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Published: April 27th 2009
The Pancho Show
Just goofing around at the Palenque ruins.We’ve acquired some pretty handy travel skills in the last year, the most well-honed and particularly important ones being: 1) packing; 2) bartering; 3) getting along with each other on travel days (the most fight-worthy day of them all).
A close fourth would be our ability to find cheap(er) flights. It was a cheaper flight that led us through South Africa (rather than Australia) on the way to Argentina, and it was also the reason we spent four days in Bogota, Colombia - simply a cheaper option than flying directly from Lima to Cancun.
But really, our little layover in Bogota was a blip on the radar, and we don't have much to report since we hardly saw the city. It was raining, somewhat dangerous (a mugging a day took place outside our hostel) and we didn’t exactly feel welcome by the locals. Comments: We found a great breakfast place and the gold museum was pretty cool.
Moving on…
Considering this, our arrival in Mexico was as warm and welcoming as we could have imagined. Though our luggage didn’t arrive until the next day, we were greeted by sunny skies and big smiles from friends(!): Jill, Pancho
Botero bums
We visited an art gallery that mostly displayed the works (paintings, sculptures, drawings) of Columbian artist Fernando Botero - a man with an affinity for chubby people of all ages. and Denya picked us up from the airport and we headed straight for their place in Playa del Carmen.
We spent four days in their apartment in Playa, meeting their friends, swimming in the Cenotes (underground rivers), snorkeling at Akumel and taking in all aspects of their lives. Keywords: street performers, Spanish music, crazy Denya, authentic Mexican food, yoga, late nights, parenting, partying and moving. On the fourth day, after an epic going away party to which we were mostly non-Spanish speaking flies on the wall, Jill and Pancho packed almost everything they own - including an oven - into the back on their quarter-ton truck. They’re moving to Quebec.
(For those of you who don’t know Jill and Pancho, all we can say is that they are the kind of people who seek, create and jump at opportunities for themselves in a way that is inspiring and true to themselves. For us, there was actually a bit of a full circle aspect to seeing Jill and Pancho, since it was their two-year stint living, working and training in China that initially got us thinking about spending a year abroad).
So the truck got packed and the
Dali
The Botero gallery also featured works of other famous artists, including this bizarre bust by Salvador Dali. five of us drove through the night to our next destination, Palenque. Located in the Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico, Palenque is a jungle-like locale where we got to see more fascinating ruins (one of our favourite sights) and beautiful waterfalls and an amazingly picturesque swimming hole. We spent two nights in Palenque before we went our separate ways, with us taking the bus back to Playa and they heading for Mexico City, the first of several major stops on the way to Quebec.
Back in Playa, we got a room in a decent hotel a few blocks from the beach. Marc went scubadiving, I got sunburned, and we caught up with our friend Ryan Berkholtz, who happened to be staying at an all inclusive in Playa at the same time. We partied ourselves out on the last night before flying out of Cancun on April 8. It's hard to believe we spent almost two weeks in Mexico but only two days on the beach. We had an amazing time, and it was a great way to end the official part of our travels.
So we’ve been in Canada for a few weeks now, slowly making our
way back to Edmonton after spending time with Marc’s family in B.C. This is not the last you’ll hear from us…we’ve got just one more blog posting to go.
Until then, enjoy the pics...
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Amazing!
I am impressed..I think what you are doing is amazing! A big Bravo for following your dream and at the same time helping others.. The photos are mazing and I just can't get enough.. How long are you planning to continue your travels? Is there a final date? Vassia