Happy New Years - 31 de Diciembre 2010

It has come at last, the final day of the year. We are now in Antigua Guatemala, after taking an 8 hour minivan ride from Lanquin. We are staying at a place named Antigua Orquideas, placed adequately between the major plaza and the giant market. We came yesterday 9 strong off of the microbus. We are staying with 3 germans (Jonathon, Eva, Hannah), 2 from Denmark (Simon and Maya), 1 guy from Spain (Alex), 1 girl from Holland (Annamikea), and Mari and myself.

Tonight we plan on cooking a large meal together and spending the New Years night on the outdoor terrace upstairs. Simon already told me they bought rum, vodka, and two bottles of wine. Plus, I am sure there will be plenty of beer. We are ironing out who is making what, but i plan on making a giant vat of veggie soup. I heard pasta salad, guacamole, chips, spanish style tortilla, and a few more things still being worked out.

In the central plaza there will be music, dancing, fireworks and more festivities. I think this will be a great place to be for New Years. Mari and I wish everyone a happy New Year. Take care, be safe, and see you soon.

I also want to wish my father a belated Happy Birthday. Sorry I wasnt home to give you a call and say it in person. Hope 64 is the best one yet.

28 de Diciembre 2010

We arrived safe and sound from our 7.5 hour trip from Flores to Lanquin, and I have to say it's quite amazing here. It's mountainous, jungly, vibrantly green and lush. On the trip out we passes green mountain sides with farm plots And small villages and houses interspersed. It's by far the most beautiful bus trip we have taken to date. We are staying at a hostel named Zephyr, set on a mountain side with amazing views in each and every direction. There are several people here from Flores that makes traveling feel somewhat like an ever changing family packing from place to place. Friends come and go, but they are all interesting and from all over the globe. We are sitting outside on a terrace talking to A guy from Spain, two girls from Holland, and a couple from Germany. Plus there are more than 30 more people sitting at other tables around us. It feels lively here, and the surroundings and atmosphere are awe inspiring.

It's times like this that make me thoroughly enjoy what we are up to right now. Sometimes I question the travel bug, but today I can embrace it and accept the joys it can bring. We arrived a little too late for exploration so I can't wait till we can get out and about tomorrow. We will be exploring some local caves, and visiting a local river that looks similar to aqua azul in Mexico. I will be taking photos.

Ciao for now.

27 de Diciembre 2010

Today we visited Tikal. I must say, its a pretty amazing ruins site stuck right out in the jungle. For the first time in our trip, we had a tour guide - and I found him pretty amazing. He was full of good information and he had a great charismatic and energetic way of talking. Tikal differed from the sites we visited in Mexico by the expanse and breadth of the site, as well as the density of the jungle between temples. Tikal is spread out, and has the feel of a days nature hike out in the jungle as we walked between locals and not just a parking lot leading into a site of ruins. Not to belittle the other ruins, they were all great, this one just had an air of mystery a bit more. The guide said that 80% of Tikal is still untouched in the jungle, but it looks to my untrained eye that all the major buildings have been unearthed.

I have provided only a few photos here, and most likely not the best of teh bunch. But enjoy.


Welcome to Tikal - great list of prohibited items



Tikal Temple - Mari near opening on top



Tikal Temple - Close up of Mari near opening


Tikal Ruins - Travis in the plaza on top of temple seen above



One great thing about traveling is the signs you see everywhere. This one is supposed to mean do not sit on certain ruins, but looks more like no pooping on the ruins.

We met a great girl from New York on this trip named Stephanie. We hung out all day today, but she took off tonight headed to Antigua. Mari and I purchased tickets to head out at 9 am to Lanquin. The asked some people staying at our hotel how long it took to get there and they said around 3 hours. Then we hit the first ticket office to check on ticket prices and times, 100 quetzals (Q) each and 5 hours. We hit another ticket office to compare, and they told us 130 Q each. After talking to a woman at an information booth, we hit still another ticket off. Here we bought tickets, 75 Q each, and the trip is 7 hours. Now I know what you are thinking, we bought the cheap tickets that take longer to get there. But you would be wrong. Welcome to the wonderful insight of Central America, where its hard to get good information. After purchasing our tickets, we finally went out to have a beer with Stephanie and send her on her way, when we saw a board advertising trips all over Guatemala - which said our trip would be an 8 hour bus ride. Luckily, we ran into two Germans just arriving from Lanquin today that verified this info. We paid 75 Q each and the 3 hour trip we were hoping and expecting, miraculously turned into an 8 hour trip. Shitty for us. But oh well, Lanquin here we come.

By the way, we are staying at an okay, mediocre at best hotel Doña Goya. Not great at all. We stopped by Los Amigos Hostel to pick up Stephanie, and were blown away by how cool that place was. If anyone is coming to Flores in the future, check out the Los Amigos Hostel. It is beautiful. I kick myself for believing advice I recieved to not stay there without checking it out myself. By far one of the coolest looking hostels I have seen in Central America.

T

26 de Diciembre 2010

Well, last night was quite a Christmas. The hostile sorta banded together later in the evening and had some fun together. We played several rounds of a game called Werewolves, a murder mystery type game where a group of 8 or more draw cards and play against each other, werewolves vs. villagers to see who will survive. As people got bored and left, we adapted into another group game called Assessin - sorta along the same principle, a group has one assassin and one cop and as people die in the group the cop needs to figure out the assassins identity. Anyway, it was pretty fun, especially considering the motley crew assembled in Caye Caulker on Christmas night.

As little groups took off to bed or headed to bars, there was a small bunch of us who stuck around to play a bit of cards. Because we all didnt understand the rules 100%, we played one open hand to illustrate the rules before setting into the real game. Just as we were starting the game, a massive wind swept through - overtaking the island and gaining in intensity. The problem is the hostile wasnt equipped with real walls, they are constructed out of chicken screen and mosquito netting, so when the wind picks up its more like a wind tunnel. Seeing as cards was out of the question, I stepped outside just in time to feel a few rain drops coming down. I ran to the clothes lines, grabbed the freshly washed (and dried) clothes, just as it started to unleash a massive downpour - dumping rain. I ran back to my shack listening to the rain and wind howling and wondering if my little structure would sustain the force.

Mari and I packed our bags that night during the storm in preperation for our early morning departure, and laid down to sleep just after midnight knowing we had to be up before 6 am to eat and catch the 7 am ferry. Inevitably, it was a restless, sleepless night as the rain and wind pounded and tortured our little structure. It was a beautiful display of force, and an interesting insight into island weather.

