Golden Gate Bridge – San Francisco – California

Travel Post

2014 – US (California, Arizona, Nevada), Mexico, Guatemala and Belize

Ever since I was young, I have always wanted to go to the States and had planned some big itineraries in my head over many years of what I wanted to see and do when I was there. When I finally got down to working out an itinerary, the plans I had weren’t going to work out as it was going to cost way too much and take far too long. I decided to shorten it down considerably, spend most of the time in Central America instead, then go back, visit the States again sometime in the not too distant future.

Did my usual thing and took the Murrays coach from Canberra to Sydney then flew direct to San Francisco, California where when it came time to almost land I was starting to get worried about how on earth I was going to drive on the other side of the road, as I was to pick up the hire car as soon as I exited the airport. Finally located the hire car company, which was not in the terminal but a short minibus drive to an industrial area along the bay. The staff and other patrons were very happy to hear an Australian accent and wanted to know all about my trip and what I was up to. They were all very helpful with directions and tips on what to see and do. Got into the car they gave me and I wasn’t very impressed as it was a school bus yellow Kia Soul but for one person with not much luggage it did its job. Thankfully, it had a USB charger as my phone had almost run out power due to watching my movies and listening to music whilst on the plane, as I wanted to use it as I had an offline map app that doesn’t use any data just gps, that I was planning on using whilst driving. Took me about 10 mins to get the hang of driving on the other side of the road and once I was on the highway and out of the town, it was all fine. Was funny though as whenever I returned to the parked car I was always going to the wrong side to get in, force of habit there. First stop from San Francisco was Monterey and checked into the yha hostel just before dusk so managed to head down to the beach and happened to come across a few deer standing around on the sand. Was talking to a local and they said that it was not very common to see a deer on the beach so good timing I guess. On the way from the beach I walked past a nice looking marina so took a few photos of that as well and just down the road was the famous Cannery Row. Unfortunately the shops were closing so just did some window shopping but a Bubba Gump restaurant presented itself and I had no other choice but to go in and have a meal there. It was inevitable and very tasty. My waiter was a young Texan guy who had just moved to California and was enjoying the seaside lifestyle compared to his hometown.

The following day was one of those great photography days as US highway 1 hugs its way down the west coast into some very pretty scenery. I was taking various shots of the coastline from Monterey to Cambria which took the whole day, stopping off at every vista point that I could. Went via 17 Mile Drive,  which is a privately owned road but had some awesome views and was worth the $10. Carmel-by-the-sea is close by so I made my way into the town centre and the beach and was a great pit stop and viewpoint. Big Sur was around the half way point for the days driving so stopped off at the Bixby Bridge and took in the truly remarkable scenery whilst eating some lunch.

Stopped off at the Hearst castle to book in my tour for the next day, took some photos of the seals and the pier, and finally ended the day at Cambria where I went for a run to get the layout of the town after I checked into a nice older style guesthouse. Cambria is a quiet country town, not much happening, was a relaxing place to get away from everything, and was just off the highway. Went back to Hearst castle the following morning and this place is a sight to behold. Some striking buildings with ornate features and interiors along with stunning coastline views, you will marvel at the structures and be fascinated by the stories behind the making of this grand estate.

Drove inland a little on US highway 101 for around 3 hours to end up at Santa Cruz in the afternoon and after checking in to the hostel, the closest and nicest looking one to the beach, I headed to the wharf to see the amusement rides and boardwalk. This is a nice relaxing holiday seaside town and everyone that I saw seemed to be having fun and were enjoying spending their time amongst the people they were with. The following day, I got back onto US highway 1 and headed to Half Moon Bay for a quick stop on the way to Cliff House. There are some spectacular photo opportunities to be had here with the dramatic cliffs that jut out from the ocean.

It was then off to Twin Peaks, San Francisco. Managed to wait out the fog for a nice view of San Francisco. Was windy and cold up here but worth being up here for the view of the city. Returned the hire car to where I picked it up from and then got my way to the hostel in central San Francisco via the train, where I would spend the next three days.

