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

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

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

Oaxaca

So this probably wont be the most exciting of all the blog posts not because the town sucked or anything like that but just i was very well behaved there haha

Oaxaca is a beautiful old colonial town up high in the mountains in, funny enough, Oaxaca state.
I spent 4nights up there in a well run hostel. Well, no, let me take that back. I wouldn`t exactly call it `well run` but at least `decent`hostel. One of the hostel staff who is English and i had spoken with several times, thought it was more appropriate to talk to me in Spanish when i was trying to book a bus.... did she think she was helping my immerse myself into the culture or was she just being annoying? I will never know.

This is where i met the three Aussie girls who would become my travel buddies for the next week. Awesome girls from Melbourne who took me under their wings and let me hang with them for while.

It was a great little old town but not an awful lot to do there. I think 4 nights was well and truly pushing the limits on how long one person should stay there. I went up and saw.. i always get the name wrong... but i think its Monte Alban ruins. Over 3000 year old ruins high up in the mountains with the most amazing view. Probably not the best time to go in the middle of the day though. Damn HOT!
They were pretty cool but i didnt want to spend too much time there as it was too early in my trip to be ruined out.

At night the girls and i went for a few drinks, a bit of a boogy and enjoyed some great food. The town felt pretty safe at night but we thought best not to get too carried away an had a few early nights.
Turns out a week after we left Oaxaca, there was a riot there where people who shot and tear gas was roaring throught the streets over a teachers union protest. Good thing we got out when we did i guess.
I spent the days roaming the markets (awesome markets), trying so hard not to buy EVERYTHING and also just chilling out reading my book down at the Zocalo. Lucky for me there was always a great atmosphere down there and usually a little live band to entertain me... yes i thouht they were put there just for me haha (not really).

Oaxaca was a nice place but i definately had itchy feet to get to the beach. For someone who is out there nearly every day to not seeing coast line in 2 months, you could say i was more than eager to get down to Puerto Escondido. And thats exactly what i did!!!!

Puerto Esondido update to follow soon.

Miss you all.
Tam
xoxo

Tacos, tiquila and random times in Mexico!

I know, i know. It has been a while since my last blog update :( That just means I've been having too much fun!!!!

The past month has definately been an adventure and a half. A few eye opening moments have passed by, many new friends made and I've been witness to so many amazing things!

If you haven't clued on yet from the title of the blog, I've actually been in Mexico for the past 4 weeks. Much to my delight. I have honestly loved this place and am finding it hard to move on. So many great things to see and do, its hard to limit myself to only just a few experiences. So far i have been to Mexico City, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, San Cristobal de las casas, Palenque and am currently in Cancun!!!!

As i have had so much fun and there is a lot to tell you all, i will break this down into a few blog posts so as not to bore you all too much in one sitting.  

 MEXICO CITY

After initially thinking i would spend one night and then get the hell out of there due to safety concerns from friends and family, i found Mexico City to be wonderful. I ended up staying for about a week.Although, i didn't really do a lot there. My days were mostly spent chilling out and recovering my previous 2 months. As much as i loved catching up with all my friends in Canada and the States, i was utterly exhausted by the time i hit Mexico. I did manage to successfully navigate the crazy metro system and then the public bus system to make it out to Teotihuacan Pyramids for the day. Well worth the effort as the Pyramids are amazing. Even if i didn't speak a word of Spanish at this point either (im not so sure it's actually any better a month later).