In the morning, we:

• Caught the 45 minute ferry from Caye Caulker to Belize city ($10 each)
• Then split a taxi with another Seattlite towards the Belize City Bus Terminal ($1.50 each)
• Bought tickets for the 3 hour bus ride from Belize City to the Belizean border town called Benque Viejo del Carmen ($4 each)
• Crossed the border - (Belize exit fee = $20 each) (Guatemala entrance fee = $2.50 each)
• Caught the 2 hour shuttle from the Guatemala border to Flores ($3 each)

We are officially in Guatemala! We rolled in after a long day of traveling with little sleep. Found some food (Burritos and Enchiladas and beer), and are getting ready for bed. We have an early morning scheduled for tomorrow as well. At 4:30 am, a shuttle is scheduled to whisk us away to Tikal first thing in the morning. Hopefully we can catch a sunrise, and if that fails at least we beat the crowds. It wasnt my prime choice for a departure time, but it didnt seem like we had a ton of options.

Wishing the best to you - Travis

Christmas in Belize

Mari and I are still in Caye Caulker, just off the coast of Belize City. We decided we better stay put for the Xmas rush, as hostels fill up around this time of year. Last night there wasnt a ton going on, but there were several other hostelers (Sweden and Holland) cooking holiday meals to remind them of home. Mari and I prepared a Spanish style tortilla, kidney beans, and a fillet of fish we threw on the grill. We walked down to a local pier later in the afternoon when the fisherman are returning and bough a fresh fish right off the boat. It took a bit for us to fillet it, but it worked out.

We were flirting with the idea of taking off today, Christmas morning, on our way to Guatemala on the 7 am boat off the island. But, knowing this place is packed, we decided it might be a better idea to stay put and travel afterward. We really didn't like the idea of showing up this evening in Guatemala to full hostels and no beds.

This island is beautiful, rustic, and very interesting. We are staying at a place named Bellas, run by a guy from Federal Way (near Seattle) of all places. His mom is Belizean, and he moved back here 8 years ago, buying this hostel somewhere along the way. We have a super rustic, cute tiny room, sort of a shack, with a tiny bed inside and not much else for 15 bucks a night. There's enough of a kitchen in the main building that we have been cooking meals, and there are two boats for rowing around the island.

A few days back we took one of the little boats out into the open water towards the worlds second largest reef for a bit of snorkeling and an adventurous open water trek. I pushed Mari to the limits with a few hours of hard rowing, and we were both a bit sore after. On the bright side, we weren't swept out to sea and we were able to view some beautiful underwater specimens. Looking back it wasn't the brightest idea, but we did extremely well with a little dingy in the windy and chopper current. Luckily, I just recently read "In the Heart of the Sea", a shipwreck survival story, so I was prepared for the worst if it came to pass.

Now, its 11 am , and its already getting hot. The earlier cloud cover is waning and the sun is creeping out from its hiding place. We already took the boat out and paddled around, looking at fish, dropping anchor to float, and paddling around with hands and feet dipping in and outta the water. The Caribbean water is incredible. Azul and clear and wonderfully refreshing.

We will spend Christmas night here, and plan on leaving on the morning boat tomorrow headed towards Flores, near Tikal. Mari is really apprehensive about entering into Guatemala, and has been trying her hardest to convince me its not that great of an idea. But, seeing all the travelers flooding out of there, I know the horror stories are few and far between, yet still possible. We will try our hardest to pay attention to our surroundings and play off our good spirited vibe.

Merry Christmas to all! (and to all a good night)

T

21 de Diciembre 2010

Here we are on a beautiful morning in Tulum. We spent the night in a place called Rancho Tranquilo - a very nice place with little individual cabañas with a large bed and mosquito net. It has a large shared kitchen facility, couches, tables, and the largest book exchange I have ever seen in all my travels anywhere. A wall full of books available for exchange. Its totally wonderful. Mari and I awoke, are drinking coffee, and waiting for our complimentary pancakes for breakfast.

Today, we will be heading out of Tulum, out of Mexico, and into Belize. We are catching the 10 am bus from Tulum to Chetumal (180 pesos each), the border town between the two countries. From Chetumal we hope to catch a water taxi ($35 each) to Caye Caulker, a small key just north east of Belize City. As we have been told, Belize City is no where for anyone to be, and there are two keys that are spectacular, and Caye Calulker is the cheaper, backpackier of the two.

Belize (and Mexico) have the second largest reef in the world (after Australias Great Barrier Reef), and the snorkling and diving are supposedly spectacular. We hope to see what some of the fuss is about. Its exciting to finally be moving forward. After all this time, its hard to believe we are still in Mexico. Its time to take the next big step.

17 de Diciembre 2010

Today we returned from Havana, or La Habana, as it is referred to in the Spanish speaking world. Wow! Where to begin? Cuba is a world apart, no doubt about it. It is a shining gem in the distance for those brave enough and fortunate enough to venture forth to seek its beauty. Before heading there, Cuba was a bit of a mystery to us, as there isnt a ton of information available to the average person. I hope our time there helped us understand our place, their place, and our common place in this world. But I digress, lets take it a bit slower.

Why did we return to the armpit of Mexico (Cancun) you may ask? Well, unfortunately traveling in Cuba turned out to be a little more expensive than we had hoped, even though we sorta expected it. Our initial month in Mexico we were budgeting $50 dollars per day, where as our time in Cuba was running us around $92 per day. Roughly double the costs associated in Mexico. Although we had budgeted this amount for the trip (we roughed out about $90 bucks per day), we were actually hoping it would turn out to be cheaper as we had budgeted kinda worst case scenario prices. But, as it turned out to be a bit more costly than we had planned, we decided to cut our trip in Cuba a little short so as to extend our journeys through other lush and beautiful countries and landscapes.

