The End of The Road - And This Gets Personal - The Rest of the Story

Fiona, gazing pensively, on our last day in Mexico

 

We made it home. We finished the journey. We're back in Jefferson, Oregon.  And it wasn't easy ...

This trip has been amazing and wonderful. The goal was to begin on New Year's Day in Tierra del Fuego - at the very southern tip of South America - and drive home to Oregon. And we did it.

It's a very long distance - 14,617 miles. It took 82 days and we had to push hard to achieve that. Even though it was the trip of a lifetime, it turned out to be a real challenge.

It was a fantastic trip in so many ways, with views of places that would blow your mind. It was amazing to visit so many places that you often didn't even know existed. 

 

I've enjoyed writing about our experience in this blog, along with pictures of the incredible places we visited. We had some great times ...

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But ... we had a lot of problems on this trip.

I certainly didn't want to dwell on it, and I didn't mention it before in this blog - but now that we're done, I feel more comfortable talking about it.

Fiona and I have traveled a lot but we experienced some real difficulties on this trip that were not common in our travels.

It started when our debit cards got hacked in early February. We frequently use these cards in ATM machines all over the world to get cash in the local currency. It's easy, and you get a favorable exchange rate.

But somehow, our card number and PIN got hijacked and were used repeatedly to withdraw cash from our bank account. This took place over a few days at many different banks, mostly in Peru. It was a lot of money.

Fortunately, we found out it before it got completely out of hand, and contacted our bank (not easy from where we were) and they immediately shut down the card.

Then it happened again twice more with other cards and they shut those down too. It was a big fraud problem. The serious issue with that is we had no way to get cash for the rest of our trip. It was a real problem from that point on, and we had a long way to go!

Of course we could use credit cards to pay for stuff, but that's often limited in the remote areas where we like to go. And to make matters worse, our American Express card was compromised with a bogus transaction, and it was quickly shut down by Amex, so that card didn't work anymore.

We were quickly running out of options. We still had a few tricks up our sleeve (maybe that's not the right phrase to use in this case!) but we were going to press on and try to make the best of it. 

It Gets Worse

Then we had several things stolen. My computer and other electronics were stolen on a bus trip in Ecuador. And then, worst of all, the very next day my cherished new and expensive iPhone - which I used for so many pictures - was also stolen. 

I won't go into the details other than to say it was very disheartening, and rather demoralizing.  We got pretty discouraged.

And to top it off my Google account got hacked. I couldn't access email, maps, pictures, even this blog! You name it, it was gone. And then Facebook got hijacked.   

It is a real pain to get these things resolved when you're driving over a 10,000 foot peak in the Andes mountains. We were in remote places most of the time with no phone or internet access.

This all happened over the course of a few weeks. It was a war of attrition. Could we make it home before all our cards, devices, and money were gone? As it turns out, we got back to the States with thirteen dollars left.

But we made up our minds to complete the trip and it took some real determination to make that happen. And I don't want to make it sound like the whole trip was a bummer. It wasn't - but it sure was not easy.

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The other issue is that driving for fourteen thousand miles ... well ... it's not that fun. In fact it's really tough. It started out exciting. Patagonia was unbelievable, although the roads were dangerous. 

But eventually the driving became a lot of work. The roads were often treacherous, and we drove a thousand miles on dirt roads. 

One day we went 180 miles and it took twelve hours. It was really hard to make good time.

In addition, driving that much day after day after day, becomes a bit of a grind. I'm not sure I would want to do it again. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but looking back, it really wears you out.

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But I don't want to end on a negative note. I just wanted to give the other side of the story. Despite the many setbacks, we had a great time and it's one we will never forget.

And on the bright side, we we didn't get hurt. Looking back in fact, you might recall that when we started the trip Fiona had a broken arm. And amazingly, we didn't get in a collision (or worse), especially considering the crazy driving conditions.

And we were able to retain our passports the whole time. All in all, it was certainly a noteworthy trip. Something to tell the grandkids. 

And when we got back to Oregon, of course it was raining, but rains makes good rainbows.  Rather symbolic don't you think?  The end of the rainbow?

 

One last Sunset

Once we hit the roads in the United States, we could really drive fast. Other than the roads in Chile, we could not cover ground quickly, so when we had the chance we pushed hard - and drove a thousand miles on the last day back to Oregon.


I captured this sunset on the way home.

The Biggest Tree in the World is in ... Mexico? Along with a Frozen Waterfall in the Desert?

 

 

We've had a busy few days since arriving in Mexico

We're in the rather large city of Oaxaca (Wah-Hah-Kah) in the south central part of Mexico.  We have really enjoyed the sites and sounds and food of this region.  It's very lively and colorful.  And there's no shortage of things to see and do.

