A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques

This was no comic strip, this was real life, this was Mexico City. The plane swooped out of the sky as dawn broke over the metropolis below. What was I doing here? The city with the reputation for robberies, kidnap and murder. Worse still, pollution, dirt and noise.

Everybody told me to spend 2 days maximum here and get the hell out of the place.... In their rush had they forgotten to look at the surroundings? This is a city of amazing cultural and architectural wonders.

The Spanish destroyed the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan and created in it's place a colonial gem in North America. A city to rival any in Europe. Yes some may disagree with this, the city is a sprawling mass, but the historic centre I found was really special. There was a large police presence on the streets. On the way from the airport I saw a unit of police men, with machine guns, wearing balaclavas and dark glasses to protect their identities. It was not unusual to see convoys of heavily arm police racing through the streets.

I pinched myself, where was I? Was I dreaming? No I wasn't in Egypt, I really was in Mexico and I was looking at the fantastic pyramids of Teotihuacan.

Journey to Oaxaca

1st class bus travel is very comfortable in Mexico, the bus stations like airport terminals. Looking out the window I watched the desert like scenery go by, many cacti and mighty snow capped mountains in the distance. I wanted to be on the road on a Harley Davidson chopper, I was dreaming of Easy Rider.

In 2006 the square in Oaxaca was held siege by rebels. Now restored to all it's glory it's where all the locals gather and it's a great place to people watch. I hang out with rough guide photographer, Tim, for the day. We discuss world affairs whilst walking around the town, chilling out and drinking coffee. I hoped some of his talent might rub off on me.

On a bus journey from Oaxaca, a busker sings and plays his guitar. Later bumping along a dusty dirt road in a beat up pick-up with Mexican music playing on the stereo, looking out the window seeing dry arid land with agave plantations, mescal distilleries and men with oxes ploughing fields. This was my definitive Mexican experience.

Next stop, San Cristobel de la Casas, another Spanish colonial town, many indigenous villages nearby. The city was held by the rebel Zapatistas in 1994 for just 30 hours, no tourists were harmed. The government has improved the situation but there was also the presence of large military base is nearby.

I was less impressed with the Mayan temples at Palenque. It's not that the Mayan people weren't incredibly talented (they were), it's just there's not much evidence of their work left there. A lot has been removed to museums and what is left is big of piles of stones. Don't go to the Temples of Angkor in Cambodia first and Palenque would no doubt be amazing.

Journey to Guatemala

Okay, to put it mildly I was quite nervous about the Mexican/Guatemalan border crossing. I'd heard too many stories about customs searching bags and taking bribes. The nice air conditioned bus took me to the border at Cuidad Cuauhtemoc. I was the only tourist on the bus, I like it that way. I give my exit card to the passport official, he throws it back at me and stamps my passport. It costs $45 if you loose this card, he didn't even want it. I jumped in the share taxi for the 4km ride to the Guatemalan side, feeling decidedly nervous. I've done a lot of border crossing now but they are never relaxing places. So there I was at La Mesilla, Guatemala, get out of the taxi. Where was passport control? A little office where the woman said 'Guatemala', 'si' I said, my passport was stamped and that was it. No bribes, no hassle, I walked outside soldiers milling around nobody was paying me any attention so I ducked under the barrier free to go on my way.

A tourist shuttle bus driver offers me a ride to Panajachel for $20. That's 4 nights accommodation I thought, I politely decline. I walk through the town to the bus terminal to get the chicken bus. These are old brightly painted United States school buses, they are so cool, so colourful, cheap and lots of fun to ride in. Luckily no chickens in the ones I traveled in. They cost about US$2-3 per hour of travel depending if you get local or tourist (gringo) rates. Loud Latin American music playing, stunning scenery, I'm filled with enthusiasm for my travels. First impressions were good, I wanted to see more of Central America.

I stayed in San Pedro de la Laguna, on the shores of Lake Atitlan, a boat ride from Panajachel. A stunning setting surrounded by coffee plantations and towering volcanoes. The Spanish Cooperative School provided my Spanish lessons and Miguel & Maria were my hosts at my home stay. Both highly recommended. An amazing experience to live with local people in the town. Most of the town's people are indigenous of Mayan descent and wear brightly coloured traditional dress. Walking through the town at night, steep cobbled streets, dim lighting, people sitting outside their houses, it took on a timeless feel.

