'IM GOING TO DIE'. Something which i tend to take quite seriously.
I settle for that it must have been my imagination or just a dream and lay my head back down. THEN, i hear footsteps and see a shadow move in the light under my door.... Now its serious freak out time. I KNOW i saw that. Ok, Ok, it could be an animal right? One that can turn door handles? Surely!
Now the next thing that happens im still not sure why or how but this 'crazed, im not going to die, Tamara' came out to play. Instead of playing the helpless victim i decide to go on the attack. It may not have been the best idea at the time but i figured it was that or wait until they broke my door down. At least if i attack first, i have the element of surpise to my advantage. Three big breaths and i swing open the door in a phsycotic ramage, waving my knife around like a lunatic. I see that the door next to mine is open and decide that, thats where my killers are. I push open the door still with my knife flailing about and find the Manager there getting ready for bed.
Oh the look on his face, summed up exactly what i was feeling only moments before. I drop the knife and apologise profuselfy. Between his poor English and my poor Spanish we both agree that we thought we were trying to kill eachother and enjoy a good chuckle over it all.
What a loser!!!! It didn't even register to me that something so logical could be taking place. Oh well, at least i know how i would react in a 'Fight or Flight' situation :)
Finaly i got some sleep an could't wait to share this with my new mates in the morning.
The morning and day ahead was a lot less eventful, in the terms that i didn't think i was going to die. My friends got a good giggle out of it too.
We headed up to the ruins for the morning which turned out to be AMAZING. Truly! They very much reminded me of the Angkor Temples in Cambodia (which are one of my favourite thing i have EVER seen). Leanne and her lonely planet guide became our tour guide for the day and informed us of all the intricate details, facts and history of the site. So many great photos and a great day out.
We hit the 'downtown' area for lunch that day, enjoying a cooked chook and rice. Mmmmm Delicious...until we saw the preparation. Now this is something i learnt to never look into. Never ask what your eating and NEVER check out how something is prepared and made. I think the following photo speaks a thousand words. None of us seemed to get sick though which was great news. I think someone must have been looking out for us.
Another quite night in for us. Not quite the adventurous as the one before but i did manage to tell the manager (in my poor spanish yet again and his poor english) that 'i like it better when he slept with me' hahahaha What i was actually trying to say was i felt safer when he was in the room next to mine. Just another 'Tamaraism'.
We had the day to kill before our overnight bus trip to Cancun so we went to a waterfall a little way out of town. Ofcoarse it would have been a lot easier, had of we caught a tour but we like to do things the most difficult (and cheapest) way possible. Therefore we caught a local colelctivo out there and hiked for about 3 kms down to the falls. Scott decided it was hilarious that i was scared of snakes and after out mission to get there, i was in and out of the water in 1 minute flat thanks to Scotts taunts of snakes near by. All turned out ok and our adventure to Cancun was set to begin.
We had agreed to catch the cheaper bus rather than the typical ADO as were were all on a pretty tight budget. Surely it couldn't be too much different right? Oh how we were wrong. We had to catch a collectivo to another town in order to get onto our 'coach'. That in itself was an adventure as our collectivo broke down in the middle of nowhere and neither of us had any idea of what was going on. When we finally arrived at our coach our seats were reassigned (not such a big deal) but i was shoved up the back on my own near the STINKY toilets. Not much fun for a 12 hour bus ride.
We were stopped several times on route for security checks also. For some reason i must have been looking super dodgy that night, the security/police snooped through ONLY my bags and checked my passports twice. Not sure what they were looking for but i was fine and we kept on going. The bus wasn't so great (if you hadnt figured by this point) and my knees barely fit behind the seat infront of me. No sleep all night on the bus makes for Tamara to be one grumpy girl. Luckily though, all would soon be fixed with our arrival in Cancun.
Lots of adventures to share in the next blog. Keep an eye out for it.
Tam
xoxox
'Palenque' was the name this time round. A jungle paradise with some funny stories to come out of it.
