Whole crazy story about my Latin America adventure

---

03.01.2005 - Sun burnt and drunk from happiness...
San Jose, Costa Rica

I believe I am ready. After 5 months and 12 days of traveling, I believe I am finally ready.

I don't remember ever being sun burnt in January. I spent the New Year's Eve on the beach in Jaco, Costa Rica. It was the first night that I spent outside (apart from Camino in Spain). I wanted to be alone. I wanted to get away from the World for one night, eating mangos and grapes and observing the waves as they gently reach the shore. I found a small bonfire, sat there and watch the fireworks and all the drunken people, situated on the beach.

Soon people started gathering around me and started asking me what's wrong.
'Nothing. I'm fine. I'm very fine."
Obviously I wasn't convincing enough, since a whole family gathered around me again and insisted that I join them. After eating something, I went back and decided to be alone from then on. And I was... at least until a pretty young local girl wished me 'Feliz Ano Nuevo".

After we separated, I managed to spend the rest of the night alone. I observed the Pacific Ocean and felt the known feelings of dizziness - being dizzy without a single beer. Pure happiness and love.

LATIN AMERICA - the land full of danger.
Part of the world where human life is worth 15 dollars.
Paradise for trading with drugs and human organs.
Part of the world where every third white man is kidnapped.
Home of the gang Mara Salvatruche, which first kill you and then ask you if you have anything valuable on you.
The World where hitchhikers are only crazy people.

This is how the south was described by hundreds of Americans (and my parents), before I crossed the Mexican border. I am delighted I didn't listen to them and I can share with you the experience of the land that welcomed me with both arms open and with a warm smile.

US: SAN DIEGO - TUCSON - MEXICO: NOGALES

December 13 around ten o'clock in the evening I experienced a CULTURAL SHOCK. As soon as I entered Mexico, I realized that I entered a different world. Nowhere else could I get rides in the middle of the night so easily and at the same time feel so safe. The last two weeks and a half I felt like a long lost cousin of a new family every day, learned Spanish (at least I believe so... maybe the locals are pulling my leg by nodding me when I speak) and experienced the wildest hitchhiking adventures ever. I do not count anymore moms who told me they are also my moms and homes that will from now on always have an open door for me. I have also turned into some kind of a rabbit - with small exceptions I live from fruit and vegetables.

NOGALES - SAN CARLOS - GUADALAJARA - LEON - GUANAJUATO - CIUDAD DE MEXICO

Kayaking in the bay of San Carlos... 3 marvelous days of compelling Guadalajara... and I really can't find words to describe Guanajuato - it is just outstanding city.
Everyone warned me about Mexico City. Off course I went, really liked it and I really didn't find anything dangerous there.

CIUDAD DE MEXICO - VERACRUZ - CIUDAD DEL CARMEN

This is how I wrote it in my diary, before I left Mexico City. Late in the night I departed towards Veracruz and as happens many times, I didn't visit Veracruz. Right before the intersection I asked the driver what is his favorite beach in Mexico and he told me Ciudad Del Carmen.
'Aha... ok, then I go there."
And did not even realize that 4 inches on the map means more than 400 miles.

However, at the end I didn't visit either of them. I managed to arrive by the evening to the beach very close to the latter. Almost simultaneously two events happened. One not so pleasant and the other very pleasant.
In the middle of Yucatan peninsula, I was picked up by a man, named Oscar, who fell in love with me. BIG TIME!
'Oscar, thanks for the ride. Thank you so much for all the 80 miles that you've done for me and a dinner."
'So, are you trying to tell me I should now leave."
'Well, kind of,... yes. I would like to be by myself now."
He leaned on the steering wheel and his big eyes stared at me and made me feel uncomfortable (which is a really rare thing on my journey).
'Aaah... but, you are, you are marvelous!"
'Well, see, this is why I want to spend time with me now."
He burst out laughing. I smiled back.
'But, Mateo, you don't understand! Now I met a man of whom I dreamt about. I will not be able to live without you."
'Don't worry. You will."
I stepped out of the care and closed the door. I didn't feel comfortable. I decided to pay some more attention to a poor man.
'Oscar, I feel the restlessness in you. My friend, you will never be happy if you will seek for happiness in other people. Everything you need is inside of you! And when you will start feeling happy just by yourself, you will find the right partner for you."
Sad look. 'Do you think I am a bad person."
'No, Oscar, you are in no way a bad person. Your problem is maybe that you do not live in the real world. You cannot seduce a straight man."
It took me a while to put together these sentences in Spanish, but considering the expression on his face with a sly smile, he understood me. I hugged him.
'May God be with you!"
'Oh, God be with you too. It was a pleasure to serve you," he replied.
Served me?! What the heck is that! I hope he wasn't serious! I don't want anybody feeling as my servant!

