Theses are the words from my journal... I may change the way it is written on paper slightly, but I can assure you that the stories are exactly as they happened.
I learned at a young age to keep a journal when traveling, and this one is all about my very first backpacking adventure, on my own without adult supervision!
Unfortunately, there are almost no photos from this trip.. but hey we'll get creative, use midjourney, other sources, and read it like a book!
I've wanted to tell my story forever, and the time has finally come to transfer these experiences onto the internet. And who knows, maybe you'll let me know whether these stories are worth making a book one day too.
I couldn't tell you what it's like today for 20 somethings to travel the way I did, if it's safer or more dangerous, but I can tell you that it shaped the rest of my life and traveling the world became a winter ritual for me and eventually for my family too!
These are the stories of my youth, stories I never want to forget. I hope you enjoy them, but most of all, I hope they inspire you.
Last night was all about crazy dreams...
By 9 in the morning we had made our way to the place we bought the horseback tour. There were nine tourists and two guides. We didn't get into one of the VW van transportation type thing until about 9:45. At the ranch, the owner put everyone on horses and we started going right away.
We rode through this town which is an Indian community on the outskirts of San Cristobal, through the forest in the mountains, through flatlands and up a dirt road. We passed through a couple Indian hamlets, and then the guides asked us to jump off the horses so they can rest for an hour or so.
We walked around the bend and it was like discovering new land. Down the hill was this village with a great plaza and of course a big ol' church in the center. We walked down the hill to be in the middle of it all and found ourselves once again in a street market like we had seen in San Cristobal, with lots of tourists.
On that day there was a ceremony of some sort. Old Indian men were on horseback holding large flags and being led by a man with a drum and another with a trumpet. All around them were men all dressed alike walking with them. Behind this troop following closely were 3 or 4 men dressed in all black waking and waving large brass incense containers with lots of smoke coming out.
The whole ceremony walked around the square plaze 3 or 4 times while we were there before they headed into another direction. We never found out what it was but we looked around some more within the market and headed back to our horses.
The ride back to San Cristobal was easy from Juan Chamula (the name of this village). One thing that impressed me was that the horse knew the road and didn't need their guide.... they must have done this trip so many times. If I was ahead of the guide, the horse would wait at a turn in the road though, as if waiting for the group before going on and going too far.
Back in town I got myself a hamburger, the girls went back to the hotel. I did too, after my hamburger was ready. The girls went to the same bar as last night to eat and I met up w/ them shortly after. I tried to take a shower but the water was too cold. I had a beer! Sandrine went to the Internet Café, me and Vero to the bus station for tomorrow's trip to Palenque.
We came back to the hotel and slept for a couple hours until Sandrine came back. After that I went to the post office which was just a store with jewelry and stamps. I sent a post card to my friends back home Ever and Carolyne. Back at the hotel we all just read some news papers and I caught up a bit on my spanish!
Next time... we catch a bus to see the Pyramids, unless we miss it!
My First Backpacking Trip:
Chapter 01: NYC to Mexico - Y2K
Chapter 02: NYC to Mexico - Cajun Wedding
Chapter 03: Everything is Lost
Chapter 04: Mexico City Finally!
Chapter 05: Robbery at Gun Point
Chapter 06: Sick but Safe in Veracruz
Chapter 07: Tlacotalpan and the Eyipantla Falls
Chapter 08: In the Land of Zapatistas
Chapter 09: Zapatistas and Skinheads
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