Getting Excited

Wednesday 16 October 2013

It's Wednesday 16 October 2013 and that means only three days til we fly out. After flying an ungodly number of hours (Melb-Syd, Syd-Dallas, Dallas-MX City, MX City-Panama City) the first leg of our holiday is Panama. I'm going to see a sloth. I better see a sloth.

OMG When Are We Getting There?

Saturday 19 October 2013

Very, very long flight.  Three movies in.  Nine hours still to go to get to Dallas L

At Dallas we go to the lounge and Trevor makes sure he gets his money’s worth by having four artisan Texan beers J.   Didn't see a stetson hat anywhere. Went to sleep on the plane to Mexico. 

Hotel at the airport surprisingly good.  New and very modern. Tacos in the restaurant very good.  Bodes well for the eatin’ ahead.

Another Fun Day at the Airport

Sunday 20 October 2013

Wake up early, have a hearty breakfast and looking forward to getting into Panama City by mid afternoon for shopping and gourmet dinner already booked.

Well, once again the airport experience has been stellar.  A perfectly planned holiday almost derailed by another incompetent airline.  Flight from Mexico City to Panama City with Copa Airways, booked the ticket months ago, turn up nice and early, wait in line for an hour – yes an hour – line not moving very fast.  I say to Trevor “there’s not much hussle to get us all on board”.  Another 15 minutes and they declare “flight is cancelled”.  Great.

Alternatives?  No, well there’s not really any.  There’s two more flights, fully booked.  Oh well.  Desperate for alternatives we ring the travel agency we booked through; no everything fully booked for at least two days.  In the meantime we’re still waiting in line another hour or so.  Ring the travel insurance people, they at least found a possible alternative.  Fly in the wrong direction for an hour to Monterrey and then catch another flight to Panama City.  So go to Air Mexico and book another flight.  USD$900 per person one way or USD$1040 pp return.  We decide to get the return tickets.  Expensive fuck up but what can we do? Go to check our bags in, “no you’re too late for that flight boarding is closed, go and change your flight, but they will charge you to change.”  Go back to Air Mexico, they didn’t charge us.  Made the change to a flight half an hour later, lady walked over with me to make sure I got the boarding passes. 

So now sitting at the Monterrey airport waiting for our flight to Panama City.  The flight here was only an hour, the plane was going down "we're about to land, wow! no we're not!" all of sudden we start going “pedal to the medal Commander” fast straight up.  WTF?  Avoiding a near collusion or what?  No, turned out the runway was blocked, had to circle around for another 15 minutes before landing.  No drama in the end, but freaked us out a bit. 

Free tequila tasting at the duty free is helping to mellow the mood.

Finally in Panama

Sunday 20 October 2013

Finally in our hotel.  Exhausted.  10:30pm  Should have been here at 2:00pm.  Finally got to Panama airport.  Sat in the airplane a further half an hour.  Get off the plane at last and the airport is bedlam.  Seems every flight for Copa Airlines has been cancelled or delayed.  People galore.  Lucky we decided to go our own way or we would never have gotten here.  Go to baggage claim and the place is full of hundreds and hundreds of suitcases.  Didn’t bode well for us getting our bags.  But they came out!!  Yay!  Now going to bed.

No More Whinging

Monday 21 October 2013

Now that we’ve moved beyond “airport issues” life is good.

Our first day in Panama, mega cool.  Hot, but not too hot.  Humid.  Oh, my hair.

Start off with an excellent breakfast.  Then order an English speaking driver to take us around for the day.  Get ready and a huge storm comes through – radar has it spiking at 12 inches per hour!  Water at this rate would be in the 6:30 bulletin in Melbourne.  Wow, was it coming down.  But no more rain for the rest of the day.

Went to see Miraflora Locks of the Panama Canal; the famous Panamanian locks on the Pacific side and opened in 1914.  Really worth doing.  Fascinating.  The view of the lock as a big ship comes through was really cool.  On the side of the lock instead of tug boats they have ‘tug trains’; to pull the ships along and keep them from hitting the sides.  They had an exhibition which was really interesting and then a ship’s bridge simulation which was fascinating.  It was like piloting a ship through the canal but at a much faster rate (ie instead of 8 hours, 8 minutes).  Really cool. 

