Epic Journey Recap

When I returned to the US after my Epic Journey through Latin America, many people asked me, "What was your favorite place?" The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that it would be impossible to pick one -- or even three -- "favorite place(s)" given that the locations that I visited and the experiences that I had were so utterly diverse. Yet in the spirit of providing some sort of organized, reflective synthesis after having completed the journey I wanted to list some of the top places/experiences that I encountered during my three months of travels. I have decided to break things down into categories, and the list goes as follows:


Top 3 Pre-Columbian Ruins
1. Tikal, Guatemala
2. Teotihuacan, Mexico
3. Huaca de la Luna, Peru

Top 3 Beaches
T-1. Parque Nacional Tayrona, Colombia
T-1. San Blas Islands, Panama
2. Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
3. Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

Top 3 Colonial Cities
1. Cartagena, Colombia
2. Queretaro, Mexico
3. Suchitoto, El Salvador

Top 3 Street Food Items
1. Arepas, Colombia
2. Gorditas, Mexico
3. Empanada de verde, Ecuador

Top 3 Volcanoes
1. Volcán Pacaya, Guatemala
2. Volcán Concepción and Volcán Madera (Isla de Ometepe), Nicaragua
3. Volcán Arenal, Costa Rica

Top 3 Natural Wonders
1. Lago Atitlán, Guatemala
2. Cañon del Sumidero, Mexico
3. Semuc Chapey, Guatemala


The lists could go on and on, but perhaps it's better to just leave off here. When I first started my trip I wrote in my journal that the goal(s) of the journey was/were simple: have a great adventure that would serve as a transition between my work in Chile and my future studies at Harvard, and be sure to arrive (alive) to Mexico City by August 5th without having taken an airplane up to that point. Despite encountering a few challenges along the way, the trip was wildly successful in terms of accomplishing these goals. I am actually getting excited about the thought of law school, which is something that could not be said 3 months ago.

Furthermore, while all of the aforementioned places were breathtaking and for as happy as I am that my conceived goals for the trip were accomplished, I think that the aspect of the trip that I will remember most fondly is rooted in people who I met along the way. New friendships were created and old friendships were strengthened, fueled by the power of shared experience. Additionally, an innumerable number of sporadic interactions with locals and other travelers ensured that the human element of my trip not be lost amidst jungle-covered ruins and endless stretches of open road.

After returning from my first crazy journey through Europe more than 3 years ago, I noted that I hoped it would be the first in a series of "crazy travels and far-off journeys." This most recent trip was certainly those things and I am glad to have continued the tradition. My future travels may be slightly less epic in terms of duration and scope, but I do expect that many more adventures await me in the future.

Colonial Escapades in Central Mexico

In central Mexico I met with my friend Monica, who is originally from Querétaro and who still has loads of family who lives in the area...which naturally means that much of our time was spent engaged in activities inspired by the relentless hospitality that is so fundamental to Latin American culture (just as everywhere else, this included a copious amount of home-cooked food, along with the special Mexican touch of copious amounts of tequila). Sadly, I don't have any of the "family time" photos, but I do have many pictures of the excursions that Monica and I took to nearby colonial centers. There were three different colonial centers that we visited: Querétaro itself, Guanajuato, and San Miguel de Allende -- all three of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Cathedral of Querétaro

Colonial splendor of historic Querétaro.

Indigenous monument and cathedral in Querétaro.

Evening time lights on a church in Querétaro.

Cathedral in Guanajuato.

Monica and a colonial plaza in Guanajuato.

Theatre in Guanajuato, topped with statues to the Muses.

Monica and I were seriously craving horchata in a bag, and we found a delicious batch of it at this viewpoint above Guanajuato.

View from the central plaza of San Miguel de Allende.

Me and the (unusual) Gothic church in San Miguel.

Colonial alleyway and church in San Miguel.

San Cristóbal y sus alredadores

Seat of the municipal government in San Cristóbal de las Casas.

Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán.

Colonial colonnade in the main plaza.

