entries to a travelogue blog of individual travels I have made
It took us some four hours to drive from Xalapa to Mexico City, on a comfortable toll way, called ‘cuota’ here. And the dreaded traffic, arriving into town, was in fact a piece of cake, on a Saturday around lunch time. We dropped the car, and teamed up with our friends again – the same … Read more
We had planned a stop-over in Xalapa, to admire more of the so-called Colossal Heads that define the Olmec civilization, the oldest in Mexico. The Olmecs flourished between 1200 – 400 BC in the present-day Mexican states Vera Cruz and Tabasco, and are thought to have laid the foundation for the later, more famous civilizations. … Read more
After Edzna we were left with the long drive back to Mexico City, part of which we had already done on the way up, of course. We stopped in uneventful Ciudad del Carmen, on the Gulf Coast, and in charming Cosamaloapan, a small town in the middle of sugarcane country. Instead of taking the toll … Read more
We cannot spend time in Yucatan in 2024, without commenting on the Tren Maya, the train that connects the various tourist sites in Yucatan along a more than 1500 km track through virgin jungle, over pristine cenotes and past priceless archaeological locations. For some the greatest engineering project in the world, for other a megalomaniac … Read more
Because we couldn’t find a decent breakfast, and because we spent far more time in the little Maya Museum at the Fuerte de San Miguel, we finally arrived at the Maya site Edzna at around 11.30 am. Right, the hottest part of the day, and it was already a hot day. But the spin-off is … Read more
This delightful museum just outside Campeche has a fabulous collection of Maya artefacts from sites all over Campeche and Yucatan provinces. There is a lot of explanation, a lot of detail, on site, also in English, but I have mostly focused on the aesthetics of the artefacts displayed. And share a few more photos here.
Colonial city-wise, things are getting better. Was Valladolid a bit of a disappointment, and Merida quite nice, but a little big and crowded, Campeche is a charming and well-preserved town, with a lot of atmosphere. Well, it is a big city in its own right, but the historical centre, within its original defensive wall – … Read more
Is it worthwhile visiting Turkmenistan, admittedly not the most touristic country in the world? Obviously, it depends on what you want to achieve, but for most people it probably isn’t. Most of the places on our itinerary weren’t that impressive, there are better canyons, better deserts, better mountain villages and better lakes at the bottom … Read more
The last day of our trip we spent in Ashgabat, without the group, but still with guide; the concept that you would wander around without is too uncomfortable for the Turkmen authorities (although at the end of the day I do manage to leave the hotel unattended, and make a few purchases in nearby shops). … Read more
The reason to interrupt the Nowruz celebrations prematurely was our next item on the program, the Darvaza Crater. Turkmenistan tourist attraction number one. Which perhaps says more about the tourists than about the tourist attractions. The crater is another four hours’ drive, once again into the desert. What started as something resembling an airport landing … Read more