Ziplining in the Jungle, Chiang Mai

So, back  in Chiang Mai again after a few years away from the place and finally getting round to the ziplining that is on offer in the area, something I have managed to miss with far too much ease on previous visits. 

There are loads of places to do the ziplining and tourist agencies will just tell you to book with the one they get the most commission from so it is best to shop around to find the best deals. The prices and the ziplining on offer are pretty much standard across the board but I went with Skyline Adventure because it was the best value in terms of the amount of platforms and ziplines it offered. 

The package included the usual drill of hotel pick up and then a one and a half to two hour drive to the ziplining site in the hills north of Chiang Mai. There are various pick up times, with the first one at 0630 and the last one at 1230; this is the one we went for. 

Once there, you get decked out in safety garb, have a short safety briefing and then drive for ten minutes before a ten minute walk to the first platform. We got really lucky: it wasn't raining and we were in a small group of only four people with four guides, sometimes there can be as many as 12 people in a group. 

I found the guides to be really professional and they clearly knew their stuff, at no point did you feel unsafe. The whole time I was buzzing from the adrenaline as you jumped off the platforms and flew through the air to the next one. The abseiling was probably scarier than the ziplines as you are at the mercy of the guides who will make sure you have fun doing it; upside down was a real treat. As for the ziplining, for the really long ones you can get hooked up so you can try to go upside down and with the last one of 900m you can basically superman pose the whole way across the valley back to the starting point.

After, you'll be surprised at just how tired you are and how shaky your legs will be, but they provided a great buffet lunch as well so you can fortify yourself for the ride home. All in all it was about a five hour excursion for about 2000 baht and for me well worth the money and something I would do again and recommend to anyone. 

Final Weekend of the Trip: Mexico City

There is so much to do in Mexico City I could probably do a dozen posts and still not do it justice, there are probably even some museums I would happily wander around in, especially the Museum of Anthropology and all the various ones that house ancient Mayan artifacts. However, I would like to think this won't be my last time here so I can save that for another time. With time pressing and only a weekend available, I will just focus on the most important things on my brief stay: Mexican wrestling, the Mayan city of Teotihuacan and a local football game.

Arriving at the hostel on Friday afternoon I soon made friends with people on the rooftop terrace as we all patiently waited for 5pm to arrive for the bar to open. Over a few beers everyone was talking about the Lucha Libre event that night, namely, Mexican wrestling. Having been made aware of this I quickly ran downstairs and found out that there was still time to buy a ticket for the show, much to my relief. I was aware of the wrestling but with it only being on Tuesdays and Fridays I felt lucky I got to fit it, unexpectedly, in my plans. Forget the fact it is a tour based thing, which I generally dislike, there was the promise of fighting dwarves and with that in mind I was sold. Pretty sure that's still okay.

Once the group got there we discovered that you can't take cameras in, however much to our bemusement, you can take in phones with cameras. Mexican logic at it's finest.

There were six matches in total, the first of which was a female fight which was in full swing as we found our seats. Not a bad show but the real entertainment started in the fourth show when there was about ten wrestlers involved. There didn't seem to be any discernible order to proceedings but no one in the arena cared as they screamed and shouted during what can only be described as a royal rumble on crack, with the place reaching fever pitch as a dwarf jumped off the ropes and nutting a guy in the cojones, brilliant. This match was worth the price of admission alone, what with the resident gay wrestler upsetting the opposition with kisses and affection, obligatory muscle men for the girls (and boys) and irascible dwarves been thrown around like rag dolls and just getting up again and kicking someone in the nuts. Pretty sure the beers helped too.

Come the end of the night, everyone was buying masks, I managed to find myself out of this purchasing bracket, and after a few drinks in a local bar with some 18 year old police recruits who had just graduated, God help us, we called it a night.


A little sluggish the next day but we managed to make it to Teotihuacan, a Mayan city of epic proportions just outside of Mexico City. Tours abound for this place but doing it on your own is a breeze, just get to the North Bus Terminal (taxi, bus) and from there ask for a ticket to Teotihuacan.

Entrance is the usual two ticket job and from there you have the sprawling grounds to traverse. The main roads are like a cross, two roads perpendicular to one another, with the extensive Avenue of the Dead running north to south culminating with the impressive Pyramid of the Moon. The, even bigger, Pyramid of the Sun lies along this road and surrounding the Pyramid of the Moon there are numerous other pyramids.

You could get a guide but for me the best thing about this place was just the sheer size of it, it reminded me of places like The Forbidden City or the Summer Palace in Beijing, just massive. There are plenty of signs around the main monuments and a small museum if you are interested in learning a little more about the history of the place.