We’re staying Casco Vejo (also known as Antigo Vejo – ‘old town’) It must be one of the best preserved old quarters of any city in the world. We read about it being like the French Quarter of New Orleans, which is probably a really good way of describing this place – after all, construction of the canal was started by the French. Decaying beautiful old buildings now being restored and re-discovered by the Panamanians for what they’re worth. There’s a real cool vibe about this place.

Turned out Copa Airlines is one of the most reliable, professional airlines in this part of the world.  We just got very unlucky that the one day their systems failed was the one day that we had to catch their plane. Goddamnit.
Here is what the airport looked like: 
http://www.newsroompanama.com/panama/6574-system-glitch-forces-cancellation-of-75-copa-flights.html

Madrigal for Dinner

Monday 21 October 2013

We had the most amazing dinner.  As usual, Trevor did his research and had booked us into an excellent restaurant.  The chef has two Michelin stars.  So we look at the menu.  Degustation menu $50 a head.  In Melbourne that would $120 a head.  No brainer.  We’ll take that.  OMG!  We could only pick out a few words from the Spanish menu, but we took the menu home.  

Thanks to google translate we now know what we had;

Sea bass ceviche with passion fruit sorbet and coconut foam

Curried apple tatin with foie gras duck hot, smoked to prasa and flowers

Tuna with fennel rice flake, between two wines

Roasted duck breast with passion fruit miso with mangetout and enokis

Rice with coconut milk and passion fruit

Then wandered home through the streets of the old town and drinks on our hotel’s rooftop terrace.  A fantastic end to a great first day of our holiday. The view from the rooftop:

Left Panama City

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Left Panama City and headed towards the rainforest and staying at Gamboa rainforest resort.  So beautiful, right by the lake, we have a herd of Capybaras grazing right outside our door.  They didn’t like it when we went to harass them.  They made a noise before they jumped into the water, which I interpreted to mean they did not appreciate our presence. 

There are sloths here apparently, but we haven’t seen one yet.  Checked in and then headed out towards the Atlantic coast to Portobello and San Lorenzo, famous old fortified Spanish ports constructed in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries.

The Spanish used routes through Panama – one, an overland route from Portobello to Panama City and one from San Lorenzo via the Chagres river and then overland to get goods from the Pacific side (gold and silver from Peru specifically and also goods they traded from the Chinese in the Philippines as well bringing goods from Spain and slaves from Africa) The three (Portobello, San Lorenzo and Panama City) formed a defensive triangle for the Spanish – not that it stopped pirates from attacking each of these places many times.  The first fort we went to, Portobello, is still just a little shanty town but the ruins were really interesting. 

Columbus landed there on his fourth trip and Sir Francis Drake died there.  They put him in a lead coffin, in full body armour and buried him at sea.  Divers have been looking for his coffin ever since.  They have a black Jesus at the church in this tiny town.  Typical Spanish, very ascetic, stark and bleak and also a little bit creepy. They have a big festival in town once a year. We just missed it; oh well. 

Then to San Lorenzo which was the other fort, now completely isolated in the jungle that you have to get to it via a military base (a little like Point Nepean used to be).  Because of its remoteness, and difficult access we had the place to ourselves, this picture perfect, very remote place on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic and the mouth of the Chagres River.  As we were leaving we saw a couple of Capucian monkeys jumping through the trees which added to the magic of the place. 

After seeing the ruins, we rushed back so we could be at our hotel before dark.  Get to the Gatun Locks, which when we first passed through was quick and easy, but this time we have to wait for 40 minutes for some ships to go through.  Very inconvenient.  Still, driving across the Canal at the Locks there was really trippy. 

On our way back we missed the turnoff in the dark and spent an extra two hours getting back to our hotel.  Not happy Jan.  But once food and alcohol consumed good spirits returned.

Trevor Gets Attacked by a Crocodile

Thursday 26 October 2013

Panama and the Rainforest

Thursday 24 October 2013

Sitting on our balcony enjoying a Vodka and orange juice and a beer.  It’s raining but the sun is out too.  Going for a swim shortly.  Are you allowed to drink and swim?  This place seems to have been built from an old American army base.  The streets are full of what seem to be old officer’s quarters.

Walk in the rainforest and drive over the Bridge of the Americas; the bridge that links the South American continent with the North American continent.