The cathedral in San Cristóbal.

Mudéjar fountain in the central plaza of Chiapa de Corzo.

Colonial church in Chiapa de Corzo.

Cañon del Sumidero. Think of the Grand Canyon, except in the tropics. Lush vegetation, herons & egrets, howler monkeys, and even crocodiles!...all crammed within 1km sheer cliff faces. Definitely should be considered on the Natural Wonders of the World.

Wow.

"Christmas Tree" waterfall along the side of the canyon.

Christmas Tree waterfall from below.

Crocodile!

One last shot of the canyon.

Church in San Juan Chamula, 20 minutes outside of San Cristóbal. 'Chamula' is a semi-autonomous indigenous community in which a syncretistic blend of Mayan and (seemingly) Catholic traditions play a central function in the politico-social operations of the community.

Cemetary in San Juan Chamula.

"Telar de cinturón" traditional weaving method in Zinacantán, a different indigenous community outside of San Cristóbal.

Home-made "black" tortillas in Zinacantán.

Waterfalls in Chiapas

Slightly outside of Palenque in eastern Chiapas, along the road towards San Cristóbal de las Casas, I stopped off at several of the natural wonders that seem to be surprisingly numerous in this southern Mexican State. The first stop was the waterfall of Misol-Ha, and the second was a system of limestone pools/waterfalls called Agua Azul, which I found to be strikingly reminiscent of Semuc Champey in Guatemala. Here are the photos:

Misol-Ha waterfall.

Misol-Ha from the side.

Misol-Ha from underneath/behind the falls.

The waterfall and myself!

A characteristic shot of Agua Azul.

Agua Azul as viewed from one of the upper waterfalls.

Agua Azul and the surrounding jungle.

Lovely waterfall.

Palenque

The unique and characteristic tower in the central palace complex.

The palace as seen from the top of the Temple of the Sun, providing a great view of the jungle surroundings.

A different view from the Temple of the Sun, again capturing the dense jungle which surrounds and permeates the site at Palenque.

Palace, once again.

A restored stucco panel.

More stucco paneling.

Temple of the Inscriptions, which contain(ed) the tomb of Pakal the Great, the most renowned ruler of Palenque (603-883 C.E.).

Jungle overgrowth on a residential complex...notice how small the door is (the Mayans were/are short!).

Interior of the palace complex.

Tulum Ruins

The Tulum ruins, on the eastern coast of the Yucatan, are not particularly impressive in terms of their archaeological components. An authoritative book that I picked up describes the principle temple as a "miserable structure" and refers to the other buildings as "dwarfish structures" characterized by "strikingly slipshod workmanship." After having seen Tikal and Chichén Itzá, I would have to concur with his analysis.

Nevertheless, Tulum is one of the most amazing Mayan sites that I have seen, not because of the ruins themselves, but rather due to their breathtaking location. Perched atop a sheer cliff-face overlooking the idyllic turquoise shores of the Caribbean, even these "miserable structures" take on the appearance of a magically beautiful lost paradise. As one particularly apt comment that I read states: any Mayan laborer during the late Post-Classic period must have been begging his superiors to get transferred to Tulum.

Chichén Itzá

Apart from lounging around the beach, Jessica and I decided to make a trip over to see the nearby Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá. Upon arrival, we realized that Chichén Itzá was voted one of the ''New Seven Wonders,'' which was a neat surprise, though I suspect that it also had something to do with the enormous number of tourists and vendors clogging up the archeological site. Of course Jessica and I were smart tourists, so we got to the site right as it opened and we had the whole place nearly all to ourselves for the first 2 hours.

Chichén Itzá was the second major Mayan ruin that I visited on this trip, and it was interesting to have Tikal as a point of reference during our time wandering around Chichén. The site as a whole is smaller than Tikal, but it is also a much later (ie, more modern) city, which I think contributes to the fact that many of its stucco relieves and rock carvings were found in a much better state than those of Tikal. I think that I prefer Tikal, but going to visit Chichén Itzá was undoubedtly an extremely valuable experience in terms of my growing information base about ancient Mayan history and culture.

