Tag: TRAVEL

SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels

MERIDA, MEXICO 24, HAS LOST IT’S LOST CHARM.

OR, ALL TOO EXPENSIVE, TRASHY AND BUSY FOR A WEARY OLD BIRD.

Know that feeling! Agave hangover and how I’m feeling about Merida now

My arrival in Merida was as one so travel weary and on the point of collapse that any hovel would have done to rest my head but I had booked what looked like a fair old style hotel. I had been travelling for twelve hours on two coaches, and my having had a rough last nights sleep in the cabana at Xpuhil added to a hideous fatigue. Boy the Mexicans like to party and play live music really loud all fucking night! Getting out of Xpuhil proved quite tricky and at one point I felt like I would never leave that little dust covered town. It had made an excellent base for archaeology but the escape was hard with very few buses and at horrific and dangerous times at night! One option had meant getting the 4a.m. bus to Campeche! I did consider it but then decided to opt for a safer route via Chetumal.

Clouds at sunrise

I’ve changed my travel plans so many times now I barely know where am when I awaken each morning. It’s scary and never been as bad as this before. This ever changing weather was mostly to blame at the beginning then my bad sunburn. Then the bad advice to go to Bacalar after Tulum that cost me a fortune hence cancelling a beach trip. Then staying the extra day in Xpuhil in my loud but lovely cabin. Then changing my route from Xpuhil to Merida via Chetunal rather than via Campeche. It had all been very confusing and hard work and frankly at times awful. Such is the beast of any travel, but when it’s solo it’s much harder. Much gnashing of teeth and hanging around between the super busy clambering of ruins. Many highs and lows. Much disappointment in the new Mexico and lamenting the old.

Not bad for 107 years old. Much how I feel at the moment
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SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
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TULUM HERE I COME! VIVA MEXICO!

OR, FINALLY RETURNING TO MEXICO, AND FLYING AFTER ONE YEAR OF CLIPPED WINGS.

On the road again folks!

Hello my old birds! Sitting here with a big sloppy grin on my face after having finally purchased my ticket, booked a flat for the first eight days and got some Pesos in my trembling hands after two long years.

I’m very chirpy and, well, not really believing it. I’ve scraped together enough money if I starve a bit, for a month there. One week in my beloved Tulum for a little reconnaissance with old pals hopefully, and much needed beach, sun, swimming, mojitos and rest. It’s been a foul year so I really need this.

What my new accommodation might look like this time. Joking cave paintings near Mitla 2021

The angels approve as I don’t know if you’ve seen, but they’ve just discovered a huge ancient city in the jungle in Campeche area just ten minutes away from where I stayed in Xpuhil. This was on my road trip (bus trip) to as many sites as were open in the year of lockdown (you know what I think of that!) It was after the terribly disappointing trip to Palenque where they had closed the on site museum with all the real treasures in and herded us round a small circuit that was not very interesting to a pro like me. So a quick reminder below.

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SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
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TRAVELLING SOLO WITH ALLERGIES.

OR, HOW NOT TO HAVE A ROUGH RIDE.

Do you want your trip to be fabulous and Zen, not puking into the sink in your room whilst purging your other end into the toilet? Or worse being laid low for a few days with a variety of energy-sapping and weird symptoms? Either way, if it’s your allergies or just Delhi Belly you can take measures to avoid misery.

Breakfast looking over the private lake at a retreat in Ayutthaya Thailand

My mate just came over from a very long haul on working on a luxury yacht and she came to stay with me for a few days before returning to her family in Cornwall. It was great. Too much gossip too little time, but the long and the short of it was that it reminded me of the trials and tribulations of having food intolerances, allergies or indeed a disease from allowing you to eat certain foods. My pal has both Celiac disease and also dairy intolerance so this makes food a little bit of a much-needed obsession.

Innocent? Cheese and nuts there!
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SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
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BIG HEADS IN THE JUNGLE! VILLA HERMOSA MEXICO.

OR GETTING TO GRIPS WITH ANOTHER CULTURE, THE OLMECS.

Alert: This is a light-hearted travel blog from two years ago before I publish a more serious one about the birth of the Mayan city-state empire in its Pre-Classic era! The “Mother Culture” being inextricably linked to the developing Mayans

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SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
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EK BALAM. PYRAMID OF ANGELS.

OR, FLYING FREE AGAIN JUST FOR THE DAY. MAKING DECISIONS AWAY FROM TULUM.

Been very unsure what to do next. Return to UK where my new house is finally ready, or go to Oaxaca or Veracruz. Both are far and really need to been part flight from either Merida or Chetumal. So I went for the second time yesterday to the french patisserie to work. It was a stroke of luck. Not only is Giles, who works there a like minded (we had a long political chat), but he came up with a site for me to visit that I’d never heard of, Ek Balam. The site of the pyramid of the angels. Thank god, a decent bit of nearby archaeology.

AN ‘ANGEL’
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SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
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Edzná.

OR ANOTHER GOOD THING CAME OUT OF CAMPECHE.

Although I had had a great time in the museums with the magnificent jade masks the day before, I had also had a drama at the bank after, and a miserable, bad dinner in the evening. I had drank the last of my six pack in my fluorescently lit room and felt glum and anxious about the following day. I was to be pleasantly surprised however.

An hour up the road with the collectivo is Edzna. Without Lariza at my hotel, I wouldn’t have known anything. She was excellent for the proper local information and knew exactly where to get what, and what was open. The other shitheads were full of false info. Despite the hotel being eccentric, she was my rock.

Giant heads on one of Edznas buildings
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SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
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ESCAPE TO MEXICO!

OR A RUFFLED AND BEDRAGGLED OLD BIRD MAKES IT!!!

I can’t even tell you how wonderful it is to be here after the trauma of the trials and tribulations of travelling at the moment. Firstly for the people I met en route and you old birds I can be contacted at OLDBIRDTRAVELS@PROTON.ME. I will be adding to this later today.

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