Soon after I experienced one of the most amazing moments of my journey. I walked down the sandy beach, which was only mine for this evening. At the moonlight, I watched how the palm trees danced with the wind and the see that was bringing small waves to my feet. I spent the night in the first house I asked if they can host me. I slept in a simple house with simple people that live their lives almost exactly as they lived hundred years ago.

In the morning girls stuffed my backpack with oranges and again, I had a chance to visit the beach that brought me temptations the last evening. Today too, were a good part of the day long miles of the sand, see and palm trees only for me. When I swam in the ocean and looked back at the shore, I felt like I am swimming in the most beautiful postcard. 😊

YUCATAN - SAN CRISTOBAL

The ride to San Cristobal was, gently said, TERRIBLE. For four hours and a half, I rode across the mountains of the most freezing part of Mexico that also has the roads with the record amount of holes, on the back of a pick-up truck AT NIGHT! The driver took care that the speed almost never dropped under 70 mph and he firmly hit all the bumps on the road so that I could have the pleasure to experience the road with every part of my body.
On this journey, my motto is: WHATEVER DOESN'T KILL ME, MAKES ME STRONGER! I think I repeated this verse during those 4 hours at least five hundred times.
'Are you ok?" the driver asked me when we arrived in the center of the city.
I slowly raised my eyes, made the best smile that my frozen chicks allowed me and answered in a slow, a bit rough, voice: 'Amazing."

It was around 1 o'clock in the morning when we arrived. Almost immediately after, I went on the road to Guatemala. It was freezing and I remember thinking about MY cold, MY pain in the muscles, ME being on this freaking road for 2 hours with almost no cars. Then something happened that changed my perspective completely. A beggar in thin clothes passed by the building nearby. I couldn't get him out of my head and after a few minutes I received a message, as it happens to me often.
'God, you know what! This time I will not listen to you. I only have one blanket and if there will be such a freezing cold again; I want to have it, ok! And I also use it for the beach and this is MINE... well, if I look at it from the other perspective, I am being really selfish. I mean..."
I opened my backpack, held my blue blanket and walked down the stairs to the other side of the building. I stepped a few steps further and covered him with the blanket. He opened his eyes. We looked each other in the eyes for a few short moments. I reached his hair, caressed him and whispered: 'God bless you!"
As I turned around, something unbelievable happened...


Yeah, now I have your attention and will use it to share some thoughts about life with you before I continue the story. To tell the truth, my true intention with this letters is not to entertain you, but to be your little inspiration that will make your life better and happier. Let me start with the questions, which I wrote in my diary at the beginning of this journey.

What is the truth about God?
Which religion shows the right path? Christianity, Buddhism, Muslim?
Is there a life after death? How does it look like? Reincarnation or heaven?

I do not know. Seriously, I do not have a clue. And if I can be honest with you and please, let it remain only between the two of us... I do not think about these questions any more. I feel my mind is too small to ever grasp the truth about something as big as God and his plans. Instead of those, let me set few questions that I feel are really important.

How can we experience heaven on earth?
How to observe the misery of the world and at the same time experience true happiness?
How can we become more self-confident, be more satisfied with who we are?
How to make the world a better place to be for all the people?
How to create magical relationships with everybody around us?

I am just preparing myself to write an essay on 24 pages. Ok, ok, I know you are not THAT interested in my perspective! I promise you something else. I will be really brief and continue next time.
The next sentences I'll write might be a shock for some of you (as it was for me when I first thought about it), so I will ask you not to believe me anything. Say: MAYBE, go and try to experience it in your life. For only by things that we really experience, we change.

I strongly believe man is good (referring to most commonly accepted illusion of goodness) in its nature. Man is in its core loving and happy, oriented towards its Creator and other people and towards creating positive things in the World. What basically separates us from feeling complete happiness and connection with ourselves, other people and God is OUR MIND and the illusion of DUALITY that we created. Most of our thoughts are structured in the way I vs. YOU, MINE vs. YOURS, I am GOOD and you are BAD and he is quite GOOD. We think there is HERE and THERE. Well, let's take a closer look. Do I and YOU and GOOD and BAD really exist? I mean - what does it means if there are no YOU. Is there HERE if there is no THERE? So, this means these pairs of duality are basically two sides of one coin. By the way, have you ever held a one-sided coin in your hands? If these are two sides of one coin, there is basically ONE coin. Does it sound logical?