After checking in, I went for an evening run down to the Fisherman’s Wharf to get orientated with the city. It is a very historic part of San Fran and is a tourist hotspot with all the stores you would expect but done very tastefully. The day after was a big day walking around San Fran on a self-guided tour. I went to Presidio and Golden Gate park in the morning with also finally locating the Yoda statue at the Lucas Films studios. I then headed over to the California academy of sciences. The highlights from here were the aquarium, rainforest exhibitions and planetarium, quite amazing. Well worth the big day of walking today to see it all despite the rain but it rains a lot here.

Another big day was had when I joined a tour group, which happened to be all Australians. The tour went to Sausalito, the Golden Gate Bridge, saw the immense redwoods at Muir Woods, Alcatraz,  this place is quite spectacular and is a national park. Saw other various significant places in San Fran like Lombard Street and riding the cable cars. Was such an enjoyable day and was able to see so much of this beautifully diverse city.

The last day in San Fran consisted of running the US half marathon in the morning. Finished in 1 h: 48 min (2 mins slower than my personal best at that period of my life) but man there are some slow runners and some steep hills in San Francisco. Was happy with the result and for finishing my 16th sporting event of 2014, in the states.

I then had to quickly get back to my hostel, have a shower and hot-foot it to the start location of the next tour that was leaving on a nine day trip to Los Angeles via Yosemite national park, Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. I had prearranged a later start time do to the run and when I arrived the others in the group who were all Australians and New Zealanders and were younger than I was, were glad for the later start as they were able to party longer the night before. After the very short drive to fisherman’s wharf where the rest of the group walked the pier I headed straight to in n’ out burger then had Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to follow and was feeling very satisfied. After that we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge, I filled out the required paperwork, as I did not have to see it as I had done that twice already. It was then off to Sons of Anarchy tv series territory in northern California, on route to our first overnight stop a town near Yosemite.

What can I say about Yosemite. It’s just an awesome place. Went on multiple short hikes all having the most extraordinary views. Was cold up here. Besides the most photographed valley view of Yosemite, my favourite place was Mirror Lake, such stunning cliff faces. Saw some black bears up a tree. They were more scared of us then us of them. Yosemite was a place that I have to come back to again, it was gorgeous.

After a stop off at the biggest truck stop I have ever been to, in Barstow, we hit Route 66 and made our way to Las Vegas baby! Spent three days in Vegas and I made the most of it by walking in and around a lot of the casinos, going to a couple of nightclubs where one of them rained dollar bills from the ceiling. I managed to grab about US$15 worth so went to the bar to get another beer and that cost me US$30. Also went to the older part of Vegas, Fremont Street, which had been recently refurbished to get tourists to come back. Went to a huge collection of factory outlet stores and also saw a cirque du soleil show which was spectacular and rode the high roller for a great birds eye view of the city. I don’t gamble but did put a couple of dollars into a slot machine and managed to double my money so left on a high. Ate at an all you can eat buffet for dinner which only cost around US$6 and it was not too bad at all.  Played a couple of games of bingo with some of the older crowd at one of the casinos. Wasn’t that exciting but I can at least say that I have done that. The Bellagio water fountains were great to see but my favourite casino was the Venetian followed by Paris then Caesars Palace.  The Venetian’s attention to detail was great even down to the scale version of a water canal out the front of the casino, looked like I was back in Venice, Italy.

Click here for the link to the Bellagio water fountain video on Facebook.

With the craziness of Vegas behind, we made the five hour drive to the Grand Canyon. There is nothing out this way really and then bam, this massive hole in the ground appears. You will get wonderful landscape vistas here, mesmerizing actually. I have never seen such a view before and it is truly unforgettable. It sure is grand. After eating an all-you-can-eat pizza and soda for dinner we headed to our accommodation in Flagstaff, Arizona.

We then hauled it to Los Angeles, California via the Joshua Tree national park which took 7 hours and was dropped off at a hostel that some of the group were also staying at, going via the largest highway I have ever been on, being eight lanes wide.

