Christmas Holidays

So, i arrive in Mazunte a day or two before xmas eve to find the gang in the bar on the tail end of a two day bender,the reception i receive is so warming on the heart, the guys all offer to carry my bags and i couldn't hesitate less to leave the Swiss' that drove me there. We eventually get back to our home for the duration, with a Rhys in a red robe and a now achy back from my overloaded rucksack, we all sit down and debrief our stories up to that moment, they ply me with tequila, i share dried grasshoppers with them and stories of hitchhiking and gifts the universe had given to me. They begin dropping like flies, it is clear the party has come to an end for them, for me it has just begun. I head down to the beach for a swim and cervasa. Some children yell to me to get out of the water, for there are some foreign objects floating around, they are shark guts, ERGH. I meet a guy who shares a smoke with me, immediately i discover he is a sleaze ball and i set about getting home. I am now drunk and incredibly stoned on some extremely strong pot, i cannot remember where home is, every road looks familiar yet not correct, luckily i have the address written on my hand. That night i had a hammock designated for me as the final room in our house hadn't become available yet. I get into the hammock and shut my eyes, the combination of swinging and the spinning out makes me feel nausea, i lay on the floor in major discomfort, after squirming for some time i eventually fall asleep. I wake up several hours later feeling a lot more together, its late, and i'm hungry. Jerome and Katy are in our restaurant so i eat some food with them before  getting a good nights sleep, its been a long and eventful day. The coming days i was completely out of sync with the gang after not having made the full moon party, so i make my own fun and set myself loose on the town to meet the locals and hoop my way around all the bars making friends, teaching tricks and learning tricks too. I find some banging electro in a beach bar and have a great night partying.

A couple of nights in and its our first party night out together after the boys dj at our nightclub. Our house is out the back of the most popular nightclub in town, nightmare but its such a lovely house with a lovely garden. We shop for xmas dinner and the build up begins. Christmas morning a big vat of Sangria is made by the Wizard of Ellis and we all to the la playa with frisbee in hand, rugby frisbee in the sea is played by all followed by glasses of sangria and general festive cheer. Dinner is to be served about 4ish, everyone pitches in to set the table, cook, get decorations and tableware. we have four guests for the feast including two Greenpeace staff, the evening is filled with conversations/debates and lots of booze oh and turkey, we head to the club and then end the night on the beach.

The lead up to new years was spent with muchos lazyness, beaches, natural jacuzzi's, walks, internet, new friends and old friends. We had a night at the nightclub where Rhys, MexicO'Shea, and Andy Ellis playing rocking the scene, skinny dipping as the sun comes up and general innocent mischief. New years was a big event planned by afar new friends and ourselves we had a remote place in Agua Blanca to host our own party, there was another party in San Augustinillo which was competing for some of our guests. We expected more from our party however we rocked their worlds anyway and left around 3am back to Mazunte, we then took over a little cafe bar where the guys played some bad ass tunes till well into the next day. Around 6am me and a couple of the girls headed down to the beach to catch a beautiful view of the sun rise, however we were shocked to find that a young man had died on the beach, potentially due to drink drugs and the ocean, he was a local boy. It was a devastating reality check, i decided to lead the conversation towards a celebration of life and how we were so lucky it wasn't any of us. Death is a major part of life and shouldn't be disregarded. It happens every day.

"Our only role during this time is to be like the tree who remembers its true nature and gracefully lets go of its leaves to return to the earth" Sandra Ingerman

After the new years three day bender, everyone was pretty keen to leave, in fact the whole town was keen to leave so we had to leave a day later than hoped in order to get a bus to San Cristobal. We stayed there for 3/4 days, went out on a boat trip through a canyon and saw crocodiles, monkeys and some birds. Got the flu and moved to Palenque, El Panchan. AMAZING. felt better as soon as i entered the jungle i felt able to breath again which is always a bonus. Lots of wildlife here. We went to the ruins which were magikal... Agua azul is breathtaking, swimming under the waterfall at Misol Ha gives a mixed feeling of panic and utter WOWness... pure adrenaline. We returned to Agua azul a couple of days later for Siwans birthday party complete with a suitcase full of booze, it rained the whole day so we took over a restaurant and got to the matter at hand. we spent the whole day there and then continued the festivities back in the jungle, i went a little crazy that night. I went out without my purse or camera to the 'baaa' and then proceeded to think i had lost all my belonging, throughout the night i would take each member of our crew to search all the destinations we had been to, apparently even getting on stage to ask the band if they may have seen it. i remember jumping on some peoples beds, and then when all went to bed around 5am i was found in the dark complete with head torch, bread, peanut butter and crisps stuffing my face, asked if i had found my camera i casually said 'yeah' and continued eating. hehe.

We sadly left the jungle the following day, many nursing heavy hangovers. Me and Rhys got the cheap bus and we really got our moneys worth, it stank of sick, we were searched by the military on two occasions i woke up to see a gun brush past my face. Arrived in Tulum about 5am and found a hostel after about 20minutes. A lovely place called 'casa del sol' it was 120 pesos for a dorm bed or 250 for a room. Tulum was beautiful and very expensive so we ate in every night and spent the time maxing the chillaxing. the beach is UNREAL, white sand and clear blue water, we snorkeled and saw a turtle, a manta ray and many cool fishes, we were lazy and bought cooked food from the supermarket which we could heat up, the last night Rhys cooked a mean thai style fish with thai curried veggies.

