Quax is back!!!

Wow!  It has been so long since I posted anything.  It is not due to lack of travel.   I have had quite a few health issues in the last few years, and a lot of changes in my life. Both of which have kept me pretty busy and a little preoccupied with other things.  So I have just finished posting my trip from 2008.  I do not know how to order it back so it is filed under 2015.



 In 2008 I traveled around Mexico including a visit to the university in Cuernavaca, where I took my DELE exams in Spanish. It was a wonderful trip, but in 2009, before I could publish anything, I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a major operation on my lower spine to remove a tumor, I went through a tough chemo therapy, and then recovered.  The doctors told me thqt I was to 99% healed. I then in 2010, returned to Peru with my youngest daughter and had a wonderful trip revisiting the sites I had seen before, but also some new ones.  While waiting for my daughter, I met the love of my life.  She visited me in Germany in the fall of 2011.  Since then I have been back to Peru twice. Once to pick up my wife to be, and this winter, to visit family.  In February of 2012 the cancer returned,  My soon to be wife was 8 months pregnant, and I was worried to death that my son to be born, would grow up without a father like I did. My son was born, and I went to hospital for high doses chemo and  stem cell therapy.  I recovered and after a visit to the states in 2013, I went into the hospital to have a lymphoma removed, instead of just the biopsy the doctors wanted to do.  It turned out to be a rare becher cell carcinoma growing through my appendix.  The treatment was to re-operate and remove half of my large intestine and everything around the tumor. Again I have recovered and am doing well.  I just finished splitting 30 cubic meters of firewood,  and I think a lot of youngsters would have trouble keeping up.  I have always been physically fit (sub 2:30 marathons) and to anyone who has similar problems I can only suggest “keep on training” it helps a lot.

As you can see I had a few things on my mind other than  blogging.  My now 3 year old son also keeps me busy.  He is amazing, and is growing up speaking 3 languages. God has always blessed me and watched over me, and I pray that he will give me a lot of time with my son.  I have soo much to tell him and show him.

I hope to find time to post blogs over my previous travels soon.  I write diaries when I travels, so it is a matter of finding the time to review them and transfer them to my blog.  I doubt I will post them in Spanish or German,  as it is very time consuming to translate everything.  But who knows. 

PS: my nickname among pilots is Quax (Germans will know why).   I don’t fly anymore and have sold my airplane, but once a pilot always a pilot.

School is out - Mexcio 2008

On the Road Again - Mexico 2008

Mexico Sur II 2008 (23 Nov.)

So school is out for the summer. After the exams, I picked up my bags and caught a bus to D.F. A short visit with Victor, and a trip to the Tepito market with Victor.

This is not recommended for tourists. As Victor said (somewhat like a mafia thug) I am only safe because I am with him. The market is huge, and there is nothing that you cannot buy there. But, as I was going to be on the road again, I did not buy anything. Late afternoon, it was off to the airport to catch a flight to Chetumal.

 

I landed late at night, so caught a taxi to my hostel. I got in the cab and the driver was listening to Tracy Chapman, and I commented it wasn’t the type of music I would have expected. We got into a conversation about our favorite music etc. When he asked me where I wanted to go, I started to look for the address, and told him it was a hostel, and he replied: don’t worry there is only one. ‘So I stopped looking for my note, and enjoyed the ride. As, I arrived late, I just went up to bed. I had a little confrontation with mosquitos that night, so I decided to close the window and suffer through the heat.

The hostel was very basic, but clean the shower water was warm but not hot, which did not matter as it was already hot at 7 am. I enjoyed breakfast and wandered into town to the bus station. I decided I could look around more at night. Chetumal really doesn’t have much to offer. It used to be a tax free zone one the border, so a lot of Mexicans would go there to buy appliances, etc. I had read about it, and decided to catch a bus to Tulum, so by 9 I was on a chicken bus to Tulum.

Tulum is really impressive. Not so much for the ruins, which resemble many other Mayan sites, but more for the setting. Located directly above the very blue water of the caribic. Just beautiful. I wondered around the site, taking in the ruins, animals, and atmosphere. The tide was in so you could not go down to the beach for a swim. It was late afternoon, and a 3 hour trip back to Chetumal, so I headed back to the town of Tulum and grabbed a snack before catching the bus back to Chetumal. Once arriving at the hostel, I showered and changed clothes and then walked down town for a look.

Chetumal (25 Nov).

The flora is such a change from Cuernavaca and Oaxaca, where it is dry and the flora consists mainly of cactus type plants. Here it is tropical, with colorful birds, and plants everywhere. So, I have been enjoying just looking at everything. I really like my choice of Chetumal for a base. There is very little tourism, so it is a more normal kind of town. Although, I had an appointment the next day to meet friends from Germany who were travelling trough. Quite a coincidence. I ate at a little restaurant, strolled around town, had a couple of beers, and headed back to the hostel. There I met a French man on his way to Guatemala. I talked with him a little and went to bed.