My hostel was situated very close to the walk of fame and Sunset Boulevard and was located in the thick of a lot of the tourist locations in LA. Spent three days in LA and saw Mann’s Chinese Theatre where most films are premiered in LA, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, Runyon Canyon, Hollywood sign, Mulholland Drive and the Playboy mansion (unfortunately no bunnies were there), on a walking tour.

Did a half-day studio backlot tour of Paramount Pictures which was pretty fascinating. Saw props, sets and filming locations of tv shows and films. A highlight for me was sitting on the Forrest Gump bench. Was told that there were only three made, one located here, one in Atlanta, Georgia where they filmed the scene and the other, is owned by one of the film’s producers. I saw a few celebrities but the one that stood out for me was Aaron Paul, the guy from the Breaking Bad tv series. Went on a nightclub tour with some people from the hostel and that was a lot of fun. Ended up getting into some guys limo and kind of crashed a party but when in Rome.

My final day in LA was spent at Santa Monica and Venice beach in the morning. This is a great place to people watch and to enjoy the benefits of beach and city together. Muscle Beach outdoor gym was amusing and had my photo taken there. That evening after over indulging in some Carl’s Jr burgers and the only soda better than a Dr Pepper, a cherry flavoured Dr Pepper, I set off on an evening flight from LAX to Mexico City, Mexico leaving behind some delightful memories of an immense, diverse country that is full of extremes and hope. Mass produced locally brewed beer in the States isn’t that great but if I had to chose my favourite beers would be Budweiser, Miller Lite, Samuel Adams and Michelob.

Took an overnight flight to Mexico City, Mexico which was a typical uneventful flight, which is what you want. Arriving into the immigration area of Mexico City airport, I saw that the line was very long so subsequently I had to wait a very long time to get through which was not very thrilling at all. Thankfully, my Mexican friend didn’t live too far from the airport so the cab ride wasn’t long and was settled in to his place very quickly. He left for work soon after I arrived so I got a couple of hours of sleep until his girlfriend showed up and she took me on a tour of the city. She was so helpful and excited about showing me around and it was really great to have a local show me all the great spots and also translate for me. She was able to show me around both of the days I was in Mexico City and am truly grateful. I met up with my friend after he finished work and we all ate, drank and danced the night’s away, Mexican style.

The highlights for me in Mexico City were the UNESCO heritage site of the historic Constitution Square, National Palace, Chapultepec Park, Coyoacán & the Frida Kahlo Museum. Before I left on this trip, I asked my friend was there anything they wanted from Australia and he said his mum wanted some Vegemite and a Kangaroo stuffed toy, so before I left, I handed both of them to his mum and thanked her for letting me stay in her house.

Thanks to my friend in Australia that booked the flights I wanted for me, he got me upgraded to first class on this short flight to Cancun, Mexico so received great service, champagne on arrival and silver service etc. Would have been great to have been an overnight flight as I could have taken advantage of the seats that folded flat to make a bed, maybe next time. After collecting my bags I took a bus to the main bus station then walked to the meeting place to start the 25 day tour with intrepid. The tour has slightly changed since 2014 and the difference that I can see is that the tour I was on also went to Chichicastenango and San Jorge La Laguna in Guatemala and it started in Cancun, Mexico and finished in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

After checking into my room, I was a little early so had a little look around the area that the hotel was and withdrew some much needed money as I knew that the areas we were going to be going to in the next few days didn’t really have great ATM’s. The remainder of the Intrepid travellers arrived and had a great meal together at a local restaurant and also enjoyed watching some locals dancing in the side street close to the restaurant during dinner. I didn’t partake.

