As it happened my 1978 six month solo sojourn across Canada in 1978 was just a prelude to a longer, and somewhat more exotic, trip. In November of 1978, as the days and nights grew colder, it was clear that continuing to camp in Canada, as beautiful as Canada may be, was not going to be comfortable – or fun. But the Canada trip had really just whetted my appetite for travel. I’d started on the road to discovering Canada – and myself – but I wanted to keep going. I’d decided to go to South America. I was disappointed, but not surprised, at how little support I received from family and friends for this travel adventure. Some were concerned for my safety. I heard countless warnings of the lawlessness in Central and South America, the muggings and murders, and the duplicity and complicity of the police, who commonly extorted money from anyone they apprehended. I was warned, repeatedly, of the risk of being m...
Mexico City’s Metropol Hotel is a perfect reflection of the city itself. What it lacks in glamour and amenities it makes up for in a riot of colours: purple wall-paper, red-rug, orange and yellow swirl-checkered curtains and bed-spreads (on twin beds), and ‘matching’ orange and yellow vinyl sofa and chairs. Gay, but not restful. But sleep in this city is well-nigh impossible in any event – there is a constant cacophony of car and truck engines and horns; it seems Mexicans prefer to use their horns instead of brakes, turn signals or waves. And... there are so many cars. The streets are choked with them, and I am choking on their fumes. My nose, throat and eyes are constantly irritated by exhaust fumes, even in this room with all closed windows. It’s so pervasive. I’ve spent my first few days here wandering around, taking in the sights and sounds of one of the largest, and d...
The bus ride from Antigua to Panajachel was relatively short – 3 hours or so – with a change at Chimaltenango, a little town I’d like to get back to... . We traveled through a landscape of rolling hills, virtually all of which are cultivated (it is truly amazing how anything can be cultivated on such steep a slopes!) by indigenous farmers. Their homes – little adobe or cane (grass?) walled huts with corrugated tin rooves – or no rooves at all. The bus – an old Bluebird school bus, no longer considered fit for use in the USA, and so shipped to this and other countries where they ‘enjoy’ a new life, at least of sorts. As usual the bus was just packed with gringos and Indios. The indigenous men and young boys were clad in brightly coloured (mostly red and orange-striped, with some purple, blue and green) shirts and pants, red woven sashes at the waist, and a heavy brown and black houndstooth-patterned wool skirt, about 18” wide, wrapped ar...
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