The rest of my days were spent mostly going for a wonder around downtown, followed by a nanna nap in the afternoon (something which i am very fond of now) and then a couple of beers at night....Yes BEER! Strange things happen when you  are on such a tight budget and beer is cheaper than even a soft drink. Even for a spirit drinker :) There may have been one night where my friends and I almost got arrested by the police. Just maybe haha. Well actually the story goes; My new Aussie mates Ricky and Shane and I rounded up a couple of people to come out with us to the bar district for a few drinks. There ended up being about 6 of us all together, including an Irish and English guy and a German girl.
We headed out to Condesa but it was all a bit too much to even try to get a drink. Waiting at the bar for 20 minutes is not my idea of a fun night out so we all decided to head back to the hostel for a few drinks there. Everything was fine and dandy until the police siren came on. Not thinking we were actually doing anything wrong, we all just stood around waiting to see what they wanted. With our lack of Spanish skills, we assumed they were asking us for ID. Little did we know that they were actually trying to arrest us for having LITERALLY one foot outside the hostel door. Before we figured this out, i had gone upstairs to get my ID. As i come back down the stairs i see all the boys get loaded into the back of a police car. Now as nice as they guys were, i had to do what was best for me. In this case, that meant NOT going to a Mexican jail, so i went and locked myself in the bathroom hahaha. I thought it was rather brilliant AND it worked. By the time i got out, the boys had negotiated a bit of a `side payment' to the police and were allowed to walk away.
That was probably the most exciting of all things that happened in Mexico City.
I did venture to the Museum of Anthropology and also the local markets. Lots of neat things, yet i managed to resist the urge to buy EVERYTHING. So far, so good. 
I must say though, i found it safe and interesting. Not nearly as scary and full on as everyone had made it out to be. I would definately go back in a heartbeat without hesitation. Maybe next time round i might actually explore a litle more rather than spend most of the time chilling out. Ah well, that is the whole idea of a holiday!

Anyway next post will be up in a few days i guess, with all the details of my wicked times in Oaxaca state.
Feel free to send me a text sometime. I miss you guys!

Lots of love,
Tam xoxox 

NAWLINS!!!

More commonly known as NAWLIN, New Orleans is my kind of town ;)

Austin Skye, her friend Lily and myself took off for an adventures weekend road trip to New Orleans. It was my last weekend in the US and also Lily´s b´day so we had many reasons to let our hair down. Considering this, i think we behaved ourselves pretty well.

We left at about 6pm Friday night and drove through the night (about 8 hours) to our destination. Ofcoarse not without a few stops along the way. Our dinner stop proved pretty entertaining with the teenage guy stuffing up our orders several times.. im thinking he was pretty stoned and honestly just didnt give two hoots! I also did some backwards driving. No accidents and lots of bullshit talk later, we arrived in New Orleans in the wee hour of the morning and decided to hit the town. Within an hour we were all feeling pretty drunk, im going to blame it on the tiredness and not the gross amount of alcohol consumed in a very short time ;) Here i successfully ticked a box on my lifes to do list; drink a bourbon on Bourbon street, New Orleans. With that taken care of, we partied for a couple of hours and then crashed out so we could be somewhat functioning the following day.

Up relatively bright and early, we started the day with a walk around the French Quarter and down to the river, a couple of stops along the way in a few touristy shops and we made it to Cafe Du Monde for a Beignet or two!!!!! Absolute heaven! It was pretty much a day of cruising the streets, followed by a little nanna nap and then the night began.......

It all started off with a bang with us girls going on a ghost tour of town. We were fortunate enough to have an awesome guide who was very passionate about the supernatural phenomenas. Im finding that no matter where in the world i am, the tour guides have the same corny jokes and same mannerisms... i guess we really are just a one of a kind group of people. A little disappointed we didn´t experience any craziness but we did hear a lot of cool stories and find out some interesting FACTS.



We followed the ghost tour with a trip to Preservation Hall (as you do)....For those of you who don´t know what this place is all about, just think this is the heart and soul of Jazz/Blues. Amazing band playing there and such a good vibe. LOVED IT!!!!!

A few drinks along the way to warm us up and off we went to Bourbon Street where the real action took place. It was like a full moon party in Thailand but on heat lol  So much fun had but we had to keep it real as we had a 9 hour drive home on the Sunday morning. That didn´t mean we didn´t have fun though. Loved every moment in New Orleans and will definately be back in the near future.

Suffering Texan-itis!

Hmmm this is a tricky blog to start. So many awesome memories made, some that i should probably forget but on a whole Texas is AMAZING!!! Well maybe it was just the company but i loved it all! I'm pretty sure I got to live out all the texan stereotypes whilst there....yes there was dancing on bars, hanging in a country music dance hall,riding bulls and ofcoarse I got to shoot a gun or two!