Early the next morning it was off to Chichen Itza, a UNESCO world heritage site built by the Mayans over 1000 years ago, via a 3 hour drive. Chichen Itza is the 2nd most visited archeological site in Mexico. The most famous building in Chichen Itza is The Kukulkan Pyramid and you can see why, it is amazing and is one of the new seven wonders of the world. Another standout here is The ball court (for playing the game tlachtli). You can hear whispers and hand clapping echoing all over this place. Great feat of engineering. Other standout structures in the area include the High Priest’s Grave and the Colonnade (Thousand Columns) and the adjoining Temple of the Warriors. Spent quite a few hours here exploring this amazing place. It should definitely be high on your list to see in Mexico. It was then off to Merida, a 2 hour drive, which would be the location of our next hotel. The hotel had a very nice courtyard which was where we enjoyed a few pre-dinner drinks and breakfast the following morning. Dinner was spent at very authentic Mexican restaurant which had a Mariachi band. Some staff members were handing out props so I popped on the Sombrero. They also had guns and swords but declined the offer.

Before getting to Canyon del sumidero, we stopped off at a swimming hole which was pretty spectacular and didn’t really want to leave but had another full day of activities to experience so we all reluctantly got changed out of our swimmers and set off for the canyon. Took a medium sized jet boat ride for an hour or so down the canyon and back again. Quite impressive landscape with varying terrain and steep cliffs. No 360 degree turning like in Queenstown New Zealand but was still fun. Today marked the last day in Mexico for a week or so exchanged some money and ate our last tacos (for a while). Next up is Guatemala.

Click here for the Canyon del sumidero canyon jet boat ride video on Facebook.

Spent the next few days in Panajachel Guatemala, on the shores of Lake Atitlan, looking around the villages, swimming, shopping, checking out the local markets and buildings along with meeting the friendly locals. The drive into the town was pretty spectacular, hence the photo of me pretending to be an eagle on the cliff edge.

Took a side trip to Chichicastenango, Guatemala for a couple of days after returning back to Panajachel. “Chichi” as it is affectionately called by the locals is a small, kind of chaotic village but has a lot of charm along with a lot of colour. The markets are a huge feature of this place and you can’t miss them. Santo Thomas church is in the centre of the village and stands high on an elevated area with it’s white exterior walls. In one of the courtyards of a building in the main square, there were several Macaw’s that you could feed and take photos with. They are majestic large colourful birds and very expensive if you wanted to buy one.

Back to Lake Atitlan, we did a home stay with a local family who didn’t speak much Spanish or hardly any English as they spoke another dialect of Mayan language. Needless to say it was difficult to communicate with the family but we managed to have guided town of their village wearing some traditional clothing, watched the local kids play some football and assisted preparing dinner and ate with the family. The family were very generous with there house and time and seemed to be more “well off” than the other locals. In the morning we were glad to see the others as the experience seemed to me a little underwhelming, as in we were all thinking that the families were only doing the home stays for the money but over all it was a good situation to experience even just to meet some real Guatemalan locals.

Antigua, a beautiful UNESCO World heritage site, was next on the itinerary, 2 hours drive south. There are many stand out buildings in this city but my favourites would be Arco de Santa Catalina, Iglesia de la Merced church and Antigua Cathedral. The city is at the base of Cerro de la Cruz mountain and is an ideal place to view the whole city from. The chocolate school and museum was a fun place. The best part was making and then eating the chocolate. Is a must do. This city is frequented by many travellers so there are many cosmopolitan restaurants and hotels here. Went to the most spectacular setting for a McDonald’s that I have been to so far. The photo with the pink flowers was taken just out the front of the family restaurant. We did eat at a fancy French restaurant for dinner one night then stopped off at a wine bar for a nightcap before bed. For a list of things to do in Antigua, click here. This site pretty much suggests what I did and a few extra suggestions. I recommend staying here for an extra day than you have budgeted for, if considering coming here. It is as good as they say.

After Antigua, we heading to Pacaya volcano, a 1 1/2 hours drive south. Before we started the steep hike up, we stopped off at a local bakery and a few of us all chipped in and purchased some very yummy banana bread to eat whilst on the hike. It accompanied the chocolates that we make perfectly. It was very windy and cold and everyone except one of us hiked up, one took a horse ride. Once we got close to the top we started to get warmer due to the lava being close to the surface. We ended up roasting marshmallows near the rocks whilst eating the banana bread and chocolates. It was a good combination. Didn’t see any lava flowing though unfortunately. A few stray dogs up here as they knew that they would get some marshmallows, they were friendly enough.

