Closing the loop

Sunset

I have finally made it back home after nine months on the road. It is quite a mad feeling to finally get back to where I started after such a long time, and I guess the main thing is that I had a great time and made it back in one piece. Setting off for such a long solo trip, you can't help but feel a little anxious about how things will work out, and it is great that along the way I didn't run into any problems or tropical illnesses!

The final week in Mexico really was great. It started off with a quick stop in Guadalajara where I caught up with George and Diego, two other former Valencia students, and then with Diego and some of his friends we headed off to a beach on the Pacific. What a beach! It was 8km long with practically nothing on it, except for lots and lots of palm trees! We just chilled out there, not really doing anything apart from trying not to burn up and avoiding any falling coconuts! I don't think I've ever had so much beach to myself, or such fresh tasting coconuts. On the way back we stopped at a refreshing waterfall to get some relief from what felt like 50 degree heat. It felt like being in Mangoland with mango plantations everywhere, they tasted amazing too.

It was a bit of a mission to get back to Mexico City in time for the Miss. Universe contest, just fitting in a brief stop to the beautiful former mining town of Guanajuato on the way. The contest itself was an interesting experience I guess, but being more set up for US TV, the actual spectator experience was not all that great. I made the most of my final few days in Mexico to tour round the main attractions: Taxco, another stunning mining town nearby, and then also Teotihuacán for the Aztec pyramids and Xochimilco for the relaxing canals, a good alternative to the traffic and noise of the city. Luis, Silvia and their friends were great tour guides, and we also made it out for some drinks in the trendy area of Coyoacan where Hernan Cortes supposedly lived. Juan Pablo and his flatmates made sure I got more than just a taste of some authentic tequila on our final night together!

Its difficult to put into words all the thoughts going through my head now that I'm back home after so much time in so many different places. Its fantastic to catch up with family and friends, to find out what has been going on over here, I feel lucky that I was able to live what had been a dream for many years.

Part of me definitely misses Latin America even if I am glad to be back. It is an incredible place to visit with such a great atmosphere. Its a tough life for people there but the smiles and the warmth of the people wouldn't suggest they were worse off than the colder Europeans. Its a bit of a shock to go from some of the poorest places on the planet to one of the richest, and although it is amazing to see Paris again and how beautiful it is, the extravagance does make you feel a little bit nauseous when you think that so many other people have so little, or nothing. Its a tough situation, and one can only hope that even if the people in power around the globe today are not taking the key decisions required to make things better, well that the next maybe more aware generation of people in power will.

Thanks to all of you who have been following my blog. It is strange to think I will no longer be writing about what I am up to anymore, or sharing my photos, but it was a real pleasure to be able to do that and to see people were interested during my trip. The little sitemeter icon at the bottom of the page is a link to visitor statistics and it was great to have a constant flow of people visiting my site. Now I have a few things lined up before starting work in September and quite frankly I need to buckle down and start paying off my debts!

Thanks also to all the travellers I met along the way, who made the experience so interesting, and to those friends who had a dirty messy backpacker to stay!

If anyone has any other questions about my trip or places I have been, just click "Post a Comment" down below and put your email address in the text of the comment: it will get sent to me and I can get back to you. Don't worry, I won't publish your email address on my website! Enjoy the last photos. Owen.

Breakfast with Barbara, Laura, George and some of their mates

Greek temple in Guadalajara???

Main square in Guadalajara, cathedral in the background

George and Barbara with her Nextel, the radio alternative to mobiles in Mexico

The Birds

Old street

The real Corona!

Cruising towards the Pacific

Crowded

Danger

Locals with machetes

Vast

Looking a bit red after a day in the sun!

Fresh coconut for breakfast!

Trying to get it open the savage way!

Some locals digging in too

Great

The path out

Holding on tight

Local public transport

Bushfire effect

Still burning

Small village

Nutters
You have to be to play basketball in such scorching heat

A well needed waterfall

Soaking up the shade!

Arid landscape

Mango fest

Pleasant roadside dump

Mangoland

Juice?

Aguave, for tequila

A good place to avoid, where the deadly stuff comes from

El Callejon del Beso

Colours in Guanajuato

Town plaza and cathedral

Extravagant!

An impressive theatre

Great place to relax

Guanajuato from above

A great solution to traffic, stick in in the former sewers underground!

Miss. Universe, bikini competition!

Miss. Universe, long dresses...

Chicken tacos with guacamole and frijoles!

The incredible cathedral in Taxco

Practising a religious procession

Hanging clothes

Flying kites

Relic from the former colonial power

Old street in Taxco

Nice little house

Taxco from above

Transport for my next trip

Monument to the miners
Taxco and Guanajuato, like Potosi in Bolivia are suppost to have played a key role in funding the Spanish empire due to the huge amounts of silver extracted

Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacán

Silvia, Luis's girlfriend, Luis and me

Avenida de los Muertos

The only people wearing sombreros in Mexico are tourists!

Pyramids and cactus

Eating at Las Brasas

It looks like a kebab... but really they're tacos al pastor!

Juan Pablo and his flatmates... the morning after... not a bad thing this is dark!

Campaigning for Lopez Obrador and election justice...

Register to support the "legitimate government" of Mexico

Xochimilco

Camilla and Gisela

White bird

Rich and Silvia

Making flower arrangements

Chewing gum recyling

One old church!

Taco factory!

Banking in Mexico at Banamex, join the queue!

Promoting Pfizer, with a Segway!

Front door in La Condesa

Another one!

Market

Los Voladores de Papantla!

This was really incredible

More of the same

A hard day's work for the police

Castillo de Chapultepec

El bosque de Chapultepec

Paseo de la Reforma, Torre Mayor y los Ninos Heroes

Looking in the mirror

Castle tower

Cruising out of Mexico City

Touch down in Paris
Due to British Airways chaos, despite buying a round the world ticket with them, I never ever flew on a BA flight

Home sweet home

Link to the previous post:

Mexico