Going on a night safari later.  They say we could see some sloths.  Hope to see some sloths.  If not, then tomorrow to the zoo we go.  By hook, or by crook, I must see a sloth.

Last Day in Panama

Friday 25 October 2013

Last day in Panama.  Went for a private boat trip on Lake Gatun.  So beautiful.  The boat driver took us to see the monkeys.  Saw Capucians and little tamarinds who happily ate the fruit we brought them.  Little darlings.

Then on the way back to Panama City, went to a local zoo in the rainforest as I was determined to see a sloth.  They had a picture of a sloth, but not actually a sloth.  Disappointing.  But saw other excellent animals.  Toucans, spider monkeys, ocelots, tapirs, anteater, macaws, harpie eagle, jaguar.

Staying at the Waldorf Astoria in the heart of the city.  OMG!  Service like we never experienced before.  Had to go to the Copa office to sort out our tickets for tomorrow, they gave us a driver to take us.  We asked him how we should get back.  He said “no, you wont find it, I’ll wait for you.”  Then they booked us dinner reservations and were generally excellent.  Room was beautiful.  Went for a swim in the heated pool.  Yay!

First Real Day in Mexico

Saturday 26 October 2013

Another fun day at the airport.  Stressful.  Boring.  Stressful.  Boring.  By the time we got through immigration, got our luggage, went through customs, changed some money and got a hire car another two hours gone.

Drove to our Hacienda.  It’s 2,240 meters here; high and cold.  Didn't expect it to be this cold.  So beautiful.  Our Hacienda has all these Mexican artifacts and a fireplace in our room.  Very special.

Went to the little restaurant down the road and they were closing up so made us some Copya.  Never heard of those.  They were super-delicious!  Authentic Mexican food made by authentic Mexicans.  No Cancun rubbish here.  

Then we saw that down the road that they were having local Saturday night dance so we thought we would have a bit of a sticky beak.  But it turned out to be a wedding; a genuine Mexican wedding.  Felt a bit bad to crash someone’s private function so didn’t stay.  Looked pretty cool though.  It seemed the whole town was there having a good time.

Olmec Heads, Human Sacrifice and Wearing Human Skin

Sunday 27 October 2013

Started today at a beautiful hacienda in a cool little Mexican town.  Then onto Cantona.  Only the first archaeological site we are visiting on our Mexican holiday and oh my god.  It was fantastic!  Unbelievably beautiful.  Of all the sites in Mexico this one is high on the mountains and quite dry (compared to those in the jungle).  This site had the most ball courts, lots and lots of them.  Why is this significant?  Because they would play a game something like a cross between basketball and baseball but with two players; the winner would then be sacrificed.  The fact that this site had so many ball courts would seem to imply they had a big love of human sacrifice (more than typical in meso-America).  They have found human remains at the site and evidence of decapitation, dismemberment and cannibalism.  Very cool.

Then onto the Archaeological museum at Xalapa, where they have the biggest collection of colossal Olmec heads.  Also very cool.  Thought we would do a quick “in and out” on the Olmec heads but had to drag ourselves away in the end after seeing all the exquisite artefacts; sacrificial gods, the flayed god, all these little statues from over one thousand years of history.  The Olmecs were the “mother culture”, the other later art, ritual and human sacrifice, wearing human skins, decapitation and the ball game, all came from the Olmecs, who appear to have made it all up without any reference to any other culture.  Very cool.  Very freaky. 

El Tajin and Santa Maria Regla

Monday 28 October 2013

Another ruin today.  El Tajin.  This time down in the rainforest.  OMG, it was so hot and humid, we skirted from one bit of shade to the next.  Very cool.  Just beautiful. 

Then as we were leaving we were treated to a special Danza de los Voladores which means Dance of the Flyers. It is a traditional pre-Columbian thing where these crazy bastards tie themselves to a 30 meter pole and come down as the rope unwinds.  Once they're flying on the rope it's probably not that dangerous, but climbing that pole with no safety harness - oh yeah; crazy bastards!

Going down the freeway to our next destination, but the freeway wasn’t complete and they directed back down a mountain road.  20kmh for 1 hour.  Gee that was fun. 