Lucky for me i was fortunate enough to meet a lovely couple on the bus on the way to town. Scott (from Brissie) and Leanne (originaly from Scotland but had been living in Brissie for a while too). Cool couple who took me under their wings for the next couple of days.
The bus trip there was one of the worst of MY LIFE, even after popping a few kwells to ease the travel sickness. It just SUCKED! We stopped halfway which gave us all a bit of a breather but then it didn't comfort us too much knowing we were only half way.
We finally arrived and made our way out to the 'jungle' accommodations. These were actually really nice and provided me with the first chance since leaving Texas to have my own room. Who would have known how much of an hoo haa this would turn into.
Our first day, well afternoon, was just spent chilling at the hotel with a couple of drinks, dinner and a live band. We thought we would take it easy so as to get up early to go visit the ruins early in the morning.
So here's the situation..... The place we were staying at had Cabana's spread out all across a big open field. The Cabana i was put in was a little way off from my friends and i thought i was out on my own up the other end of the field.
This kind of freaked me out a little (and i dont ge sketched out too easily) as there was just some fly screens around the room and a flimsy door. Someone i had met earlier on in my trip had told me someone had been raped there only a couple of days before which also obviously didn't put me at ease. So here i am, excited to be able to throw my stuff in the room, any which way i like but also nervous im about to get murdered. Oh the scenario's that were playing in my head are probably too gruesome to put on here but im sure you get the gist of it. I finally past out to sleep around 10pm and then suddenly woke up when i heard a rattling at the door. Assuming that it must be my door and being in a slumbered haze, i start to freak
out immediately. I sit up in bed with my Swiss Army knife ready to attack. I try to calm myself down and think logically but all that runs through my head is 'IM GOING TO DIE'. Something which i tend to take quite seriously.
I settle for that it must have been my imagination or just a dream and lay my head back down. THEN, i hear footsteps and see a shadow move in the light under my door.... Now its serious freak out time. I KNOW i saw that. Ok, Ok, it could be an animal right? One that can turn door handles? Surely!
Now the next thing that happens im still not sure why or how but this 'crazed, im not going to die, Tamara' came out to play. Instead of playing the helpless victim i decide to go on the attack. It may not have been the best idea at the time but i figured it was that or wait until they broke my door down. At least if i attack first, i have the element of surpise to my advantage. Three big breaths and i swing open the door in a phsycotic ramage, waving my knife around like a lunatic. I see that the door next to mine is open and decide that, thats where my killers are. I push open the door still with my knife flailing about and find the Manager there getting ready for bed.
Oh the look on his face, summed up exactly what i was feeling only moments before. I drop the knife and apologise profuselfy. Between his poor English and my poor Spanish we both agree that we thought we were trying to kill eachother and enjoy a good chuckle over it all.
What a loser!!!! It didn't even register to me that something so logical could be taking place. Oh well, at least i know how i would react in a 'Fight or Flight' situation :)
Finaly i got some sleep an could't wait to share this with my new mates in the morning.
The morning and day ahead was a lot less eventful, in the terms that i didn't think i was going to die. My friends got a good giggle out of it too.
We headed up to the ruins for the morning which turned out to be AMAZING. Truly! They very much reminded me of the Angkor Temples in Cambodia (which are one of my favourite thing i have EVER seen). Leanne and her lonely planet guide became our tour guide for the day and informed us of all the intricate details, facts and history of the site. So many great photos and a great day out.
We hit the 'downtown' area for lunch that day, enjoying a cooked chook and rice. Mmmmm Delicious...until we saw the preparation. Now this is something i learnt to never look into. Never ask what your eating and NEVER check out how something is prepared and made. I think the following photo speaks a thousand words. None of us seemed to get sick though which was great news. I think someone must have been looking out for us.
Another quite night in for us. Not quite the adventurous as the one before but i did manage to tell the manager (in my poor spanish yet again and his poor english) that 'i like it better when he slept with me' hahahaha What i was actually trying to say was i felt safer when he was in the room next to mine. Just another 'Tamaraism'.
