Scumdog Billionaire, San Cristobal de las Casas

My vocabulary sucks. Already I'm confusing words I'd learn't last year in Indonesia with my choppy, pathetic version of Español. Throw in a bit of pidgeon English when I can't find the correct word from either, and one can start to build an idea of how ridiculous I must sound...oh and look?!? Mexicans arn't seeming to warm to the fashion of short-shorts. On this note I felt it was time to leave Mexico City, searching for the greener pastures somewhere beyond the metropolitan madness.

Still exhuasted from an all night doof!! fest in the roof top bar above my dorm, I jumped on a bus to Oaxaca. Past the outer reaches of the city and through a couple of freeway checkpoints and a whole new country opened up around me. The classic Mexican snapshot I'd been expecting - and anxious to explore. Persitantly hot, piercing blue skies allowed the sun to reek havoc upon an ocre stained landscape, a barron collection of thirsty river beds, far away mountain ranges and dusty rolling hills, covered only by cacti and a thin undergrowth of dead, brittling floura. It was something straight out of your typical western flick, and quite a contrast to the thick, impenetrable mess I'm used to pushing through back home. As we progressed, tiny one horse satellite towns began to appear out from the desert floor, signalling the approaching return to civilisation, and before too long we were spiralling down into the city of Oaxaca.

Church of Santo Domingo, Oaxaca

Instantly I noticed more tourists, yet the atmosphere was a world apart from the capital. Intwined by narrow, cobbled streets, brightly coloured colonial houses and dozens of ancient looking churches, I felt like I had stepped back in time. The pace was relaxed, and the people seemed to adhere to a kind of romanticism, immersed in festivity throughout the many parks, markets and plazas in open displays of affection. Enlivened and bouncing, I checked into a hostel smack in the middle of the action. Here's where I met Marco...self proclaimed editor of various 'Lonely Planet' publications, and quite the sprightful fellow - full of an hypnotic enthusiasm for all things in life. He appeared to have teeth solely in the left hand side of his face, the other half dedicated to elaboratly exhailing his cigerette smoke between acts of rapid and unpredictable hand gestures. Without much of a choice I soon recieved a run down on the meaning of life, space travel, and Hawaiian voodooism. Never expect a dull moment...

A Mexican munch

I spent the next few days wandering the surrounds; visiting markets, trying new foods (sour, roasted grasshopper anyone??) and taking a trip out to the hill top ruins of Monte Alban, before travelling on to San Cristobal de las Casas. Pearched high in the mountains, the pre-dawn temperature came as quite a shock as I hopped off the bus, hardly dressed in what you would call clothing. With a high indigenous population, and stunning location, the streets of San Cristobal are even more enchanting than Oaxaca. It's easy to lose all sense of time and orientation when niether seem to matter here.

Inbetween wallowing away the days, I felt it was time for a little outdoor fix. The stunning Sumidero Canyon got the nod, and soon I was flying down the Grijalva River in a beaten up speed-boat, dodging vultures & alligators, gazing up at the enourmous 1000-m high walls. Apparently, native warriors used to hurl themselves  over the edge in favour of submission to the foreign Spanish conquest.

Sumidero Canyon

Back here in San Cristobal, I'm enjoying slowing the pace down for a while. Maybe I'll join up for one of the language classes and get my priorities in check. But for now...I've got the craving for taco's & tequilla!!

Ciao!

Pyramids & Pancakes, Mexico City

Hola, me amigos! Alive & kickin in Mexico City! Thought I should let ya'll good people know that I got here safely. In summery...what an enormous, exciting and frantic place!!!

After two long and wearisome days of air travel, passing through Melbourne, Auckland and Los Angeles I finally arrived at my destination. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it soon hit me how underprepared I was...It was close to 12 o'clock midnight by the time I got through customs, I had no place booked to crash, couldn't speak anywhere near as much useful spanish as I thought, and had only a vauge recolection of where I was or what to do. I was planning on sleeping in the airport food court before I got talking to these two random kiwi girls and somehow conned them into letting me tag along with them for the night. We decided to grab some food before we caught a cab, not realising I'd only eaten a blueberry muffin all day, and found about the only place still open on the terminal ground floor; a 24 hour 'Wings' resteraunt. I'd become google eyed by this point and couldn't read anything on the menu...so I deciphered some pictures and settled for a big pile of pancakes...not exactly the most authentic beggining to my Mexican fine dinning experience...