Austin!

Thanks to Skye and Casey a million fold for taking care of me and showing me an awesome time. I feel like an Austin local!
Highlights include;
-Well I wouldn't call it a highlight but definitely something to remember was the first bar we all went to after I arrived, there was a giant snake around this ladies neck as she was dancing on the podium.For all of you that know me well, you can imagine just how much I shit myself!
-Second night out and met my future husband ;) Dallas,well actually David but Dallas suited him more.His over the top hospitality, flirtiness and impressive mechanical bull riding skills had me hooked.Unfortunately I only got to see him one more time before I left :(
-Amys icecream = best ice cream ever
-Uncommon objects = best store ever. They had the weirdest things i have ever seen
-Lucy in Disguise- best costume store ever
-I rode around on a mechanical bull (well the term riding may be overstated lol)
-Danced on the bar at Coyote Ugly
-Met some nice police men :)
-Hiking out in the parks with Skyes mum Vicky and Allison. Definately had some cabin fever prior to this day out. It was so great to be in the outdoors again, especially that the weather behaved
-Lots of awesome food. I was a gluten for punishment. Ofcourse i had to atleast try everything ;) Man they know how to do barbeque in Texas, thats for sure
-Visiting the Capitol Building in all its glory. Geeked out on the history of Texas. Really interesting. Such a proud State. The star is on absolutely EVERYTHING too, including highway overpasses
-Ghetto rollerskating night out. I still have it lol. After thinking i was going to fall flat on my ass since i havent even had any skates on in atleast 10 years, i actually did alright.... no broken bones
- The Allamo Drafthouse= best cinemas ever. You could order food throughout the movie from your waiter, inlcuding and heres my favourite part, alcohol
- Highball for brunch- There was an awesome jazz band playing as Skyes mum joined us for lunch after Sunday church
-Church- so im not much of a church goer, however this service really changed my perspective on things. It was more of a non denomination place of worship i guess. They take parts of all different religions and discuss the core principals of whats behind them. I was really interested and i think no matter what you believe in, there was value in the service for everyone.
-80s night groove fest. The girls and Casey hit the town for a bit of hip popping grooving. After a stumble down to a few bars we made it back to the Trophy Room for some more bull riding. Skye and Kristina gave some double riding a go.....the result.....Skye having badly bruised ribs for days :(

Anyway so they are just some of the awesome memories made in Austin. Such good times shared with such good people! Thank you to everone who made my stay so special.

Fort Worth/Keller adventure!

So for those of you in the know, Keller is where my awesome friend Lacey lives. We used to work together at the YHA before she up and left us :(

Ofcoarse the first thing we do once i arrive was have a yarn, catching up on all the goss.Always good fun! Then, holy moly, Lacey´s sisters boyfriend owns a bar and it was on! A few drinks down, a bit of bootscooting and catching up with a mate was a perfect night out.. .oh and IHOP at 3am lol.

In the week i was there, Lacey spoilt the crap out of me and i never know how i will be able to thank her enough!!! I watched my first American football game (where everyone was very patient with me, explaining the rules),spent Australia day, getting a pedicure, shooting guns, eating at Outback steakhouse and drinking in a seedy dive bar, i also got to know Lacey´s family who are super nice and accommodating. I felt so at home! Ofcoarse the trip wouldn´t be over with, without a little bit of shopping and a RODEO.... Yeeee Hawwwww! Lots of cowboys around and lots of giggles! This time i tried to curb my laughter when the anthem came on, not like in D.C where i thought id get deported (see D.C blog). I was really surprised how much i thoroughly enjoyed it. I guess i shouldn´t be, booze, coyboys and friends, what more could i want.

The next day was a teary farewell to my new friends and to Lacey, followed by a 6 hour greyhound bus back down to Austin. I guess the light at the end of the tunnel was that it wasn´t a 15 hour journey which im so getting accustomed to!

Thanks again Lacey!!!! You rock my world!!!! Mwah