or the drought seems over and a’ mushrooming we will go! After a long hopeless summer with no actual sun, chemical clouds poisoning us but no actual rain from the heavens and all wildlife suffering, […]
THE MATURE ART OF TRAVELLING ALONE. MY NEW EMAIL IS: OldBirdTravels@proton.me PLEASE LIKE AND SHARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST!
Tag: SOLO TRAVEL
CALAKMUL DISAPPOINTS AGAIN
OR YOU’LL NEED TO TAKE OUT A SECOND MORGAGE FOR THIS SAD SHOW
I really don’t know why I bothered apart from the excitement of a new city found up the road from Calakmul and Xpujil called Valeriana. Literally I thought that people would be able to amble in and I vaguely remembered security being lax around most sites, but more importantly there being a few gates of access. Not just the one.
By the way I’ve thrown in some random vids because I was aware of the rather negative content he he.
Things seemed so groovy and casual back in the day in Mexicos Yucatan and now it’s turned into little America but with military presence everywhere. It’s tragic how history repeats itself and the Latin Mexicans are busy victimising the indigenous groups and destroying just a little more of their homeland and also smashing down huge swathes of virgin jungle. Ooh the new president Claudia Sheinbaum, she’s so cool and green, although she’s not though is she?
Anyhoo, it would seem that the relationship with America will now be a sore topic so I doubt she will be giving any thought at all to other issues apart from building camps for the huge amount of deported Mexicans that are being deported. I suppose it will be ‘watch this space’ as to their policies with the States go from now on.
Calakmul. IN 2021 ALL CLOSED UP AFTER THEY LURE YOU IN.
The brief mention given in 21.
“This is another example of closed sections at famous pyramids. Another scam in times of ‘plague
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CHICCANA, ANOTHER MAYAN GEM. OH AND HORMIGUERO!
OR,CHICANNA IN SPITTING DISTANCE OF BECAN, AND HORMIGUERO A RIGHT OLD TREK
HORMIGUERO A FORGOTTEN SITE IN MANY WAYS.
Whilst halfway through writing this I suddenly remembered that in fact my adventure started first thing in the morning with a booked cab that I had organised the day before to go to Horminguro dammit! You see what happens when you’re a bad, tired and grumpy old bird and don’t write your journal? I had totally forgotten poor old Hormiguero (Anthill) and possibly if you have a busy agenda so should you.
I had in fact got very excited and planned this trip with a cabbie. I had heard it was a very unusual and nearly never visited set of ruins only partially excavated. What they mean to say is only the big interesting intact bits were bothered with and the place is a very shady quite sad place.
My impression was that the three misaligned very similar imposing structures, unimaginatively called South, Central and North Structures were almost like a bunch of bureaucratic beasts of the jungle. They are very sturdy and practical looking but they do surprisingly contain a lot of elaborately embellished doorways and panels. One also has the largest serpent doorway but that was up on high and the ground was slick with dew. I didn’t fancy a tumble so just took my images from below. If you were to come her I again would come for the atmosphere and maybe a walk in the jungle where there’s a lot of wildlife, I think you can even camp there which would be splendid!
I just couldn’t shake my unfair immediate reaction to it being municipal and less Gormanghast and more Croydon, but then again I am very instantly judgemental about these things.
I have researched a bit but can’t get any straight answers except about what a lovely example of Chenes blah blah blah. I felt cheated although it was imposing in its own way but a bit boring and that was the reason I left early moaning to myself. On the way out I just had a nice chat to the two chaps who are its guardians but were very young and not a bit interested in its history or their ancestors work. This was annoying as I thought they might at least shed some light on its history. It was all rather sad and damp and dark and unloved.
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BEST RUINS EASILY ACCESSIBLE FROM XPUJIL.Becán.
OR, A BIT OF JUNGLE AND ATMOSPHERE AFTER THE NEWLY RUINED YUCATAN.
I’m not going to bang on today about the shit stuff that I experienced wandering around Mexico at the end of last year, oh I’m not a whiner, you know me better than that. Yesterday is yesterday, fair does.
Becán
While researching this I came across Román Piña Chan, a very famous archaeologist, a tragic afterthought in Mexican research history, specifically that of Becan where he had the accident on that ill fated day. I wanted to include him as he sounded a dear, meek man who suffered hugely for his passion. Bedbound for seventeen years after the spirits of Becan let him fall to his fate.