One of the trips we took was to a small town outside of Oaxaca, where we went to look at the Biggest Tree in the World.   That's a big claim, especially when you consider much of Mexico resembles desert more than forest. 

But this tree was a stand-alone giant, kept alive for over 2,500 years by an underground spring.  This also makes it one of the oldest trees in the world.  
It was amazing, and really attracts a crowd.  
It dwarfed a nearby church, and I couldn't get all of it in the frame of a picture. 

A Frozen Waterfall ... in this heat?

Another place, farther off the beaten path, is a place known as Boiling Waters.  It's kinda hard to get to, but really interesting.  You go out of town and up a hill and down a road and ... you get the idea.  By the time we got there it was late in the day. 

There are some pools at the top that appear to be like ice rinks.  Of course it's an optical illusion, people were swimming in the pools.  It's like a wild and natural infinity pool, with water to the edge of a cliff. 

And nearby is the "frozen" waterfall - a phenomenon - a reaction to the multiple minerals that come out of the water and "petrify".  Some of this geology stuff is beyond me, but the minerals harden in the shape of a waterfall.  It is very deceiving, as you can see by the pictures. 

Wait, one more time - how did these guys build this stuff?

Another very important feature of the surrounding area of Oaxaca is the ancient ruins.  These are from the Mixtecs, Aztecs, and mostly Zapotecs.  It's a only a short drive out of town to the hilltops that are full of these archeological sites. 

A testament to their civilization are the fantastic structures they built.  We visited several. They've withstood the elements and earthquakes (we had one last night) for well over 2,000 years.  You could spend a lot of time here at these ruins, very impressive.  And very massive. The buildings at Monte Alban covered a huge amount of ground. 

Getting Around

And Oaxaca is full of things to see and do.  It's very historic and well preserved.  The sunny, dry, and warm weather helps things to last longer (like 2,500 years?).  We enjoyed great food, and lots of music.  

We also visited a wool factory where they talk about how they dye wool with natural elements from their surroundings (below), such as cactus parasites and grasshoppers.  Again, everything is full of color, as evidence by the yarn (above). 

And of course no visit to this area would be complete without a trip to the Mezcal distillery. It's a rather amazing process, generating liquor from the Agave plant.  

This is a tasty cousin to Tequila.  The locals claim Mezcal is far superior.  It has a worm in the bottom of the bottle.  In fact, in the bottle shown below, it has a scorpion!  If you look close you can see the stinger at the bottom. 

Another Point of View

These are pictures ... that have no direct relation to the stories above, but simply seemed to belong on the blog.

The picture below was taken in a "fiesta" store. Colorful masks and costumes are very popular here, they have a lot of celebrations. 

I've mentioned the ill effects (that's a polite way to put it) of the Spaniard's conquest of the indigenous peoples of Latin America.  In the picture below, they built a cathedral right on top of an ancient Zapotec pyramid.  Bad Karma?

I've seen a lot of beautiful churches around the world, but this statue in the picture below stopped me in my tracks.  It's the Virgin Mary in a pleading pose over the body of Jesus.  Very moving.  The picture does not do it justice. It was thirty feet tall.

And this etched glass on the entry door of another church glowed in the sunlight.  Very stunning. 

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So we are getting near the end of our trip.  In fact, we have to really push hard in the next few days to get home in time.  

I've said this before ... many times ... about other places ... 

But I wish we could spend more time in Mexico. This is an amazing country.  The people are wonderful.  

Just Don't Talk to the Women - Twenty Miles of Mennonites - And Watch Your Step

Our Time in Belize was just right - Not too long, and not too short 

We are moving along again, just arrived in Mexico. It was really great to spend time with friends and family in Belize, but now they're gone.  And so are we.

We caught a bus today to Chetumal, Mexico, right after dropping off our friends Ken and Mary at the airport where they would fly home.  Our son TK and his wife Jenny left Belize yesterday to return to Nicaragua where they live.

Our current location is directly across the border from the north end of Belize.  You can cover a lot of ground in Belize, since it's not very big.  In fact, we covered pretty much the entire country in our time there.   And that includes a lot of ocean time, where you can visit the numerous islands. 

The weather turned a bit and we got some rain, but that's what makes this place so green.  During the last couple days we visited more of the amazing Mayan ruins, in some cases, deep in the jungle.  

The jungle in Belize is impressive.  In many places, it has reclaimed the Mayan ruins, with trees growing amongst the stone structures.  As you make your way into the sites, you pass through  intense rain forest and jungle with vegetation competing for sunlight.  

Some of the palms and ferns are massive, and the hard wood trees are huge.  There are so many kinds of palm trees, it's hard to identify the different species.  Some palms have short trunks, with palm leaves (fronds?) shooting out up to 40 feet!