Okay, I said a lot so far. What do I expand upon? Armpit of Mexico? Yeah, Cancun kinda sucks. If you want to fly to the Miami Beach of Mexico and be surrounded by Americans and Europeans and pay too much for everything and get ripped off half the time, well this is the place. You are a walking wallet in a world of greed. Its a bit sickening. If you want to experience Mexico - the language, the culture, the sites and the smells, well..... you get the point - don't come here. This place is an amusement park - abusive to the senses. Okay okay, I see what you are saying. Perhaps Travis is a little harsh on Cancun. Perhaps I am, but its a bit more transparent stepping back into this setting fresh from Cuba where the citizens possessed far far less, but still treated you as an equal. Cubans are very generous, helpful, courteous and kind. As we took a collectivo today upon our return from the Cancun Airport into downtown Cancun, we watched, a bit helpless, as a young French girl paid (got ripped off) $15 dollars for the same ride that Mari and I paid 50 pesos for ($4.16 USD). We discussed it, and decided that this type of injustice just didn't happen in Cuba. Not to say it 100% couldn't happen, or doesn't happen, all I can say is it never happened to us. We were always quoted fair prices and never felt like anyone was raising prices on us solely because we were tourists. Returning to Cancun, I see that Cancun is a bit of a game. How much can they charge you, how much can they add to the bill and still get away with it. Cuba is more along the lines that they charge you, but no one is getting rich. Its a subtle, yet bonding and identifiable difference. As Dorothy once said, we're not in Kansas anymore. Well, as Mari and I now say - we aren´t in Cuba anymore. No more instant security and ease of mind. We are back in the battle.

As for Cuba, I hope to be posting more on that soon. I need to outline several threads. Food, housing, cities, people, ocean, money etc. But for now, what I want to say is that it was eye opening and spectacular. What I am about to say is a generalization in the larger sense, but for the most part is true. Of course I am sure there are exceptions, but from what I am told - not many. In Cuba there are no guns, no drugs, little violence, no rape, little petty theft. Amazingly, by law, all children go to school. Thus, there are no poor needy kids begging for change or candies or looking poor and desperate. They all walk the streets in their tidy school uniforms looking sharp. Because school is mandatory, and college is free, Cuba is a very well educated city - although still a bit shut off from the world. At night, we would walk down the creepiest of creepiest looking streets in downtown Havana, with light bulbs burnt out and crowds of people here and there in the shadows while slowly making our way back to our casa particular. Anywhere else in the world a dark, seemingly dangerous looking street world would have scared the shit out of us. Yet in Cuba we walked with security and little to no fear - because it´s safe. It´s safe for tourists, locals, women, children and all. Totally amazing. Mind blowing if you really really think about it. I dont know what Fidel did, but in this respect something really worked to create an honest, respectable society.

I hope to expand on this topic in the next couple days. As for now, I need to plan. Its 10 pm, Mari is up in our room sleeping, I am finishing a rum and coke, and we should really start discussing our future plans. Originally we were to return to Cancun on the 25th, and stay a week here in Cancun between Christmas and New Years. But, with a quick call to my travel agent (my mom *thank you) we blew off the scheduled week in Cancun and have set our sites on juicier destinations rather than spend another 15 days in and around Cancun.

T

4 de Diciembre 2010

We stayed last night at the Backpackers Hostelling Center in Cancun and I have to say, it is the worst place we have stayed so far. We stayed in the dorm room and there were two snorers in the group that snored so loud Mari and I had a hard time sleeping. So this morning we awoke in search of a new place to stay and we found it. We moved locations, and are now staying at a place called Hostel Laurel. A drastic improvement over where we stayed last night, but at a steeper price as well. Last night cost us 110 pesos a piece, where tonights accomodations is 300 pesos for our own room with private bathroom. A good investment for a better nights sleep.

Today we took care of some business necessary for our trip to Cuba. As many of you probably dont know, correct and verifiable information about Cuba is hard to come by. So we have been researching things like Visa costs, exit fees, housing costs, food costs, and tips and tricks and warnings and stuff like that.

Heres some facts:

Return tickets from Cancun to Cuba - $8128 pesos

Also, we paid 710 pesos ($59 USD) for two visas, and two 5 days alottments of medical insurance. We heard and read that its recommended (or required?) for foriegners to purchase medical insurance during their stay in Cuba. We were quoted somewhere between 2 & 3 dollars a day. The tip from our travel agent was to purchase a few days of insurance so that when Cuban customs ask the question "Did you purchase insurance for your vacation" when entering the country we can answer with a whole hearted yes. Therefore we are proud owners of a 5 day medical pass. As far as I can make out, our Visas were around $18 USD dollars each, and the medical insurance was about $10 USD each.

Surprising to us, Cuba is a relatively expensive country for a foreign traveler. Within Cuba, there are two types of currencies. Foreigners use a currency called the Covertible Cubanos, or C.U.C. The exchange rate is rougly $1.00CUC = $1.08 USD. The Cuban people that live within Cuba use the peso, which exchanges atroughly $1.00 CUC = 24 pesos. Thus you can see how the foreigner exchange rate is much higher than the local exchange rate. The key to budget traveling is watching the locals. Do as the locals do. Our prime goal is to locate how to get on the peso budget, thereby stretching our budgets. Its gonna be a good time for sure.

From what Ive heard, there are not hostels in Cuba. There are hotels in Cuba, but I hear they are quite costly. The method we will be using during our stay is Casa Particulares. The Cuban government has allowed licensed houses to open bedrooms for travelers to rent and use during their vacations. For this priveledge, the owners of the Casa pay large monthly fees to the government. Anyway, it works out to cost us anywhere from $20 - $35 dollars per night to live in house with a cuban family. The real question is how we locate and move around between these casas. We have a lot to learn along the way, and we are on the cusp of a major cram session. Its funny to imagine our stay in Mexico is almost done. But its nice to know we will be heading back this way in the near future.

Mexico is wonderful. It has gorgeous weather, beautiful landscape from beachs to mountains to jungle, and most of all. The Mexican people are very warm and graceous. Our time here has been a wonderful experience and we are both excited, and sad to be moving forward.

I assume there will be no internet while we are away. Thus, I hope everyone has a wonderful buildup to christmas. We will be returning to Cancun on the 25th, and wish everyone the best. We miss our family and friends and want to let you all know you are, and will be in our thoughts during the upcoming holidays. I will check back in when internet and time allow. Cheers!

3 de Diciembre 2010

Our week long vacation within a vacation ended this morning at the Mayan Palace and we are quickly reminded of our humble vagabond lifestyle. Currently we are staying in Cancun at a place called the Backpacking Hostelling Center, more bar and restaruant than I would say hostel, but its cheap and....well, not much else so far. Just stopping off here in Cancun for 2 days before we venture forward.

As many of you might have heard, the COP16 - The United Nations Climate Change Conference - is happening right now in Cancun, running from Nov.29th through Dec. 10th. So...you know what that means! Mari and I are gonna have pretty hectic schedules over the next two days meeting with world presidents and elected officials. But its something we are willing to do to save the planet.