Below is his small obituary, as modest it would seem as he was, and although translated quirkily I feel fitting for the man who it seems also discovered the Olmec figures and contributed hugely to the field
✔ Posthumous tribute to the archaeologist in the National Museum of Anthropology
Piña Chan was a generous being and always needed know yourself loved and accepted, says Beatriz Barba
ത Locate the recent find in Becán, Campeche, as part of his legacy
JIMENEZ ARTURE
In 1984, Román Piña Chan fell from a pyramid from the archaeological zone of Becán, an accident that although not managed to remove him from the investigation, the reflection and teaching did limit their ability to move.
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MEXICOS TRAIN WRECK,TREN MAYA AND XPUJIL.
OR TRAVELLING TO A TOWN THAT’S LOST ITS IDENTITY AND HEART. POOR XPUHIL.
Alert: Latest article about Tren Maya that proves what I say in the below account has turned out right! It’s white elephant era has begun surprisingly quickly! Don’t want to say I told you so but, I told you so he he!!! Apparently it’s being operated by the military? I don’t know about you but a military run tourist route never has left me with a warm and snuggly feeling in my belly as a traveller. Do read the article it’s accidently extremely funny. It also says
“Today, the Maya Train is not a tourist product that can be offered. There are no clear routes, there are no defined prices, not even the schedules are well established,” he commented noting that travel agencies have not yet had any contact regarding train promotion.
“If they had a developed product, they would be here at tourist events, explaining what time it leaves, how much it costs, in what languages it is available. But we don’t know anything, everything remains a mystery,”
In other words it’s a huge cock up!
Alert: Here I mostly ramble on about getting to the prime archaeological sites area and the place I used as a base, Xpujil or Xpuhil. The inner fury I felt upon having seen first hand, Tren Mayas long hard line of destruction and devastation of the area rather overtook my original intention of just writing about the sites that I went to. Mexico generally had been a shocker since my last visit and sadly you can clearly hear my disappointment in a place that just three years ago I had worshipped. If you don’t care then I will publish a post tomorrow about the actual sites I went to while there!
And so back to the post:
The Journey to Xpuhil
Riding on the bus away from beastly Bacalar and started on my real road trip! Hooray I’m leaving and going to revisit Xpuhil to use as a base to visit surrounding archaeological sites that I missed last time. I celebrated on that bus to Chetumal after dragging my case miles from my little pension in the midday sun, and was ready to wait there for a couple of hours to get my connection. So in theory I should arrive at my cabin before it’s too late to feel safe, although it will be dark. Upon my joyous arrival (I had so hated Bacalar that any shit hole was now paradise!) I also found that I could buy an earlier ticket upon arrival the bus station, which was a huge relief, rather than the later one which would have involved me waiting five hours and much sighing and whining. However, I still had over an hour to kill and I was suddenly famished.
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IN TULUM,MEXICO COUNTING MY BLESSINGS.
OR, MY FIRST WEEK BACK IN MEXICO AFTER OVER THREE YEARS.
Long trip from London, little did I know I’d be travelling for over twenty hours. Harsh work indeed!
THE FLIGHT AND JOURNEY.
The flight over was truly dreadful, long very cold and boring. BA sure has changed and taken a nosedive in many ways! That can count literally as they have a fleet of the now infamous Boing aircraft (bits didn’t fall off our plane I don’t think) , however the food, service and general vibe was awful, a kind of Easyjet with fangs. The crew had no manners and there is no leg space at all. I was lucky my lucky dip seating had given me an aisle seat. I would suggest taking your own food as theirs is inedible. They served pretend chicken for both meals that I wouldn’t feed my dog.
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DOGS AND ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL WORLDWIDE AND HOW THEY HELP A SOLO TRAVELLER KEEP POSITIVE.
OR ANIMALS ALL OVER THE PLACE. FOR ANIMAL LOVERS ALL OVER.
Looking through my huge archive of photos today in the reference library, I saw that I had neglected connecting all the animals I had rubbed shoulders with on my travels around the world. I feel I need to correct this seeing as animals are my favourite things.
ELEPHANT SANCTUARY THAILAND, CHIANG MAI.
Let’s face it animals are part of every aspect of our lives The good, bad and ugly. They feature in religions past and present, they live with us, they entertain and fascinate us, and we eat them. I don’t want to get embroiled here on how much modern humans abuse them rather than revere them, that’s for another time. I just want to casually look over some of my encounters to remind us why we yearn to be on the move and experience the mundane and exotic.