Avenue of the Dead

Pyramid of the Sun

Pyramid of the Sun

Pyramid of the Moon

After more drinking, partying in a gay bar and paying off police officials we found ourselves in the early hours of Sunday and on my final day of my trip, I was finally going to get to a football game. Sadly I managed to miss Boca in B.A and a cheap game in Bolivia but at the University Stadium I was able to enjoy a great afternoon out in the sun, drinking a beer and watching sub-par football surrounded by passionate, English speaking locals. A great way to round off the weekend before 48 hours of painful transport home, that'll teach me for flying coach.

No belts allowed in thr stadium

Isla Holbox: Swimming with Whale Sharks

Just off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula lies the island of Holbox, home to brilliant white shell beaches, bird watching and fantastic whale shark viewing. The island is just a short ferry ride from the mainland and costs 80 pesos one way for the 30 minute trip. The ferries leave from a little town called Chiquila which has many bus connections. Getting to and from here to Cancun is only three hours, however they aren't that regular so best to check times at the bus terminal first.

Finding accommodation is easy enough as there are now plenty of options on the island, the place fills up at weekends, and during holidays it is a very popular destination for Mexicans, but if you walk around the small town which occupies the centre of the island you'll soon find something.

As for activities there are a few on offer here from deep sea fishing to bird watching, but none more popular than the whale shark viewing. There are loads of tour operators who pretty much run the same operation, as usual, just walk around and enquire and when you feel you've found the cheapest/best place, go with them. We paid 1000 pesos which is on the low end of the spectrum, many places were charging up to 1300. Just shop around.

The tour begins with an early morning start at the dock where you join up with the rest of the group, your captain and guide. It take about two hours to get to the spot where the whale sharks are feeding, the plankton which was so prevalent only a couple years ago close to the coast is now all gone so the whale sharks have to go further out to sea.

It is possible to see schools of these beasts from some distance off, with their fins popping out of the water as they swim around and surround the nearby boats. At time of arrival, there must have been some 30 whale sharks in the general vicinity, quite incredible really and a real treat for me since I have wanted to see one since my first scuba dive in Thailand. For a week every other boat on the island saw this one solitary whale shark chilling in the area, I think I can safely say this makes up for that disappointment and then some.

Groups are small on the boat and you have to be with a guide, this isn't a problem anyway as he was able to figure out where they would be just by looking in the water and seeing something we couldn't. If you didn't follow his lead you had to attempt to listen out for people on the boat telling them yelling directions or suddenly bricking it and swimming away as a 30ft whale shark came out of nowhere with it's mouth wide open. I know they're not into eating humans but as if you would bother playing chicken with one of them.

You get about a couple hours or so at the site, and by the end you're pretty tired from kicking your fins in a pathetic attempt to catch up with a fish, and just from the exhilaration of the experience itself. In comparison, the rest of the day doesn't hold a candle to the first activity of the morning: there's a stop at a lagoon, plenty of flamingo viewing and ceviche, which on any other day taken on their own would have been great, but whale sharks are just cooler. The ceviche was delicious though, and the captain was good enough to give me a second bowl.

Aside from these aforementioned activities, the only other thing to do here really is to relax. There are plenty of hotels along the beach and if you buy drinks or food you can make use of their deck chairs, failing that take your own booze and wait til someone asks you to pay a rental fee, this only happened one time in four which made for very pleasant drinking and lounging.

My trip may be coming to an end but I was happy to come to a place which would rank among one of the highlights of my trip: it was peaceful, there was affordable day drinking, the sun shone endlessly and the beach was right on my doorstep, what's not to like? I would definitely come back here on holiday.

Another Quick and Easy Border Crossing: Belize to Guatemala

Belize to Guatemala is a super easy border crossing with the main one being through Benque Viejo del Carmen in Belize to Melchor de Mencos in Guatemala. It's possible to take shuttle buses from Belize City to Flores ( for Tikal) or to Guatemala City itself but these are through private companies and much more expensive than doing it on your own steam. Also, if you go straight from Belize City you miss out on the attractions closer to the border in San Ignacio and the Cayo district itself.

Coming from San Ignacio and heading to the border is simple. There are a couple options available: you can either take a bus from the town to the border town of Benque Viejo del Carmen (Benque for short) and from there take a taxi from the bus station to the border, or you can just take a taxi from San Ignacio to the border which is much easier and less hassle. The second option is a $5 per person and takes less than 20 minutes.

Once at the border, proceedings are quick. After getting your exit stamp for Belize there is a short walk with your bag(s) to the Guatemalan entry point. Once your passport is stamped  there is a bridge to walk over and from here you can take buses to Guatemala City or shuttles to Flores (30 Questzales, Guatemalan currency) which takes about three hours. Be careful with these as they like to try to overcharge tourists and they don't go to Flores. They stop in Santa Elena and then a 10Q per person tuk-tuk is required to take you through to Flores which is just over the bridge, about 2k away. Of course you can walk this but if you are feeling lazy then the tuk-tuk is the simplest option.