We had the day to kill before our overnight bus trip to Cancun so we went to a waterfall a little way out of town. Ofcoarse it would have been a lot easier, had of we caught a tour but we like to do things the most difficult (and cheapest) way possible. Therefore we caught a local colelctivo out there and hiked for about 3 kms down to the falls. Scott decided it was hilarious that i was scared of snakes and after out mission to get there, i was in and out of the water in 1 minute flat thanks to Scotts taunts of snakes near by. All turned out ok and our adventure to Cancun was set to begin.
We had agreed to catch the cheaper bus rather than the typical ADO as were were all on a pretty tight budget. Surely it couldn't be too much different right? Oh how we were wrong. We had to catch a collectivo to another town in order to get onto our 'coach'. That in itself was an adventure as our collectivo broke down in the middle of nowhere and neither of us had any idea of what was going on. When we finally arrived at our coach our seats were reassigned (not such a big deal) but i was shoved up the back on my own near the STINKY toilets. Not much fun for a 12 hour bus ride.
We were stopped several times on route for security checks also. For some reason i must have been looking super dodgy that night, the security/police snooped through ONLY my bags and checked my passports twice. Not sure what they were looking for but i was fine and we kept on going. The bus wasn't so great (if you hadnt figured by this point) and my knees barely fit behind the seat infront of me. No sleep all night on the bus makes for Tamara to be one grumpy girl. Luckily though, all would soon be fixed with our arrival in Cancun.
Lots of adventures to share in the next blog. Keep an eye out for it.
Tam
xoxox
San Cristobal De Las Casas
Ok so i had high hopes for this town. A few of my friends had talked it up a fair bit so i was pretty excited to hit the mountains again after getting my beach fix.
I have to say straight from the get go, i was a little disappointed. Maybe i didn`t give it a proper chance, or maybe i just wasn`t feeling it but there was no love. I left after 1 and a half days onto somewhere different.
After leaving the Aussie girls in Puerto Escondido, i met up with them again in S.C.D.L.C. After a VERY long and windy overnight bus to arrive there i wasnt too much up for socialising so went for a little walk to more markets and slept the afternoon away.
I pretty much spent most of my time in S.C.D.L.C trying not to spend all my money on all the awesome craft goods for sale.
The girls and I hit up a really nice Middle Eastern restaurant for dinner which made for a great change from Mexican food. I know people would kill to eat the food over there but its just not my thing. Hit me with an awesome curry or stir fry any day. Dinner was great followed by a funky little band at the Revolution Cafe... chill cafe by day, crazy happening night spot later on. It seems to be the trend to have places like this in Mexico. I love it! The best of both worlds. The band themselves i couldn't even put a name to the type of music they were playing but i kept thinkig they would be the best support act for someone like The Cat Empire. For those that know me well, you will know how much i love the Empire. Hence, i had a wicked night.
The following day was pretty low key. I spent it do 'chores'. Sending postcards, buying groceries (yes i have been cooking over here), grabbing my bus ticket etc. It's funny how even the most mundane tasks are actually quite fun in another country. I chilled out, watched an awesome DVD 'Gone, Baby, Gone' (its a thinker) an lazed on the hammock while a storm passed by through town. A GOOD day!
Early night and another epic bus journey the next day to Palenque. Not quite the 13 hour journey i did a couple of days before but still a good 7 hours or so.
So thats San Cristobal De Las Casas done!
Tam
xoxox
I have to say straight from the get go, i was a little disappointed. Maybe i didn`t give it a proper chance, or maybe i just wasn`t feeling it but there was no love. I left after 1 and a half days onto somewhere different.
After leaving the Aussie girls in Puerto Escondido, i met up with them again in S.C.D.L.C. After a VERY long and windy overnight bus to arrive there i wasnt too much up for socialising so went for a little walk to more markets and slept the afternoon away.
I pretty much spent most of my time in S.C.D.L.C trying not to spend all my money on all the awesome craft goods for sale.
