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Ticket price sign in Hampi.

Ticket entry prices for a sight in Hampi.

On 16 May 2017

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  • San Miguel de Allende - I was unsure about visiting San Miguel de Allende at first, but when a friend invited me to stay at their friend’s place for the weekend I couldn’t say no. I wasn’t sure about going because I’d heard that it was quite ex-pat and tourist heavy and expensive, so I figured they didn’t need me visiting as well. But, it is a a picture-postcard perfect city with an iconic pink sandstone cathedral in the main square, immaculately manicured gardens and far too many pretty streets. - It’s known as a creative city with many artists choosing to make their homes here but what I noticed even more was the number of weddings taking place. Apparently this is where a lot of wealthy Mexico City natives come to tie the knot and it’s kind of obvious why.
  • Paletas - Rectangular ice lollies that come in every flavour you could possibly want, and some you might not want too. Paletas became a daily addiction when I was in Mexico and trying as many different flavours as possible was a kind of sport that kept me busy for months. There are agua paletas, made from fruit juice and leche ones made with milk. When going for agua I like tamarind and for leche it’s got to be coconut. - The main player when it comes to Paletas in Mexico is La Michoacana, a name that adorns paleterías (paleta shops) in plazas across the country. The story goes that two cousins from the town of Tocumbo in Michoacán state each started a paletería in Mexico City in the 1940s, there’s a debate over who started their’s first. But it doesn’t matter because the businesses grew into an informal franchise network and today there are estimated to be between ten to fifteen thousand Michoacána paleterías in the country! Testament to just how much people love ice lollies.
  • The edge - It’s me. Trying to look comfortable while sitting uncomfortably close to the edge of a canyon. If you look closely you can see how tightly I’m gripping the side. - This impressive looking rock is in Real de Catorce, a village in San Luis Potosí state, full of horses, Willys (that’s a kind of jeep!) and abandoned mining settlements. It used to be a silver mining hub and the only way you can get to the village is through a narrow tunnel through the mountains. - My time in this town was spent admiring old mining sites, marvelling at all the cacti and eating a lot of gorditas (a savory corn cake stuffed with delicious fillings).
  • Show stopper - IG is awash with photos of the outside of this building, which to be fair is very good looking, but the inside is spectacular too. This is the the curtain on the stage of the theatre inside the Palacio de Bellas Artes (swipe to see a picture of the exterior). It’s not just any curtain, it’s a Tiffany glass curtain comprised of a million pieces of glass depicting Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes in the Valley of Mexico. Fancy. - You can only visit the theatre on a guided tour (Spanish only and first come first served), but the best thing is that it’s free. So even if you can’t understand anything the guide tells you, it’s totally worth 30 minutes of your time to get a look at the prettiest stage curtain there ever was.
  • Catch-up - My time in Latin America is coming to an end and I’ve shared barely anything of my travels in this region, which have spanned almost 14 months and six countries. Over the next few weeks I’ll try to show you a bit more of where I’ve been. - Back to Mexico first, a country I found hard to leave (I stayed for 6 months!) because I had such a great time. In fact I think about my time in Mexico everyday, such is the impression it left on me. Mexico City in particular was amazing and I think more people are starting to cotton onto the fact that it’s an incredible city and nowhere near as dangerous or scary as often portrayed. A lot of that chatter got in my head and I was quite intimidated when I first arrived, but after a day or so any anxieties evaporated. - This stained glass window is in the Castillo de Chapultepec. Yes there is a castle in Mexico City and it was completely different to anywhere else I visited in the city, a city that has an abundance of stunning buildings. The word Chapultepec stems from the Nahuatl word for ‘grasshopper hill’. Fun fact: all the subway stations in Mexico City have a little icon to match the name, the icon for Chapultepec station is a little grasshopper. My personal favourite was Camarones where the icon is a shrimp.
  • Silencio - Aka the sound of my Instagram account over the past few months when I kind of fell out of love with posting any pictures here. I'll try to rectify that now. - I'm currently in Ecuador and feeling disappointed by the fact that not a single soul in my hostel is speaking Spanish. I've been in Latin America just shy of a year now and this is one aspect of travelling here that I dislike about staying in hostels. - The best conversation I had all day was with my Uber driver, who described the shape of Quito as being like a Chorizo. Which I can confirm is 100% accurate.

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