Cancun (part 1) - Dec 18

Caught a 4.5 hour cab back to Havana today (was the only way to have enabled me to spend an extra day in Trinidad), shared the cab with an Argentinian and a Spanish guy. There was a really great moment where we were all singing along to Bob Marley's Buffallo Soldier as we cruised down the highway.

Made it to the airport at 12 on the dot .. the taxi driver made me pay him in the car rental area and in secret ..

Had a short flight to Cancun .. Feels good to be back in Mexico.. Cancun is not what I expected, was imagining high rise after high rise next to the beach (similar to the Gold Coast), it is more like mega hotels .. Massive big things the size of a city block .. spread out along the thin strip of land between the Carribean and an inland lagoon. 

Wanted to go to Chichen Itza tonight, so that I could be there nice and early tomorrow morning and avoid the hoardes. However the bus station was soo crazy busy and I soo exhausted I decided to book myself onto a morning tour and stay the night in the hotel across the road from the bus station here in Cancun. 

Trinidad (part 3) - Dec 17

Hey holiday romance!

Was meant to go back to Havana tonight but instead decided to spend another day with Aldona (the German girl from Hamburg I met at the bar last night), so que a day at a Carribean beach .. golden white sand, crystal blue waters, just lying around ..

After the beach we caught the taxi back to town to freshen up before dinner than evening. On my side of town the power blacked out for about 25 minutes (not uncommon in Cuba apparently).

We had dinner at a Palador (a private restaurant rather than a state run one), and then drinks (yes .. more rum), at Casa Dela Musica. For some reason they had a 1CUC cover charge tonight .. seems to be purely to discourage locals from attending .. hence it was a bit light on with people dancing.

Trinidad (part 2) - Dec 16

Some observations of cuba

- not many toilet seats
- only thing on offer in the way of street food seems to be pizza (and perhaps some sandwiches). 
- thought i would see spontaneous salsa dancing and much music in the streets .. haven´t seen this at all
- yes they do smoke cigars
- you see old men sitting in the street playing dominoes

Walked around town today, just wandering aimlessly really .. soaking up the colonial atmosphere. There is not much in the way of car ownership in Cuba (same level as England in the 1940´s), so many streets feel pedestrianised.

That evening I met a lovely German girl (who I had seen earlier on the bus from Havana), ended up chatting to her and sharing a bottle of Rum (you can buy a bottle of 3 year Havana Club for $10), then quite inebriated I joined her for some salsa dancing in a cave.

Trinidad (part 1) - Dec 15

Half the fun of Cuba seemed to be the Casa Particulars .. really interesting experience staying in peoples houses. Found out that they have to pay 250 a month, regardless if anyone stays in them or not.

Got the bus in today .. had to navigate an absolute melee of people in order to get out of the bus station, literally had to push past people to get out (with everyone trying to get me to stay at their casa).

Once I was checked into my friendly clean casa (with private ensuite), I decided to do a spot of salsa dancing .. had a private lesson for about an hour and a half just a stones throw from where i am staying in what appeared to be someone´s front room.

Patriot or death .. hey that´s uplifting :)

Food is generally pretty poor here, however I have been eating lots of fish and fresh tropical fruit (guava, papaya).

Cienfuegos - Dec 14

I told the Casa hosts I needed to get up at 8am .. so sure as rain .. at 8 there was a knock on the door, the door opened and the light turned on .. some sort of revenge for me waking them up perhaps? (for the record they didnt seem upset at all when I rolled in late .. they just smiled and suggested I was having a `fiesta, cervesa, bailar.. `)

Got the bus to Cienfuegos, met a Aussie guy from Canberra who is a musician and worked at RMIT in Melbourne, had a good chat to him during the 4 and a bit hour trip.

Ended up splitting a Casa Particular with a Scottish bloke (also met on the bus).

Lots of 50s style architecture here .. houses, shops, gas stations .. really interesting.