The following morning I decided to visit a cenote I had read about at Xul-Ha, and then visit the old Spanish fort at Bacalar. So after breakfast I strolled to the bus station to check out the transportation, and caught a local bus heading towards Bacalar. The driver stopped at the entrance to Xul-Ha and pointed me towards the cenote. As it turned out there is a camp and restaurant right at the cenote. So I took a table next to the water and ordered a coffee, while looking at the menu. The place was really nice, and the waiter told me I should try the typical Mexican breakfast.

So, I had a second breakfast and just enjoyed the beautiful view. After breakfast the waiter asked me why I didn’t take a swim. So I jumped into the water right next to my table. The water was wonderful and clear, so between a couple of early beers, I had several dips in the cenote, and enjoyed the surroundings. Early afternoon I decided to continue on to

Bacalar.

Bacalar is not spectacular, but nice there are some ruins of an old Spanish fortress, and the whole area is along the long lake of Bacalar, with its mangroves and tropical flora. There seem to be a lot of weekend housing along the lake, with very nice houses.

While looking at the ruins, I spotted a horse and buggy parked along the street. As I got closer, I noticed that there was a Mennonite sitting in the buggy, with his straw hat and black conservative clothes. I started a conversation with him, asking if he spoke German,

and he did although a funny dialect. But, I noticed that he was not comfortable talking to me so I moved on. After a short visit to the town (not much there). I caught the bus back to Chetumal.

After returning to the hostel, I changed showered, changed closes, and started to town to look for my friends. They were not at the hotel, so I strolled downtown, and after about 2 blocks someone was taping my shoulder. We had dinner together, and talked and walked around a bit. They were on a tour to all the archeological Mayan sites., and leaving early the next Morning for Tikal in Guatemala.

Back to San Cristóbol (26 Nov.)

In the morning I packed and caught a bus back to San Cristóbol. The first trip went so fast that I had an urge to revisit San Cristóbol and especially Oaxaca. It was a long 10 hour bus trip, so I just laid back and enjoyed the view while

sleeping along the way. I did not plan to stay long in San Cristóbol, I was more interested, in revisiting Oaxaca. I arrived at the same hostel, and the proprietor gave me a big hug and seemed so happy to see me again. These are the moments that make backpacking special. I stowed my bags, and started exploring the few parts of town I had not seen. I had a nice relaxing late afternoon.

San Cristóbol relived (27 Nov.)

I awoke early and went to the Casa Na Blom (House of the Jaguar) museum, a little outside the city’s center. The structure was built as part of a seminary in 1891.It later became the home of Franz & Gertrude Blom. He was an explorer and archeologist and Gertrude was a journalist and photographer. The couple spent over fifty years in Chiapas collecting tools, crafts, archeological pieces and clothing, especially related to the Lacandon Jungle and indigenous people. The museum is dedicated to this collection and has a huge library and photo. It is very interesting and gives some insight into the atrocities the Lacadon Indians were put through. I also visited the 2 high ends of the town with their

chapels and parks. Very pretty, and great views. Just like from my room where I observed a wonderful sunset the night before.

I got on my bus to Tuxla where I changed to a night bus to Puerto Angel on the pacific coast, in the state of Oaxaca. I arrived early morning, found a hotel in the center of town, and crashed.

Crucecita - Huatulco (28-29.Nov.)

After checking out the town, I by chance found a tour to a coffee plantation and waterfalls the next day. It was an interesting tour, more for the conversations with our guide than for the plantation. But the waterfalls in the middle of an Indian reservation, were fantastic. The reservation assigned us a life guard, and we swam all afternoon. 

That night I discovered a Raggy pizza bar with open wall to the plaza. This was definitely a favorite place to “chill” with its old couches and good pizza and beer. The place really started hopping around 9:00 pm. I stumbled back to my hotel, and got up early to get a good breakfast before my next tour started.

 

 

  

The mangroves and beaches (30 Nov.)

Crucecita has two parts. The new modern resort hotel area, and the old part of town. Most of the tourism is Mexican tourism with families taking a vacation. While taking with the guide yesterday, he told me he was taking a tour the next day with a Mexican family, and asked if I would like to come along. Of course I signed up immediately, and what a good choice that was. 

We started out by picking up the Mexican family at their hotel.

