8:00pm- The woman with the fur coat is also harbouring a cold (surmised based on her constant throat clearing, not the fact that she’s wearing a fur coat), and chatting incessantly in Portugese to someone on the phone, which she…
Camino Culture: Pontevedra and Santiago de Compostela
Heading north from Portugal, I stopped for a couple of nights in Pontevedra, Spain. I was there to experience the urbanism from a city that has won multiple awards for its measures of restricting cars from the city centre, being…
Amarante: A Sleepy Portugese Village with a Love of Noise
After the unexpectedly boisterous streets of Lisbon during Ramadan, I was looking forward to a couple of quiet nights in Amarante, a “sleepy village” according to Lonely Planet, about an hour east of Porto. It’s also known as the village…
Cities of hills: Lisbon and Porto
After walking the Fisherman’s Route for 5 days, we were ready for a bit of a break from walking. Alas, it was not to be. Lisbon and Porto are both very walkable cities, albeit hilly. I think some days we…
Walking the Fisherman’s Route in Portugal
Leaving Odeceixe in the morning, we were now officially following the Rota de Vicentina, or the Fisherman’s Route, a 125 km route along the coast of Portugal. It’s a fairly popular route, which meant we could take advantage of the…
The Big Trip
My first sunburn is fading into a tan, I’m averaging 20km a day of walking, I’ve eaten the same meal three nights in a row, I’ve read four books and I’ve lost two consecutive nights of sleep to other people…
The San Blas Social Club
After a rather uneventful New Year’s Eve at the Mexico City airport, I boarded a flight to Guadalajara. After landing, I decided to save the cab fare and take a bus to the central bus station, which was pretty close…
New Year’s Eve at Cinnabon
Our last day in Mazunte was New Years Eve. I’m not quite sure how it happens (actually, I blame my sister Cheryl for booking inconvenient flights), but somehow I always seem to be in transit. Last year Marieke and I…
Mazunte, a straighter version of Zipolite, on the Oaxacan Coast
Elusive tickets secured, we took a 20 seater Sprinter van to the coast, a very winding route that lasted just over 6 hours, pretty much right on schedule. We even got one washroom break! Cheryl took a gravel, which was…
The Lost Station of Atlantis
Besides food, the main task of Oaxaca was to get our transportation sorted for our departure on Dec. 27, as we were worried we might not be able to get a ticket to the coast, our next destination. Our bus…