Havana (part 3) - Dec 13

This hotel is burning a hole in my pocket, have found a Casa Particular to stay in. Nothing fancy, pretty basic really, but the elderly couple running it are very friendly plus I feel like they need the custom.

Wandered around this afternoon down to the Malecon (the Havana ocean drive), was after quite a bit of rain so maybe that was why it seemed a bit quiet. On one side of the road is a big sea wall which had waves crashing over it, on the other were faded, crumbling beautiful old buildings (some of which they were doing up).

Plenty of hustlers here, was eating lunch when a woman sat down at my table and started talking to me and showing me pictures .. I tried to appear disinterested but she didn´t get the hint until after she had given me the sob story ..

That night I met a gorgeous German girl at a Middle Eastern restaurant. We went out for some drinks and then I sheepishly had to wake my elderly hosts in order to get back into the casa at 5am .. I felt like a naughty teenager!

Havana (part 2) - Dec 12

Saw a young kid dancing salsa moves as I waited for the ATM.

Last night I stayed in the Hotel Plaza, cost about $85US a night which is expensive on my budget. The hotel is quite nice though, it is about 100 years old, with one of the old fashioned lifts with the metal grill around it. 

They have three peso bills here .. have never seen that before.

Ok I think I need to say a little bit about the currency situation over here. Cuba is predominantly a cash economy and there are two currencies a local currency and a tourist currency, apparently the tourists can only use the tourist one .. locals wouldn't be able to afford it anyway as everything on the CUC (convertibles), costs a lot. 

Me with a couple of comrades

Went to the underwhelming Museo De La Revolucion, then wandered around the old town .. that night I went to China town for a non latin meal .. the cook was from Shanghai and yes he made good dumplings.

Feel pretty safe here, wandered around a bit last night .. however I think I may have took a wrong turn and ended up in a street with a lot of ladies of ill repute, maybe I should temper my wanderings a wee bit.

Travel burn out .. it is real and I think I have it .. part of me is actually looking forward to going home.

Havana (part 1) - Dec 11

Bit of a transit day today, I caught a flight from San Jose to Havana with a decent lay over in Panama City. Didn't leave the airport so didn't see much of Panama, however I could see the highrise buildings off in the distance.

After killing time in their very American airport I finally boarded my flight to Cuba, on arrival I was stressing about whether my bag would arrive with me (I have had bad experiences with connecting flights). I was feeling so relieved that they did that I didn't mind at all the red tape and procedures I had to go through to get into the country. It also helped that the woman who was asking me questions was stunningly gorgeous .. she appeared to be very concerned that I was unemployed, and couldn't understand how I had travelled so long.

I do like these 50´s cars

First impressions of Cuba -

- They do have modern cars!
- Not much in the shops
- Expensive!!
- Nothing quite works 100%

Another thing I noticed was that the taxi driver would come to a complete stop, and look around when ever we came to a railway crossing .. guess the boom gates are quite unreliable. 

San Jose - Dec 10

I caught the early morning shuttle to San Jose today feeling a little worse for wear, the same driver picked me up and we picked up from the hotel the same two American girls that I had on the way in.

Stayed the night with an old friend Leo, a guy who I met in Park City close to ten years ago (he looks pretty much exactly the same), he took me out for some beers (through the nightmarish traffic), and some refrijo (a Costa Rican specialty).

Couple of cervezas with Leo (right) and his buddy in San Jose

Would like to add that Costa Rica has the best looking girls in Central America .. probably a lot to do with the fact they are also one of the wealthiest.

Playa Santa Teresa (part 6 and 7) - Dec 8/9

Had a really cool experience out on the waves today for my last surf in Central America, was sitting out on my board having a chat with an English guy when all of a sudden I see the water close by me come alive .. there were fish flapping about and hundreds of small fish, it was almost like it was boiling .. then the school of fish moves towards me and before I know it I am surrounded by little fish, it was a strange sensation having all these little fish brushing against me. There was so many I could scoop them up with my hands .. no wonder the seagulls love it.

