Adventures and fascinations of Matt Pāz
In Granada, I was dropped off on the main plaza, and I walked a few blocks through the hectic streets to arrive at Oasis Hostel. I took a breather for an hour, then went out for lunch at El Jardin Café, trendy, arty, upscale kind of place set around a beautiful green garden courtyard.… Read more
The van from San Cristobal to Antigua was a slight nightmare. It took 13 hours after several delays, and required changing vans three times.
At least the border crossing was easy. On the Mexican side of the border, the van driver took each person’s passport into the immigration office (as well as a required $20 ‘exit tax’ if you’d been in the country more than one week), and returned 10 minutes later with our exit stamps. … Read more
The bus ride southwest to Oaxaca took about four and a half hours. I had a luxury bus, so it was a quite nice trip with scenic views of the dry, steppe, desert scrub land which most people think of when envisioning Mexico that transformed into tropical savanna and rolling green hills. … Read more
An hour and a half after taking off from Quito, my flight landed at Seymour Airport on Isla Baltra of the Galapagos Islands archipelago. The Galapagos Islands are one of the places people wait a lifetime to visit. After landing, I could feel excitement in the air as people started getting giddy. … Read more
I walked a few blocks from where the bus dropped me and saw a street lined by vendor stalls leading east towards the ocean. Recognizing that this must be one of the main drags in town, I headed down it looking for a place to stay.… Read more