The next couple of days were spent at the Yaxha and Tikal Mayan ruins which are situation fairly close together. The Yaxha national park is well maintained and you can climb up many of the ruins and view the wild animals in the trees and the spectacular sunset. Tikal national park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is made famous in pop culture thanks to the Star Wars films as some scenes were filmed here. It is an impressive structure that towers above the trees.

An extra activity to do whilst in the area was to go zip lining and I was the first person to put my hand up for it. Was so much fun. Highly recommended if you like flying through the air.

Click here for the zip lining in Yaxha video on Facebook.

This was the last day we had in Guatemala and I had a terrific time in this country. Friendly, warm people with amazing landscapes with interesting and appealing food. My favourite beers were Bravha and Gallo. Don’t by-pass Guatemala if travelling in Central America. It is well worth the visit.

Leaving Guatemala, we headed over the border to Belize City, Belize and the difference was noticeable in regards to the look of the locals, language, landscape, food and currency. First of all the locals were more of an African descent compared to other parts of Central America, due to the British once occupying the country in the 17th century and establishing a trade colony. In 1981 it became an independent country but still has the British monarch as head of state. The official language of Belize is English and not Spanish and has a laid back vibe to it like other Caribbean countries ie “Don’t worry, about a thing…….” attitude like the Bob Marley song, again all thanks to the British. Landscape is different as it fronts on to the Caribbean Sea, whereas Guatemala, where we had come from is land locked. The food is more Jamaican/Anglo-Caribbean cuisine over Mexican/Central American, tortillas etc and the currency is Belizean dollars. Had a wander around the area close to the hotel we were staying at and found a nice little local Belizean restaurant and ended up eating way to much food but was good to have a change in the diet, then the subsequent day I went to the Iguana sanctuary with some of the people in the group where I made some new Belizean friends. Iguanas are fascinating creatures which have striking features and patterns and are dragon like, well mini versions of them. Their claws do not hurt (if you are wearing heavy clothing that is) and they just sit on you and are very cool with it. Was a strange felling having them sit on your head and shoulders but after a while it was fine. We were all in need of something to eat afterwards so whilst we were in the area we stopped off at the Sweet Ting bakery and skipped first course and went straight for the pastries. Was a great find thanks to tripadvisor. Unfortunately, Belize banned McDonald’s from the country so I couldn’t keep up the tradition of eating McDonald’s in every country that I have been to so far. Cambodia is another country that I have been to that has also banned them, but that’s ok as it isn’t very good for you anyway.

The next day, after a short coach ride and two ferry rides, we made it to Caye Caulker, Belize and the summer vibes felt endless. Walking down the main street which was nice white sand, all you see are some souvenir shops, some smallish hotels, outdoor restaurants, bars, dive shops and of course the Caribbean sea. This place would have to be pretty close to heaven on earth, except for constantly hearing all the Bob Marley sounds playing 24-7 in all the bars, restaurants and shops, and that it is a poorer nation amongst the other Central American/Caribbean countries. The bars that are virtually on the sea at the split and wharf at Caye Caulker were highlights for me. Sometimes travelling is so difficult. Spent 4 days in Caye Caulker then it was back to Mexico, going to Tulum, via Belize City. My favourite beer in Belize was Belikin beer, especially their blonde beers and pale ales.

Tulum is a beautiful seaside town with stunning beaches and Mayan ruins close to the sea. Stocked up on some Walmart supplies, as the hotel we stayed at was close. Unfortunately, the following day I got a cold so had to stay in my room whilst everyone else went snorkelling close to the Mayan ruins. When they got back, I met up with them at the beach and had a few chilli tequila shots to help fight off the cold. It kind of worked.