I stayed two nights at Adam's casita .. nice place, it had an outdoor kitchen area.. and a space for entertaining. First night we went out to a bar in town, played pool .. the next night we invited the Canadian girls around for some drinks and cards (ring of fire .. where one of the cards was "spontaneous dance party").

Me, Adam and the Canadians

Think I may have over done it with the daily yoga, my left hamstring is starting to tighten right up ..

Playa Santa Teresa (part 5) - Dec 7

Bugger .. somehow got a ding on my rental surfboard today, despite not hitting anyone or any rocks (that I know), I did wipeout and hit my heel against the board .. surely my heel is not that strong (mind you it is a heel shaped ding) .. anyway the bastards want to charge me $70US to fix it ..

Will have to stay in Adam´s spare bed the next couple of nights to try and recoop costs ..

An iguana up a palm tree .. can you spot him?

Playa Santa Teresa (part 4) - Dec 6

Struggled a bit in the surf today, the swell picked up and it was kinda scaring the cr*p out of me .. tough to paddle out, plus had a couple of decent wipe outs. If the swell rises again, I might be out of my depth.

Appears to be mostly tourists in the water, could be that many of the shops and businesses are run by foreigners (Israelis, Italians).

Feeling a bit lonely today, my hostel now has two guests (a couple), but they stick to themselves .. would like to have some people to talk with.

Yoga was tough too .. doing yoga everday is harder than it sounds, was sweating so much I had to take my tshirt off .. then at the end of the class it was so saturated I couldn't put it back on.

View from the yoga place .. ocean is in front of those trees (my camera was seriously struggling looking into the sunset)

After yoga I went to an Argentinian roast chicken place, was really good.

Then in the evening I popped by Adam's place, where I found him entertaining the two young Canadian girls (Lindsey and Catelyn), we had some beers, then went across the road to the opening night of an american sports bar, once the girls said their goodbyes we wandered a couple of km's down the road to Kika's for some live music.

Playa Santa Teresa (part 3) - Dec 5

Lots of critters here .. saw a massive beetle last night about the size of a fist, plus two iguanas wandering around in the backyard of the hostel. It rained last night quite heavily and when it did I saw crabs and centipedes getting about. Lots of mozzies too unfortunately, it is difficult to sleep outside because of the highpitch squeal their wings make as they fly past your head.

Waves are on the border of my ability here, some of the sets that come in are easily over head height at their peaks. Plus it can be a bastard of a paddle out getting out past the white wash.

Think I will crash in Adam's pad for the last two nights here.

She´s a dusty old town that´s for sure.

Trying to find a place that is showing the Man City Man Utd game .. proving tough.

Playa Santa Teresa (part 2) - Dec 4

Wake .. eat .. surf .. siesta .. eat .. yoga .. eat .. sleep

This was my day today and it suits me just fine, all it was lacking was some female company and it would be a 5 star day.

There is no one in my hostel, just me and the two italian owners .. I kinda like it though, it feels like I have my own beach house.

Note the blue couch - this is where I take my daily siesta.

Waves here are bigger than Tamarindo, requiring me to actually paddle out a bit (which at times can be quite the battle .. with all the duckdiving that is needed). Got a few good rides though, and again I feel I am improving.

Had an impromptu "spanish exam", from Andrea the Italian guy running the hostel (and the attached Italian restaurant), did pretty good with my vocab.

In the evening I caught up with Adam, we went to a yoga class ran by a Sydney girl, with a really strong accent.

Playa Santa Teresa (part 1) - Dec 3

Spent the whole day travelling pretty much today .. have realised I dont really enjoy the transit days, much prefer to be in one place .. in Europe I enjoyed travelling around but here it always feels like such an ordeal. Caught the mini bus at 8.25, was chilly when I jumped on .. by the time we got halfway down the hill the heat hit me and I had to take the jumper off. There was just two others in the minivan (the obligatory american college girls).

The bus could have left a good two hours later and still made the ferry crossing at Punteranes, we had a half hour stop whilst the driver ate breakfast and then had about two hours waiting at the ferry terminal.