Tayrona National Park, Colombia

Tayrona National Park is one of Colombia's most sought after destinations for backpackers and locals alike and with its pristine beaches, beautiful weather and jungle atmosphere its not hard to see why. From the town of Santa Marta, a seaside town only 34km away, you can take a local bus along the highway and get dropped off at the ticket office in El Zaino. Another option is to visit straight after a Lost City trek and just get the driver to drop you off at the booth on the way back to town.

This was the decision myself and a friend made, we were already soaked from rain and sweat and our clothes and general being were pretty horrifying so after four days of trekking we were pretty warmed up and ready for more.

After getting dropped off on the main road in the early afternoon, we had another congratulatory beer for our hiking endeavours before heading to the ticket office. Costs for foreigners are only a little more than locals which is a nice change but just before you get there you get your bags searched by police, not fond of drugs but for some other reason they are keen on taking your spirits off you, feeling bad for the poor buggers who lost out on their Johnny Walker whisky. Sure those guards will take good care of it though.

Once you have your ticket which consists of a wrist band and a receipt the length of your arm including all of your name and passport number, your options are to either walk an hour uphill to Cañaveral or wait for the bus to come and pick you up for 2000 pesos (60p). Think Ill just wait.

Not much to do at Cañaveral other than to get your bearings and start walking to Arrecifes, the first place along the trail worth staying at or at least visiting. The walk takes around an hour or so and is pretty easy, most of it is boardwalk with only elements of bouldering which actually takes you a little higher and gives beautiful views out into the ocean. 

Again, not a whole lot going on at Arrecifes but with the light fading and neither of us having lights we were pretty limited in our options. A couple restaurants aside and a nice long beach with a dangerous riptide, there's not much to do here but considering how knackered we were it was probably for the best. 

Tents are available for rent but hammocks are much cheaper at 12000 pesos. They come with a mozzie net but I cant say mine was quite up to scratch, waking up with 21 bites on just my left knee cap might just confirm this. Oh, and some numpty had my travel towel away, can't seem to hold on to anything here in the jungle as kept losing stuff on the Lost City trek too. Why couldn't they just take my sweaty, stinky Colombia top off my hands instead?

By this stage our body clocks were used to being up by 7am so we were up, breakfasted and ready to leave by 9, no need to be too hasty. We continued along the path but it soon became apparent that the path that lead parallel to the beach was having a massive laugh at our expense so the easiest way to navigate yourself is to just walk along the beach itself.

Within half an hour you'll find yourself at La Piscina, a stretch of beach where it is possible to enter the water as the rocks further out to sea contain the swell and current. Finally able to get in the water, I dived in and savoured the cool water on my body, only when I stood up for air I stamped on something sharp and immediately my foot started cramping and my whole leg experienced horrible pain.

Managed to hobble out of the water and after some quick deliberation we decided it might be best to find a local to have a gander at it so while Tom got help I laid out in the sun trying not to think about what it could be, bloody sea monsters. After a quick assessment some random local had it figured and came back with some soupy green, seedy concoction for me to drink, assuring us it was an antidote for the serpiente, not sure it was a snake though, surely it was much bigger. Quite possibly the most horrendous thing i have ever drunk but after 20 minutes of leg palpitations the pain went and within an hour I could walk again. Success, although we didn't fancy getting back in the water here.

Another 30 minutes down the road is Cabo San Juan, where we actually wanted to get to the night before. There's a little more going on here compared to Arrecifes with more places to stay and a restaurant in the centre with ample room to host plenty of people in the after hours, not only that but right on the door step are two beautiful beaches separated by a rocky outcrop where the sand is perfect, and you can go in the water and swim about a bit. Throwing caution to the wind and feeling a little crazy, I thought I would treat myself to a dip. Did I mention it is blazing hot in the tropics.

After some more average yet extortionately priced food, get used to that in the park, we headed up the trail which would take us to Pueblito, another old city in a similar vain to the Lost City we had just hiked to. Not as grand per see but meant to be worth a look. The walk is pretty tough with the bulk of it traversing boulders and all of it uphill, there are no refreshment stands along the way so bring enough water as it is pretty gruelling in the heat.

Once we gained the city, I can honestly say we were a little disappointed in what we saw. Besdies from a couple of old looking walls there was nothing to suggest that ancient civilisations may have once lived here, it was just a well maintained clearing in the jungle. From here to the main road was another two hours with the first being brutally uphill and just as we were about to lose all hope of some downhill action, the incline subsided and became a manageable descent. At the end of the trail, you come directly out to the main road from where it is possible to then catch a bus heading towards Santa Marta, and most importantly, a shower and a proper bed.