It was sad to leave Rhys, as i had been with familiars for nearly 3/4 weeks now, however i was keen to get on my journey. I caught the bus to Chetumal in order to get another bus down to Flores, Guatemala. I had to stay the night to wait for the connecting bus and my best and cheapest option led me to some Posada opposite the bus station, outside the landlord and a big black Caribbean dude were chatting, a kind Argentinian dude drove me around town to drop me across the road from where he had picked me up, he negotiated a cheap bus ride to Flores for me, Winner. After i drop my bags in my room, which is very basic, completely unluxarious. The landlord cycles off to buy us some coffees, the big black dude is called Cafe, how apt. he spends the entire time trying to chat me up and bribe me into being his girlfriend, money property he trys it all. Along comes a one armed midget baring a boom box around his neck and a tip jar in his hand, cowboy hat and completely wasted. it was a surreal situation.

The next morning i snooze past the point i was supposed to get up, the landlord is banging on my door at 10 to 7 saying i had 10mins to get on the bus, he cycles with me to the bus station and ensures i get my discount and my seat on the bus. The journey is due to be 8hours, thats nothing these days. I did not know we had to pay to leave Mexico, and i never received a visa on arrival which is usually a 50dollar fine however i get away with a 50 peso bribe. a couple of hours later after traveling through the beautiful belize we get stung with another 15 dollar charge to leave Belize, daylight robbery.

Mainland Mexico

So im a little behind on the blog spot but im going to give it my best attempt at the memory jog. I arrived after a 12hr boat ride to Mazatlan at about 9am, i have a cheap recommendation to stay at centro hostel in town, however its been closed down so i get directed to an overpriced centro hotel by which time im so tired i just stay there anyway. im feeling pretty ill so rest for some time before hitting the town. the town reminds me of India, bustling market place. I think that night i had walked the coastline before a very dark cloud engulfed the city so i quickly rushed home before being sucked into it. i went out for dinner on a very limited budget of about 150pesos. i ended up at the most expensive restaurant on the plaza which was an extreme contrast from the India style market place earlier that day. It was so romantic, a pagoda, pretty lights, an orchestra rehearsing, ballet class. I take up a pew outside the Pedro Lola restaurant, where they serve nopalis, a cactus i had been dying to try. The restaurant is filled with Americans and Canadians and there is a couple setting up musical instruments for jam night. Many people immediately come to talk to me, including the band man Roberto, he tells me about jazz night the following night and him and his pal offer me a place to stay for free. i end up staying and spending twice my budget on wine for the evening whilst enjoying some fine music. the next day i check out and head to this amazing apartment the other side of town which overlooks the ocean, sitting on the balcony watching many birds including hummingbirds fly around. That night we head to the restaurant where i am plied with free food, octopus, scallops, shrimp and free booze. Awesome. I end up sitting with the manager and his best friend learning Spanish. The following day is spent recovering, a couple i had met at the restaurant give me money to help me on my journey and Roberto gives me bread, peanut butter, tequila, cab fair to help me on my way. Im overwhelmed with their generousity.  I head off to board an overnight bus to D.F Mexico City.

 I arrive in D.F about 11am and decide to get another bus straight to Teotitichan, where the avenue of the dead is, which is the location of where the gods made the universe. I find hostel 200pesos no internet box room moody women, but cheapest in town. i head out straight away to the temples to get glimpse and judge journey for the morning. have a quiet night in and get up at 6am and walk to temples, first person up the temple de sol, i meditate on top, amazing. bloody scary getting up there and worse on way down, but oh my god, absolutely amazing, on top of the temple de Luna i meet a botanist from a university in Ecuador, result. I spent like 5 hours there soaking it all in. head back when tourists get to much and check out time is near approaching. get back pack bag, shower. steal towel, best thing from hotel.  I leave after lunch time and there is a bus waiting for me to take me back to D.F. D.F was hectic, i traverse the place via metro and find a great hostel next to the cathedral (Mexico city hostel). 

I immediately set out to explore and walk for ages, find some live music in the street, the zocolo is bustling with Christmas, ice skating, rides, food etc. I come across a protest as one of the leading politicians was fired so his staff are protesting for their jobs, here i meet a group of teenagers which take me on a walk back to the zocolo, they are nice and buy me an inflatable pencil thing which we take advantage of in the square, they are impressed by my general coolness (big ed). Back at the hostel i meet several people including a Dutch guy, an Indian and 2 Argentinian girls oh and one Korean girl, we all head out to find some viola (aka dancing) and find a really cool student hang out place, vegetarian organic cafe/bar. cool music and people. Meet Daniel, a student there, loose two thirds of team to bed and me and the 2 guys head to a party we have just been invited to on the other side of town. Many of our new team wanna teach me to salsa, which i entertain for some time. Seriously drunk, probably the first time ive been out and allowed myself to get drunk as the safety of the team allows. The party is in the back of a skate shop and the djs are playing tunes from the counter. Bout 3am we decide to make tracks back home. Daniel makes sure we all get home ok.

The following day after making him wait an hour Daniel tours me around the city, he doesnt speak any English so the day is spent with dictionary and phrase books in hand. Very hilarious, we toured most of the museums, went to various cafes to have conversations via a free translation website, hung out at his friends houses that were artists, ate grasshoppers, tried local foods and drinks including ponche, a hot fruit drink, lush. went to some art exhibitions. We walked around for nearly 11 hours, when we were at the last place, the vegetarian cafe and saw a group of Nazi's welding a Nazi flag on the backs i decided it was a good time to go home. The following day Daniel met me again for breakfast and then we headed to the museum of anthropology, via a lake where we went out on some pedelos, we saw some ancient traditional dances from some shamanic performance groups, the museum was fantastic. All of Mexicos finest artifacts held in one place. amazing. The we went to have coffee and translation chats. Then we went to the vegetarian cafe where we had a lock in, ate mole and drunk beer, then we stayed at this cool dudes house Dayn, were we exchanged music and cool polabras/ words. The following morning i was set to leave, Dayn was eager to show me his work, as he was an artist, we went to his studio where we had a little photo shot, not before a window frame, massive steel structure fell on this guy, luckily he was not hurt and neither were our spirits, it was sad to leave the community of cool people i had become friends with, but it was time to move on. Daniel took me to the bus station and we enjoyed a meal together before parting ways. I got a bus to Oaxaca where i had planned to stay for a couple of days.