Hope all is well with everyone back home, and its nice to be back somewhere with affordable internet. We have some stuff we need to look up and sort out in before we head outta Cancun.

29 de Noviembre 2010

This morning we wished a fond farewell to our travel partners and friends Tobi and Claudia. They left the Mayan Palace after staying with us only two nights before heading back to Germany this morning. It was the end of their 5 week stint in Mexico and we were happy to have been able to spend so much time with them along the way.

Alright, lets see. Where do I begin about the Mayan Palace? The Mayan Palace - Riviera Maya is located about 25 kms north of Playa del Carmen, on what I can only assume is the main corridor up and down the coast. Shuttling down this road, paralleling the coast in a collectivo that runs between towns, there is resort after resort after resort along the coastal side, each with massive mansion like entries with sentries.

The Mayan Palace Riviera resort is one of 7 Mayan Palace resort locations dotting the ocean fronts of Mexico. From what I can tell, they are all quite massive and gorgeous. The Riviera Maya location is exquisite. Mari and I are staying in a one bedroom apt with a large bathroom, full living room and mini kitchen. Its a great change from the crappy cold water showers and mosquito breeding grounds we have normally been habitating. The resort boasts the second largest swimming pool in Mexico, and is beaten only by another Mayan Palace location on the Pacific Coast.

That said, the Mayan Palace is a different world than I am used to. Because of its massive, massive property size, I believe most people probably never leave the property to head into town. With this tactic, the inhabitants are trapped within the resort to pay the exhorbinant fees within. From what I have perused, everything purchasable in the stores and boutiques are slightly higher than double what one would normally pay in a store outside the resort. A single bottle of beer is an astounding 30 pesos, where the frugal supermarket visit yields a 6 pack for 50 pesos. The most outrageous slap in the face is the internet. The internet costs 70 pesos per hour, which is about $6 USD. Per hour! Thats incredible. As for now, I am sitting in an internet cafe in Downtown Cancun paying a measly 10 pesos per hour. Basically, a dollar per hour. Way way way way better for our budget.

Luckily, Mari and I have been traveling the country and know the costs that can be found elsewhere. With this knowledge, we are able to skirt the resort system. Heading to the supermarket on our first night, we stocked up on groceries and are able to cook meals at home. We also purchased beer and tequila ahead of time in order to curb our need for expensive, pool side cocktails. Although, I must say, they have two or three pool bars... you know that ones that are actually within the pool so that one stand in the water and sips their beverages at the bar within the water..... and I really want to partake in one of those before we go.

Our first morning in the Mayan Palace we attended the Time Share proposal. The proposal is intended to have us forking over our money to spend the next 100 years vacationing in the Mayan Palace locations in Mexico, but instead really afforded us a free, all you can eat morning buffet breakfast and 500 pesos credit to our room. It was an interesting endeavor, sometimes fun, sometimes gruelling - but mostly pleasant and leaves me wondering what timeshares actually are. Do they actually save money in the long run for vacations? Are they an investment for the future? Is it a crock a shit that sounds good on paper but is actually worthless? I am still unsure. But with this new info, I cant wait to actually speak to timeshare owners and compare prices, thoughts, tactics and info about vacations within the timesharing community.

Congratulations to us!!!! Today we purchased tickets to Cuba. Up until today I had virtually thrown the idea of visting Cuba into the recycle bin due to increasing ticket costs. What we didnt know when initially planning our trip is that the month of December is the peak vacation and travel time for Mexicans, as well as resorts, hostels and hotels here in Mexico. Due to that fact, the flights from Cancun to Cuba are mostly booked up - leaving the limited seats skyrocketing in price. Mari had the great idea today to head into Cancun and hit up travel agencies in a last ditch effort to get our asses to Cuba ...... and it totally paid off. Researching flight costs 4 or 5 months ago we found flights to Cuba typically cost between 300-350 dollars roundtrip. Once we arrived in the Yucatan and started looking at actual ticket costs, we found most of the prices were more in the 475 - 525 dollar range. A bit more than we were hoping or expecting to pay. But today, after our first quote of $508 each, we dicided to hit one more shop before blowing the idea off for good. Good luck must have guided our feet because we found tickets for $320 dollars each and quickly swooped in to purchase. We are heading to Cuba from Dec. 5th through Dec. 25th.

Take care, and talk to you soon. Travis

26 de Noviembre 2010

Our 4 day stint in Valladolid has come to a close. We will be packing up and leaving Hostel La Candelaria within the next 2 hours on the 9:30 am bus headed towards Playa del Carmen. For the next week we will be living in the lap of luxery. If I googled it correctly, we will be staying here.

Looks like a paradise. Palm trees. Large swimming pools just off the beach. Crystal clear water.

I can see us really getting into the carribean mood here. Relaxing and getting a tan. Taking a quick dip in the sea.

I hope this is the right place and we havent set our hopes too high. Cheers!

23 de Noviembre 2010

Mari and I arrived in Valladolid after staying 4 nights in Merida where we had Wifi access but no computer at hand. Merida is the capital of the state of Yucatan (the northern point of the Yucatan Peninsula) and has a population of around 1.4 million inhabitants. It is a bustling city with narrow streets and even narrower sidewalks, making sidewalk navigation during the day frenetic and somewhat frustrating. We stayed at a wonderful hostel named Hostel Zocolo located just off the Grande Plaza smack dab in the heart of the city.

Hotel Zocalo - Merida

The hostel is housed within an incredible building, which at one time must have been someones immense personal flat - or mansion by modern terms. Located up a flight of stairs off the street on the second floor, the rooms have high vaulted ceilings with massive 10 foot tall folding doors between each and every room. The morning breakfasts were totally amazing feasts far more exquisite and impressive than any hostel breakfast I have ever encountered in my life. They consisted of fresh cantalope, papaya, pineapple, bananas, and watermelon, plus cereal milk and sugar, coffee, omelettes, crepes, bread, peanut butter and jelly, yogurt, honey, dulce de leche...... basically.... the works. It was great. We were paying about 110 pesos each per night ($9.50). The atmosphere was open and easy going, the staff friendly and talkative. All combined, it made for a wonderful stay in the city. With the overwhelming breakfast, free wifi, free purified water, and an enormous kitchen that we used for every lunch and dinner... we found it hard to leave. But as travelers we knew it was time to go.

