Viva Mèxico!
I have to admit, the blog posts on this trip will most likely be few and far between (not that I was all that good at keeping up last time...). Actually having Karel with me this time around just makes the idea of spending time in an internet cafè all the less palatable.At any rate, I'll try.
So, Mexico...
There must be some sort of celestial significance in the fact that Karel and I have thus far embarked on 2 international adventures together, and both started with us trudging wearily through darkness without a place to stay, then subsequently meeting a complete stranger who offered us their home for the night. This time we accepted. Enter Autumn and George, an ageless couple from Durango, Colorado, who have enough stories between the two of them to keep the gang rallied around the campfire for weeks, if not months. Actually, probably even years. They took these two vagabonds under their wings as easily as if we were their own children and made San Carlos, Mexico, full of happy memories instead of bitter ones.
Why bitter? Well, upon arrival at the much-hyped (for me, as Karel had already embarked upon it a few years ago) Duke of Slesvig, we found that, while the boat was supposed to be all set to be put in the water and go, much remained to be done... No rigging, no sails, a chunk of the wood deck that extended past the sides broken off, wood work not done, tape up for painting the deck (for months, by the looks of it), but nothing painted, etc., etc. The, again, much hyped Mexican drinking buddy of Karel's uncle, el que le llama el "Brother" (the one they call "Brother"... Really, that was the name we knew him by) had done seemingly nothing during the past 4 years he'd been paid. Lesson learned: a good drinking buddy does not always a good worker make.
So, the sailing trip I had so eagerly awaited fell by the wayside. Still, we met amazing people and had great times, thanks to George & Autumn, Jim, our neighbor in the dry yard, and Corey & Lisa, a couple George and Autumn introduced us to who brought us out on their sailboat. At least I've sailed a bit, anyway, in Mexico.
After about a week in San Carlos, it became clear that the long-awaited sail was not meant to be. So we set out, instead, by bus.
Since then it's been fire dancers (my other true love) and grubby digs in Mazatlan, boat rides down a river in a mangrove jungle with Robert the sage and Jack the former Barcelonian clown and current drunk in San Blas, reliving España in Morelia, finding thrill in the white buildings and serpentine cobbled streets (and heartbreak in the pinche Superbowl) in Taxco, a terraced city clinging to the side of a mountain, followed by frustration and disappointment in Puebla, and, now, further frustration but a thrill at least in the mountain-town beauty and charm of Oaxaca.
Ah, travel, with your highest highs and your lowest lows, how I've missed you. It's also nice to know that the thrill is in no way gone -- in fact, it's enhanced -- when embarking on a journey with someone else. I've certainly been embroiled in lots more adventure than I'd have dared to pursue if I had been solo. And hopefully it continues. Aventura aventura!!
At some point I will fill in the gaps of the above paragraph, but for now I just want to update everyone with our progress so far. From here we go to San Cristòbal de las Casas in Chiapas (a town with good coffee!! No Nescafe! Hurrah!), to Palenque and then into Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Bahamas. No sleep til Brooklyn, for sure.
Labels: Karel, Mazatlan, Mexico, Morelia, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Blas, San Carlos, Taxco, travel, travels 2008
posted by La Rizz @ 5:49 PM
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