Got to Oaxaca wey later than hoped, about 1am. I found it difficult to find any place to stay that was open, i eventually found somewhere and was given a room which felt like i was in the office on the next door nightclub, so i took it upon myself to find another open room. The place was minging, and when i woke up to see a spider next to me i just had to get out of there quick smart, so i went to a really nice cafe and spent a couple of hours rinsing the internet and talking to my dear pal Stannard on Skype. Good times :). i decided i couldnt be bothered with Oaxaca and immediately set off to the bus station. I found it hard to find but stumbled upon a bus company which cost 3 times as much and took 3 times as long to get there, this i did not discover until the journey was wey under wey. It was a beautiful journey through the mountains. This was also weird as i had a strong familiar feel to my surroundings, like i had been there before and it did not feel like new terrain. I have never been to the jungle before.

I arrived in Puerto escondido about 7pm and a friend i met on the bus took me to the bus stop of where i needed to be to get to Mazunte to meet my homecrew for xmas. There was only an hour left before the bus' stopped running there, i waited about half an hour before seeking out some information, apparently there is a road block, the local people are protesting against the government for higher pay and they had been there for four days already, i could get a taxi for 500pesos but that would be half my budget that i had remaining, so i found the cheapest place in the guide book and headed there to rent a cabana for the night. Immediately  on arrival i meet this Swiss girl Tanya, and then a Mexican lad called Fernando, who is my neighbor. the grounds are amazing, lush greenery, my own cabana and hammock outside. So spend the night talking with these two drinking cervesas, and having a smoke, this girl Tanya is nice but has a deceptive suspicious awe about her, then a small black scorpion comes running along to were she is sitting, i see and quickly warn her, she has a lucky escape and we remove the scorpion to the road side. apparently they are so rare i will probably not see one again.  She is leaving for my direction in two days with her friends so i decide to stay and hang out and then get a free ride. The next day is good, is slow, relaxing and cheap, we take a walk down the beach, Tanya's schedule is slightly ahead of ours, we meet her on the beach and she is glad to have company so she can leave her stuff on the beach and swim. We are heading to the end of the beach to watch the sunset, there is a weirdo guy sat nearby that is watching us. She says she has to listen to her instincts so turns for home, we confront the guy and come to the conclusion he is just drunk. so we head tot he end of the beach for a long walk. We eventually get home for some more chillaxing in the hammocks, i attempt to do Fernando a dreadlock, but we have no tools and his hair is too thin. Me and Fernando have hit it off like he is a younger brother, Tanya seems to want a lot and not give anything in return. I dont like her, i feel she is competing for my energy in some respect, weird. anyway, couple of days later and a sad farewell to Fernando i hitch with the Swiss to Mazunte in a car with no air con, no opening windows and 3 smokers. An hour later i arrive in Mazunte...

California Baja, Meh-i-co

12/05/2010

Met some "Sukers" (American drinkers), they were from the Baja 2000 rider team, who i sat up late drinking with and finding out bout their stupid antics in general.My new friend Miguel called the hostel to ask if i wanted to join him and his two girls to go on a day trip north to the hot springs, i of course said yes and he was on his way to pick me up in 15minutes. It took a while to get there, stopping off to buy a feast at the minimarket. His youngest daughter Sandra fell in love with me, as i did her, even though we did not understand one another it seems words do not matter as what they say is true, actions do speak louder than words. Miguel said he had a surprise for me on arrival to the hot springs. We arrived, in the middle of a four way valley in Saint Carlos, just outside of Ensanada, to see some purpose built pools, some natural some man made but all with naturally hot water, apart from the cold one which is of course for the contrast. The natural ones have sand and minerals at the bottom of the pools which burn your feet when u dig into them. i feel so refreshed, tired and clean now. we drunk red wine, then after swimming Miguel showed me his surprise, several lobsters, one for each of us. some were massive, he showed me the correct way to handle them and what happens if this is not applied. A fair bit of alcohol was consumed by all, especially Miguel, the driver. Got home about 10.30pm and fell straight into a deep sleep.

Pleiades stars, are a group of stars which the Mayans would use to determine when to plant the crops for the following year. if you can see 5 or more than this is a positive sign and means rains will be good and planting can commence in like march april. if there are less than 5 this means rains wont come until later in the year and therefore planting needs to be postponed until October/November, something like that, interesting.

Orions belt, is such a reassuring constellation to see. Whenever i feel slightly lost i look into the sky and then sure enough orions belt is there and immediately i dont feel lost anymore, like it is looking over me or something. Orions constellation is refered to the hunter in greek mythology, maybe it is hunting me rather than protecting, either way i like it. when i get into the southern hemisphere however the point of view will be changed so i can expect to loose that belt of confidence in exchange for something else. Almost makes me feel at home, and the realisation that we are all on such a small place sharing same atmosphere looking at same stars means we are not very far apart from anything.

The stars are amazing out here, and everynight i give thanks to them for shining so bright and pay attention to constellations and arrangements. Its all about the small things right, and this is a great example of how small things to the eye or as simply as looking into the sky can mean so much inside, and once up close a star isnt so small.