Got to our hacienda, Santa Maria Regla, after dark.  They didn’t know we were coming but they had a room so we were able to stay.  Bit of muddle as they didn’t speak any English and our Spanish is not so good.  This hacienda was an old silver mine from the seventeenth century with all old tunnels and fountains and an old church.  Had some drinks and then went out after dark on our own with only our headlamps exploring the grounds.  Totally cool.  Next morning we could see it in the light and wow, it was really beautiful.  

Teotihuacan Pyramids

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Went to see the Aztec pyramids that were still in use when the Spanish conquistadors invaded. The two main pyramids, the Sun and the Moon were colossal.  We climbed both.  Really spectacular.  A whole avenue of pyramids probably a kilometre from end to end between the two big pyramids.  Incredible.

Puebla and Cholula

Wednesday 30 October 2013

Got lost getting to Puebla – again.  Wasted two hours.  Oh well.  Once we were on the right freeway it was smooth sailing from there. 

Stayed with Jose’s aunt and uncle Alma and Rollin.  Such lovely people.  Really warm and welcoming.  The next day Alma took us on an early morning walk to the nearby pyramid that the Catholic’s built a church on top of.  It’s a lovely church, but really?  Really?  Mmmmm… Can’t see much of the pyramid now but apparently it was even bigger than the ones at Teotihuacan. 

Then Alma took us to a church decorated in Indian Baroque.  Very detailed and ornate but with a distinct indigenous style; incorporating tropical fruits, chillies etc i.e. all the things that they would want to have when they get to heaven.  The faces of the angels were quite Indian and had different expressions showing their wonder and amazement from being in heaven.

Jose’s family and the Ranch

Thursday 31 October 2013

Off to enjoy a traditional Dias de los Muertos or Day of the Dead with Jose’s family on their family ranch in Cuicatlan.  The back seat of our car was filled with flowers Alma had asked us to bring for her mother.  Different varieties of lilies, chrysanthemums.  Two and a half hours outside of Puebla.  Luckily Alma showed us how to get out of town or we would have wasted an hour getting lost in Puebla. Once we were on the road it was smooth sailing all the way to the ranch.  Absolutely beautiful scenery.  I don’t think it’s so well known area to tourists which is a shame because it was stunning. 

We got to the ranch with no problems and about 2 minutes later, Jose’s parents, Lolita and Jose arrived.  What good timing. They took us to a nearby restaurant for some genuine Mexican food.  Yum.  Trevor had some chicken with black mole.  It’s made with a  specific chilies and chocolate.  Absolutely delicious.  I had a stew meatballs and potatoes.  The ladies who were serving were concerned it might be too spicy for me.  The gringo.  But I said “I can handle the spice” then I said, “well, I say that now…” Actually it was fine.  Not very spicy, just nice.  Had some mezcal.  Jose said it wasn’t very good quality mezcal but I liked it. Then back to the ranch for a swim.

Met Jose’s grandmother, the matriarch of the family and I helped her (I think) work with the marigolds which is the main flower they use for the altars and for the graves.  They call them “Flowers of the Dead”.  They had an awful lot.  Big job.

In the evening Lolita took us into town.  It was Friday night and “Day of the Dead Eve” so the little town was pumping.  Everyone out on the streets and the kids milling about.  Some of the little kids were dressed up in Halloween costumes and doing trick or treat.  Although Halloween is fun for the kiddies, Mexican generally disapprove of this encroachment on their ritual.  Day of the Dead is really a religious holiday and the commercialism and Americanism of Halloween is really alien to what it is.  They’re a bit concerned they may loose their tradition which pre-dates the Spanish invasion.

The little kids asked for candy but we didn’t have any.  Then they said something to Lolita, about us.  She said “they called you …” we said “whiteys” and she laughed.  Something like gringo. Saw Jose’s grandmother’s boutique hotel in town.  A really charming little hotel.  She needs to get onto the internet so people know about it. 

One thing we really hated was the mosquitoes.  Diablos.  They are really, really tiny.  We never, ever saw one.  But we sure felt them.  We got eaten alive.  They little sneaky bastards get on your skin, gorge themselves and leave you bleeding.  They have a preference for the back of your elbows.  Bastards. There were 22 bites on me, but Trevor pipped me at the post with 30 bites.  They’re really, really itchy.  Bastards.