Me sitting on top of a Myan pyramid in the jungle of Coba, Mexico. Jan 21, 2008
Another Myan pyramid in Coba
A colourful buiding in San Cristobal de las Casas
In Mexico, there is a rebellious faction called the Zapatistas, which the government have given up trying to control. This sign reads: "You are in rebel Zapatista territory. Here the people order, and the government obeys."
Me and a Zapatista rebel. He had just spent the last half hour checking our passports to make sure we aren't spies, and explaining their Zapatista community.
A Zapatista school in the Zapatista community. Note the painting of the little kids with the nice Zapatista rifle-toting rebels.
They call this strange massive formation "the christmas tree". It is on the wall of a canyon we did a boat tour down.
Same canyon
A goanna in the same canyon
This was probably my most favourite hostel in all my year of travels. It is La Finka, in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico. The people I met there were all just awesome.
Marcelo, a totally cool Argentinian dude that I met in La Finka and travelled with for about 3 weeks.
The beach at Puerto Escondido where we stayed.
A random hut on the side of the road.
Countryside as seen from the bus on the way to Mexico City.
The next few photos are taken in Mexico City, which I found to be quite a fascinating, arty, and massive city. These famous murals were painted by Diego Riviera, the husband of famous painter Frida Kahlo.
An example of the fine architecture of Mexico City
This is one of the many buildings surrounding the central plaza of Mexico City. Note the green VW taxi, which is a bit of a feature of the city.
Just had to take a photo of this pope stepping on the head of a commoner, and with holy water mysteriously coming out of his holy hat.
One of the zillions of churches I saw in my trip.
A policeman posing for me in Mexico City.
Another example of fine architecture in Mexico City.
Same building as the last photo.
A random street in Mexico City
Mariachi bands in Mexico will play for you if you tip them well enough.
Lots of Mexican flags everywhere.
I was happy to find this coffee roaster working away in a cafe, as I can now say I have seen every stage of the coffee process, from the plant to the drying to the roasting to the drinking! Note the creamy colour of the coffee before roasting.
Marcelo (Argentina), Jacob (Germany), and me at Teotituahacan pyrimads, near Mexico City. I travelled with these cool dudes for about 3 weeks.
This pyramid is supposedly the largest in the world.
Another view of same pyrimad.
Me
After Mexico City, I went to Guanajuato, which is very interesting city. I went walking up past the top of the hill you can see in the background of this photo.
Another colourful building in Guanajuato
The interesting thing about Guanajuato is that half the roads of the city go below ground.
... and they're not modern tunnels either... these are all cobbled stones.
Colourful buildings are the norm in Guanajuato
A pidgeon, same as everywhere else in the world.
A typical alleyway in Guanajuato
I went for a walk around the outskirts of the city, I guess where tourists are supposed to go, and enjoyed seeing places like this.
The outskirts of Guanajuato.
I visited a mummy museum in Guanajuato. Apparently the weather conditions are just perfect for making mummies, and they don't even need to wrap them up. So they have a steady supply of new mummies, and replace them every 20 years or so.
Baby & mum, I guess. Note that the jaws of the mummies hang down, not because they're screaming, but because their jaw muscles go slack as they mummify.
More mummies on display.
Another photo of the outskirts of Guanajuato
Another photo showing the underground roads in Guanajuato.
Same same
A typical cactus I saw on my walk through the hills.
Me enjoying the cool wind on the top of a hill.
I caught this ferry over from mainland Mexico to Baja California (thats the Mexican peninsula that sticks out below San Diego, USA). The ferry ride took about 22 hours.
An American and an Italian who I travelled with for a week or so.
The American dude has property and a car down there, and he took us out for a drive to go trekking and camping. I took this photo while we were waiting for the engine to cool down after overheating.
I just had to get these girls to pose for a swimsuit calendar photo! Too tempting!! These are Margo (Canada), Audrey (France), and Renata (Italia).
Margo by a waterfall in Baja California, Mexico. I jumped off the rock on the right of the waterfall.
Low tide at a beach near La Paz, Baja California
Leaving Tijuana Mexico, walking towards San Diego, USA. Looking back over my shoulder I saw the big famous Welcome To Tijuana sign. Farewell Mexico! Farewell Latin America!
I guess you take the shortcut this way to USA...
I'm glad I didn't cross the border in a vehicle. This is only half the width of the queue of cars wainting to cross the border into USA. Mind you, the people walking queue wasn't much better... and I found USA to be the first and only country in my whole trip that made me buy a visa to enter their country!
Seals on a beach in San Diego, USA
Double fence security, both with barbed wire and razor wire. Welcome to Los Angeles, USA! Such friendly security systems! As far as I could tell, it was just an ordinary industrial building inside this fortification. I guess it was a dodgy part of LA that I walked through here, and I felt lucky to make it safely through here. I felt less safe here in LA than I did pretty much anywhere else in Latin America.
I took this photo in a harbour in Great Barrier Island, New Zealand, the day after arriving back home from the Americas. I guess I like the contrast between this photo to all the rest I took in Latin America.