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UNDERSTANDING OLD BIRD TRAVELS SOLO. BOOK ON MEXICO AND NOW TRANS-SIBERIAN EXPRESS TRIP HALF FINISHED.
FOR MY OLD BIRDS ALL OVER THE WORLD, FINALLY WRITING THE BOOK.
“I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.” Emily Dickinson
Alert: Here we have the idea of this blog, concept and birth. I’ve left the dates more to remind me that it’s nearly five years old. And now I’m turning it into a book, I need to revisit and expand upon those two hundred and seventy-plus blogs.
Starting the book has made me humble and proud at the same time. It’s also made me realise how sloppy and casual I was depending on my pics and videos to do the real leg work. Well, no more Mrs Sloppy. A book without pictures requires the written word to encompass the vivid wonder of those travelling photos and to be eloquent enough to tell the reader what was seen, smelled, tasted, touched and felt. To put those pictures into words dammit!
2019-04-15 From blog intro all those years ago.
OLD BIRDS NEST PAGE: THE ETHOS OF DOING IT ALONE
Hello, my name is Rebecca Taylor, or Old Bird to you, and I’m here to guide you older birds on braving the big old world out there and doing it alone. Come with me and I’ll nurse you through the highs and lows of being an Old Bird travelling solo. This is more of a raucous journal with some culture and tips thrown in. Don’t worry you’ll get the hang of it. It’s sometimes shouty-sweary, so if you’re a delicate bird you’ll have to excuse me. [Go first to OLD BIRD FLYING SOLO BLOG so we can shake hands then go anywhere in the list that you wish to get started.]
This is the place for an older birdie to visit and, hopefully, gain the confidence to strike out on their own. Yes, we older birds don’t always have to be in a flock, they can do it alone and it’s not as scary as you think. The world is your oyster, as an older woman or man indeed, you should be out there doing all these things and revelling in life.
I will hop around timewise as the writing of the diary becomes insignificant when you’re experiencing so many wonderful things. Some of it is funny and some plainly ludicrous but all a part of an old bird travelling solo! Enjoy! I’ll take you all over the world. In different forms of transport, doing different activities, eating different kinds of food and exploring places you never even thought about before. I will attempt to nurse you through any pitfalls with hints and tips and generally share the whole experience warts and all.
I’ll many times be daft as a brush and screw up so you don’t have to. I’ll get you there with your preparations, nurse your anxieties, laugh at myself and show you stuff you might want to see and do.
Welcome to the fine art of mature solo travelling. For it is an art, it takes the years you might feel you don’t have left, so I humbly offer all my mistakes so you don’t have to make them. I will also crow when I get something right.
“You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness” – Diane von Furstenberg
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BRAVE NEW WORLD. TURKIYE COUNTRYSIDE.
OR, MY BRAVE NEW WORLD, NOT WHAT THE ELITES HAVE IN MIND.
Every day here in Turkiye has been a blessing except for the house hassle. This I will set aside for today. Every day I see a new side of the magnificent countryside in it’s raw brutal strength, mountains of rugged and often dangerous secrets, olive fields with animals roaming beneath their ancient boughs and wild flowers that pop up overnight despite the apparent arid land. Snakes and scorpions are what the locals most fear but I’ve been blessed in not having a sudden venomous surprise under the many rocks I have moved and the dark tunnels that have been exposed by my work. The chickens seem to tidy up the nasty bugs for me and Mother Nature has thus far been benevolent to me.
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ARCHAEOLOGISTS, NEW SITES AND HARD CORE IN THE GARDEN IN TURKIYE.
OR, REST DAY TODAY AFTER OVERDOING IT IN MY GARDEN
I woke up last night with a truly terrible cramp in my calf. The muscle was so rigid and the pain so intense I couldn’t even swing it to the floor to push against it. I knew that it would result in muscle burn and that today plans had to be changed. Then when I awoke in the morning I ate almonds for the magnesium and some dried apricots and then had a spell of nausea. I should have known I was imploding after having a terrible deep siesta sleep the previous day that you feel you will never be able to resurface from. Clearly I had a bit of sunstroke A day of rest was in order. A Zen day today my friends, some yoga and meditation after my last few hectic days.
Old Bird Travels Solo! 