Mount McKinley, far north of Anchorage, Alaska, USA

After 8 days of sunshine here in Alaska, today is the first day of clouds and some drizzle. I really can't complain! Today is also my last day in Alaska and what a great trip this has been. I drove more than 1,300 miles to the south and to the north of Anchorage. Yesterday visited Mt. McKinley (20,320 feet/6,194m), the highest peak in North America, almost 160 miles north of Anchorage on the road to Fairbanks. Very impressive snow covered mountains! On the way are several typical small-town Alaskan communities where you can eat Musk-ox sausages, Deer-burgers, Halibut and Salmon, fiddlehead-ferns, and other special delicacies.

Tomorrow I'm flying down to Seattle, Washington State, for 3 days and then east to Hong Kong via Tokyo.

Alaskan sunset below...NOT Mount McKinley.

Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, USA

Wow....Alaska is even more beautiful than I ever thought. While the surrounding mountains here along the Kenai Peninsula is covered in snow, down in the valleys and along the many rivers and creeks, spring is bursting with a balmy 25 degrees Celsius and most trees are butting and/or blooming. The Moose are walking with their newborns and the bears are hunting spawning salmon.

Over the past few days I have driven (with a brand new rental Ford) 400 miles around the peninsula visiting beautiful small villages and of course, spending a lot of time hiking in the unspoilt wilderness.

So far I have seen Alaskan Bald Eagles, Brown Bears, Moose, Orca Whales, Humpback Whales, Stellar Sea Lions, Mountain Goats, Dall Sheep, Sea Otters, Porpoise Dolphins, Puffins, Common Murres, and lots of ducks and Cormorants. (Note: these linked pictures were not taken by me). Walked this morning in the delta of the Ninilchik River right at the little village of Ninilchik to photograph the Alaskan Bald Eagle. Got a couple of real close-ups which made me feel I was back in the Galapagos Islands! Slept in a log cabin high on the bluffs overlooking the Ninilchik River...and down below a Moose and calf were grazing, while Beavers were re enforcing their dams.

Had close up views of Holgate Glacier and Bear glaciers (both part of the vast Harding Ice Fields), and had a walk on Exit Glacier...what an amazing experience to be so close to these icy giants...though I have been more impressed with the Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia, Southern Argentina! Believe me....these ice fields and glaciers are receding so fast due to global warming. If you wait another 10 years.. you may find only gravel and little ice!

Sun sets at 23:15 and rises at 4:15am...never really gets dark even still early in Spring.

UPDATED (May 29th)
In the meantime did some kayaking around the fjords and glaciers of Prince William Sound (saw more wildlife including many whales and sea otters), and visited two small communities only accessible by boat. What a life these people live! I am totally amazed by the beauty of Alaska! The past 7 days have been sunny and warm -- not a cloud in the sky.

Anchorage, Alaska, USA

I am safely at the top of the world! Greetings from Anchorage, Alaska. From here I am heading to distant places to see the beautiful snowy mountain scenery, bears, moose, glaciers, and will do sea kayaking around Prince William Sound.

From what I have seen so far (it is now 8:20am - I arrived from Mexico City via Los Angeles this morning at 2:06am) - the next few days will be an amazing experience.

The mountains looming over Anchorage is covered in snow but right here in the town it is nice and warm, with not a cloud in the sky.

Till later

Mexico City - Last night in MEXICO

I started this beautiful sunny Sunday morning in the city of Puebla, south of Mexico City. What a nice place! Beautiful cathedral and colonial buildings -- apparently the best preserved colonial buildings in all of Mexico. Great food too. Puebla is a very religious city and serves as host to over 70 churches, as well as its magnificent Cathedral - one of the oldest in Mexico, with 14 chapels and built of blue-grey stone. Its towers - at 69m (226ft) - are the highest in Mexico.

I woke up with an awesome view of the active volcano, Popocatepetl, or Popo, as it is affectionately known by locals. And....it was puffing snowy white smoke surrounded by clear blue skies. With not a single cloud in the sky, it sure was a pretty sight to see the Northern Hemisphere´s highest active volcano blowing out some white smoke! Wish I could climb it but its covered almost halfway in heavy snow, and I just don´t have the right gear to conquer the ice. Next time!

