Saturday 16 April 2011

Viva Las Vegas. Last day.

Here we are on our last day of the journey.

We survived the Montezuma's revenge, but only after an absurdly expensive visit to the USA health system.

Travelled up from Puerto Escondido in Mexico to San Francisco and travelled down to Las Vegas from there, via Sequoia national park and a day out to catch the sunset at the Grand Canyon.

And today we got married again. Finishing off the day with a Lobster and Steak dinner, and some late night gambling..... have to win back all the travel costs.

Arriving back in Frankfurt at 11:15 on Singapore SQ25, on Sunday 17th.

Time for a sleep....

Sunday 3 April 2011

Yapilopi updates.

For those following the adventures of Yapilopi our travel mascot. Yapilopi has finally updated his blog on www.yapilopi.blogspot.com.

Viva Mexico.....and Montezuma's revenge.

Flew safely to Mexico city arriving in the evening after a flight delay from Lima. We went straight out to find a street Taco place recommened in the Lonely Planet.

Although our vocabulary wasn't up to it, we decided to try most of the tacos on the menu, based on whether the sounds of the names pleased us. So, in this way we worked our way through the anatomies of various animals, including pigs ears, and tongues, and so on. All topped with delicious sauces, some hotter than others.

The next day we took a tour to the fabulous Teotihucan pyramids; the biggest ones in the Americas. Amazing!! Big big big place. Temples built upon temples. Some of them 1700 years old. And we saw possibly the first solar heated shower. We ate peppercorns from a tree, drank a load of Tequila and learnt the various uses for Agave, including paper making, sewing cloth and of course the famous drinks.

Later in the day we went to the fantastic modern Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Inside is the painting of Santa Maria, according to legend, painted miraculously upon the clothes of a native of Mexico after he was told by her apparition to gather all the flowers he could find on a mountaintop  and put them in his garments. The flowers transformed into the painting. There is a cute moving walkway, where tourists can slide by, taking photos.

Next to the  modern Basilica is the old Basilica which is slowly sinking into Mexico's spongy earth, 4cm each year. It's got a serious tilt.

We woke up the next day with all the symptoms of Montezuma's revenge. Michael is recovering well now after a really bad day yesterday. Kiyomi is still sleeping it out.

Before leaving Mexico city we struggled to the Palacio Nacional to see Diego Riviera's masterpiece, and the spooky Christ of the Poison in the cathedral. But we didn't eat much.

Took a night bus to Oaxaca from the amazing gorgeous big TAPO terminal, and here we are now.