Cubacora myth- i heard about the chubacora iniatially from the Dirt bikers, one of them was paranoid to drive across the Europan becauseof it. i think it is a myth that has arisen out of driving in the middle of nowhere for many hours and then being tricked by the light and many flying things. They say the Chubacora stays knelt down until you are near it and then rises up tall, spreading its wings, nearly 6ft tall. Miguel thinks this myth was introduced by the governement in some messed up way to divert attention from the crash of the economy. Like Influenza which was a government scheme to control some of the population, as many people suffer from flu naturally in the winter, the government made a big deal of it in previous years so people were scared to even shake hands. Also they are trying to regulate health shops into limiting the amound if vitamins sold, so now they have to be sold under the counter in some places.

Erindia Coyote Cals- I found about this place from the hostel I stayed at in San Diego, and then when Miguel picked me up from the bus he spoke many good things about Rick the owner, he made him out to sound like a really nice guy who was into spirituality, this excited me. I got there to find the owner was absent for that weekend and Lulu the manager was in charge, she was lovely, but suffering from the flu, i helped her out and tried to make her feel better. we played guitar together and she taught me some bits. Over the weekend i heard various different stories about Rick and my initial opinion was being tarnished. i never judge people on  others stories and tried to keep that in mind. on the monday morning 
Lulu left for a few days to go be with her family and Rick returned, i was out for the day and when i got back, the whole place was in darkness, it was scary, like the begining of a scary movie, i went upstairs to sort my stuff out and when i looked out the window i could see someone walking around in the darkness, no one made themselves known, i was completly freaked out, especially with the sound of neighbouring dogs barking at something that wasnt quite right. so i called my friend, who came to collect me and my stuff. the next morning i ran with 2 dogs and another i picked up on route, up to the hostel to settle my bill, the bins had been knocked over and things weren't normal as i was used to. Met Rick, said he thought my travellers cheque was fake, and then he said i had signed it incorrectly, and then he ended by saying to have it all for free and to leave immediately. so i did, quite happy i hadnt paid, but disappointed he was as much of a dick as everyone had made out. i was slightly disappointed about this as i was really keen to get involved on a ceremony in the sweat lodge. This time was not my time obviously.

   

Seen soo many dead dogs up to now too. not very nice. Monday get ready to leave, end up in San Viciente with Miguel and his family. we go to a town further south about an hour away to go to the bank which i miss by 20 mins. it only took an hour an a half to get there. We had nice Chinese then back to stay in his Caravan outside small castle. He had had a profound dream about me being an oriental master or something with wings, I am here to help him, him and his daughter do not want me to go, they want to hold on to me as i bring them good energy which has been lacking in their life since the mother left some months before. I am pleased to help and offer kind words and positive energy. Me and Sandra cannot really communicate as she speaks fast and mumbles, bit like me, so conversation is pretty slow for understanding but both parts are happy all the same. Tomorrow i will set off on my journey south to Mulege about 600miles away, on the east coast of the peninsula, on the sea of Cortez. where it will be warm clear waters ripe for swimming apparently. Miguel may drive me which would be fab, and i wil get to drive his lush 4x4 too, sweet.

So Me and Miguel set off on the Wednesday morning, i drive for 4 hours through arid desert and mountainous areas, its a pretty sketchy drive, hair pin bends and steep cliffs, slim roads and on coming 18 wheeler trucks. After 4hours and 2 beers or so and nearly coming off road once i decide to swap to passenger position so i can take in the scenery. We drive another couple of hours and decide to cut the days ambition of 600 miles down as the sun is setting we turn off to head to Bahia Los Angeles, a beautiful fishing village on the east coast, on arrival to the bay we are greated by 24 little volcanic islands, beautiful. spend the night co-ercing with locals and eating fine food and wine.  The next morning we set off and Miguel drops me at the border to California Baja Sur, where he gets me a ride with a truck driver who is heading to cabo (Southern most point). I am consistently in communication with instincts and  get out at Mulege, which is a tropical paradise. Situated in the river mouth the environment is very green and diverse, I arrive in just enough light hours to make it to the beach to see the sun set over the river. Once i was there i was feeling pretty stranded as it was a 3km walk and it was now dark, so i stayed in the little shack, El Patron to eat some fresh fish, which i ate tiger fish of course and scallops = YUM. stayed the evening talking to this elderly man 'chica' about language and local medications, he insisted on driving me back absolutely wasted, which was slightly sketchy plus i could barely understand what he was saying but a most enjoyable evening all in all. 

  

My next stop was La Paz, a really built up cosmopolitan city, romantic restaurants, ice cream joints and gourmet coffee, a little way in a boat, Espiritu island, they have sea lions, and shark whales which i have the pleasure of swimming with (the former), it was probably one of the best experiences I've had the pleasure to enjoy. At one point there was a male near me, which you are supposed to avoid, i was copying its movements above and below water which must of seemed threatening so it came at me with its mouth open and teeth bearing, it was scary. I wish i could go back there.

12/11/10 Eve of the birthday of Saint Guadalupe, go to local church to see begining of festivities. Arrive in church to see native Indian dances and elaborate head wear but dancing for a Catholic purpose. They have truly lost their culture here. We see pagan style dances in the street with the virgin Mary printed on their shirts. 

I delve more into the history. There are many missions all through Mexico and America. The Spanish put the first mission in Lorreto just south of Mulege, around 1750, native Indians were adverse to the idea but did not intervene, the missions mission was to convert everyone, the indigenous people did not want to be converted so were therefore killed. Many indians were killed so in the end it became a choice of survival to convert.

In north America/Canada the same problem, over 60million buffulos were slaugthered just for the sake of showing power from the military, the native Indians were told to live in a a special compound, initailly the Indians killed the main guy and around 200 of his men, but then more troupes came and the Indians never wanted to fight but to live in their land and to live a peaceful life. The white men could not have this as they had already told the Indians this was the case, so they killed all the buffulos so eventually many of the Indians died of starvation.