Didn't expect to see these guys out here

One of the most unusual things we saw while touring around Belize was on the way to a remote Mayan site up a long dirt road.  Once we got out away from the major highway, we came across a community of Mennonites.  They were in full garb, with wide brim hats, riding in horse and buggy carts.  

It was rather fascinating.  They had large farms and nice houses, with no electricty, and all dressed in 1890's style clothing.  It went on for quite some time, and Ken said "there must be twenty miles of Mennonites!"

One interesting incident occured when I stopped for directions.  We came up to a barn with a small store window, and I got out of the car.  In front was a horse carriage with three traditionally dressed kids sitting there.  I walked up to the store front, and there was a Mennonite woman standing there awaiting service, obviously the mother of the kids. She didn't look at me. 

There didn't seem to be anyone in the store, so after a minute I turned to the woman.  "excuse me," I started to ask her directions.  She suddenly jumped back, shocked that I would speak to her.  

I'm not real clear on Mennonite etiquette, but I had apparently breached protocol by speaking to her.  She didn't answer me at first.  I repeated my question gently, and she muttered something softly and waved in the general direction of our destination.  It was a strange interaction.  

I hope I didn't stain her reputation by talking to her. There's no doubt that I'm not a Mennonite.  Anyway, we made our way to the ruins and enjoyed the visit.  Then we drove back through the twenty miles of Mennonites. 

They are camera shy.  The only picture I was able to get was in a bus station, elsewhere from the "colony". 

The Mayan ruins in Belize are plentiful.  

They are also pretty steep.  For the most part you can hike around and walk around wherever you like, but you better watch your step.  Many of the stairs are very steep and uneven.  And there are no handrails or barriers to keep you from falling.  And the structures are pretty high up.  

It's definitely one of the attractions of Belize.  The Mayan civilization was centered in this area, along with the surrounding countries of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and parts of Mexico. 

One of the really cool views was the large face carved into the rock at Lamanai.  Curiously, it is not unlike the carvings in Angkor Wat in Cambodia, on the other side of the world.

   

Swimming With The Sharks! And Other Travel Highlights

 

Belize is known for its Coastline and Barrier Reef -  and today we spent the day on the ocean

Since arriving in Belize, we have been joined by our friends, Ken and Mary, and they will be here a week here with us.  Our son TK and wife Jenny are also here, so we have a nice group to spend time with.  

Today we took a long boat ride to one of the many islands off the coast to enjoy one of finest assets of Belize - the Caribbean coastline.  There is a massive coral reef that lines the coast and has formed many of the islands, which are a popular tourist destination.  

 

This barrier reef is one of the largest in the world, and is host to an amazing variety of underwater sea life.   TK and Jenny and I went for a snorkeling expedition, and were rewarded with a fantastic array of things to see.

 

One of the more noteworthy was a spot known for sharks.  When we pulled up in the boat, our group was directed to put on masks and snorkel tubes and fins and be ready to jump into the water when the sharks show up.  And sure enough, they came around the boat, and the skipper said to jump in.  

This is a rather dubious request.  I am not real fond of sharks, most people aren't.  But we jumped in as we were instructed, and there were at least a dozen large sharks milling around.  They were looking for food.  My strategy was to not be the first one to jump in.  If the first jumper didn't get eaten, then the rest of us were probably safe.  

Fortunately, we were not food today.  The sharks were looking for fish and we were not on the menu. It was by far the closest I have ever been to big sharks, especially so many.  Another one of those travel adventures where you are close to danger, which makes it exciting - sometimes too exciting.

Sorry, but I wasn't able to get any pictures underwater or even on the boat.  It's the ocean and we didn't have any cameras capable of taking photos in the sea.  So I borrowed a picture on line. 

As Far as Ancient Civilizations go, the Mayans were pretty major league

The country of Belize is small and has a very modest economy.  In other words, there seems to be a fair amount of poverty.  We've been here for several days now, which has given us the chance to look around.

 

But the history of this place is really interesting; it's mostly ancient history.  Like a couple thousand years ago - the people here had a great civilization - the Mayans.  

We've been able to visit a few of the ancient sites and ruins of the once mighty empire.  It's very impressive and there has been a real effort to excavate the ruins of temples and structures built as early as 600 BC.

The first place was fairly close to Belize City (where we are staying for the week).  The site has been restored and preserved.  You can walk around and climb up on the pyramid shaped ruins, of which there are many spread around the country. 

Yesterday we went to the other side of the country (it's a lot like jungle out there) and visited one of the major sites called Xunantunich.    It has one of the tallest structures of historical significance in Central America.  