The girls and I hit up a really nice Middle Eastern restaurant for dinner which made for a great change from Mexican food. I know people would kill to eat the food over there but its just not my thing. Hit me with an awesome curry or stir fry any day. Dinner was great followed by a funky little band at the Revolution Cafe... chill cafe by day, crazy happening night spot later on. It seems to be the trend to have places like this in Mexico. I love it! The best of both worlds. The band themselves i couldn't even put a name to the type of music they were playing but i kept thinkig they would be the best support act for someone like The Cat Empire. For those that know me well, you will know how much i love the Empire. Hence, i had a wicked night.
The following day was pretty low key. I spent it do 'chores'. Sending postcards, buying groceries (yes i have been cooking over here), grabbing my bus ticket etc. It's funny how even the most mundane tasks are actually quite fun in another country. I chilled out, watched an awesome DVD 'Gone, Baby, Gone' (its a thinker) an lazed on the hammock while a storm passed by through town. A GOOD day!
Early night and another epic bus journey the next day to Palenque. Not quite the 13 hour journey i did a couple of days before but still a good 7 hours or so.
So thats San Cristobal De Las Casas done!
Tam
xoxox
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Puerto Escondido
Alrighty, just a quick one this time as I have so much to catch you all up on. In saying that, this entry will still probably become pretty mega haha
So Puerto became one of those places that I thought I would stay at for one or two nights and ended up staying a little over a week!
Day in, day out was honestly spent mostly as follows;
Wake up-usually slightly hungover
Go get breakfast
Check emails
Go to the beach
Have lunch
Go back to the beach
Have an afternoon nanna nap
Sunset cocktails
Dinner
Drinks at hostel
Crazy antics at bars
I met up with the Aussie guys from Mexico city and all their friends. I also spent the first few days with the Aussie girls I met in oaxaca. Too many good times spent with so many awesome people made Puerto a place that will not easily be forgotten.
Some highlights;
Dancing the night away at Bar Fly with the Irish guys
Afterhours dance parties and a crazy beach flinstone bar
I will NEVER forget Suzie falling flat out on the dancefloor to MIA- can NOT stop giggling when i think about it
Sunset cocktails with the Aussie guys
Ofcourse a game or two of Kings
Crazy lady offering massages on the beach. She thought the best way to drum up business was to point out all my mosquito bites and my fat feet. Probably not the best technique
Candlelit Valentines dinner on the beach with my toes in the sand with a new friend (yes friend)
Another crazy drugged up lady at the reggae bar
Beautiful bays and lots of sunburn... not sure if thats exactly a highlight though
Time went by so quickly and a day or two soon turned into a week long adventure. I'm certainly not complaining but it was time to move on. Check out more photos on my facebook page.
Peace out
Tamarita
xoxox
So Puerto became one of those places that I thought I would stay at for one or two nights and ended up staying a little over a week!
Day in, day out was honestly spent mostly as follows;
Wake up-usually slightly hungover
Go get breakfast
Check emails
Go to the beach
Have lunch
Go back to the beach
Have an afternoon nanna nap
Sunset cocktails
Dinner
Drinks at hostel
Crazy antics at bars
I met up with the Aussie guys from Mexico city and all their friends. I also spent the first few days with the Aussie girls I met in oaxaca. Too many good times spent with so many awesome people made Puerto a place that will not easily be forgotten.
Some highlights;
Dancing the night away at Bar Fly with the Irish guys
Afterhours dance parties and a crazy beach flinstone bar
I will NEVER forget Suzie falling flat out on the dancefloor to MIA- can NOT stop giggling when i think about it
Sunset cocktails with the Aussie guys
Ofcourse a game or two of Kings
Crazy lady offering massages on the beach. She thought the best way to drum up business was to point out all my mosquito bites and my fat feet. Probably not the best technique
Candlelit Valentines dinner on the beach with my toes in the sand with a new friend (yes friend)
Another crazy drugged up lady at the reggae bar
Beautiful bays and lots of sunburn... not sure if thats exactly a highlight though
Time went by so quickly and a day or two soon turned into a week long adventure. I'm certainly not complaining but it was time to move on. Check out more photos on my facebook page.
Peace out
Tamarita
xoxox
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