I'll let the pictures do the rest!!

The Toltec-Maya Palace.

Toltec-inspired columns, which seem to me to be rather unusual in the Mayan world.

Our favorite part of the site, quizzically called ''The Nunnery.''

A close up of what has been named by scholars as the ''Flower Mountain'' motiff. It was originally thought to be the face of some sort of deity, which at least seems plausible given the apparent features. Jessica and I are still rather confused as to precisely how it was determined that this was in fact a representation of a mythical and idyllic land, e.g., the Flower Mountain.

A different representation of the Flower Mountain.

The ball court, the largest in Mesoamerica.

Reptiles, ancient and modern.

The ''Caracol,'' probably the most unique structure in Chichén Itzá. It was apparently used as an ancient observatory...striking how much it resembles modern observatories, isn't it?

Detour in the Yucatan

From its inception my trip has had very few definite plans, yet I can say that I had vaguely decided to skip the Yucatan in favor of spending more time in Guatemala and Chiapas. Nevertheless, when I heard from my college friend Jessica that she would be volunteering at a biosphere reserve outside of Tulum, I changed my previously vauge plans in order to meet up with her and bop around the peninsula for a few days. It was a very wise decision, as I had an absolute blast. This is a sure testiment to the value of not over-planning the trip and leaving room for some flexibility.

Jessica has the awesome job of being a tortugera (the word just doesn't have a good translation in English, but in this context it would be something like ''turtle caretaker'') in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on the east coast of the Yucatan, volunteering for a non-profit called CESiaK. I had the good fortune of being a guest in their amazing facilities for three nights, accompanying Jessica on her nightly beach patrol to find and catelogue sea turtles as they lay their eggs, or as the eggs hatch and the turtugitas scramble towards to the warm Caribbean waters. Their tiny little stretch of beach, not more than 10 kilometros in length, has already recorded over 300 turtle nests this season!!! Not only did I get to lounge around on an idyllic tropical beach, but I also got to witness the amazing sight of 150-year-old turtles laboring through the process of digging a huge hole, laying a vast quantity of eggs, and covering up the hole before returning to the open ocean. Very cool.

Part of what made the CESiaK location so wonderful is that it combines the pristine Caribbean coastline for which the Yucatan has become so famous with the tranquility that comes with being part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. What does this actually mean? Imagine the endless stretches of white-sand beaches at Cancun, except instead of drunken frat boys and monstruous high-rise resorts, the beach is populated by nothing more than iguanas, palm trees, and yourself. Paradise? If it's not, then it sure as hell is pretty close.

View of the beach and the tent/cabanas.

Looks like it should be in a Corona commercial.

I stayed in one of these eco-friendly tent/cabanas, which are nice, but get VERY hot during the daytime.

Some of the wildlife.

One last shot of the beach!

Tikal

Temple I and the Grand Plaza

Tikal was epic.

It was the first major Mayan ruin that I had visited on my trip, and this was indeed one of the parts of my journey that I was most looking forward to. Tikal did not disappoint...to the contrary, it far surpassed even my most wild expectations.

Just a few notes about Tikal, and then I will let the photos do the rest. First, one of the aspects about Tikal that makes it so worthwhile is that it is located in the middle of thick, tropical jungle. In order to arrive to the park you have to drive for about an hour from the nearest town, and then you have along a jungle path for another 20 mintues to actually reach the archeological site. In the surrounding area and even within the ruins themselves is a huge variety of jungle wildlife, including a vast number of bird species and at least two species of monkeys. It was pretty spectacular to see a spider monkey climbing over 1,200 year-old Mayan ruins.