After 4 nights we decided to push forward and left Merida bright and early the morning of the 22nd on the 6:20am bus headed towards Valladolid, with a quick early morning detour to hit Mexico´s most famous Mayan ruins, Chichen Itza. We arrived at Chichen somewhere around 9am and were quickly rewarded for the cranky early rising discipline. The ruins were quite empty and as we made our way out of the reception area into the park the local vendors who set up on the sides of all the major walkways throughout the ruins were still setting up their displays, filling their tables full of touristic handy crafts such as ruin replicas, hand carved wooden masks, chess boards with hand carved pieces, T-shirts, rugs and much much more. Walking down the path into the site the most striking thing as you enter is the dominating Temple of Kukulcan, or El Castillo as it is called in spanish. It sits in the center of the of the city and rises up higher than any of the other ruins. This temple is built to reflect the mayan calender.

El Castillo - Chichen Itza

"Each of El Castillo´s nine levels is divided in two by a staircase, making eighteen seperate terraces that commemorate the eighteen 20-day months of the Mayan year. The four stairways have 91 steps each; add the top platform and the total is 365, the number of days in the year. On each facade of the pyramid are 52 flat panels, which are reminders of the 52 years in the Calendar Round."

Another Chichen standout is the great ball court named the Gran Juego de Pelota that stands near El Castillo. It is by far the largest ball court we have seen in any of the ruins so far, actually quite giant in comparison. The details of the game are not exactly known for sure, but there are two giant stone circles 21 feet in the air on either side of the ball field that were used as goals for a rubber ball game where players were able to use any body part except their hands to manipulate the ball through the goal. They speculate a bat of some sort must of been used as it is unlikely the ball could have reached the height of the goals without one. Reminiscent of Schwarzeneggers 1987 film Running Man, the losers of the game were decapitated and sacrificed to the gods, which supposedly was a great honor. Although, I suppose the honor of winning felt much better.

Gran Juego de Pelota - Chichen Itza

Leaving Chichen we hopped on a second class bus to continue the 30 kilometros of so to Valladolid. We are now staying in a little hostel named "Hostel La Canelaria". Valladolid only has around 60,000 inhabitants and has a much more relaxed feel than Merida.

Street and Buildings - Valladolid

As we have worked our way east, we have finally run into our first rain of the trip. Must be the tropical carribean winds carrying the moisture inland. Both yesterday and today there have been little showers that remind us of Seattle, yet from what I hear from back home its snowing right now. Even with the little rain falling here, its still near 90 degrees with heavy humidity. With little to do in such a little town, we are just relaxing and killing a little time before we head to Playa del Carmen on the 26th for a bit of high class living.

In an effort to conserve a little money, we decided to try an experiment. We´re switching over from beer to a bottle of Cuban Rum. With the additional purchase of a liter of coke, we see some some rum and cokes in our near future. As a six pack of beer costs roughly 60 pesos and goes so fast (and so smooth), we decided to upgrade to a bottle of 133 peso cuban rum and a 12 peso liter of coke. At a total cost of 145 pesos ($12), the breadth of the bottle should spread over several days and help us save a little cash. We´ll see if the experiment works or not.

Hope all is well with you - Travis

Mosquitos

Dear Mexican Mosquitos...... Fuck off!

Random Photo Selection

Alright, today we bought a cable to transfer photos. Digging through I had a hard time choosing some to post. So here is a small selection to start with.

Mari and I at Monte Alban. Elevated on the hillside above everything around us, we had a great surrounding view of the valleys surrounding us. The weather was beautiful with only a slight scattering of clouds here and there.


Puerto Escondido just before sun set. I love the palm leaf roofs they build here. They are all over the place, and are at least a foot and a half thick. Personally, I havent seen any rain in our stay, but I really want to know how well they work in a torrential downpour.


One night on Puerto Escondido, right around sun set, they brought sea turtles from a hatchery for release back into the Pacific Ocean. Each of us were able to grab our own little turtle, name them, and release them to grow and flourish out at sea. This is Mari releasing her little guy on the beach roughly a meter or two from the surf. We then sat back and watched them walk into water and disappear from sight.


When we were staying in Zipolite we took a day trip to see the town and beach next door named Muzunte. As we were returning from the beach and heading back into town, we ran across this young boy pushing his brother and sister down the street in a home made skate board. As you can see, its the front half of a surf board on wheels. What you cant see, is the home made license plate attached to the front of the crate. Colored in crayon, it had the proper numbers and digits like a proper vehicle plate, set on a green white and red colored background of the mexican flag. It was quite cute. Mari couldnt resist.

15 de Noviembre (A reflection)

We moved from Zipolite on the night of the 13th headed to the city of Palenque. We had originally bought tickets for a 14 hour bus ride heading to San Cristobal de las Casas, but having heard that this mountain town was freezing cold we decided to skip it. Instead, Mari and I bought tickets that circumnavigated the vomitous mountain roads leading to and from San Cristobal, opting on a lesser known path that goes from Zipoite to Huatulco, Huatulco to Juchitan, Juchitan to VillaHermosa, and finally Villahermosa to Palenque. This route was a little more expensive, but proved to be the faster more efficient route in the end. In total it took us around 12 hours from start to finish, but that includes a few short layovers as well.

Having reached the city of Palenque, we quickly hopped in a collectivo headed out to the ruins and a hostel community called El Ponchon. El Ponchon is located out in the jungle just a few kilometers from the ruins themselves, and consists of only 5 different hostel/hotel accomodations and 2 restaurants. We ended up staying at a place aptly named Jungle Palace. It consisted of individual cabañas interspersed in the jungle placed next to a meandering stream. Both mornings we awoke to the gutteral howl of monkeys in the trees above.

The first day we settled in and made reunions with our group of friends as we had all split and taken differing paths and timelines to arrive in Palenque. But the second day we signed up for an all day tour that would allow us 4 hours in the Palenque ruins, 1 hour at Misol Ha, and another 4 hours at Aqua Azul.

Our morning started around 8:00 am with the Palenque ruins.

Palenque was exquisite, and I find that I could walk all of these ancient ruin sites if I had the time and money to reach each and every one of them, as there are many scattered across the landscape of Mexico. The thing I find amazing is the lack of knowledge we have about the civilizations that flourished here in its hey day. Many of the buildings have plaques that explain what experts believe the building may have been used for, but I get the feeling little is absolutely certain.

After leaving the ruins, we headed to a waterfall named Misol Ha.

