In Deep, Honduras

May 19 - May 25, 2008

Honduras: Utila Bay Island, La Ceiba Carnival

I really hadn't intended to do any scuba diving until going to Thailand, but sometimes the world just pushes you in a way that you have to go with the flow. I had a few days to kill before meeting up with my friends from Honduras for the La Ceiba Carnival and was able to squeeze in an open water diving course on Utila, one of the Bay Islands. Thankfully, I was able to find a dive package that included accommodations at a hotel with a pool that helped fend off the hungry sand flies and suffocatingly humid weather. The first day, before my actual lessons began, I managed to get on a dive boat headed to the north side of the island to do some snorkeling. The highlight was snorkeling with (or rather, attempting to chase) some pilot whales that were swimming in the area!

My first experience with diving was slightly unnerving. After gearing up, our group descended fully to a depth of about 2 feet. While this should have been about as scary as being in a bathtub, I found myself in a moderate state of panicky Rob-Rapid-Movements when my mask began to fill with water, my contacts began to burning from the salt water, and water was threatening to fill my nose! The only thing that kept me from returning to the surface was the fact that my arms were interlocked by other students and there was no escape! I settled somewhat uncomfortably into the strange world of breathing through my regulator in an oddly Darth Vader-ish sort of way.

Once I became accustomed to the strange sensation of breathing under water, I was able to enjoy my time in a truly completely different world. During my first dives I witnessed flocks of squid somehow always meticulously arranged in flying-V patterns, the colourful parrot fish, a tiny baby octopus who was curious but cautious, ugly smiling sea worms poking out of the sands, a few sea turtles, a 5' eagle ray waving along the contours, glimmering fish swarming in circular vortices, a baby seahorse eternally waiting in a single spot collecting underwater cobwebs, and the strangely alien and organic mysterious plant life living among the coral reef.

After returning to the surface, I returned to the mainland to meet up with my friends for the La Ceiba Carnival, the largest carnival between New Orleans and Rio de Janiero. I checked into my cockroach infested hotel before heading out for some street food, street music, and local beers. Within the first 5 minutes I found someone's hand in my pocket looking for money. I surprised both him and myself by my reaction to grab him by the lapel and throw him into the crowd. Although I regretted not reacting by breaking his fingers or punching him, it was probably lucky as it is quite common for people to carry knives or guns! Unfortunately, this guy escaped into the crowd likely in pursuit of other victims... In the next 2 days, the pickpockets relieved Elly of her wallet and another girl of her purse.

The next day and evening, the streets were piled with probably a few hundred thousand people to watch the parade and party along with the many live bands that played on the numerous stages along the main street, dominated by Punta, Reggaeton, and other latin music. The La Ceiba festival was cool to experience, but next time I think I will opt for the real thing and head to Rio for what I expect would be a more serious showing of costumes, masks, dancing, and general hedonism.

Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras. The dive boat at the Utila Dive Centre. Unfortunately I was too concerned about attempting to breathe underwater than to consider combining it with taking any underwater photos.

La Ceiba, Honduras. Although there were less masks and costumes than I would have expected at such a Carnival, there were a few people that stuck out!


La Ceiba, Honduras. Another of the interesting floats that floated by.


La Ceiba, Honduras. The streets were packed as the floats and vehicles pressed their way through the crowd. Notice the Wendy's sign in the background.. the Pizza Hut was just slightly out of the frame.


La Ceiba, Honduras. A few more costumed dancers on the floats.

Ruined in Honduras

May 14 - May 19, 2008

Honduras: Copan Ruins, Tegucigalpa

One of the major reasons I wanted to come down to Guatemala was to understand the Mayan calendar and to visit some of the ancient ruins to feel the history firsthand. The first ruins I visited were the Copan Ruins in Honduras, noted especially for the quality of Mayan Glyphs. After having purchased a book to help me understand the symbols, I sat among the beautiful ruins on a sweltering day and attempted to decipher some of the ancient dates encoded in the stone carvings... without much success, I might add.

As I initially rolled into Honduras, my first concern was money. I didn't have any local currency and the bank machines would not accept my card. Luckily I was able to exchange a few American dollars at a local bank, although I only had enough to last a couple of days. There was also a power outage and a transportation strike that was causing some turmoil in the vicinity, and the local coin-operated pay phone was broken so I had no easy way to get hold of a friend I had earlier met in Guatemala. Sometimes, everything gets better with a local beer followed by some sleep, which proved to be true in this case. The following day the bank machines mysteriously decided to work, the road strikes ceased, the power returned, and I was able to get hold of my friend Elly who convinced me to come to the capitol city for a few days!