Well, the reality is that there is ONENESS in the world. One God, one energy, one Universe. And this One is happy, peaceful and omnipresent. And now I will make a premise that derives from my experiences.

You know, I used to be a person, that had everything figured out and use to argue with people about things that I haven't really experienced. I can not say I am sorry or ashamed of my past - it was a necessary step in my personal evolution, but now I can assure you, I never want to speak about things that I haven't experienced again. When you talk about theories and principles, that you do not really feel, especially in spiritual sense, it does not have any content, any value and certainly no power.

So, I will share the part of the oneness that I personally experienced with my own body and mind. I made myself feeling one with everything a few times on this journey and I want to tell you that it is AWESOME! No, I didn't use any drugs! When you feel in line with Universe, with yourself and other people, there is just no space for anything else than happiness, contentment, compassion and peace.

Ok, before I get too warmed up, let's get back to the story.


...when something unbelievable happened. There was a car in front of me with two beautiful Mexican girls asking me if I need help. After the first shock, I asked them if they are heading to Guatemala. They started laughing. They told me to go with them and they will find me a place to sleep. And it was so refreshing speaking English after a while (they actually understood it). We spent an interesting night and in the morning one of the girls showed me the beauties of the city and stuffed my backpack with as much fruit as I was able to carry.

SAN CRISTOBAL - GUATEMALA

Near the border of Guatemala, I realized I left a coat with my passport and all the money in the car of a driver. I engaged all villages to find the guy. I made it.

Right on the border of Guatemala, a Coca-cola truck picked me up. I was delighted by the sense of humor the driver had. He presented me to all their co-workers as a supervisor from Europe. The funniest part was that they believed me, saluted me and tried to make the best possible impression.

Near the capital, Alexander stopped the car on one gas station.
'Come on, let me show you something!"
He pulled a pistol out of the drawer.
I froze.
'Look: MADE IN CROATIA. This is near you, isn't it?"
He was like a small child showing me a toy.
'Why the heck you need this thing?" I asked
'Well in the business like I do, you have to have one!"
'And what do you do?
'I am a real estate broker."

The night caught me about 100 miles from the border of El Salvador. It was about 2 am, when I walked into a grocery store. I felt a gaze on me and I turned around. There was a guy with a machine gun watching me. We started chatting.
The look that he made when he saw me going out and putting my thumb up on the road, was priceless. 'Young man. Do you want to die?"
'No, why... I am just trying to find my way to Costa Rica."
After another amazing 'coincidence" I met two guys who took me about 50 miles and I spent the rest of the night in a beautiful house, that seemed to be in the middle of the jungle.

Near the border, a police truck picked me up and drove me another 50 miles. The policeman afterwards stepped out of the car and stopped a truck.
'Can you please take this young man from Slovenia?"
That was funny.

GUATEMALA - EL SALVADOR - HONDURAS - NICARAGUA

On the Christmas Eve I ended up on the border of Nicaragua when all of a sudden electricity went off and we were all waiting. It was close to midnight when I picked up my guitar and gather all the truck drivers and employees together. 'I have a Christmas gift for you!"
I sang them Silent Night in Slovene and they wanted to hear it again, so that they sang it in their own language. It was moving.

NICARAGUA - COSTA RICA

Have you ever experienced the love on first sight? Well, this might be close to what I feel now about this beautiful country, where I am now for about a week. I am sure I will return back one day.


I believe I am ready. After 5 months and 12 days of traveling, I believe I am finally ready. Up until now, I have been mostly receiving from the world. Now is time to give something back. I am up to do something that nobody in the history has ever done before. Nobody ever believed something like this is possible.

And you will be the first to know about it.
Till next time, PURA VIDA!

Matej


*** This is a report from the archive. Whole story, photos, audio and video are on the webpage www.peacehiker.com. ***
*** Esto es el reportaje del archivo y en español lo puedes leer en la página www.peacehiker.com ***
*** To je arhivska reportaza in v slovenskem jeziku je na voljo na spletni strani www.peacehiker.com ***

---