The weather was beautiful and sunny and warm, and it made for a full day of activity visiting the different ruin sites in that area.  

 

One of the more interesting and amusing things was crossing a small river on a ferry, in our car.  We were surprised to find that the ferry was propelled by a hand crank!  

Ken in our group, and also TK, had a go at moving the boat across the water.  One of the local guys described this method as "old style".  Ha! It sure was.  But it took two cars and about twenty people across.  

 

Of course, one of the things that you wonder about when you see this kind of ancient archeology and massive timeless structures is ... "how did they build this?"  It's not unlike the pyramids of Egypt (although not as big) or the structures in the jungles of Cambodia, Angkor Wat.  

Another Point of View

 

We were surprised while driving across the somewhat remote backroads of Belize, when we came across what seemed like a major bicycle road race.  They had police escorts and support vehicles, the whole bit. Tour de Belize?

 

Sorry, I just can't resist good sunset pictures.  This was taken on the boat ride home, at the end of the day today. 

The Most Violent City on Earth - also known as the Murder Capital of the World

 

 

Sometimes you find yourself in unintended surroundings

San Pedro Sula, Honduras, is one of those places. We hit Honduras hard during our time there in the last few days.  From Tegucigalpa we caught a bus to the north, in order to make connections to Guatemala and ultimately, Belize.  

On the way, it was beautiful.  This part of the trip has provided us with a lot more greenery and lush jungle conditions.  

However, Honduras was a pretty rough place.  You look for variety and different experiences when you travel, and we encountered that and much more.  Let's just say Honduras was "interesting".  

Upon hearing that our destination was San Pedro Sula, there was always a pause.  One of the comments from our own group was - "it's the Murder Capital of the World".   Apparently there are more murders there per capita than anywhere else, including places like Chicago and Detroit.

The reasons are numerous: human trafficking, drugs, gangs, extortion, sex trafficking, shootings, kidnapping, ransom, revenge killing, smuggling, beatings, mutilation, you name it.  

So I did a Google search on "why is San Pedro Sula so dangerous?" (try it yourself, really, type that sentence into your browser).  I came up with some very sobering answers.  One such article was entitled "The Most Violent City on Earth".

Needless to say, we were rather nervous to spend the night there.  We actually went out for dinner at night and a short walk around.  Before long, we were on a dark side street and there were some gnarly looking dudes following us.  We were nervous and uneasy and hustled back to the hotel.  

There were armed guards everywhere, even for restaurants and car rental places.  Some businesses have two or three heavily armed guards, like in the picture below.  

When time came to leave the next day, we were ready.  It was one of the few places we've been on this trip where people stared at us.  There are not a lot of gringos who go there, for obvious reasons. 

A little more adventure meets us on our way. 

So we got out of Dodge and travelled north.  The only way we could make this trip was to pay a taxi to take us to Guatemala, a three hour trip.  It was not cheap.  But it was actually a nice part of Central America geographically speaking. Green jungles with rivers along the shore of the Carribean Sea. 

 

When we reached our destination Puerto Barrios, our goal was to take a boat to cross over in Belize.  This was a lot more trouble than we realized.  This part of the world is not terribly organized or well governed.  We had to hustle to get the paperwork and border documents in order, and of course more money had to change hands.

Belize was an hour away, on what a turned out to be a questionable "ferry" boat ride.  It was overloaded with cargo.  It started to get stormy. You know it's gonna be bumpy when they hand out plastic sheeting to cover yourself from the rough seas.  We were not quite prepared for quite how bad it was.

There were times during the boat ride when I began to look back over my life and wonder what brought me to this point.  Fiona and I (along with TK and Jenny, who are travelling with us) were concerned for our lives.  It was a terrible boat trip.

The boat was too small and the ocean swells were too big, and it was windy and choppy and very rough.  I really began to worry when we got out in the middle and could not see land on either side, or in any direction.  

At one point the motor cut out, and I thought "this is it! We're gonna die!"  But the pilot switched tanks and got some gas back into the engine and we eventually made it to the other side. 

We were absolutely soaked but relieved to have survived.  I was exhausted.  It was a really dangerous ride across the open sea.  I would not recommend that trip to anyone. 

So we reached Punta Gorda, Belize and since it was late and we were tired and wet, we decided to stay the night.  It was a pleasant evening, and we reviewed the last couple days, where danger was around every corner.  

 

 

This has been an eventful trip, but the adventure level in the last few days has been off the charts.  At what point does excitement turn into ... fear?  We were there, or very close.  

 

But now we're in Belize, and will meet up with friends tomorrow, Ken and Mary. They are flying down to join us for some travel times, along with TK and Jenny.  

I hope things are a little more mellow in the next week.