10/12/2010

Zoe, what a girl, her having only been with other girls had no idea what to do in bed with me… it certainly was an interesting night with her . She isn’t the most feminine chick I’ve met… and with a lot of the things she does both on and off the bed can be quite a turn off – and ill spare the details here.

It’s quite obvious when getting to know this girl what role/position she takes when she is with others of her gender but also why I get along with her so well… she doesn’t have any girly issues and doesn’t really care about anything, but this also could be a result of smoking too much pot.

I wasn’t feeling too great today probably from the cheap tequila we drank last night or perhaps it was the smoke but it wasn’t till midday till I got out of bed.

We spent the afternoon again chilling on the beach and swimming in the pleasantly warm ocean.

I went for a nap before sunset hopping to hike a hill and watch the sunset drop into the surrounding hills but we somehow managed to crash for over four hours and woke up at close to 10pm.

I went to grab some hotdogs from the cart down the road and pick up some beer and drinking them before wondering around with Zoe to find some night life.

We did find the ending of a 15 y o birthday party that was finishing up with only a few people there and almost entering a reggae bar then changed our minds and headed back to the room for another beer and another round of interesting sex…

View from our guesthouse in Mazunte

09/12/2010

An American couple I met a few days ago(Laurel and Max)   who where driving their way around Mexico asked whether I wanted to join them and another girl from Israel (Zoe) to Mazunte about 100km east of Puerto Escondido, I thought this was a good excuse to leave because although it had only been 4 days I felt like I hadn’t done anything and all the days felt like it was rolling into one.

I checked out and hopped in the car and headed out around midday.

Zoe, like me was travelling for a long time and also on a strict budget she is a nice girl and although she bat’s for the other team and smoked far too much green but we got along well.

Mazunte wasn’t nearly as busy as Puerto Escondido in terms of backpackers but there were quite a few people here that come to learn yoga and stay in retreats.

We spent some time on the beach chilling, eating cheap fruit before getting some really overpriced pizza for lunch and a couple of beers.

Max and Laurel were not fans of this place and really neither was I but even still Zoe and I found a cheap room priced only 100 pesos for the 2 of us and it was right on the beach and although there was a lot of construction surrounding the place decided to spend at least one night here.

Max and Laurel only come here for a day trip so they headed back to Puerto Escondido and left us here where we munged out for the evening.

Because Zoe smokes a lot of weed she pretty much is consistently high. I haven’t smoked in the longest time but when she offered me and as there didn’t seem to be much going on in Mazunte I thought id smoke one and just one.

To be honest it just reminded me of how much I hate smoking this stuff because later when we were walking the streets to get some food I get a little paranoid thinking everyone’s watching me. At the beginning I did laugh a lot but looking back now I dont remember what was so funny. I love chatting to people when I’m sober and even more so when I’m drunk but when I’m high I simply nervous and self conscious with everything I do. This (mum and dad) is the last time!. J

The night got even more interesting when Zoe made a move on me, the girl is a lesbian (she claims) and I did see her as a bit of a challenge that would take at least a couple of days to hack into. Its like the forbidden fruit kind of deal, where you want what you cant have, I just didn’t think it was going to happen so soon.

Some guys chilling making tunes for everyone

4/12/2010 – 8/12/2010

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The journey last night was an absolute nightmare, a nightmare that didn’t require any sleep because that was impossible. Over the past 5 years of travel I don’t think ive ever been on such a horrible overnight bus ride. The driver was a nutcase who took every sharp bend through the mountains from Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido cutting into the opposite lane despite whether there was oncoming traffic or not. The seat I was sitting on wasn’t very secure with the backrest moving as we getting beaten around the van; left, right, forwards and backwards.

Half way through the journey I was fighting the effects of the sleeping pills I took earlier in the journey because I had too keep my eyes on the road because I didn’t want to throw up.

