Posted in
USA
| 23. Januar 2008, 08:34
I finally reached the end of my trip. This is the finish line. I made it. I made all of it on time. Amazing. Anyway. I got up at 4:30 to wait at the Dennys Restaurant for the Bus. I had no idea if this was the right place, because the adress on the internet was wrong (there was no dennys there), but I was too tired to try to find out. I had coffee there, and another, and another. I ordered a glass of water, too. When it was time to leave the waitress told me I should wait outside because the bus wont stop very long. So it was the right place after all.
I got to LA in 30 minutes ahead schedule and got on the Amtrak train there. The train was kindof nice, but not more comfortable than the bus. It went through fewer populated areas though and you could see the pacific ocean, too. At halfway to San Fran I switched to another bus which brought me to San Jose. I got on the Caltrain there to get to Palo Alto. Can you believe that in a first world country there was no sign at the trainstation? At all?? I walked back and forth 4 times to find out which train is going my direction! And not all of them stopped in Palo Alto. What a mess! Over there I switched to the local bus and finally got slomewhat close to where I wanted to go. I walked the rest to my brothers house.
Over there, everything was dark and I yelled inside the house to see if anybody was there. But noone answered. I felt kinda weird walking into an unknown house at dark not even knowing if it is the right one. I imagined someone with a knife behind every door or in the hallway. But there wasnt. I didnt even know which room it was so I searched the whole house to find the right one. I was there! First thing I did was pulling out the car to drive around a while. I havent driven a car for 10 weeks! What a feeling. I looked for something to eat and without map and at night, you know what happened. I drove around disorientated for about one hour until I finally found back and stopped at the first restaurant that I saw heading off. It was mediterranean food, gyros pitta, just like you would get home.
Today I took the car for a walk and checked out some of the stores, to buy one thing or the other, levis jeans for 22 dollars for example. I also wanted to go up to skyline driveway to see something of the city but when I got almost up there the alarm went off that I didnt have any fuel left, and I panicked and turned around, rolling down smooth in neutral to save gas. I made it to the next gas station and was lucky not to be stranded in the fewer populated hills. It also rained all day, so I wouldnthave been able to see anything anyway. After that I took off direction San Francisco to end up at the airport somewhat around 6 to pick up my brother. I got there at around 7:30 when we wanted to meet and drove around for about an hour, till I saw him. He was waiting upstairs at the departures and wrote it in an email which I must have missed somehow. We went to get something to eat and then drove home.
God bless the United States of America.
SLAC. Can you see the billions?
Baby billionaires.
God bless the United States of America and its justice system.
3,2 million dollars for a garage...
..and its headquarters now.
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Posted in
USA
| 20. Januar 2008, 18:37
Today Me and Eric and a friend of his, Jessica, went to Hollywood Blvd. and met all those interesting people dressing up as known film caracters trying to get money out of stupid tourists for taking a picture with them. There was spiderman jumping down from the wall. There was superman not flying, but standing around. There was about 3 Jack Sparrows impersonating their character. This is a living place, there is a kelly family clone playing live music every day and some black rappers covering you with some headphones to listen to their music. I bought randomly a cd from one of them who asured me that he is going to be famous. We plugged it into the car when we drove by and turned the volume up to max. He didnt recognize his own music though. We had some lunch and went up to the hollywood hills later, which allow a breathtaking view of the city at day and night. We were pretty tired and sore from yesterday (we went out around his neighbourhood) and came back around afternoon and did not leave the house. We had a couple of beers and a pizza instead and watched the pictures of cuba passing by on the screen, remembering old times and making plans for new trips.
Will Smith has big shoes.
Superman is telling a story, Batman watching.
Hollywood Blvd. I walked over so many people I have never heard of.
No comment.
LA.
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Posted in
USA
| 20. Januar 2008, 18:16
In the end, I did make it. I thought Bahia is going to take me at least 3 days. I flew into Los Cabos from Guadalajara alright and got out of the airport. I asked where I have to head to and started to lift my finger. In about 5 minutes 3 cars stopped and because I wasnt really sure if I am going the right way I asked. But every person that stopped told me a different thing and I ended up turning around and going the other way. It was going to be late, too, so I decided to take the bus to the next town and get a ticket at least to La Paz. I got to La Paz around 8 pm and that town wasnt really nice looking and I also didnt want to look for a hotel that night so I hopped on right on the next bus to Guerrero negro, which is where I wanted to do some whale watching. It took the bus around 12 hours to get there.