The waterfall was beautiful, with a large swimming pool for cool refreshment. Mari slipped in for a quick swim, while I made my way around the back beneath the waterfall, doused in the moist mist sweeping up from the crashing impact of the falling water with the pool. Time escaped quickly here, and before we knew it we were racing off to our final destination. A four hour date with Aqua Azul, an exquisite site located roughly 60 kms away.

I have to segway here for a second to better explain what it means to have a site located 60 kms away. This means that one must get into a van or taxi and drive there, as is typically done anywhere in the world. Yet, no one fully explained to me (or prepared me at all) what Mexican roads and driving are like. Coming from a Civil Engineering background, I really want to meet the guys that created the roads here. It seems they were very very averse to any thoughts on creating a straight section of road. Rather, I think they tried to squeeze in as many tight death defying curves as possible per kilometer. This, added to the fact that everyone here drives around 80 kms per hour makes for some white knuckle rides. It was possible for me to relax a bit and enjoy it for what it was - an experience and an adventure, but in no way was it actually acceptable and I feel lucky to still be in one piece. Anyway..... I am here to write again so lets move on.

After a harrowing drive through the Mexican country side, we arrived at the Cascades of Aqua Azul.

A beautiful series of blue water cascades with many swimming pools located both up and downstream. I went swimming here. The water was crisp and cool, but felt good once the initial cold shock had subsided. The site had a wonderfully constructed "boardwalk" that meandered next to the river and allowed easy perusal when moving along the length of the river with local stalls on the other side selling local wares.

As we were outside the rural zone, we were in a location where the locals speak a mayan language named Tzeltal. The locals take the opportunity to sell their products to the foreigners, and there are many cute little children running around selling food products.


Mari was having a great conversation with two little girls that were cousins, asking them about their life, culture and language. Luckily these girls are learning spanish in school and could communicate with us. They were friendly and quite enjoyable, probably loving to speak to us and much as we loved speaking to them. While at the ruins in Palenque Mari tried to strike up a conversation with two little boys playing on an abandoned truck on the side of the road, but the conversation didnt get too far because the boys only spoke the local mayan dialect and not spanish.

Its now morning here in Campeche and we have a wonderful roof top patio at our disposal. I am going to atake this opportunity to catch some morning sun on the roof and read my Spanish Review and Practice book. Take care.

T

16 de Noviembre 2010

Finally! Once again I have found readily available internet for use at my disposal. Mari and I just arrived into the city of Campeche after catching an 8:00 am bus out of Palenque for a 6 hour bus trip through the beautiful and vibrantly green Mexican landscape.


We booked into a beautifully located yet slightly delapidated place named Monkey Hostel, located right downtown near the waterfront in the city of Campeche. We took the morning bus with the Germans Tobi and Claudia and are staying in a dorm room that sleeps four for 100 pesos each per night. Unfortunately, we had to leave the two English/Russian girls behind in Palenque as they are headed to Merida either tonight or tomorrow on the night bus. For those of you who dont know, the night bus is a great way to travel when crossing distances great than 7 or 8 hours. The night bus allows one to avoid spending money on a nights accomodations while simultaneously sweeping you away to a new location, thereby killing two birds with one stone.

We arrived this afternoon with bags full of dirty laundry, in desperate need of a warm shower and craving some cheap good food. Upon arrival we hand washed all the clothes that we werent personally wearing and hung them out to dry in the hot sun, took showers, and headed out for food.

I had chicken tamales. The tamales here are delicious and I never pass up the chance to eat ´em. They came with some delicious red salsa atop, but I also slathered my entire plate with the hot green salsa sitting on the table. My mouth was on fire, but it was absolutely delicious. Mariana ate chicken milanesa with french fries and a salad. She wasnt very impressed. This meal marked our most expensive meal to date, racking up to an all time high of 160 pesos ($13.80). But starving from the long bus ride with no food, we dove into the first spot that looked habitable. We bought a single 12 oz beer that cost us 28 pesos ($2.40), much higher than the typical 15 - 20 pesos we have payed in the past. Guess we can chalk it up to a warm welcome back to the city I suppose.

As we were out in the boondocks the last couple days with limited to no internet services, I will post a back log of our adventures soon.

As I sit in the hostel writing this, my view out the open veranda window is this cathedral lit up spectacularly for the night. Unfortunately I couldnt locate a picture of my exact view, and I still cannot transfer photos from my camera... so this found picture off the net will have to do for now. Its an incredibly warm beautiful night here with this magnificent view.

09 de Noviembre 2010

Well, we passed two nights in Puerto Escondido. We stayed at cheap little hotel set up named Cabañas Edda. It was a quaint little place, and our first room with a pre-installed mosquito net hung above the bed. It cost us a whopping 150 pesos per night ($12.80). The beach was beautiful, the sun was shining, the temperatures were warm, and the beer was cool and refreshing. It was a very safe area and we felt very comfortable in the area. The only downside was our cabaña was right next to the major road in the area. Thus there were loads of truck and bus traffic passing all night long. Luckily Claudia, our German friend, had some extra ear plugs packed away in her bag and they have been utilized by me for the last three nights.

This morning we awoke, quickly packed, and hit the little beachfront strip for breakfast. After, Mari and I caught a local bus headed East to a smaller beach town named Zipolite, roughly a little over an hour away.


Zipolite is quite small, and very beautiful. We have been playing in the ocean all day after our arrival, and I have to question if there is a more picturesque, more peaceful looking paradise than this. The only problem with the beaches here is the monsterous forces at work within the waves. The waves are incredibly powerful, both coming onto the shore and sucking back out. It is quite dangerous to venture far into the water here, and I use the word far in very conservative terms.

At around the thigh and buttocks water level, the forces are impressive and shocking. The wave crashes into you forcing you backwards up towards the beach. Then, as the water retreats the suction pulling back into the ocean is intimidating. Here I have been far more conservative than I was in Puerto Escondido, where for several seconds I was losing the battle. But keeping a level head and using the force of the oncoming waves to quide me back to shore, I returned to the safety and security of the sandy beach. It was pretty scary for a few seconds. Its a good lesson to be learned, and gives me admiration for the powerful erosive force that is the sea.

Our 6-some is still effect here as the two English girls and two Germans joined us later in the day. I am headed for food and beer right now.

Hasta Tarde

T

06 de Noviembre 2010

Although the city of Oaxaca has been fun, we are leaving tonight after staying only 4 nights and 5 days. We are heading south to a town called Puerto Escondido.



We head out at 11 pm on a night bus and arrive in Puerto Escondido tomorrow morning at 7 am. We purchased first class tickets for 270 pesos each ($23).