Oh yeah...I am in Mexico City. My last day in this great city. Spent most of the afternoon at the Zocalo (city´s main square). The square was filled with a large rock band festival, many food stands, some comedy stages, rows of interesting vendors, and about 100+ native Indian dancers doing a spectacular dance around a large number of drummers! What a sight. Every time I visit the Zocalo, it has a lot of interesting events to offer. Reminder, this is the third largest city square after Beijing and Moscow.

Tomorrow at 16:50 I´m flying to Los Angeles with a connecting flight to Anchorage, Alaska. Arrive at 2:05am. Will write again from the top of the world: Alaska!

Puebla, MEXICO

I´m in Puebla, south of Mexico city. I´m here to check out Popocatepetl, the second highest volcano in Mexico and currently the highest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere.

Located only 70 km southeast of downtown Mexico City, and near Puebla, its been closely watched by volcanologists as around 30 million people live within its reach. Its snow capped which makes it beautiful under the early morning sun. I have not yet seen much smoke but hope with some luck, it may give a puff, just for me!

Trying to find an Alaska travel guide book here in Mexico is like....finding chicken teeth! Can´t even find a Spanish version.

San Miguel de Allende AND Morelia, MEXICO

Spent yesterday and last night in the town of San Miguel de Allende (pop. 63,000) about 2 hours south east of Guanajuato. Nice town with lots of outdoor performances at night, Indian dances, etc, and of course, beautiful plazas and churches. Not as charming as Guanajuato, but still a nice town to explore.

Arrived this afternoon (4.5 hour drive) in Morelia (pop. 570,000), the capital city of the state of Michoacán (4 hours north west of Mexico City). I´m here for the annual 3-week long festival (Feria de Morelia) and today is the big celebration of the founding of this city 465 years ago. And what a stately capital this is. The most impressive solid buildings, cathedrals, and plazas. Indeed much to see and experience.

Gotto go and celebrate with these happy Mexicans! Have I ever mentioned that I love Mexico!! Everywhere I go, I find so much to see and so many happy-go-lucky people!

Adios!

Guanajuato, MEXICO

Nestled in the mountains of the Sierra de Guanajuato is the picturesque colonial city of Guanajuato - a 5 hour bus ride north of Mexico City. This has to be one of the most beautiful towns I have seen in Mexico. The town was born out of the rich silver deposits discovered by the Spanish, and a great amount of the fortunes earned by silver funded the many majestic cathedrals. To navigate the city, you have to go on foot. The town is criss-crossed by hundreds of alleyways, or callejones. This is also a famous university town, so young blood abound.

Will spend the next 24+ hours exploring this town and also hiking the nearby mountains.

Mexico City, MEXICO

With a population now estimated at over 25 million people, there sure is a lot to see and do. This my second time in 7 months to visit "DF" as it is referred to (District Federal), and it will be my base over the next 12 days as I explore the areas north and south of the capital.

On weekends, one of the places to be, is at the Zocalo! This is the largest central town square in all of Latin America! I´d say its the third largest in the world I have seen, after Beijing´s Tianamen Square and Moscow´s Red Square. Overlooking is the massive Cathedral -- Latin America´s biggest, and the impressive Palacio Nacional. On certain Sundays, the Zocalo brings together the rhythmic beating of drums, the ankle-rattles of the native dancers and the glowing incense of the medicine Indian men. Most dancers are clad in their spectacular headdresses with colourful feathers, and painted faces. Too much to see, too much to write -- spending time in Mexico City is indeed an experience!

FOR THE FACT FILE
At an altitude of about 2,240 and surrounded on most sides by volcanoes towering at 4,000 to 5,500 meters, its an interesting sight looking down at the city as your plane takes off from the international airport.

The Mexico City Metro (click on picture to enlarge) is the third largest in the world (after Moscow and Tokyo) and by far the world´s cheapest to ride. A ride unlimited by distance and number of transfers costs a mere $0.20. Total length of Mexico City subway is now 201.7 km (excluding the additional light rail system of 18 stations - 18km) . Number of lines: 11 - all (except line 1) are rubber tyred - same as some lines in Paris and the metros of Montréal and Santiago (Chile). The Metro has 175 stations, 24 of which serve two or more lines, 106 underground stations (the deepest of which are 35 meter below street surface); 53 surface stations and 16 elevated stations.