The capitol, Tegucigulpa, was initially almost impossible for me to pronounce or spell. Gratefully, I was hosted by Elly's family and managed to see a fair bit of the city's day- and night-life with a bunch of her friends. After staying a couple of days I was off to take my diving certification on Utila, one of the Honduran Bay Islands famous for cheap underwater diving!

Copan Ruins, Honduras. View across one of the lower courtyards next to the ball court.

Copan Ruins, Honduras. View from top of the large wall and down onto the grounds below.

Copan Ruins, Honduras. Walking like a Mayan just doesn't have quite the same ring as walking like an egyptian. Ok, I'm semi-retarded. Notice the mayan glyphs behind me.

Copan Ruins, Honduras. Big head!

Trouble In Dublin (and the rest of Ireland)

View Larger Map

November 5 - 26, 2007

Ireland emanates a magical, musical, mystical feel that is difficult to describe in words, and seems to thoroughly penetrate both the people and the land itself. From the compulsively social Irish pubs to the impossibly endless stone fences of the countryside, Ireland left an definite impression upon me. Ireland has been blessed with the likes of William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Aruthur Guinness, Sinead O’Connor, The Cranberries, U2, and unbelievably, MacGyver.

Ireland’s social culture is deeply rooted in its perfect Guinness, although those from Cork would undoubtedly argue on the behalf of Murphy’s Irish Stout. Either way, it’s the local pub, the beer, and the music that holds Ireland together. Even a Sunday night offers countless busy pubs to enjoy, my favorite being Foggy Dew’s perpetually packed crowd for the Sunday night reggae band. Undoubtedly the major and unexpected highlight of my trip was experiencing Sinead O'Connor's incredible vocal presence in a small sold-out venue in her hometown of Dublin (thanks Maja, for working your magic)!!

The first of two road trips carried me away for a three day excursion to County Clare on the west coast, stopping in the desolate hills of Connemara and settling into Galway for the first evening. Galway's reputation of being a crazy party city was reinforced by the plethora of lively pubs, musicians, and a group of (female) American lawyers studying for their Masters degrees who unexpectedly kept us up for a good craic until 6 in the morning. We continued to meander along the rugged coastline, through small villages signed in Gaelic, and into the barren Burren, with the endless stone fences quantizing the Irish countryside along the way. The musically famous small town of Doolin provided us a B&B next to a lively pub serving the best of the Guinness Irish stew while listening to the impromptu ‘sessions’ where locals would play traditional Irish music in between sips of drink. Skipping the tourist area, we stole our way through the farmer’s fields near Hag’s Head and found an abandoned stone watchtower seemingly built on the edge of the earth. Laying on natural flowing grassy fields at the edge of the sheer drop, we overlooked the rugged Cliffs of Moher plunging 214 metres into the relentless Atlantic. The last stop of our trip was the desolate lighthouse in Loophead, which used to be called Leap Head for the legend of a man who leaped off the cliff onto a rock outcropping to escape a bitter queen.

Cliffs of Moher, County Claire, Ireland. A short walk through farmer's fields near Nag's head led us to more serene view of the cliffs, and a marvelous place to watch the world fall away.

Cliffs of Moher, County Claire, Ireland. A 214 metre drop into the Atlantic Ocean.

Connemara, Ireland. Although not as barren as the Burren, Connemara had a very bleak feel to it, especially where I photographed this abandoned stone house.

Near the Cliffs of Moher, County Claire, Ireland. This old tower is perched at the edge of the cliffs that look along the coast towards the famous Cliffs of Moher.

Near the Cliffs of Moher, County Claire, Ireland. A view of the famous cliffs from inside the abandoned stone tower.


Near Cliffs of Moher, County Claire, Ireland. These cows are happy being confined behind the rock fences. They have a great view of the ocean!