There are six of us traveling together now heading out of Hostal Pochon and heading south. Two sisters, Anya and Sasha are from England, but are both originally from Russia. When communicating together they speak a mix of english and russian back and forth. There are a traveling pair of Germans, Toby and Claudia, who both just finished their masters degrees and are taking a Mexican respite before continuing with their educations. Then of course, there is Mari and I.

As we are trying to stick to a budget, we are hanging around the hostal today killing time and chatting waiting for a night bus. We went to the markets and bought fruits and veggies to make lunch and dinner. Luckily, our hostal has a communal kitchen area where we can cook. The food here is very cheap, we spent a total of 69 pesos ($5.90) for a light lunch and magnificent dinner. Plus I bought beer basically on a bottle exchange.

Here, when you purchase a liter of beer (as in Uruguay and Argentina as well), you purchase the bottle of beer for 22 pesos, but then you pay an additional 12 pesos for the "bottle rental" that is returned to you once you bring the bottle back to the store. As this is a hostal, and not many people know of this elusive 12 peso bottle exchange, I picked up 5 left over bottles and returned them for 2 new, full bottles of beer paying some rediculous rate of around 7 pesos or so. I lucked out with such a brilliant plan.

One bottle down and one to go. Its 4:15 now. Going to start cooking dinner in an hour or so and tap into that second bottle. Cheers!

T

05 de Noviembre 2010

From my last update Mari and I have switched accomodations. When we initially arrived we stayed in a hotel named Posada Don Mario. This place was three floors with an open inner courtyard containing tables and chairs on the pirmary floor for breakfast and general lounging. We stayed two nights on the top floor in a private room with full bath. It was a nice way to start the trip, and we had to upscale it for a few nights upon our initial arrival because the festival dias de los muertos (Day of the Dead) was still in celebration. We passed two fine days and nights at the Posada Don Mario, but we quickly realized to maintain our budget we needed to downgrade our accomodations a notch or two.

Thus, we are now staying at a place called Hostal Pochon. Its relatively close to Posada Don Mario and has more of a young vibrant feel to it. There are several long term travelers staying here, and we have made several friends during our two day stay. Tonight will be our second nights stay in this hostal. While chatting with the other travelers stationing here, we´ve made sure to comb everyones travel histories for tips, ideas, and routes. While on the other hand, several people are planning roughly the same routes and times of travel as us. Its nice to meet such grand people in a traveling environment. We have banded together to explore distant locales, cultures, cuisines, and languages.

Today, seven of us took a trip just outside Oaxaca to a site called Monte Alban. (Click the link to learn more about it). For 40 pesos each (around $3.40), we bought roundtrip bus tickets to and from the site from downtown Oaxaca. The bus chugged out of downtown, crossed a local river and headed towards a nearby mountain where we began to ascend through quaint hilltop communities. 20 to 30 minutes later we were parked, offloading, and heading to the site. We paid 51 pesos each ($4.40) to enter and were quickly blown away by the spectacular mountain top ruins. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and made all the photos that much more appealing by lending a brilliant blue backdrop to all the degrading stone structures. The site is quite big, containing a massive plaza stretching between the north and south structures. Several structures dabble on the outskirts fo the plaza running along the east and west as well.

I urge you to read a little about Monte Alban from the link supplied above, and google some pictures. It was absolutely breathtaking. I really wish I had the ability to add a few to this thread, but as of now we are still unable to offload photos off the camera.

One major breakthrough today: We purchased a new ipod charger!! That will come in quite useful in the near future.

Now we need to decide exactly what we are going to be doing in the next couple days.

Hasta Tarde!

Flights, Luggage and Theft

Well, Mari and I left at 11:50 pm on November 1st on a 3.5 hour flight headed to Houston Texas. This means we are arriving in Houston at 3:30 am Seattle time, or 5:30 am Houston time. In Houston we had a two hour layover as our next flight departed at 7:30 am (5:30 Seattle time) for a 1.75 hour flight from Houston to Mexico City. We came really close to missing this flight. At the last minute Mari wanted a coffee. We worked our way back through the airport searching for the last seen Starbucks. When we returned to the gate all passengers were already loaded and the doors were closed. They even went so far as to tell us it was too late to board. Yet miraculously, the doors of fate shined upon us and they allowed us to scurry onto the plane with our heads held in shame. We boarded an EMB-145 - a quite small plane. Only 20 rows, with one seat on the right and two on the left. This flight was uneventful in the fact that Mari and I were not sitting together, and my lack of sleep left me nodding in and out over the duration of the flight.

Arriving in Mexico City, we found out that our luggage had not been transferred from our Seattle-Houston Continental flight to the Houston-Mexico City AeroMexico flight. Our bags were lagging behind us a couple hours and we were assured they would be arriving in Oaxaca about 5 hours after our arrival. We spoke to a very fine gentlemen who told us our bags would be delivered to our hotel shortly after their arrival. Without options, we headed off to find our new gate with hopes of grabbing a little shut eye.

Gaining an hour as we headed into Mexico City, we now had a 4 hour layover until our final flight of the trip, Mexico City to Oaxaca, which boarded around 12:40 in the afternoon. Killing hours, nodding in and out, snacking a bit, we finally boarded another EMB-145. After takeoff the view of Mexico City from the air was mesmerizing. There were a string of volcanoes that cut their way through the dense housing areas that from the sky left me in awe, able to look into several of the ancient calderas. And once above the cloud cover we flew through wonderfully bright white and stunning puffy structures jutting up and above the normal cloud layer. This flight was more memorable, not only because of the beautiful views but also because the plane shuffled and jostled around in the sky and left Mariana yearning for a less tumultuous ride. Eventually we landed safe and sound in Oaxaca, willing and ready to start our journey for real.

Exiting the airport we double checked on our bags and were informed we would need to return to the airport for a customs inspection, as our bags were not in tow with us as we arrived in Mexico City for a normal customs inspection. Frustrated, yet accepting of the chaos, we grabbed a taxi and headed to Posada Don Mario - our hotel for the next couple days.

Arriving in the historic district of Oaxaca we found the weather in the upper 80´s, cloud cover a minimum, and the infastructure vibrant and inviting. We situated ourselves and rushed out to see a bit of the sites, knowing that our two days of no sleep would soon be catching up with us. In need of food, we stopped by a little restaurant named La Casa del Tio Guero. For starters - Mari had a blackbean/pepper soup with tortilla chips inside, covered in cheese called Sopa Conde - that was absolutely delicious. I had a vegetable chicken soup that was equally, yet differently delicious. For our plates, Mari had sliced pork with rice and veggies, while I had a poblano chile relleno with chicken placed within an outer breading shell served with rice and veggies. After a quick tour we retired and took a long needed nap.