When we arrived in Puerto Escondito the three of us were nackard… Paul wanted to leave to Zipolite right away but I was told the ratio of girls to guys here were 7 to 1… naturally I wanted to find a nice hostel on the beach and chill here for a few days and managed to convince the others to come with me.

We hopped into a taxi that took us to a hostel some Canadians recommended in Oaxaca where there was nobody was there at reception to check us in as it was 5 am but luckily there were unused hammocks everywhere right on the beach.

We really didn’t have a choice other than to take over the hammocks until someone showed up at reception.

This area of Puerto Escondido is called Zicatela and the hostel had plenty of cabanas (makeshift rooms made from natural cheap materials) starting at 250 pesos where I spent and shared the room with Paul and Juliet then moved into my tent that set me back 60 pesos a night.

For the rest of the day and for the next four days I just chilled on the beach and meeting and chatting to randoms at the hostel and did not venture further than the shop to buy food and getting wet in the sea to go for a swim in the soothing warm ocean where at sunset the view was magical.

Volleyball was played most afternoons when the sand had cooled from the heat of the midday sun and was always a good laugh.

The hostel was run by very cool character from France named Piere who was incredibly friendly and helped out with anything you needed.

I hired a surfboard with Zoe who ill mention later in this journal from a hire shop down the road. I thought I might just for fill everyone’s stereo type that an Aussie with dreadlocks surfs.

Surfing is nothing like boarding and despite the waves being pretty small I didn’t enjoy it too much. Also I accidentally broke the board’s fin because I rode it into the sand the one time I managed to stand up setting me back 100 pesos for the repair.

The evenings consisted of playing party games and drinking cheap alcohol before heading out in a cheap taxi into the next beach west where there bars were. It was certainly my scene with lots of tourists, especially Scandinavian ones where id run about introducing myself and getting people involved with more drinking.

I met Sarah, an Australian chick from Sydney who was also staying in the hostel who was a little loud mouthed but cool and was travelling with 2 friends, let’s just say we had a lot of fun together around the hostel one night that involved skinny dipping in the ocean where I saw some phosphorescence, down at the beach in the shower and later in my tent (which I fixed using some duct tape and bamboo)… good times.

Juliet and Paul headed out earlier than I wanted too because they had to get to Cancun and then make their way over to Cuba, but I was loving the tranquility of this hostel so I stayed. This Place is Paradise! Zicatela, highly recommended.

Pictures that i took over the days i was staying in Puerto Escondido:

3/12/2010

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We only wanted to stay in Oaxaca for a day because we all pretty much wanted to hit the beach and chill in the sun. We packed up our things and prepared for another night bus in the evening.

Juliet, myself and an American chick we met at the hostel (Erin) went to check out a sight or two surrounding the city. We tried to go off and see some ruins on a mountain overlooking the city and we waited at the bus stand for too long before giving up and getting some food at the local market. I didn’t order anything and only got a beer but managed to finish their leftovers when they couldn’t eat anymore.

We then got directions to El Tule where grows the widest tree in the world, the bus took a good 45 minutes where I was dared to take a bite of ice-cream from an old woman who sat beside me… the girls didn’t think id ever ask, but then again they don’t know me that well. I asked her when she opened it and she just gave it too me… as I nice gesture I gave her some money for the treat and I tried out my conversational Spanish with her, but that didn’t last long.

The big tree that is just less than 60m wide was pretty impressive and we hung about the park following a Mexican chick who had enormous breasts, she was skinny too and the three of us were surprised that she was able to walk… to walk away from us as she knew we were following her… fun times at the park, haha.

We grabbed a few beers at the store and chilled till the sun ducked behind the surrounding mountains and headed back to central Oaxaca.

For the rest of the evening we chilled at the hostel until we had to leave on the night van to Puerto Escondido that was organized form the hostel meaning we didn’t have to get to the bus station.