The highlight of my time in Tikal was during the evening on the first day of my two-day visit. The park officially closes at 6pm, but I managed to scramble up into a palace complex to the south of the main plaza, and as the time ticked by not a single guard came to kick me out. So I decided to take advantage of this opportunity to just chill out and enjoy the sunset in the completely empty site. These places are usually overrun by tourists bused in from all over the country, and therefore to have the ENTIRE site to myself, during a gorgeous tropical sunset nonetheless, was truly a unique experience. I finally left the park at 7:30, and was the very last person to exit. It was something that I will surely never forget.

Me in front of Temple I...my favorite structure in the site.

View of Temple I rising up out of the jungle around it.

The top of Temple III as seen through a hole in the jungle canopy.

View from the top of Temple IV, the tallest structure in Pre-Colombian Mesoameria. From left to right: Temple I, Temple II, and Temple III.

Wildlife!

A partially excavated temple, which clearly demonstrates the tremendous difference that the excavation work makes.

Temple V

Semuc Champey

I left Xela and the Guatemalan highlands behind, arriving to the jungle-covered interior province of Alta Verapaz. While in this area I took a day trip over to see a few really phenomenal natural structures: Semuc Champey and the Caves of Lanquín. It was absolutely amazing.

Semuc Champey is a large limestone ''bridge'' that covers a part of Cahabón River, upon which a vast number of shallow pools have formed. The crystaline waters range in color from emerald green to a blue-ish turquoise, and everything in between. We went swimming around in the differnet pools, and then climbed down a rope ladder in the middle of a waterfall to catch a glimpse of an impressive cavern where the Cahabón River finally leaves its subterranean route and begins to flow above ground (sadly, given that we were swimming around and climbing through waterfalls, I couldn't bring my camera and don't have photos of the cavern).

The Caves of Lanquín were nearly as impressive, though my new budget camera was not exactly ideal for the low-light conditions, and hence I don't have any good photos. Only 10 km of the caves have actually been explored, and no one knows exactly how far back into the earth the caves extend. It was the first time in my life that I have gone tromping about in a proper cave system, and happily I did not get claustrphobic at all!

Below are some of my photos from Semuc Champey...hope that you enjoy!

There was a trail leading up to a viewpoint, from where this picture was taken.

Another view from up above.

Volcán Pacaya Photos!

Previously I mentioned that I would post some photos of Volcán Pacaya, outside of Antigua. Here are just a few of them, courtesy of my hiking friend Amy.

Forest, Amy and myself.

Zunil

While staying in Xela, I took a quick day trip to the nearby village of Zunil. Zunil is an extremely small town almost exclusively populated by Quiché Maya, and it rests in a small valley amid towering mountains and a perfect cone volcano. Life in the town is dominated by agriculture, the principle crop being maiz ( corn), which indeed seems to be the primary activity of most Maya living in Guatemala. My time in Zunil was so enjoyable in part because I was the only tourist walking around the tiny cobbled streets, and I think that it felt like the most ''genuine'' exprience that I have had in this country.

Probably the most emblematic photo that can be taken of Guatemala.

Some local Mayan women and the church.

Farmlands in the foreground, volcano in the background.

Old Mayan man farming his land with the town of Zunil in the background.

One of the main reasons why I chose to go to Zunil is that I heard that the local community reveres an idol of San Simón (or Maximón, as he is commonely referred to in Santiago Atitlán), and I wanted to get second glimpse of the ceremonies conducted in his honor...this time, with a camera!

At this point, I have to admit that I felt a bit strange sitting in this room and watching the ceremonies, just as I did when I was in Santiago Atitlán. Actually, I felt even more weird this time since I did have a camera to take photos. Both in Zunil and in Santiago Atitlán I have been sure to talk with the local people and ask them if it was OK that I be there, stressing that I wanted to be as respectful as possible and in no way meant to offend them or their traditions. But in both of these cases the people told me that it was perfectly alright, and I would even go so far as to say that they were in fact quite welcoming. Given the rather extreme poverty that their communities tend to live under, I imagine that even small donations from tourists can be an important source of additional income.