It makes me feel sick to think that they have been forced to loose their culture that some cannot even see it now, they are so forcefully integrated that some don't even know of their origins.

The same happened to the Aboriginals. Who is going to fight for equally that apparently we all want.

Introduction into Meh-i-co

I arrived at my hostel (Lucky D'S) about 11.30pm to meet my fellow Brits Tor and Tom, we stayed up till gone 3am to swap travel tips. The following day we got up and ventured out to Mission Beach, it was a large beach with white sand, we walked along with a mission of finding me some Sanuks, which i was desperately after before hitting Mexico. We found them by the time we got to Pacific beach and then went to sit on the end of the pier to have a picnic and watch dolphins play in the ocean, AmaZING. We went to watch the sunset from a bar on the beach where i was approached by a stereotypical American into escorting him through to south America. I took his details and then never contacted him. We headed back to the hostel to collect our free dinner and have a rest before the evenings activities. That evening in the Brit team we went to represent in town. We went to an uber cool bar called Vinde Sa ra, where there was a secret door covered in grass at the entrance. we got rather drunk that night and was thoroughly disappointed to find everything shuts at 2am. so we went back to hang at the hostel. the next day feeling rather fragile i headed to the trolley station to catch a tram for the border. whilst waiting for the tram i was approached by a young man by the name of Deris, turned out he was a fellow enlightened being and he accompanied me to the border so we could talk in depth. I think he was there as a reminder to why i am here, to remind me of my path and how i hadnt been keeping to it whilst here in USA. We swapped tips and information before setting off to cross into Tijuana, crossing the border on a handover and no Spainish revision under my belt was a bad move, this was immediately revealed. along with the fact i had left my phrase book at home. Doh! I managed to traverse my way on a bus to the central bus station about half an hour away, here i caught a bus to San viciente, 110miles away, to find a recommended hostel on the beach, 12 miles from the bus stop. i didnt imagine that 100-120miles would take 4.5 hours and by the time i arrived it was dark. Luckily a lady sat next to me on the bus and although i had no clue what she was saying, i assumed she was saying that there was no bus or taxi to take me there and it was dangerous for me to be out in the dark alone, so she got her grand daughter to call her papa to come and collect me from the bus stop and take me to my destination, WIN. i was panicing on the bus because of the language issue and decided to get to my destination where i could stop for a few days to regroup and revise my Spainish. Miguel, the dude that collected me spoke good English and we enjoyed some good conversation, we stopped at the shop to get some supplies which he insisted on paying for and filled me in that the hostel was run by a very nice man, Rick. When we arrived there was a girl there alone called Lulu, she was in charge whilst the owner was in San Diego for the weekend.  I cooked myself some food and then we hung out for a bit, while she taught me some chords to play on the guitar as well as some Spanish. So gutted i forgot my phrase book. Me and Lulu are the only ones residing here at the moment, which is nice and i've agreed to help her out as much as a can, she speaks good English which is again lucky on my part. When i go to sleep i hear a car pull up and some men get out, Lulu must of gone to bed because they wake me up looking for someone to rent a room from, so i go to get her. I wake up around 8am and have some pancakes and egg with everyone, the four guys are here for the surf which they dont find and leave at lunch time. I spend time writing out what Spanish i do have access to, play some guitar and go for a walk down to the beach, there are many Stalks here, and pelican type birds, and a heron standing gracefully on the rocks looking for lunch. Turns out the owner is into Shamanism and there are two sweat lodges here so i might stay so i can try and do a ceremony in one. I have no idea on my next plans, what i want to do and what i feel comfortable doing. There are many military checkpoints, outside each town, checking for drugs, it seems to be a major problem here, although Lulu reassures me that Baha California is very safe she sleeps with a pepper spray to hand...just in case. 

L.A experience

12/01/2010 - wed

So leaving L.A for downtown San Diego. Im on a double decker train, downstairs is for old people, disabled and business class. Upper deck for me. Fab. Its 8.40pm and the journey is 3 hours roughly. Im looking forward to getting out of America for financial reasons however the further south i go the less ‘freaky’ people there are and the more plain freaks there are. There are more central Americans and they all wanna talk to me to which i have to turn down my Kat friendly radar in order to stay safe, i really have to have my wits about me now, getting into really unknown and potentially volatile environments. There is a lot of bother in many of the border towns to do with gangs and drugs. Ill have to cross in the day time. But meanwhile im planning to meet some bournemouthites in San Diego to get their low downs as they have just come up from there. I stayed at this guy Oskars house in Korea town, L.A. he was nice, a charity worker who planted trees around the city and helped on permaculture projects and getting more bike lanes, as he was an avid cyclist. He lent me his nice red raleigh called Ruby whilst i was there and enjoyed many cycles as before that it felt like a lot of time was wasted on waiting for buses etc. Cant decide whether to get pissed, it was the aim, i bought a bottle of bear flag, and Oskar helped me polish it off before i left the flat. He even tried to snog me when we were hugging goodbye. What a way to end it. T.W.A.T. I guess you gotta give em credit for giving it a 1st and final try. He said my friends can stay so ill be sure to advertise that free space to people going north when i see them.