This lady gave me her icecream

World widest tree

2/12/2010

We arrived in Oaxaca at 5.30 am and all of us were pretty nackard after trying to sleep on the cramped bus, we took a taxi to a hostel that let us chill out there but not check in till 1pm… it was going to be a long wait but thankfully the girl at reception was kind enough to contact her boss and ask whether we could get into the room so we could finally sleep.

All of us were out cold till 2pm where I cooked some lunch with some groceries we bought at the market around the corner. Hostel Pochon was a cosy little place that offered a great free breakfast and nice backpacking vibe as there were plenty of cool people here.

Paul, Bjorn, Juliet and I headed out into the town to see the main square and to see what was happening in town. The streets were easy to navigate and the town was clean with beautiful weather, we went to go find a cheap place to have a drink and the best we found was a mini market with seats in the rear where we had a beer and then were offered a type of tequila called Mezcal, the shop owner who poured it did not hold back and almost filled our plastic cups to the top with this 46% alcoholic spirit.

Needless to say we were pretty tipsy… lets say drunk when we left… not a normal thing when walking out of a minimarket… cheap though.

We headed back to the hostel stopping by the market that was unfortunately closed so we got some food from the supermarket that was some walk away.

I cooked up a very basic stir-fry for the 4 of us but it really was nothing special and

I chatted with the others in the hostel but not long after I was ready to go to bed.

In the back of a supermarket drinking beer and Mezcal

huge shots of Mezcal

Bad after taste

1/12/2010

I had a pretty restless sleep last night but I was keen to see something cool in Mexico City. Sean wanted to head to Teotihuacan where the ancient Pyramids were and I wanted to go along with 8 other Aussies who were staying in the hostel. The hostel was asking for 400 pesos for the tour and we managed to do it for 150 including the entry into the park and lunch.

It was pretty amazing to see the structures in the park and we spend a good while wondering about seeing the museum and climbing both Pyramids.

The lunch was pretty terrible as I ordered mole which means sauce in Spanish but is a chocolate type sauce over some enchiladas, it was awful and something that could not possibly be any good however you made it.

I caught up on some sleep on the bus back to the city where I just chilled at the hostel.

Because we get free dinner at the hostel at 7, I managed to get a load of food in my Tupperware container before I headed off to see Paul and his friends Bjorn (German) and Juliet (Australian who’s background is from Rwanda)

After hanging around their hostel for a while we headed off on the metro to where we met Paul and Juliet’s friend who was kind enough to drive us to a restaurant where we had a very basic dinner and then took us to the south bus station where we hopped on a bus to the city of Oaxaca that was going to take 7 hours.

Sean soaking up the apparent energy of the temple - really taking the piss of others that were doing it

Getting high

The group of us

30/11/2010

After a great nights sleep last night I headed on a organized walking tour of the markets of Mexico City. It was a good tour with us trying unusual fruits and candy and the guide Alexandra was very informative and of course expected a 50 peso tip for the ‘free’ tour.

Sean and I got lunch at a market where they sold Lion meat, unfortunately Lion meat is incredibly expensive and I settled for the cheap set menu (Comida Corrida) of chicken soup and tacos.

We got back to the hostel in the early afternoon where I again had my afternoon nap… Im loving these naps, perhaps Im getting old but I don’t care waking up refreshed is always great.

The hostel offer free dinner for all its guest so I tucked into that before heading out with Lu, Sean and Allister (another Aussie) to the part of town where all the Europeans live… it was again part of the week where not much was really happening and we wondered around looking for really anything exciting and ended up at a posh bar where they only served saugages and bread with very few fillings and sides… oh, and the beers were very expensive. One beer was enough so we headed back to the hostel in a Taxi leaving Lu in the cab so she could get home.

I drank a few more beers with Sean in the hostel and went to bed.

Nacho Libre Masks at the Market

Tortilla making machine

Cactus that is edible - i bought some but never had the chance to cook and eat it

big kisses!

Anyone for bugs?