Tina & I spent 3 days in Antigua having arrived in Guatemala from Madrid. You can listen to the Podcast we made in Antigua by clicking the play button above.

Another reason we chose to immediately travel the two hours straight from the airport was that Guatemala City is not such a friendly place. It seems tourists are advised not to go out after dark due to the risk of robbery (and worse) and too many travel warnings about the one place led us to devise our swift exit strategy.

Antigua is a stunningly beautiful town. It was founded in 1543 by the Spanish conquistadors and is famed for its Spanish Mudéjar-influenced Baroque architecture and spectacular ruins. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Three huge volcanoes dominate the horizon around Antigua, although at the time of writing in early October, the peaks are unfortunately almost constantly covered with cloud.

Although we’ve been more than content to wonder the cobbled streets soaking in the atmosphere and visiting the plethora of art galleries and restaurants, there are plenty of day trips that can be undertaken from here. From horse riding, to climbing the volcanoes (one of which is still active), Antigua Guatemala has been a fabulous beginning to our trip. We’ll be publishing an additional video and a podcast we made in Antigua shortly.

Further info

Price-wise we were a little surprised by the expense of accommodation and food in Antigua – simply furnished double rooms, with a shared bathroom cost between US$20 and US$30 a night. We’re under the impression though that with it being the ‘cultural centre’ of Guatemala, things should be considerably cheaper when we reach Lake Atitlan.

You can view our Antigua photos by clicking here.
You can read more about Antigua at the Wikipedia website.

The guest house we stayed in is called Posada Asjemenou on Calle Del Arco #31. Their email is asjemenou1@yahoo.com, and you can telephone them at 7832-2670.

I thought I’d publish a list of what I packed for the trip. This list is also a lesson in how not to travel light! At the start of our trip, we’re intending to study Spanish for some time, both in Guatemala and probably Ecuador - for this reason I’ve packed some extra books. Also, as we’ve bought one way tickets, I’ve brought ‘a bit extra’ in case we end up living and working in Latin America. My bags are now so heavy (22.6KG for the main bag, 6 KG for the small bag), I feel like a pack horse. Here’s the list:

Clothes
1 Berghaus Gore-tex waterproof raincoat
1 pair Northface Terrainius Gore-Tex shoes
1 pair Billabong shorts
1 pair of board shorts / swimming shorts
1 O’Neil fleece (thick)
1 North Face fleece (thin)
5 t-shirts
1 vest top
1 pair jeans
1 pair cotton chino style trousers
6 pairs underwear
5 pairs socks
1 pair flip-flops
1 sun hat
1 beach towel
1 pair hot-pants style swimming trunks
Swimming goggles
2 pairs sunglasses (+ 1 case)

Electronics
Sony Vaio laptop computer + power supply
Canon Eos 20D digital camera + recharger + case
Canon Powershot G9 digital camera + recharger + case
Apple iPod 40G + charger
Iriver IFP 899 MP3 recorder/player + external lapel mics (for Podcasting)
Mini Sony Walkman speakers
1 LED head-torch (+ 2 spare Lithium batteries)
1 mini wind-up torch
160 GB external drive
1 Nokia mobile phone + charger
4 spare memory cards
4 spare Panasonic batteries for Iriver MP3 player
3 travel plug adaptors

Miscellaneous items
Roll-top waterproof bag
Box Earthoria Business cards
5 CD-ROMs in case with important software
2 pens
Camera cleaning tissues and blower
1 sleeping bag (comfortable to about 6 degrees C)
1 cotton sleeping sheet
1 extra light trek towel
4 pairs of ear plugs
1 eye mask
1 large padlock and keys (for room doors)
2 mini padlocks and keys for rucksack
Rucksack wire net security mesh protector
Rucksack waterproof rain cover
1 Money Belt
1 Leather wallet
1 Swiss Army pen-knife
1 small key-ring thermometer

Books
Spanish Dictionary
Spanish Verb Tables
3 x Novels
Footprint South American Handbook 2009
Canon G9 Canon User Guide
A4 pad of paper

Toiletries & medical supplies
1 toiletries bag
2 bottles insect repellant with DEET
2 small deodorant bottles
1 Gillette Mach 3 razor
8 spare razor blades
1 small shaving foam canister
1 extra small shaving oil canister
40 plasters
Nivea Factor 30 sun lotion
1 comb
Radox shower gel
Travel size shampoo bottle
Mini pocket tissues
Migraleve migraine relief tablets
20 Aspirin tablets
20 Ibuprofen tablets
1 tube Antihistamine cream
1 small bottle Iodine
1 packet water purification tablets
6 weeks of Nicotine replacement therapy patches

Thomas wrote a brilliant article about Doi Inthanon National Park & Mountain after we visited the place with my family and you can read it here.

The palace itself (top right in the photo above) is one of England’s largest houses, and was built between 1705 and 1724 as a gift to John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, from a grateful nation in return for military triumph against the French and Bavarians. It was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

The grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown, a famous landscape architect sometimes referred to as “England’s greatest gardener”. It’s not hard to see why.

Map of Blenheim

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Scenery: Peaceful land with lots of trees and shade on a hot day. You can feed the fish, turtles, and ducks in a large pond. The Wat is famous for its ancient tunnels and large stupa. Other attractions include a Buddha field of broken sculptures, a fasting Bodhisattva, a spiritual theatre of paintings, reproductions of ancient Buddhist sculptures from India, and a library-museum.