Hopping off the bus I walked to the tour office which was a trailer park and had the direct connection to a tour boat. They even let me take a shower at their facilities. The tour was altright but definately not what I expected. We saw around 6-7 whales, one was huge and one of the middle ones came to our boat rolling over. Back to the coast, I still had plenty of time left and I walked to the Highway to hitchhike. They told me the trucks of the nearby salt factory were stopping and one cafe to have a drink before they leave to Ensenada, which is close to the US-Border. That cafe was supposed to be just out of town, it turned out to be about 1,5 h walk and there was no salt truck waiting for me, nor showing up any time soon. While waiting I watched an old beat up truck getting care from its owner at a gas station. He saw me lifting the finger at every car passing by, so when he finally got ready to take off, I just looked at him desperate, but he just looked back at me. When he passed I probably looked so disappointed that he stopped and plugged it into reverse. He asked me about jokes which probably meant drugs and I not listening at all just hopped into the truck. He was going to Tijuana! I couldnt believe my luck! And he was a really nice person, too, his mother riding with us in the sleeping cabin. It took us 12 hours to get to Tijuana, loads of stops included, several of them because the truck broke down and I helped repairing it.
When we got to Tijuana it was about 2 am and he told me there is not going to be any buses around here. So he said I could stay at his house! What I did. There is no way I can make that up to this very nice family and this is definately the picture of mexico that I will keep in my mind.
The day after I crossed and watched carefully the madness going on at this checking point. There is throusands of people crossing there during minutes, vendors will bring their duty free goods right to your waiting car. There is people losing their right to enter the states for a lifetime because they have no work permit. You could make a movie about this checking point. From the other side I called eric and then looked for a bus to get to long beach, close to LA and I finally got to Erics house around 6 pm! I made it.
Scammons lagoon, Bahia.
The whale rolling over behind our boat.
Whale blowing his nose.
Thats where I waited. 715 km to Tijuana.
Where we broke down. This place is very windy what makes it freezing cold.
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Posted in
USA
| 18. Januar 2008, 21:59
Dont worry, guys, I had a couple long days but I am alive and in the states now / going to LA in 30 minutes - write something there!
Looks like the busiest border? Thats why. You need around three hours to pass through. Fates are decided here, as many mexicans work illegally in the states for many years and the first control denys them a visa for the rest of their lives.
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Posted in
Mexico II
| 15. Januar 2008, 18:49
Can you believe I went to Jalisco and I didnt go to nearby tequila?? Thats just the way it is! Think about it. I dont like Tequila. And I dont like tourist places. And I dont like organized tours. Why should I go to Tequila? Anyway, there is lots to see in Guadalajara and I met some nice people in the hostel. We went out to a cuban bar yesterday and had a lot of fun. Tomorrow I am going to fly to Baha and hope I make it to some point further on the very same day.
Plaza in Guadalajara.
Market. You can buy just about anything here. I walked around for about an hour and then spotted something I was looking for for a long time: Converse shoes with comic strips on them! I bought them right away and 35 dollars is not that bad either (they say theyre original, but I doubt that..could be stolen)
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Posted in
Mexico II
| 13. Januar 2008, 21:02
At last we changed plans, going to Guadalajara turned out to be to stressing for Eri, Xavier and Christian after the marathon they had to do to deliver the project they had had to be finished on friday. So we went to nearby Leon to the fair that just happened to start. There we had a couple of drinks and due to the nights before we didnt really do a lot besides playing black jack all night. We got back on saturday and spend all afternoon on the couch because we were all done in. Today I will finally go to Guadalajara and check into a hostel where I hope Ill meet people for going to Baha.
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Posted in
Mexico II
| 10. Januar 2008, 19:15
Why is this thing putting Queretaro into Baha??
I went out yesterday and after eating some weird gorditas y ended up in that bar the girl from the hostel recommended and found her and her girlfriends at a table drinking martinis. Turned out not to be 2x1 besides martinis, I had a couple of beers after that I switched to martinis without even knowing if I would be able to pay them. I left my money and credit card in Guanajuato and had around 300 pesos with me - 150 of which to pay the bus back.
The girls talked a lot about work and boyfriends not to mention that after every story we had to cheer with our martinis - I felt myself catapulted into the TV series Sex and the City. We had a lot of fun and turned out that half of them were engineers which I wouldnt have guessed in my lifetime. Then the bill came...The martinis were 60 pesos each!! I had a lot more than a couple and the girls were drinking it like water! I cleared my throat and mentioned my little problem and they just laughed and said not to worry about it. Thanks a lot girls! Whenever you pass through germany be sure to drop by to return the favor!
Today I walked around Queretaro which is a beautiful city with colonial, spanish, architecture in the city center and american style houses and industry in the outskirts. Like Guanajuato it is build on some mountains and there is a breathtaking aqueduct leading from the city center to some place, probably a mine. I walk around a little more and then head out to Guanajuato again.
The girls.
Church Santa Cruz.
Queretaro.
The Aqueduct.
Plaza de la Independencia.
Peculiar church.
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Posted in
Mexico II
| 10. Januar 2008, 04:26
I have lots of small stories which wont qualify for a big article. I am going to put them here. Weigh. I dont even know how they write it, but they say it all the time. Mexicans are the Dude-People. Dude, can you see this, dude? Dude, how about that song, dude? It is amazing how many times you can add a useless word to a whole sentence!