Wednesday i cycled from Korea town to the observatory which is a long way, took about an hour or more maybe, that was a lesiurely ride thou. The last leg was all up hill then through a park, the Griffiths park which is the largest urban park in the USA, i had to leave the bike ¾ up the mountain and then hike the rest of the way as it was too steep to carry the bike, past the warnings of mountain lions and rattlesnakes. It was beautiful, really was a sanctuary from the urban sprawl of L.A. Griffith. j.  Griffith was a Welsh man who went to America in the 1920s/ maybe 30s to earn a whole bunch of cash, he earnt his first million by the time he was 31 investing in mining. He bought a load of land in L.A as he predicted it would be a popular town in the future. Then he went to some observatory i cant remember the name but i think  it was nearby and was allowed to look through the scope he was amazed and star struck, he said “if everyone in the world could look through the lens it could change the world.” So he built, actually its a Carl Zeiss lens, a 16 inch lens refracting and a reflecting telescope. It is the biggest observatory in America and is famous for starring in many films. It was really cool. They had to make it bigger at one point and they couldnt build up so they had to lift the building up to zero gravity so they could dig down and built below, mental i tell ya, and its so disorientating when u on the bottom floor trying to get out. On the way back i cycled past the celebrity scientology center. This place is full of nutjobs, i worry about whats in food i eat, its hard to find organic here and the water tastes disgusting i cant drink it. Also seen many chemtrails over L.A.

The divide between rich and poor is a gradual yet distinctive difference, people who you wouldnt imagine were homeless or poor, are begging for 50cents or a doller. It really is so sad, people are sleeping on trains, or anywhere, they all come out at night hanging out with signs saying ‘ am i invisible?’ yeah your gonna get donations mate. People driving their lives around in little shopping carts. And crazy people around shouting and having conversations with themselves. Hilariously tragic.

Tuesday i spent the day down Venice beach, sooo many homeless happy people there, all hanging out smoking weed, playing music and socialising. It was nice, i cycled from the infamous pier up to Santa Monica and back, met a well known photographer Roman, who became my assistant for a short while, he was used to real film, i really admire people that refuse to move on with the times and maintain an old fashioned stance on things, his pictures were really cool too, he had lived in Paris, London, New York and his sister was an author on Raw foods and a life coach for lazy Americans wanting to loose weight. Win. Whilst stopping at his place to pick up his bike we heard a screech, this lasted for 8-10seconds which was a long drawn out horrifying moment, it ended with a crash bang. We ran downstairs to find that a girl being pulled from an upside down 4x4 on the sidewalk i had just walked on moments before, it had been run off the road hit a parked car and flipped over wedged between a tree and a building. There were 3 people inside, only one was hurt and not that badly luckily, it was horrifying. The shock felt by her was felt by me, maybe it was my reactive mind recalling all the times i had experienced shock first hand i dont know. But it wasnt nice, i tried to comfort her and to calm her down until the medics arrived, before long the road was closed off and we were being  ushered away. So we got on the bikes, not feeling particalary safe but headed to Santa Monica, saw some amazing skater dudes pulling some sick maneuvers. Also met some people that knew the original Zepher boys and one guy said he was best friends with Stacy and they had lived a couple doors from each other and learnt to skate together etc. Once the sun was rising i rode away to find the internet and restroom, starbucks to stay loyal. Stayed for a spiced apple and caramel hot drink which they ruined with cream and then headed back to the beach to watch the end of the sunset. I dont know why but thats the 2nd time ive driven away from a sunset. Funny. Later that day i went to the Scientology center which i will explain in more detail later.

You can really tell the difference in L.A compared to S.F, the people are less helpful and friendly, but still a lot are talkative but it became difficult to determine the friends from the fiends. Drivers were more aggressive, in S.F if you find yourself in the middle of the road people will stop, L.A. that sometimes happens. Its more cosmopolitan and similar to London, everyone in a rush.

So the first day i was in L.A. doing a regressive account here, i aimed to visit all the museums and observatory, except all fun stuff is closed on Mondays, and apparently Tuesdays now too, bum-mer. So i just got on the tube, with my day pass and went as far as i could go. Some stereotypical black Americans gave me incorrect directions which sent me walking for flipping ages in my search for the California river, boy was i disappointed, a massive area all concrete with a piddly little linear stream down the middle, absolute rubbish. But i had a little tour round the blocks of northern Hollywood and thought whilst im near ill go to Warner Bros studios. Arrived there and got told off for taking pictures too close to the gate, have to be near road or get a tour, tours were 50 bucks, screw that, so starbucks for some net time and research what to do in this city. Then i waited overall about 2hours for the bus, that includes getting on the bus and finding out its the wrong direction, then waiting ages in opposite direction, starting to walk, pass like 4 stops before i find someone who had been waiting for 50minutes and assured me one would be soon. Like hell. Then i found myself on Hollywood Boulevard. last place i thought i wanted to be. Great thift shop there though, although not that great as i didnt buy anything, but better than all the ones i had been in previously. And actually i did buy a cheshire cat badge for my bag. I walked the walk of fame down to the chinese theatre where all the hand prints by stars are. That was fairly entertainging. I saw an exhibtion on life and when i went to investigate it was on L.Ron Hubbarbs life=BORING. So carried on walking, past the book store with L.Ron Hubbarb taking up all the window space, then past a xmas navity set up  L.Ron Hubbarbs winter wonderland. Then i walked down saw adverts for De cirque de soleil, was gonna go in before i found out it wasnt on till next summer, what a disappointment, but save on the pocket. Enjoyed some good chats with the mad hatter=DUDE. Cat woman=money grabbing cat literally. Then i remembered lonely planets recommedation for great food at Kung Pao Kitty? F***ING GREAT- highly recommend, it was soo good i had to go back to today for dinner, 6445 Hollywood Bld. Kung Pao Kitty dish with shrimp, beef and chicken. Oh my it was sooo good, extra spicy yum. Dont eat the peppers if you value your face thou. Oh yeah whilst eating i turned this situation into a comparable metaphor;
Buying some trousers i had fallen in love with, with a guy i thought i loved and how i couldnt have either so i should pretend i never saw them. But then i found myself buying the trousers anyway so i dont know what that means for the comparison. But thought that was peculiar and worth mentioning even if for ridicule.