The last destination for this intrepid tour was Playa del Carmen, Mexico, which is similar to Cancun (which is only an hour’s drive away) but doesn’t have all the big hotels, nightclubs and tourists. What it did have was a very long beautiful beach with many bars, restaurants and souvenir shops and I took full advantage of it. A popular tourist bar here is Senor Frog, was cheesy but fun so frequented it along with other local places and relaxed on the beach people watching and soaking in the warm Mexican Caribbean sun.

Said goodbye to most of the group and went looking for a cheaper place to stay for the next two nights. There were some not so good hostels in Playa but I eventually found one that was close to the beach and clubs and I actually got the whole six bed dorm to myself. The only thing wrong with this place were that the pillows were terrible but I took a few of them and it worked out in the end. Met up with the last remainder of people from the group for a few drinks and dinner at a nice boardwalk restaurant and it was a relaxed vibe. The next day myself, another group member and the leader went to Cozumel Island, just off the coast of Playa to do some research for Intrepid to see if it would be a good place to go for future tours or not. We hired an old VW Beetle and the tour leader drove. Man, it was a bad car but got us around for the day. We pretty much just spent the day swimming, eating and relaxing. Comparing it to the mainland of Mexico and where we went on the tour, the consensus was that it would not really be beneficial as there was no real outstanding features or sights to see that were different, still worth checking out though if only for the fact that there were less people there. May favourite beers in Mexico were Corona, Dos Equis and Modelo.

Final farewells were said that evening at an authentic Mexican restaurant away from the strip where there were less people and cheaper meals and beer where I had my last night’s sleep in a bed before I began my journey back home to Australia. Woke up early the next day and headed to the bus station, which was a short walk. Thankfully, I organised my bus ticket from Playa main bus station the day before so knew exactly where to go. The bus only took one hour to get to Cancun airport so checked in and headed straight to the lounge, which was packed with business professionals. Landed in Houston, Texas after a 2 ½-hour flight and went through immigration even though I was only transiting through. That took some time, maybe around three hours and managed to get into the lounge and get some refreshments in time to change planes and have a look through a NFL Houston Texans outlet store. Houston has dual parallel airport runways and the plane I was on departed at the same time as another pace on the other runway. Felt like we were in a drag race and was the first time I had seen this happen. Landed in Los Angeles 3 ½ hours later. By this time, it was early evening and the wait was going to be three hours so headed to the lounge to recharge my phone and get more refreshments. Once in the air and about 2-3 hours into the 15 hour flight, I started to feel a little sick and it eventually turned into the flu which I had just gotten over a few days ago. I usually am fine on flights but I wasn’t this time. Had all the usual flu symptoms, headaches, runny nose, hot sweats, cold sweats and couldn’t sleep at all. With about 3 hours to go till we were due to land at Sydney, Australia we were informed that the airport was closed due to a runway issue and they were diverting all international flight to either Melbourne or Brisbane, we went to Brisbane. When we were about to arrive into Brisbane we were then advised that due to the airlines policy on staff consecutive hours, that the flight crew had done, they would have to get a new crew in to relieve them as they would be over their hours. This delay took a further nine hours. The airline gave us a choice of either staying in the international departures airport only and receive a meal voucher or collect your baggage and get your own way to Sydney. I chose to stay, as I was still sick, all I did was get some cold and flu tablets and sit in the lounge doing nothing. A lot of the Americans weren’t happy and one guy a few people ahead of me was going on and on how he was being grossly inconvenienced and that he was important and had to get to Sydney right now. I was thinking of saying something to him like what makes you so important etc but ended up just staring at him and eventually after the crew were ignoring him, he stopped. Eventually, after a total of 11 hour delay in Brisbane, I finally made it to Sydney and all I had to do was survive the three hour coach trip back to Canberra and I would be home and couldn’t wait to sleep in my own bed again after almost 48 hours traveling from Playa del Carmen-Cancun-Houston-LA-Brisbane-Sydney-Canberra. Got picked up by my dad from the bus station and went straight home.