FOTOS

so, with the help of one Ben Bachelder, we were able to get a hold of a few photos from the past few weeks. Ben was traveling with us for about a week and a half and luckily taking pictures all the while. Uptil now he had yet to make an appearance in the blog, so we're taking care of that now as well (he's the guy in a few of the group shots) . It was fun having him with us and we all miss him dearly. As for the pictures, they're mainly Guatemala, and have been inserted so as to better coincide with the actual timeline of the trip. So if you want to take a look at them you just have to go back a few weeks, but if not it doesn't matter, we don't really care what you do.

La Bufadora

La Bufadora Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

it's a blowhole/tourist trap, we suggest skipping it

the Flag in Ensenada

Flag in Ensenada Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

it's huge

Gris Motel

Gris Motel Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

this is where we stayed in Ensenada,it translates to Grey Motel, but it was actually pretty nice

Baja Sky

Baja Sky Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

Baja

Baja Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

a very typical view

Da Baja

Location: Cabo San Lucas, just after ferrying the car over onto the Baja Peninsula (and to think you never thought we'd make it out of La Eaperanza) Car status: Our water pump is busted so we have to stop and add water every two hours and drive about 60 kph in the e-lane with our hazard lights on so the car doesn't overheat. Truthfully its not all that bad we only really have to do that for about half the day. Our exhaust pipe broke again so we are driving with wads of tp in our ears and soda cans wrapped around and holding it together. All in all she's running pretty well. Passenger status: Half deaf and losing our figures Sample conversation: Colin: We just hit a bird Brendan: What? Colin: WE JUST HIT A BIRD!!! Darren: a what? Colin: A bird Brendan: I though it was a leaf Colin: I saw it fly out in front of us Brendan: Oh Colin: What? Brendan: I SAID OH!! Colin: Oh Kiki status: the warmer weather on Baja has her donning a mini skirt akin to something one might see in a Shakira video Legal Status: An environmental enforcement officer pulled us over leaving Guadalajara and tried to confiscate Darren's liscence as collateral for a fine. Apparently out car was emitting excessive amounts of smoke. We convinced the guy to let us go by repeatedly reminding him of the age of the vehicle and by ensuring him we planned on taking it with us when we left the country in a few weeks. Mileage: a litlle over 10,000 km or 6,000 miles Notes: One of the greatest adventures while travelling is the people we meet, and throughout our travels we have met many different types - some "good" some "bad". After spending a couple of days in the silver mining town of Taxco, and having met both types on our last night there, we headed to Morelia to meet up with Mitch's friends. We were a little hesitant at first to drop in on friends of friends out of the blue, but Enrique and Saul, not to mention their entire group of friends, took us in as three of their own. They took us to an awesome bar with live music, we played basketball (the first bit of exercise any of us had had in a long while), went to the lake town of Patzcuaro, as well as some surrounding ruins and still had time to catch "Batman Begins" (it kicked SO much ass) we honestly can't thank them enough for showing us around, and look forward to running into them again if we ever get the time to make it back. Or if Enrique ever gets his road trip plans north enough to come visit us. After leaving Morelia we headed to Guadalajara, evidently the birthplace of Mariachi music. For the most part, we slept alot, its tiring sitting in a car under the sun all day (especially after you've done it for 2 months). But we did manage to get out and enjoy the historical district and its parks for a little while. We were also lucky enough to decide to try one more bar on Tuesday night to see if there was anything going on, and stumble upon one of the better bars we've visited on this trip, including a foam pool and a pretty descent crowd. We were planning on ferrying over from Mazatlan but we were forced to drive another 5 hours north to Topolobampo due to maintenance work underway on the loading ramp. We got to the next port at about 3:30 and waited until 12:00 to actually get on the boat. So 5 hours of watching "Office Space" and sleeping on the ferries provided seating, and another 3 hours of driving south, we've arrived in Cabo San Lucas. Tired from lack of sleep but still planning a long night with a bottle of tequila.

the Ferry

the Ferry Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

the best and only foto we have of it

Temporary fix

Temporary fix Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

we wrapped a soda can around the exhaust while waiting for the ferry (a local cab driver suggested it)

Mazatlan's shores

Mazatlan's shores Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

Mazatlan

Mazatlan Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

More of Taxco kicking ass

More of Taxco kicking ass Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

Taxco kicked ass

Atop a pyramid

cactus tree thing

100_0738 Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

Studying the map

Teotihoacan (sp?)