Due to a broken tooth I had to go to Antigua to find a dentist. It was no hardship to be in Antigua. It is an incredible old Spanish colonial city. It was the capital of Guatemala until a series of earthquakes destroyed the city. A few churches and the Cathedral have been restored, many others are in ruins, huge chunks of masonry still lay where they fell. Although very touristy it's possibly one of the nicest cities I've visited. The roof top garden at the hostel was a good place to relax with my fellow travellers that included an original 1960's hippy, an artist from Italy, some english speaking Guatemalans and lots of hot chicas.

Trip to Volcan Pakaya

This has to be the scariest and most dangerous thing I have done on my travels so far. Pakaya is a 1 1/2 hours drive from Antigua. It is an active volcano. I stood less than two meters from where lava was erupting from the ground. The heat was incredible, imagine standing beside an open furnace or at the gates of hell. What if the lava flow changed course, what if it suddenly erupted beneath me?

Walking on newly solidified lava, unstable and cracking, sharp and jagged. Red hot lava inches below my feet, smell of melting rubber from peoples shoes.

Every 20 minutes a huge rumble came from the volcano sending smoke and steam billowing upwards. Was I to be a human sacrifice to the volcano?

History

I had found myself in yet another country that the US has meddled with in the name of anti-communism. In 1954 the country had a democratically elected president and was almost getting on it's feet. The socialist government wanted to buy unused land from US company United Fruit. This caused alarm to the US Government. The US government also suspected that Guatemala had communist ties and so the CIA staged a military coup to oust the Socialist President Arbenz. The coup was widely condemned by the international press and the United Nations. The coup was followed by four decades of civil war with maybe as many as 250,000 people killed and 1 million made homeless. During this time the USA supported the Guatemalan military financially and with training, and a huge amount of human rights violations took place. After the coup, the CIA was assigned to gather evidence to back up their claim. Nothing was found to suggest Guatemala had ties to the Soviet Union.

If Mexico was dangerous(?), how do I describe Guatemala. Security guards with shotguns at shops, banks and ATM's. Delivery drivers would have a security guard with shot gun pointing out of the window. A newspaper reported 1217 murders in Guatemala City during the previous 100 days (the human cost of drugs). I heard many second hand stories of people being robbed. Please note: I never felt in any danger during my stay there.

All appears good on the surface, scratch it and a different story comes out. My friend Leon (not his real name but it fits perfectly) is ex-military he tells me that after the peace accords were signed in 1996, the army was reduced to 1/3 of it's original size. That left a large amount of guns on the streets and soldiers, who weren't really suited to the life of a security guard, to join gangs and the drug cartels in Mexico. He's a good guy though and works as a tour guide now. He carried a gun though and is really not the sort of person to mess with. Further stories were offered about shootings in the streets. I had no reason to disbelieve.

The beach was calling, so with some friends from the hostel, I went to Montericco. A little beach resort on the Pacific coast made up of black volcanic sand. It's a really sleepy place with a lazy tropical feel. Many palm trees and the houses and hotels all had thatched roofs. It was fun to play in the surf but the waves were too big and the currents too stong to swim safely.

Teeth fixed up, thanks to the Clinica de la Cruz dental surgery, I headed to the airport for my flight to Mexico city. I left with a yearning to return there and also to see the rest of Central America.....

And for the children

I fly into Mexico city for a night before my flight to Vancouver. Saturday night, surely something was going on in the city. I arrived to find a huge stage set up in the Zocolo (the main square). There was to be a free concert to promote a new initiative to aid Latin America's millions of poor, malnourished and undereducated children. Ricky Martin and many other Latin American acts performed. Shakira headed a twin concert in Buenos Aires. This is new for Latin America where previously if pop stars spoke out on poverty and social issues they put their lives at risk. 120,000 people crowded into the square, it was a nice ending to my brief visit to Latin America.