Around 9 pm we were awoken by the senoritas that run the Posada because our bags had been delivered and were now on premises. We were excited by the fact that we didn't need to return to the airport the next day and happy that they were once again in our possession. But.... this happiness quickly faded when opening my bag I realized it had been pilfered somewhere along the way. The ladrones eventually ended up stealing my steripen water purifier mentioned in an earlier post, as well as all my camera equipment minus the camera (which I had with me on my carry on). This included my battery charger, all the cables for downloading and moving photos, as well as the extra memory card I had purchases before leaving Seattle. Also gone.... a Leatherman multi-tool I borrowed from a friend (Sorry Blake) and my ipod charger.

At this point we were steaming and upset (as usual in situations like this), but overall we understood that ultimately nothing was stolen that could ruin our trip. We still had all our clothes and money and travel books, and we took it as a learning experience. In the future we vow to never leave anything in a checked bag worth losing. The following morning we returned to the Oaxacan airport and tried in vain to file a formal complaint, yet to no avail. Ultimately, no one really cared. So we cut our losses, and spent no further time worrying about it. We have everything we need for the moment and will be replacing those missing items in the near future.

Overall, Oaxaca has been wonderful. The weather is gorgeous, the food is delicious, and the people are open and inviting. There are tons of gringos here, which is both good and bad, yet it makes settling in a very easy thing to do. The problems of our initial arrival have been put behind us and we are moving forward with our adventure. As all cables for the camera have been lost thus far, we have no pictures to accompany this post. But we will be working to cure this pictureless thread in the near future.

Hasta luego. Travis y Mariana

SteriPEN - UV Water Purifier

There are amazing technological advances for the everyday casual international backpacker like Mari and myself. Yesterday, I purchased this SteriPEN adventurer handheld ultraviolet water purifier from REI. This compact uv penlight replaces the older, more bulky pump system water purifiers I remember as a kid backpacking with my father in the North Cascades. This "light saber" will come in handy as we make our way through develping nations with water systems containing less quality control measures than our stomaches are used to (or can handle).
Ultraviolet light is being used in many wastewater and drinking water facilities because it works quite well against microbiological species like bacteria, viruses and protozoa. It doesnt necessarily kill the microbes, instead what it does is disrupts the DNA of the microbes - basically sterilizing them - so they can no longer reproduce. This limit on their exponential growth potential creates a "clean", more drinkable water.

Hopefully this will help fend off potential boutes of diarrhea, dysentary, influenza, cholera, giardia, cryptosporidium and other waterborne illnesses of the same ilk.

Now, I have to open the package, install the batteries and make sure the unit works.

Literature and Guidebooks

In preperation for our trip Mari and I have been hitting the Goodwill in search of travel books. Not that we have been vigilant about making stops to comb through the varied collection they have there, but we have gone a handful of times already and picked up a few great gems that we hope will help along the way.

As our trip starts in the Yucatan Peninsula area of Mexico, we will start there. The Lonely Planet's "La Ruta Maya". A guide to Mayan ruins throughout the Yucatan, Guatamala and Belize. Although this book was published in 1991, I think it will be really useful as it has a wonderfully detailed section explaining the history of the Mayan civilization and culture as well as all the major sites in each of the three areas.




But, just in case, we also have this more up to date version as well. The Lonely Planet's "Belize Guatamala & Yucatan". Maybe this is for the northward traveler, as it looks like they just swapped the order of the locations on the cover.

"Belize Guatamala & Yucatan" was published in 2001. 10 years more recent than La Ruta Maya. I havent looked through this one yet, but I assume it gives alot of the same information from La Ruta Maya. Hopefully between the two we can varify proper information along the way.

Once we hit the Caribbean Coast and kick back a bit in Cancun, the next book will come in handy - Chicki Mallan's Cancun Handbook. Although seriously outdated (1994) this book gives backgrounds, nature explanations, and location insights on the places in and around Cancun. This seems like a great book to get the ball rolling.

After we leave Mexico and head into Belize and Guatamala, we have the two books outlined above as well as our newest purchase - The Lonely Planet's "Central America on a shoestring". After finding many of the Goodwill purchases with copyrights back in the early 90's, we decided to splurge at Barnes and Noble and pick up a more recent travel guide. In many places, this book will be our travel bible. I expect this book will get many miles.

Published in 2007, Central America on a shoestring offers more up to date information researched by "travel experts" in the not too distant past. This will be a good way for us to double check some of the more in depth information covered in the older site specific books.

These books are about half of our collection so far, but seeing as though our trip starts in these areas I figured I would start here as well. I was trying to pre-read the books to cram large amounts of information into my head so I wouldnt have to lug all of them along on the trip. But I quickly learned that each one is a mini encyclopedia of necessary information. I have given up the thought of leaving them behind and now know they will be close companions on this journey.

Deadlines, Tickets and Stuff

Mari and I finally solidified the start of our trip with the purchase of departing airline tickets. Kick off begins November 1st. We fly out of Seattle on an 11.5 hour flight destined for Oaxaca Mexico. It's a red eye flight that departs Seatac just before midnight on the 1st.

After checking prices and flight times, we settled on an affordable two stop flight. The first leg of the flight is on United Airlines from Seatac to Houston's IAH airport. In Houston we change airlines to Aeromexico and head to Mexico city. Changing planes again, we depart Mexico City on the final leg arriving in Oaxaca around 2:30 in the afternoon of November the 2nd. All in all, its a little less than 12 hours, and hopefully we'll be able to get some shuteye during the flight.

If you are not quite sure where Oaxaca is exactly within the Country of Mexico, click here.

With our departure date set, we have officially begun packing the house up. We have a corner full of boxes both full and empty, and as of now, nearly all the walls are artless as they have been wrapped for storage. Which reminds me....

Today also brought the rental of a 7.5' x 10' storage space -which works out to be roughly 75 square feet. Hopefully, this storage space will safely and adequately store all the goods from our apartment nice and snug until we arrive home. Its hard to judge an empty room on the merits of one simple question - can one stick their entire apartment into this empty box if they had to? I guess we will find out.

Roughly 6 weeks left before we head out into the great unknown.