I met up with Scott down in Cork to embark on another road trip throughout the south-west corners to see the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula. The land provided stunning vistas emphasized by the constant threat of storms. We continued off the beaten path down minuscule winding roads and hiked through fields, beaches, and barren grasslands that gave way to rugged cliffs. Driving through this part of Ireland was beautiful, especially when putting the rental car through its paces on hilly, turbulent, and tiny mountain roads… all while driving on the wrong side of the road! (click to view the LARGE 100mb video here that would disturb the car rental agency). Returning for an evening out in Cork, we met some girls who insisted on playing ‘cat and mouse’ and followed them to a small after party held at one of their boyfriend’s house. I reckon these Irish girls were crazy as crackers… between bouts of guitar playing and singing, they insisted on ‘playing MacGyver’, where they would sing the TV theme song and hurl themselves across the room into the couches. Amidst the chaos, I ended up with the best souvenir of my trip – a used hurling stick from one of the top players in the country! Since hurling is a sport that makes hockey look like knitting class, I didn’t stick around long enough to find out what he thought about his girlfriend giving it to me without his knowledge!! Before returning the rental car in the morning, we visited the Blarney Castle to kiss the famous Blarney Stone in order to endow ourselves with the gift of gab if the legend remains true. Later, I joined some people at a remote gathering of hippies for a night of live music and dancing. The venue organically crafted with a grass roof, mushroom-themed stained-glass windows, a wall built from tree ends forming flower patterns, open spiral staircases built amongst the branches of a tree, and a massive fireplace to cast a warm glow on the many diverse people.

South Western Ireland near the Coast. Grassy hills, small lakes, and threatening skies.


Molly's Old Tea Room, Somewhere Near Killarney, Ireland. I'm all over Molly and her thatched roof and stone walls.

South Coast, Ireland. Quaint little town as viewed from the speeding car.


Ring of Kerry, Southwest Ireland. Stone fences, sheer cliffs, and grassy fields line the countryside.


Ireland. Driving here was kinda exciting on the extremely small roads and on the wrong side of the road. Did you check out the crazy driving video? Check the link in the blog.


Cork, Ireland. An interesting night out with the MacGyver Girls. I have some of this on video I'll show to anyone willing to watch! That's the hurl (stick) similar to the one I was given by the girlfriend of one of the best players in Ireland... (don't tell him I have it)!


Blarney Castle, Ireland. After kissing the Blarney Stone, we wandered into the forested area where the wishing stairs were and also some of the sacred worshipping places from Ireland's pagan past.

Back in Dublin, I explored the city further and felt the not-so-long-ago financial shambles and poverty that previously defined Dublin. The recent economic boom has undoubtedly left the city a massive windfall of money to fund the myriad noisy mechanized street cleaners and the ridiculous numbers of empty double-decker city buses that choke the streets worse than New York taxi cabs. These catastrophes, undoubtedly introduced by Guinness-soaked politicians, seem in direct contrast to the spirit of Dublin containing exceptional bookstores, a bustling social scene, and a vibrant literary and musical history. Up in Northern Ireland, Belfast still felt heavy under the shadow of the religious feuds and past bombings, with the infamous murals to serve as both a reminder and as propaganda.

Dublin, Ireland. Old buildings, and obnoxious empty double-decker city buses choking the city.

Dublin, Ireland. My goodness, my Guinness. This was a very good factory tour.

Dublin, Ireland. I count 7 of these obnoxious empty double decker buses in this single frame.

Temple Bar bar, Dublin, Ireland. This is a very popular district to hang out in, and several of these pubs are decorated with a unique style.

Dublin, Ireland. Rainbows, but no leprachauns anywhere in sight.

Dublin, Ireland. Near Temple Bar, with the rainbow following a similar contour as the pedestrian bridge crossing the River Liffey.

Belfast, Ireland. The Christmas market in downtown Belfast. I didn’t see any religious extremists arguing about the definition of Christmas.

Belfast, Ireland. Famous propaganda murals.


Belfast, Ireland. This mural may not be as famous, but it fits into the political commentary in this section of the city. I couldn't agree more. More trees, less Bush!


Belfast, Ireland. On the other side of the peace line, these murals depict a slightly grimmer reminder of the past, and also serve as propaganda to subtley remind people of the differences between the Catholics and the Protestants. Perhaps they should be reminded of the bigger differences between other religions...


Belfast, Ireland. More propaganda. I'm not an expert, but I believe that this religious war was really a social class and status war. Religion played a part in the battle, but it seems spirituality was forgotton.