History: The monastery at Wat Umong is one of the oldest in Chiang Mai, dating back to 1300 A.D. The fable goes that a king built the brick-lined tunnels for an eccentric monk named Thera Jan. Once upon a time there were paintings decorated on the wall which dated back to about 1380. You can enter the tunnels to see the small shrines inside (a flashlight is useful). The adjoining stupa was constructed about 1520 over an earlier stupa (1400-1550). The monastery was eventually abandoned, though Japanese troops were said to have a stronghold here during World War 2. Since 1948, the Thai prince Jao Chun Sirorot has been active in rebuilding and reestablishing the monastery. In 1949 he invited Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (founder of Suan Mokkh in southern Thailand) to come and live in the monastery. Obligations kept Buddhadasa Bhikkhu from coming and instead he sent Ajahn Pannananda and other monks to help set up and run Wat Umong.

Getting there: Wat Umong is located 3.5 km west of Chiang Mai. From Suandok Gate (the West gate of the old city) you drive up Suthep road (approximately 2, 5 km West) and cross Canal road. About half a kilometer after Canal road, there is a sign on your left hand side which leads you to Wat Umong. From here follow the signs south 1 km to the Wat. The easiest way is by tuk-tuk, scooter or bicycle.

Here’s a map

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The article states that NGOs from Europe and America are turning African countries against sophisticated farming methods, including GM crops (e.g. rice that resists flooding & drought), in favour of indigenous and organic approaches. These organic methods simply cannot deliver the continent’s much needed ‘Green Revolution’, and the end result is that millions of people are suffering unnecessarily.

“The problem is that the Western-world move toward organic farming - a lifestyle choice for a community with surplus food - and against agricultural technology in general and GM in particular, has been adopted across Africa, with the exception of South Africa, with devastating consequences.”

Full article at Times Online.

People should consider eating less meat as a way of combating global warming, says the UN’s top climate scientist.

Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will make the call at a speech in London on Monday evening.

UN figures suggest that meat production puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than transport.

But a spokeswoman for the UK’s National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said methane emissions from farms were declining.

Dr Pachauri has just been re-appointed for a second six-year term as chairman of the Nobel Prize-winning IPCC, the body that collates and evaluates climate data for the world’s governments.

“The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that direct emissions from meat production account for about 18% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions,” he told BBC News.

“So I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider.”

Climate of persuasion

The FAO figure of 18% includes greenhouse gases released in every part of the meat production cycle - clearing forested land, making and transporting fertiliser, burning fossil fuels in farm vehicles, and the front and rear end emissions of cattle and sheep.

The contributions of the three main greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide - are roughly equivalent, the FAO calculates.

Transport, by contrast, accounts for just 13% of humankind’s greenhouse gas footprint, according to the IPCC.

Dr Pachauri will be speaking at a meeting organised by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), whose main reason for suggesting people lower their consumption of meat is to reduce the number of animals in factory farms.

CIWF’s ambassador Joyce D’Silva said that thinking about climate change could spur people to change their habits.

“The climate change angle could be quite persuasive,” she said.

“Surveys show people are anxious about their personal carbon footprints and cutting back on car journeys and so on; but they may not realise that changing what’s on their plate could have an even bigger effect.”

Side benefits

There are various possibilities for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with farming animals.

They range from scientific approaches, such as genetically engineering strains of cattle that produce less methane flatus, to reducing the amount of transport involved through eating locally reared animals.

“The NFU is committed to ensuring farming is part of the solution to climate change, rather than being part of the problem,” an NFU spokeswoman told BBC News.

“We strongly support research aimed at reducing methane emissions from livestock farming by, for example, changing diets and using anaerobic digestion.”

Methane emissions from UK farms have fallen by 13% since 1990.

But the biggest source globally of carbon dioxide from meat production is land clearance, particularly of tropical forest, which is set to continue as long as demand for meat rises.

Ms D’Silva believes that governments negotiating a successor to the Kyoto Protocol ought to take these factors into account.

“I would like governments to set targets for reduction in meat production and consumption,” she said.

“That’s something that should probably happen at a global level as part of a negotiated climate change treaty, and it would be done fairly, so that people with little meat at the moment such as in sub-Saharan Africa would be able to eat more, and we in the west would eat less.”

Dr Pachauri, however, sees it more as an issue of personal choice.

“I’m not in favour of mandating things like this, but if there were a (global) price on carbon perhaps the price of meat would go up and people would eat less,” he said.

“But if we’re honest, less meat is also good for the health, and would also at the same time reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.”

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7600005.stm

The final song, although not Thai, was ubiquitous in Thailand for the first two years I lived there. It will also conjure up a few memories for a some special friends. You know who you are ;-).

Tarifa in the south of Spain is possibly the most windy beach I have ever been too…I nearly blew away But it is also incredibly beautiful. On our Flickr account you can see some of the beautiful pictures Thomas took when we visited Tarifa this summer.

The narrow streets and old castle also makes Tarifa old town a charming place for a walk. Most of the remaining old city was constructed in the 18th Century.

However, it is the 10 kilometres of white sandy beaches, unspoilt countryside and some of the best windsurfing conditions in Europe that have made Tarifa a surfers paradise. Not to mention the crazy wind that makes it impossible to suntan on the beach because you will be eating too much sand…but it does make good waves.

Enjoy