Watched a great American film that night ‘Breaking away’ which was an interactive film about cyclists from Indiana. Worth a watch if you here i guess. Also ‘i’m here’ LOVE IT, and its filmed in L.A. Anyway back to the plot, so there was a  running theme of L.Ron Hubbarb, the last was some girls offering a free stress test with the e-meter, so i thought yeah lets give it a go, they were trying to get me to buy the book really. But gave me some free dvds. I decided what the hell ill go check this out for myself, in the name of field research. So i went to the church of scientology on Sunset/Vermont. I walked into this las vegas themed building, inside was like a bookstore, with only one book for sale, whoo. One of the androids put me into this mini cinema to watch this poorly filmed Hollywood movie on the origins and history of scientology. It had bad acting and poor discussion in it. I had many questions, so in response they put me onto another dvd, to which i had more questions, i said i didnt want to watch any more dvds or buy the bloody book so tell me what they thought they knew. Its all about Dianetics, although there is conflicting opinions as to whether the two are linked but they blatantly are and rely on each other. I met a guy called Phil who told me there technologies of the religion and dianetics, ok so we are getting somewhere i say, tell me about these technologies and how do they work, they put me onto Juan, a really nice Mexican dude on the payroll. He was on a level, had many of the same experiences that i had had so we had good conversation, he said he could only do ‘auditing’ on me after i had slept well, eaten healthy, and had no alcohol or smoking in my system for 48 hours so he sent me home and arranged to meet the following day. ­­­i returned full of my side of the bargain, so i was slightly apprehensive when he took me into this room filled with people in twos with there eyes closed talking to each other about random stuff. We sat down and he asked me to close my eyes, he asked me to tell him of the first memory i have of feeling pain. I thought it was when i fell from the tree aged 11 but then remembered gettign run over by a bicycle aged about 4 i think. So i recalled the story to the best of my ability, then he said to connect with that feelingof pain, where in my body, what did mum say, tell me again, he must of asked me to recall it about 10 bleeding times, i was so bored by this stage feeling interrogated by a wannabe cop or something. Anyway i went along with it. Afterwards i asked why the hell he was doing that, what good was it going to do, i felt sad, i had to go back and speak to another guy as they said they hadnt let all my feelings run ‘flat’ anyway i think overall it is a fad for thick Americans who need leading to positive mental attitude. They even have a book out called ‘Happiness- A common sense guide’ i mean...Serial?!

It has helped my research, one of my aims whilst I’m here is researching holistic treatments and medicinal plants, shamanic practices etc. So this simply affirmed what i knew already about positive mental attitude can help you to heal quicker because your body isnt riddled with bad energies. I may even buy the book when i get home just to look further into these so called ‘technologies’ i did see a leaflet asking for $5,000 for the leather bound book set or the e-meter, really?! Apparently so. What a bunch of idiots, but hey you know whatever works for them, if thats what they need to feel better then good for them least they are feeling better. Im not buying in though. Thanks very much.

Finally near down town San Diego, its 11pm, i wonder how long i will stay here and what it will be like, i am mainly looking forward to being able to swim in the sea and get some vitamin d on my body which i feel has lost out this year due to studies, its my time now and im definitely thoroughly enjoying it. People seem so shocked to hear im travelling alone, girls say ‘wow, i couldn't do it’ yes u can, you may not think so but actually it is fairly easy and upmost rewarding, i have to say i am looking forward to xmas with some homies though. PeACE X

Second place to infiltrate - L.A

11/28/2010

Been in the car since  10.30am, its now 7.22pm and the end is not near. i am headin to LA from S.F, i took a ride share from craigs list. its me, a French lady, her 3yr old son, a Mexican and an American afghany pre med student. Apparently Americans have the view that English have bad teeth and poor hygene, thats how we are portrayed in the media. I did of course tell him how they are portrayed to us. We had to eat dinner at a taco bell this evening. ergh. gross. I couldnt eat too much of that. Stocked up on chocolate covered coffee beans, my new fav treat. cant wait to get somewhere tonight. the French lady says i can crash at hers. i dont even know her name. she owns the vehicle but has not driven it so far. she also wanted to go the scenic route which has doubled the trip time to about 10hours. grim. least i have a free place to crash tonight. cant wait. The American dude offered me his sofa too but not sure. End up crashing on his sofa as i could have killed that kid by the end of the journey.


It was sad to leave Brainbow, i feel somewhat alone now. i do feel like he held up my meeting of other people in S.F but had such a great time with him that im not bothered there is now a high standard of exploration and understanding to be had . I found this amazing place sera phi which was full of rainbows and geometric patterns, lights and vibrating dancefloors. it was my dream place. Me n brainbow have made so many new links in my brain is hard to a) comprehend and b) explain. We have created memories, linked smell to memories. Almost wish i hadnt got so comfortable at his house. It has made this a bit alien now, and out of any comfort zone. Luckily people are really friendly, especially as im travelling alone, people really respect that. i do wish i had someone familiar to share these golden moments with. I saw a load of walrus' earlier bathing on the beach. cant wait to hit venice beach.

Ended up staying on Oskar's sofa till Wednesday, he gave me a key to the house and a bike to borrow. Even said my friends are welcome to stay at his house in the future. Scweeet! 