This is the first metro system that uses symbols and colors for identifying stations in order to help the illiterate segment of the population.

The trains are constantly serviced by unlicensed vendors selling anything you can imagine. Pirated CD´s at $1 each, are highly promoted over boom-boxes carried under the salesmen´s arms -- so you get to listen to each track before buying, and before you arrive at your destination, all your Christmas shopping is done!

Its good to be back in Mexico City -- I kinda like this place! By far the most exciting city south of the USA -- maybe with the exception of Buenos Aires and Rio.

Acapulco, MEXICO...as I am celebrating 1 year on the road!!

Congrats to myself! Today exactly one year ago I started my traveling in Hong Kong and my first destination was northern Greece. Since then I have circled the world twice and have visited 34 countries! What an experience is has been. Before I return to Hong Kong in less than a month, I still have to visit a few places in Mexico, Alaska, Seattle, and maybe also Japan.

I want to truly thank all of those people who so frequently read my blog and write to me with comments and questions. I so much need your support on the road as this trip has not been your typical holiday -- its been a conquest and a mission to me. Many days I suffered under the heat, exhaustion, weight of my backpack, and felt lost without proper Spanish language skills. I have endured so much and while I am really tired and longing to be back in my own home and kitchen and bed...relaxing watching TV, going to work every morning, market shopping and eating out on weekends...this trip has been the most amazing experience of my life. While life is a journey, taking in so many new experiences in a short time (and the hard way), is what makes it so special to me! May my journey continue for a long time. Peace on earth!

Ok, I am in Acapulco - Mexico´s most famous beach and party city.

I know ...I know... Acapulco´s best days are long gone but as it was sort of on my way from the south coast of Oaxaca state to Mexico City, I thought I´d check in to see for myself. The beaches and water surprisingly clean for this big city and I´d say Acapulco is more impressive than I expected.

I´m really here to see the Clavadistas of La Quebrada...these are fearless divers who plunge 136 feet into the crashing Pacific below, landing in a 9 1/2 foot deep inlet. They perform 5 times daily....3 of which is at night when they dive with torches. It has been since the 1940's one of Mexico's famous attractions.

Updated 24 hours later
Last night I attended 3 shows by the Clavadistas (cliff-divers) of La Quebrada. Now that was truly a good enough reason to visit Acapulco. Not only do these guys dive down the 136 feet high cliffs, but before doing so I climbed down about 50 feet, swim across the narrow channel of splashing sea water, and then climb the sheer cliffs of 136 feet...and then they dive down. The final show was accompanied by much fire and smoke. The set alight a "wall of newspapers" arranged against the opposite cliff after they turned off all the spray lights, and then dive as the fire lit up the skies to reveal their bodies traveling down into the water. The final diver held torches in his hands which offered a spectacular effect as he travels down the 136 feet and slips into the water below. The guys sure know how to dive!

Coast of Oaxaca, MEXICO

I am done with Central America....what an experience it was!! Its been almost 1 year since I started to travel on May 11th, 2005. Mexico is the last country before I hit Alaska, Seattle, and then Japan. For now I think it is very appropriate to rest a few days along the beautiful coast of southern Oaxaca state, Mexico. The hiking is great in this area and so is life along the beaches. ¨Taking life easy¨ is the motto here! I´ll be covering the areas of Puerto Angel, Zipolito, and Mazunte. This is among the most beautiful coastline I have seen in all of Mexico. Adios!

Central America Review

Since I left the South American continent via Cartagena, Colombia, I started Central America and did all countries....Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize.

I spent more time in Costa Rica (21 days) than in any other country, followed by Guatemala and Nicaragua. I enjoyed Costa Rica the most - rain and cloud forests, active volcanoes, gorgeous beaches, coastal villages, nice people, and awesome animals roaming in the many national parks. Having had several close up encounters with sloths and tapirs in their natural habitat was the highlight of my visit to Costa Rica.

Second, Guatemala with its people!, Mayan villages, great culture, active volcanoes, and colonial towns. Third....Nicaragua, the highlight was doing the 5-hour climb up Volcano Conception on the Island of Ometepa in Lake Nicaragua. This probably was one of the top 3 mountain climbs of my life!

