Penguins on the Ecuator

i'm writing to share my experiences and observations
Posted on Saturday, February 16, 2002
By Jan Kline Kelly to Jan's second trip

a chapter long overdue...

i'm in the north of Ecuador in an old town called Otavalo - surrounded by marvelous mountain scenery - where all the men and boys have long hair

today´s day in the life of traveller: morning wander around town to see where i arrived late last night - nice old buildings and streets and fresh fruit-n-veg market, then nice long hike around a big lake -- seemed that everyone was at the riverside, to wash, themselves, their clothes and their cars -- watched the warm up for a football match below a very dramatic old volcano mountain while pigs and cattle w - more

Volcanoes / Lakes / Turqoise Sea

i'm writing to share my experiences and observations
Posted on Tuesday, November 20, 2001
By Jan Kline Kelly to Jan's second trip

Greetings from México.

I'm back on the road again after a long pause in Guatemala.

I enjoyed my tranquil stay at Lago Atitlán. It is a beautiful place, peaceful, inspiring and very cheap to stay. I stayed there one month before i was ready to leave and i met others who had been happily stuck there for years. I took Spanish classes of one to one tuition in a new school - my teacher and his family are now my friends - and my Spanish has improved. I will seriously consider returning to the lake to look for a patch of land, a garden of Eden on the volcano slopes, a place to build - more

pyramids and fruit

i'm writing to share my experiences and observations
Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2001
By Jan Kline Kelly to Jan's second trip

Today i visited pyramids at El Tajin near here. Some of them were very interesting, aesthetically, interesting architecture. But the site was rather developed and streamlined. Many tourists - proper gateways and museums - proper pathways and restoration so it was sometimes hard to tell what was original and what was added. I was expecting to be amazed, and there lies the problem i suppose. And to compare i had such an amazing impression at Palenque last year - less developed - more wild - surrounded by jungle and personally special - coaches and many tourists make things less special. It was a - more

Love, white roses, dresses and mariachis

i'm writing to share my experiences and observations
Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2001
By Jan Kline Kelly to Jan's second trip

Cuetzalan started to feel like home. I was there for sixteen days and fell in love with the place, the people, my friends there.

I left Cuetzalan this morning and felt sad to leave, but excited to be going to new places, and knowing that will return to that beautiful place one day.

My journey today was interesting. Firstly a little bus at 9am winding through gorgeous countryside which stopped when the road ran out at a river with no bridge that marks the frontier between the two states of Veracruz and Puebla. The ferryman poled his small boat across the river and myself and o - more

Lost world in the mountains

i'm writing to share my experiences and observations
Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2001
By Jan Kline Kelly to Jan's second trip

I left Puebla heading north to Cuetzálan - catching the bus became a series of farcical scenes as everything went wrong - included running miles with backpack - trying to find nonexistent seats - my backpack pockets opening and contents spilling out on crowded bus etc. I laughed. Eventually I was on a bus, with a seat, the middle seat at the back shouldered by two people that makes falling asleep tricky. I wasn't entirely sure that I'd find a room for the night, arriving late, and on a weekend. The ride was a quiet meditative trance as the bus headed through flatlands into mist and cloud.
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Pyramids and volcanoes

i'm writing to share my experiences and observations
Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2001
By Jan Kline Kelly to Jan's second trip

Locations: Mexico, near Mexico City at Tepotzlan, Amecameca, Puebla.

I spent much longer in Puebla than expected. I enjoyed the place, just wandering around the streets seeing how people live. The contrast. The centre, cosmopolitan, wealthy, elegant, well preserved grand colonial buildings, beautiful decoration and lights. The much more colourful and differently delightful busier streets of poorer areas, rough roads, flaking paint walls, the smell and hustle of markets, street stalls.

I have been staying in this curious hotel. It is a big old Spanish Colonial house of ramblin - more

Eyes wide open

i'm writing to share my experiences and observations
Posted on Wednesday, July 11, 2001
By Jan Kline Kelly to Jan's second trip

I feel like i'm dreaming. Coming back to Mexico City everything was familiar yet different.

I arrived in Mexico City four nights ago and received another wonderful welcome to this country from my friends who live here.

After four days in the city with delicious company, delicious endless flowing red wine and delicious food, and what was for me an emotional time, i have now began travelling "properly". Alone again in the unknown.

I find myself in an amazing little town named Taxco (pronounced Tassco) nestled on a hillside in the mountains.

I arrived deaf from - more