Buyin wine

Forget all previous recognition traits and go for one with a good illustration= bear flag= win

So the next part will start in the future and work backwards, enjoy ;) 

Kats Arrival to United States of America- First destination of infiltration- San Francisco

blog

This is my first blog entry so initially writing to make sure I’ve done this right and see what it looks like. I’ve never written anything like this before so I don’t know if it will be interesting or offensive, and I’ve never been an editor either so it will coming fresh from one of my five soles. Just realised to I can chat on for hours if allowed, I will try to summarise and to remember to write the best bits but I can’t promise that. So here goes;

I will start by when I left the country by a 747 Virgin airways flight.VS0019. Luckily scored 2 seats, had free booze all the way, a couple of naps, watched 'dinner with the schmucks' which was laugh out of loud funny. Anyway so flew back through time kinda and arrived in San Francisco about 2pm. immediately was met by a dude who got me involved on a group share taxi to the city. Sat next to some journalist thing that had was writing about black panthers and bins. The accent and choice of vocal immediately impressed me, it made me smile. The speech is so enthusiastic and exaggerated, it’s AWEsome! So I checked into a recommended hostel (The Green Tortuous), on arrival I thought oh great I’m in the red light district and it looked like the worst bit the taxi went through, but he assured me it was a good part of town. Immediately after getting freshened up I ventured down and met a guy in the lobby with similar hunger desires so we ventured out. we walk for miles, around China town and little Italy, apparently China town has the largest population of Chinese people outside of China, we walked around the Embarcadero, up the 378-397 stairs to Coit tower and got an amazing view of San Francisco and Berkeley, then around town a couple of bars to finish the night.

The next day was amaZING. I went to the Science Academy, which was a free day, had an awesome experience in a planetarium, 360 degree screen with like 12 projectors viewing a documentary about LIFE. Right up my alley! The end of day brings my path into the path of a lady who takes me for coffee to talk about my reasoning for being here exploring. at the end of the experience of meeting her the universe weirdly places another individual into my life, John, who took me to one of the most amazing book shops I’ve ever been to, City Lights. They had so many kool individual books I had never seen before. Talk about a kid in a sweet shop salivating or what! I ended buying this really kool book ‘Extremly loud & Incredibly close’ by Jonathan Foer, amazing, witty, clever and modern. Realising not summary here so gonna skip to the following day which was spent nursing a hangover and 1 hour to look for my shoes which were ‘lost’ from the nights fun activities, however found again later in my bag, I finally set out hours late to meet John at the Jejune Institute, realising he hadn’t waited I went in alone. Oh my god. This day was one of my favourite definitely in the time I’ve been here possibly more. So I go into this apartment block and go to the 16^th floor, I ask the lady at the desk and she hands me a key and says to follow the instructions, odd. I walk into this office suite and a recording went off so I sat in the chair and tried to relax all my electrically excited molecules. It was hard. The quest was amazing, I ended up doing the first few steps and then went back to the hostel to get jumper and gathered more troops to share the joy. Me, two Australians, a PhD grad in philosophy and technology and John (Katie Hall ref). The day was soooo good, had so much fun playing detective, I cant explain it cause it would ruin it but I can recommend checking it out.

I had to check out of the uber fun and lovely hostel to go stay with a friend of a friend after visiting the Exploratorium, it was amazing, science experiments galore, we manipulated all the experiments to our full advantage, including taking our picture to mirror image into a water droplet which is hooked up to a camera which projects the image onto a tv, good times, look out for pictures. The friend of my friend was a crazy scientist designer dude called brainbow which remembered everything ever taught to him. Sick!.

That night we watched a film were cats were killed (Gammo), whoo, whos idea was this?! The following day is spent walking across the city checking out quirky thift shops and little stalls. And ending up at the Beat museum in North Beach. The beat generation was started out by Allen Ginsberg , William Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac were the original dudes, Ginsberg wrote HOWL, a whole bunch of poems which got him charged with obscenity for example;

“The world is holy! The soul is holy! The Skin is holy! The nose is holy! The tongue and cock and hand and asshole is holy!”

Getting arrested bought much publicity to these dudes free thinking liberal attitudes, which started the Beat generation, a whole bunch of copy cats basically, the original beatniks didn’t like this and this wasn’t what they originally planned. They all used to hang out over at City lights book shop upstairs and have political meetings putting together poems and literature to document the times and scene.

Went to a seventh annual inter-dimensional art show at some art studios which was awesome night turn weekend, immediately on arrival I meet Josef, a trypnotist with a light show feast for my eyes and brain, a sequence of lights interacting with our delta, gamma and theta brain waves, sooo amazing. He works at sera phi, an amazing center for healing! Party went down cool, many of London scene were there, I was drunk, abused some of the models with my barks of boredom. Won’t go into too much detail but I’m sure you’ve all seen a drunk Kat and can therefore use your imagination. Unfortunately for me there was a sober friend there to remind me over the next week of all my obscenities.

Realize major blabbing going down but all parts relevant to the overall story.

 Skipping some time, goes by, beach, bison, driving away from sunsets for dolphins, gold gate bridge brainbows, twin peaks, great views, earthquake siren warnings, rides in police cars doing illegal maneuvers finally made it to Yosemite National Park;

26/11/10 – thanks giving

Drove from San Fran to Oakhurst today, which is just south of the entrance to Yosemite national park, today we drove in from the west round the mental loop a couple times, sat and waited for an hour or so for a cold pizza, spoke about Socrates, Aristotle and Plato, oh and Galileo and who first discovered the earth etc was going round the sun, because of the story that Socrates said about the dudes from society in the bottom of the caves, (cave of allegory) blah blah memories bottom of hard drive, moon beams, and smell particles triggering memories deeply seeded in the hard drive hidden by worms only to be reborn by visual trigger or smell . Driving over ice and seeing loads of snow, tall trees with snow hanging off them. I saw mule deer, raccoon, or marmosets. Life in metaphors. Driving with a crazy scientist design geek who can’t stop talking and producing ideas upon ideas upon ideas. Good times, sad times, confusing times. Laughter and tears. Wine and tea. spliffs and bongs. speeding and stars, orions belt bog rocks covering the road, driving over steep cliffs, and through valleys. EPIC