Cathedral in Oaxaca

Cathedral in Oaxaca Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

B, C & D looking for A

So Oaxaca was pretty cool, old colonial town with tons of churches but nothing much to do on Sunday or Monday nights. One of the problems with covering so much ground on a schedule is that you can´t pick and choose the days you´re in any given place. Luckily this upcoming weekend we plan on being in Morelia meeting up with some friends of our Peace Corps buddy Mitch, so that should be pretty cool. After Oaxaca we had a big driving day up towards Puebla. Our car almost overheated again so we convinced Brendan it was a good idea to jump a barbed wire fence and steal some water from a local farmers pump so we could fill up our radiator. It was pretty funny and we got it on video. Puebla turned out to be much bigger and cooler than Oaxaca. Their central park is gorgeous and there are tons of outdoor cafes, bars and restaurants not to mention tattooed, heavyset women. We were there for two nights and set out for a day trip to Teotihaucan, a nearby Aztec ruins said to have the biggest pyramids in the americas. They´re pretty friggin´ huge, but easily scalable in under five minutes (Brendan and Colin had a stupid side bet, Colin won handily so he took this opportunity to slip it into the blog entry he is currently writing). Right now we´re in Taxco (pronounced Tasco), a town a little south of Mexico City thats the main supplier of Mexico´s silver. We just got in a few hours ago so we´ll let you know how it is when we get the chance. Unfortunately, having temporarily (quite possibly permanently) misplaced our camera cable the blog and its followers are going to have to make due for a while with just its written word, we´re trying to think around the problem right now so they´ll be there as soon as they can.

It took a while

our one foto of Belize

Pinche Guey

Location: Wherever we stopped after driving West all day on the Yucatan. Side note: The Yucatan is barren, flat and hot as hell. Mileage: 7400 Km Vehicle Status: We¨ve repieced together our exhaust with spare pieces of metal found on the ground at various rural welding shops. We¨re still losing oil and we were almost forced to part with our horns at the Mexican border (the guy said something about a rare form of Mad Cow disease). Passenger Status: sweaty Kiki´s Satus: Since being put back together she has had surprisingly little to say. Notes: As we drive over the Belize-Mexico border today, we officially bring an end to our journey through Central America. Due to this momentous occassion, we would like to reflect and give thanks to a part of the world that was our home for the past 2+ years and our playground for the past month and a half. Panama - thank you for the tour of the canal, the beautiful islands of Bocas del Toro, turkey sandwiches, and Mikey. You can keep your cheap-ass mini beers. Costa Rica - thanks you for the Osa Peninsula, breath-taking drives, hot springs with built in bars, and old Toyota Landcruiser spare parts..........¨pura vida?¨ Nicaragua - thanks for liter beers and San Juan del Sur Honduras - we can{t thank you enough El Salvador - for having the biggest mall in central america, which provided us with the opportunity to watch Star Wars Espisode III. And for the podunk town on the beach by the Guatemala border whose name we can´t remember. Guatemala - for the beautiful town of Antigua, which provided us with plenty of time to pasear, ¨people¨ watch, and eat good food. We also thank you for Volcano Pacaya, Lake Atitlan, the market in Chichicastanango, and the Mayan Ruins of Tikal. A special thanks goes out on Brendan{s behalf to the street vendor who sold him the enchilada from hell, which left him with a bacterial infection and a funny walk. Oh yeah, and we give a respectable one-finger salute to the Titanic for ripping us off in Coban. Belize - uh...yea. Thanks for the nice roads and the one night stay. We could have had something beautiful.... So there it is - 7 countries and a few beers later....we find ourselves in Mexico cruising along the highway making our way from the Yucatan Peninsula to the Baja Peninsula. Next stop - Oaxaca, MX.

sunset in Tikal

dumb bugs in Tikal, they'd fly right into the side of you head

View from Temple 5

cool bromeliad type thing

leaf cutter ants

Temple 2

Gran Plaza

look a tree

us in Tikal

Tikal, Gutemala

more peeing

more peeing Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

it turned out the road in between Panajachel and Tikal was in a lot worse shape than we were told, so what we hoped to be one long six hour day turned into two. with a lot of rest stops.

some entertianment while we wait for our food

¿Did you know they have big beers in Gutemala too?

colorful graveyard

masks in Chichicastenango

entrance to Chichicastenango, Guatemala

A sign of where we stayed in Panajachel and a cool fruit

A sign of where we stayed and a cool fruit Originally uploaded by Road Trip.

had to fix the exhaust in Panajachel, Guatemala (first time of many)

Darren having a moment with Picaya

Volcano Picaya near Antigua

Iglesia San Fransisco, Antigua, Guatemala

Guatemala bound

El Salvador

Accommodations in El Salvador