Guatemalan kids are happy kids. I havent seen a kid crying in my whole 3 weeks in Guatemala. But the first thing I had to see in Mexico is a crying child. And this is some kind of mexican culture. You will always hear crying children over here in Mexico. Everywhere. And always there is going to be a mother or father dragging that 2-4 year old kid on one arm. I cant believe this. Is there no education around here? What makes them think the kid will stop crying if you drag them on their arm all around the plaza?
Mexicans are generous. It is also kind of their culture to invite you whenever they can. If you dont watch it you can pass a whole month in Mexico without paying a single bill (besides bus-fares). It is very nice that they do so and I would be the last person who doesnt like being invited. The thing is that they are programmed to do so because none of them is really able to invite you. They would prefer a credit than not inviting you. That converts the gesture in a problem because you know they are not able to pay the bill. So you have to sneak the bill before they do and pay it all together.
Mexicans have no sense of orientation! They will tell you whatever they want just to please you with some info, but it will be wrong! Never trust a mexican...
Service is very important in Central-American Countries. I walked into a clothes store in Antigua, Guatemala and from the door a girl rushed towards me and stuck with me. Immediately she offers different shirts and to try them on. The ones that I liked she would insist to carry them behind me around the whole store. The idea is that I will not get bothered in carrying the shirts. She waited outside the changing room when I tryed one on. She also brought the shirt to the register when I checked out. I told her that I am perfectly able to carry the clothes myself but I could tell that this would have been a very uncomfortable situation for her. So I let her stalk me. This is the extreme part, but Service in general is a big thing over here. The waiters are extremely polite and take every single thing you are done with away within a second. If you spill a drink there will be a crowd of waiters cleaning the table and offering you paper towels. I got into the bathroom of a local disco and there was a man handing me the paper towels after washing my hands! Amazing!
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Posted in
Mexico II
| 10. Januar 2008, 04:15
Buenos dias a todos ustedes. Yesterday was a very long day. I got up early so Eri can take me up to where she works and walk up one of the hills from there. She didnt get up till very late so I spend my time doing things on the internet. The walk up the hill was more difficult than it seemed, because she pointed out that I have to find a trail up the mountain, which I did, but apparently I took the wrong trail because I ended up in a bunch of bushes with awful looking spikes. I made my way through swearing Im going to buy a Machete soon and got to the real trail further up the mountain. From here I had to climb rocks until I got to the top which was decorated by a big white cross. I got down on the real trail and picked up Eri and her companions to get something to eat. We got traditional lunch at one of the food places sticking all the work companions into one car (we were 7). From there I walked up another hill to get to one of the silver and gold mines, where they are still digging out gold. The interesting one turned out to have closed to public more than 2 years ago, which nobody knew in town, but I could visit a smaller one nearby, which wasnt very exciting. I took the bus back down and got back to Eris house. She turned up much later and I fell asleep a little, but we decided to go out and although she had to work the next day we spend a long night in some interesting bars. The coolest one was called Why Not? and was full of messages from travellers all over the world. The other one was called bar ocho where we spend the rest of the night. Today I got up kindof late and took the bus to Queretaro, where I will spend the night to visit the city tomorrow and head back to Guanajuato. I told the bus driver to tell me where to get off close to the hostel and, you guessed right, he remembered to tell me about 30 minutes later. The bus back didnt stop although I waved him down so I walked back into the city. The hostel is very nice and recommendable, too bad I am not staying here more nights. The owner recommended a bar where they have 2x1 tonight so I am going to check that out.
On top of Guanajuato.
Guanajuato street cafe.
Mine La Valenciana.
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Posted in
Mexico II
| 07. Januar 2008, 20:06
Did you know Johnny Depp was here? I thought they made that movie in Queretaro, about 3 hours from here. But they told me they spend half a year over here. If they made it here, it was definately worth it! This city is expectacular! The whole city got buried a long time ago by a mud-slide and the people figured it would be easier to build a new one on top of it instead of digging out the old one. And this was a great idea, because now you have a huge city medieval style in a valley, full of tunels and different levels. You climb down three stairs and you are in a park. You climb up two stairs and you are at a plaza, always full of live. I love this city. And I have to see that movie again to check what parts are in it. Eris family is gorgeous! All of them are happy to see me and yesterday we took a daytrip together to see towns as dolores hidalgo, where the movement f independence started a hundred years ago, and el santuario to eat famous ice cream and visit a sanctuary for the indians. We ended up in san miguel de allende for dinner. While eating, some mariachis played music and sang to us. It was a great day.
Guanajuato, city center.
One of the main tunnels. You can see the bus stop on the right. Most of traffic goes under ground here, leaving the city very nice and quiet.
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