I really didn´t spend enough time in Honduras, El Salvador, Belize, and Panama to evaluate these countries. The little I experienced in Honduras (Copan Mayan Ruins) and southern Belize (Punta Gorda and staying at the Mayan Village of La Laguna) was great!

While there is so much to experience in all of Central America, you no doubt will find garbage strewn around villages, towns, cities, and along the highways. This is a true eye sore and such a shame that these people have so little respect for nature and for others. Nicaragua and El Salvador was probably the worst, with Honduras and Guatemala in second place. Costa Rica was not bad at all. Further down south (South America), Colombia is the worst polluter!

If I ever return to Central America, I would want to explore the hard to reach coastline all the way from the Yucutan (Mexico) down the Caribbean coast of Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and by boat around the San Blas Islands of Panama to the colonial town of Cartagena, Colombia. While this would be a fantastic trip, it will be very time consuming and expensive, and will need very careful planning. Most of the coast of Honduras and Nicaragua is only reachable by foot and boat. Maybe one day!

Volcano Pacaya, GUATEMALA

Rivers of red hot lava flowing so forcefully, you can hear the cracking and crunching of brittle lava rock as these rivers expand and find their way down the slopes. Unfortunately, these rivers right now don´t originate at the very top of the volcano, but from a few open "skylights" towards the middle of the volcano (at the side where the middle of the volcano has become the base...due to built-up of the flowing lava over a long time. A "skylight" is a break in the "lava tubes"....and a "lava tube" is simply a tunnel formed below the surface. When flowing in the tunnel, you cant see the flow, unless there´s a skylight (when you will see a red glow), or if the lava breaks out of the skylight and runs above the old dry lava fields.

This is Volcano Pacaya, looming over the colonial town of Antigua, an hour away from Guatemala City. Pocaya is 2,552 meter high, and certainly one of Central America´s most notorious volcanoes...read: Very Active!

Eruptive activity of Pacaya ranges from minor gas emissions and quiet steam eruptions, to explosions powerful enough to hurl bombs up to 12 kilometers and would necessitate the evacuation of numerous villages in the areas nearby. Unfortunately, I didn´t see any of this major activity (other than steam and red flowing lava), and was also not allowed to climb all the way to the top due to the current danger grading.

Anyhow, it was good to see the lava rivers!

Tomorrow at 5am I´m going north....to Mexico. Which means...I am done with Central America. Trust to sleep somewhere in southern Chiapas state tomorrow night and then continue on to the coast of Oaxaca state....returning to an area I visited last year October, and which I love! Adios from Antigua.

Punta Gorda, BELIZE

It was a long 5 hour bus ride from Guatemala City to Puerto Barrios, in the far north of Guatemala, here on the Caribbean Coast. I stayed the night in this little port town - dusty roads but surrounded by green jungle. This morning early I took a real fast boat up along the coast of Guatemala and Belize to a pretty town of Punta Gorda, southern Belize. As people (mostly black and mix of black and indigenous) here are so laid back, they simply refer to the town as PG. English is widely spoken here in addition to Mayan languages and a little Spanish. People are very friendly.

Spent the past few hours with Dr. Alfred Lau, one of the world's most respected botanists and also known as "The King of Cacti". Dr. Lau (in his late 80's) discovered so many plant species around the world (mostly in Central and South America), than he doen't even know the number. I looked through his years of publications and found many plants bearing his family name's Latin version (laui)...such as this and this, and many more!

I am going into the interior tomorrow for hiking and to overnight with a Mayan family in a Kekchi Mayan village with a population of 300. Wish me luck...as I will have to walk a long way to find the village.

Chichicastenanga, GUATEMALA

Two days ago....on Sunday, I visited the authentic Mayan town of Chichicastenanga. Here, the local church, which is 90% Mayan beliefs and 10% catholic, still serves as the central point for offerings. Hundreds of candles burn inside the church, while the indigenous prayer leaders (Chuchkajaues) swing their censers containing balsam incense (estoraque) while chanting magic words in honor of their ancient Mayan ancestors. The huge Sunday market was filled with Mayan people from villages near and far away -- all wearing their colourful village clothes. The market bustled with life from early to late, selling garments, crafts, food and fruits - and a lot more. All a wonderful mix for the eyes to feast on.