It was a couple with 2 girls on a short vacation from D.F. One girl was 11 or 12 and the other 7 or 8. A really nice family. We then headed to the Parque National de Huatulco, where we were assigned a boat and guide. We then started a 2 hour tour through the mangroves with a stop at a small kiosk/zoo for a snack. The tour was very interesting. In entire tour was aimed at ecological protection, etc. We then stopped at a large turtle reserve where we visited the facilities to pep up turtles for release. Not as interesting as the mangroves, but still good. In the afternoon we visited a beach near Crucecita, and swam most of the afternoon before returning to the town. It was a wonderful day. And a stop at my favorite raggy bar topped it off.

The beach (1 Dec.)

My bus back to Oaxaca wasn’t until early afternoon, so I went for a run in the morning. I was running along roads and trails towards the coast, when I followed a trail down the hill, and ended up on a secluded and deserted beach, a little and beautiful cove. I took off my shirt and shoes and jumped into the water. I spent most of the morning there alone. Around noon, a guy showed up and started practicing martial arts. It seemed a little weird, and I needed to get back to catch my bus, so I left. But what a surprise to discover this beautiful

and isolated cove. 

The bus trip back to Oaxaca was non eventful, and Siu (the proprietor) was happy to see me back again.

 

Oaxaca revisisted (2.Dec.)

Time is running out, and I wish I had 6 months instead of 6 weeks. I awoke and was having

breakfast when I was approached by the proprietor. He asked me if I could show a young Taiwanese woman where the busses left to Tule from. I said of course and started talking with the woman. As it turned out, she spoke Spanish and very little English. So we started conversing in Spanish. She had been working on a visa for 2 years, in Mexico D.F. Her visa was running out and she was on a say goodbye trip. She told me where she wanted to go, and I asked if she would like to accompany me, as I was going in the same direction. I warned her that I would be jumping on collectives and chicken buses, when she replied: good! I don’t have a lot of money. It turned out to be one of the nicest excursions on my trip.

We grabbed a chicken bus to Tule, to see the tree and then on to Tiacolula. The town was much quieter without the festivities, and there were no vendors in the street. We visited the church and headed over to the market, when a woman vendor started waving at me and calling me: “Senior Brown, Senior Brown”. It was the woman I had had the conversation with a few weeks before. She had remembered my name!

Lisa (the Taiwanese girl) was really surprised. We started talking and buying our lunch trying a little bit of everything, including chipolines (fried grashoppers). We walked through the

Mercado, and then headed back to the town entrance to get a collectivo to Yagul. We visited Yagul climbed to the top of the plateau and had lunch, and then got another collectivo to Mitla. Mitla is a pretty little town with shops and some of the most important ruins of the Zapotecan culture. After visiting Mitla, we tried to catch a bus over the mountain to the petrified waterfall “Hierve el agua”. It was a little lake and no more buses were leaving. Lisa and I were both disappointed, and about to catch a bus back to Oaxaca, when I thought I

would ask a taxi/collectivo what it would cost. For just a few dollars, he droves us there, waited for us, and drove us back. He did not take the normal road, but drove us over a bumpy, windy road right over the top of the mountain. What a great trip, and we had the waterfall to ourselves. They are truly impressive. Thousands of years of mineral water cascading over a cliff have caused a formation of mineral deposits that are spectacular!

After returning back to Mitla, we caught a bus back to Oaxaca. Lisa was running short of time as she had booked a bus to the coast in the early evening. The hostel had organized a little excursion to a nearby restaurant to try a local dish, Oaxacan pizza “Tlayuda”. Lisa ran to pack her bags, and I headed off with the group. I was a little disappointed, because we didn’t even have time to say goodbye.

We had just finished ordering at the restaurant when Lisa walked in, gave me a hug, and said she had rebooked for the next bus because she couldn’t leave without saying goodbye. We had a nice evening and Lisa left on the 10:00 pm bus.

Back to D.F. (3 Dec.)

The next morning I packed my bags and went to the market with Liu to buy things for several recipes I wanted to cook when I got back home. I then caught the 12:45 am bus to D.F. and spent the rest of the day (6.30 hours) in a bus to Mexico City D.F. After arriving back, I took the metro to the center and my hostel and then walked around to get some dinner.

Last 3 days (4-6 Dec.)

The next day I spent exploring the city and revisiting a lot of places I had rushed through before. On the 5^th I spent the ^th I just strolled around sucking up the atmosphere of the city, knowing that I would not be back for a while. I was Saturday and I while passing through a park, a band started to play, and there were lots of people of all ages dancing. Below the Zocolo in the metro station there was also a band playing. The city was really jumping. I took a little trip to Tipito alone, which might have been stupid, but I survived. I had a really nice last day in Mexico.

whole day with Victor and most of the night. So on the 6

I took a taxi to the airport, and even had a good time at the bar before my airplane left. Mexico is exciting, it is interesting, it is wonderful!