I got in to Playa Santa Teresa around 4. The hostel I found in the Lonely Planet was being renovated and had been closed for a month and a half, he says he opens tomorrow ..

Santa Teresa is right on the beach, quite tropical, all the dwellings are along the main drag - a super dusty road .. feels quite rustic, a lot different to Tamarindo or San Juan.

Caught up with Adam (the American guy I was hanging out with in Tamarindo), he has got a place near the beach for the month .. might stay in his spare bed, but dont want to cramp his style.

Monte verde (part 2) - Dec 2

Today went zip lining (which is the thing to do in Monte verde), really enjoyed it. Sort of thing I used to do in scouts. Was supposed to get picked up at the hostel but for some reason they forgot me (perhaps because I booked so late .. didnt want to get involved in the hard, pressure sell from the bloke at the desk of the hostel), anyway I got a cab up the bumpy pot holed filled road and arrived when the 20 or so people had been all kitted up (gloves, harness, hard hat). 

The group "Extremo" have rigged things the lines up in the cloud forest, with the wires straddling the valley. They move you through really fast which is good .. there was probably 8 zip lines (some of which you go tandem), as well as a Tarzan Swing (this highlight involved a rope dangled out which you swing off after a 15 foot free fall), and 1 superman. 

Me in the cloud forest .. all harnessed up.

The superman was a 1 km long zip line but you go head first, and you can't break. Felt very unnatural, to be looking down into a ravine from this height.  

Monte verde (part 1) - Dec 1

Terrible, terrible nights sleep last night .. felt I needed an early morning surf as I am heading away from the coast for a few days, hence went to bed early. Unlucky for me, one of the two annoying Canadian frat boys brought a girl back to the dorm (no funny business, but their talking kept me awake until she left). Then just as I was about to get back to sleep I hear;

drip .. drip .. drip 

It sounded like it was coming from behind my head, I put my hand out to feel for any moisture but dont find any. Then I place my hand on my bed to realise there is a big wet spot. My hand feels around in the dark to find drops of liquid seeping from the top bunk. It doesnt smell of urine .. plus surely a bladder cant hold that much volume. I check my phone it is 5 am .. so I head out into the common area (trying my hardest to avoid the ramblings of a drugged up 42 year old american), and pull up a hammock whilst the sun slowly fills the sky with light. 

Didn't manage any zzz's in the hammock, so I head out into the water around 6 .. such a beautiful time of the day, and only a handful out .. lots of waves for me until the lineup filled up. 

After my surf I had breakfast with Zack, watched Man City draw with Everton at the internet cafe, said goodbye to my hostel and caught a minibus to Monteverde. 

One of the vistas on the road to Monte verde

Monteverde is cold, misty and windy .. Went out for some drinks in town with a Saudi Arabian girl .. Discussed politics and religion, the two big no goes .. There was a couple of bands playing in the bar .. One that was indie rock and the other that played mid 90s grunge. 

Tamarindo (part 6) - Nov 30

Finally got a good sleep last night .. feel soo much better today .. got over 9 hours .. feel like a normal human being again.

Went to Avellanes today with Zack (a guy from Austin Texas), and two Canadian girls .. he has a car and it sounds like Tamarindo is getting a bit too small to surf.

Avellanas

I like to be in control, so it felt a bit uncomfortable to me to head out with these people whilst having no control of where we were going or when we were coming back .. as I burn so easily I really dont want to be sitting on a beach all day. However as quite often is the case my fears were unfounded .. mind you I did get burnt.

The squirrels here are red! 

Crabs galore on the beach here .. they like to hang out in little holes in the sand .. it is funny if you make sudden movements you see then all scurrying to get back to their holes.

The waves were a lot bigger and more challenging .. felt good to be tested. Today was the day I rediscovered my "stoke" for surfing.

Tamarindo (part 5) - Nov 29

Too much beer .. too much tequila .. body needs a break from the sun. Tamarindo is wearing me out .. think I may need to head up to Monteverde in order to give my liver a break.

Too hungover to write anything today.