The ceremonies performed for San Simón were more or less similar to the ones that I saw in Santiago Atitlán, in that the basic structure was that local villagers would approach the idol with offerings (including cigarettes and rum) and ask for favors. There were a few differences as well, the most notable one being the idol of San Simón himself, who was much younger and more stylish here in Zunil than in Santiago (I mean, he had on a red bandana, a cowboy hat, and some seriously dark sunglasses!).

San Simón in all his glory.

Devotees during the ceremony.

Some elderly Mayan women performing a ceremony.

San Simón recieving an offering of rum.

It was a very enriching experience, and I was very glad to continue to have contact with and learn about the existant Mayan culture in the Guatmalan highlands. Definitely a very good morning outing!

Quetzaltenango (Xela)

I bought my new camera while in Quetzaltenango (another town with a wonderfully fun name...though really it is commonly refered to by a shortened version of its Quiché Mayan name, that is, Xela), and hence my first photos are of that city. Below are just a few of them.

I really enjoyed Xela. It is a beautiful city located in the remote western highlands, and while there were certainly some tourists roaming around the streets, it has nothing of the ''Gringolandia'' feel of Antigua. I found it interesting that the city contained so many neo-classical structures, as I have very rarely seen this sort of monumental style anywhere in Central America, and I was certainly not expecting to see it out here in the predominantely indigenous highlands region. I am very glad that I finally had a camera!!

Monument and ne0-classical administration building

The theatre

Another monument and the administration building

View from my hotel room, with cloud-covered mountains looming above the city.

New Camera!

After successfully ignoring the depressing fact that I didn't have a camera for about a week, and then spending the following week completely annoyed that I couldn't capture all of the beautiful scenery and amazing experiences that kept coming up, and then agonizing over whether or not to buy a camera, and the agonizing far more over exactly which camera to buy...I finally managed to work up the fortitude and BUY A NEW CAMERA yesterday!

Sadly, I cannot figure out how to download the photos (at least not on this particularly computer in this specific internet cafe), so we are all going to have to wait a bit longer to see the photos that I have exuberantly been snapping off ever since making my new purchase. But I did have to share the good news!

For anyone who is interested, my new camera is standard cheapy: a Samsung ES10. It's clunky, uses AA bateries, and has virtually no features that would be important to me...though I have yet to test out its heralded ''Beauty Shot'' function, which could obviously be the real selling point. Now we wait and see if the thing lasts for the remaining 3 weeks of my trip.

Whoa, I only have 3 weeks left of my trip...

Chichicastenango

In addition to having an extremely awesome name, the town of Chichicastenango (Chichi, for short) is well renowned for having the largest Mayan market in Guatemala. The market is held every Thursday and Sunday, and since I had been told that the Sunday market is even better than the Thursday one, I organized my travels so that I would be able to arrive to this small town in the Western Highlands on a Sunday.

I have seen a lot of amazing markets (Fez, Morocco; La Vega, Santiago de Chile; The Witches Market, La Paz, Bolivia -- just to name a few), and I can safely say that the market in Chichi could very well be one of the most impressive. There are sections of it that are quite touristy, though the overwhelming display of vibrant colors in traditional Mayan textiles commaned my attention much more than the English/Hebrew speaking tourists gawking at them. Regardless, the true heart of the market is buried deep within the maze of stalls and tables, hidden amist a mass of shucked corn husks and muddy puddles (it is, after all, the rainy season). It is here that families of Quiché Maya from the surrounded villages come to buy, sell, and trade all sorts of goods relevant to their daily lives...not to mention that this is best place to sit down at a plastic table and each a deliciously thrifty lunch dished up by one of the large Quiché women standing over a collection of enormous pots and pans. Yum!

I bought a pair of tejidos (textiles) from two different families, meeting face to face the remarkably talented women who wove them by hand. The two pieces combined only cost me about $20...a deal that I simply could not pass up, even though now I have to carry these things with me all the way to Mexico City. I also ate the best street food that I have had since Cartagena...double yum!

All in all, it was yet another a great day.