Anyhow, we were soon on our way into the city in one of the authourised taxis, zipping down highways and empty streets, with only the odd lone shifty wanderer or two lingering on certain corners, before eventually making it into the central historical area. Then the driver got lost...tanggled between a network of late night road works, blocking all logical paths to our hotel, it was lucky a policeman was kind enough to let us through one of the blockades, and we could finally get some sleep! The next day I said goodbye to the girls and took off into the lively streets of the city, a much different place to the one from our late night taxi ride. I checked into a hostel directly behind the Cathedral at the northern end of the Zolaco, the huge main plaza of the historical area, grabbed some taco's from a street vendor and jumped on the city loop bus to take in a little of the cities main attractions. It was a great chance to meet and talk to some holidaying Mexicans, I even got to practice a little Spanish. Back at the hostel later in the evening I slumped down and crashed after a few quiet corona's with some other tourists.

Zocalo

The next day I woke and dove straight into the free buffet breakfast included in the hostel price! I'd been starving all night, and should really have been eating a lot more than what I had been. I was planning to take a trip out to the Pyramids at Teotihuancan, supposedly one of the most remarkable archeological sites in the world. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. Catching the Metro train to the outskirts of the city and jumping on a public bus passing through hills covered in shanty towns proved an experience in itself, but nothing compared to the actual site of Teotihuacan. I've never seen structures of this grand scale before. The 'Avenue of the Dead' as it's called, stretches for at least 3 kilometres, walled in the entire way by small ruins until it terminates at the huge 'Pyramid of the Moon'. Here I found was the best view at the site, providing panoramic views across the whole area, in particular across to the even larger and more impressive 'Pyramid of the Sun'. My two companions and I spent close to 4 hours or so, slowly wandering around the highlights of the area before taking the bus back to the train terminal (pulled over and patted down by the police for drugs en route) and hopping back onto the metro to the Zocalo.

'Pyramid of the Sun' - Teotihuacan

I think I may stay here another day or two, but no longer. I'm completly blown out by the size of everything and there's only so long I could stay in a place like this no matter how much there is to do. I'm looking forward to heading south to the cities of Oaxaca & San Cristobal de las Casas, hopefully slowing things down a bit and maybe even meeting up with Big Dawg!

Bye for now!! Talk soon.

Hola Hola!

Ahoy there! My name is Nick Morgan. I’m a 22 year old idiotic, thrill seeking Tasmanian, and today I quit my job...Woohooo!!

Yes, some may categorise me as another useless product of an imprudent generation Y, but with no responsibilities and no regrets (thus far) I can’t see why the rules and regulations of our structured little society shouldn’t be thrown out the window more often than not. So, with that in mind, I’ll soon be gone. Up, up and awayyyy!!! Hooray!! Yep, that day has finally come to pack my bags and run. To leave behind my family and friends in search of that fantastical dream I’ll probably never find…However, it is that great haze of uncertainty which feeds this inclination, and I’ve become possessed by a restlessness only overcome through a combination of spontaneity, adrenaline fuelled activity, new faces or new places. After all, who wants to be that old, fat, depressed guy, contently carrying his bulbous belly around a supermarket, arguing with a deranged second wife over the gravox, forever looking back on this moment as the big ‘what if’ of his life??...not me…Ever the optimist! ‘Here’s to retirement! Here’s to gap living! Here’s to the naivety of youth!’ Life’s sure about to get pretty darn good.

And here is ‘Grand master plan’ priority number one: - have HEAPS of fun. Priority two: - try not to get shot. More former than latter and we can call it a happy holiday.


From there, things get a little hazy…I went and bought myself a one way ticket to Mexico City, and from the comfort and safety of my boxy little office desk at home, come up with this idea that I can travel overland all the way to the bottom of continental South America by the end of the year. If I make it that far and I’ve still got cash, limbs and a smile on the dial, I guess I’ll scoot back up the other side. I know it’s sure to be a lot more difficult than I’m making it sound, but I’m definitely up for the adventure and can’t wait to see what Latin America’s got to hurl my way.


I decided to create this blog mainly as a way to reassure my folks that I’m still alive, and also so I don’t have to answer the same repetition of questions every time I jump on email or facebook. “Yes, I’m having a great time. Yes, I’m wearing my sunscreen. Yes, I’ll try my best not to smuggle drugs into Panama...” I mean there’s no way you can compress a weeks worth of already indescribable travel stories into a few sentences over the internet. I guess in a way it’ll also serve as my verbal vomit, a place to say what I wanna say to the people who want to hear it. Travelling on your own can be rewarding, but there sure are times when you wish you had someone else there to share the ups and downs.

So, to all who have read this much and seem to actually give a shit, I look forward to sharing my journeys with you. To my kick-ass friends and family, it’s going to suck not having you around…so don’t have too good a time without me! You really are the best and I’ll see you all soon. I shall be back, I just don’t quite know when…

Much everlasting love,

…a gun totting, gringo bandit off practicing his Spanish.

Happy livin'!