august 2001 archives

Friday, August 31, 2001

Hierve de Agua is a place about 2.5 hours outside Oaxaca. There are some nice waterfalls and mineral baths. On the bus I met a Belgian and an English couple. There were also some Israeli and German people: all tourists on th bus, very weird. Tonight I am leaving to Pochutla on the Western coast. Maybe one of the Israeli girls will come along as well. Would be nice to have some company on the bus. I am not sure she's really going to come as she also thought of going to Palenque. I'll find out tonight. The English couple is from Brighton. They're travelling for a year around the world. They had heard about Multimap! Was good fun meeting them. They are leaving tonight to Palenque as well. It will take them about 14 hours by bus. They invited me to come as well, but I had rather stay a few days at the sea side before I will make the long journey to San Cristobal... Happy birthday Harrie!

Wednesday, August 29, 2001

Today I visited Monte Alban, a Zapotec temple complex just outside Oaxaca. Thought of going on to some other locations around here as well, but rain just started agan. Not really looking forward to go around with this weather. Will leave early tomorrow morning to Hieve de Agua for a roundtrip. At night, I'll leave for the Pacific coast! Hasta pronto.

Just could not withstand the tempation: visited the "Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, Geografia e Informatica" here in Oaxaca. Why? Dunno, it's in the genes I presume...

Tuesday, August 28, 2001

That´s weird. I composed my first e-mail from Mexico on Sunday, but the time difference just screws things up...

Logging onto the Web in Oaxaca in a Oaxaquena Internet cafe! Well, it just feels good people in the office have not forgotten about me: as soon as I logged on there were Darren, Karl, Andrew and Amber talking to me on instant messenger! Really tired now. Stayed the morning for some sightseeing in SM. Left in the afternoon to Mexico City with Tjitske on a second class bus. Indeed: almost half the price of the bus I took on my way into SM, but just as comfortable. Was really nice to spend some time on the bus getting to know her. She´s a friend of Bastiaan´s from back in The Hague and studying antropology. We arrived late at night and took the metro to the Youth hostel where she was going to stay. Had a small into into the backpacker world before we had a uick meal: my bus to Oaxaca was to leave at 24:00h, a 7 hours journey. Arrived this morning and booked myself into a hostel South of the Zocalo, the main market. Slept in until 11.30h and strolled around the many mercados here. Haven´t had breakfast yet, but I am online! Will finish this shortly to have breakfast indeed and see some of the cultural highlights in Oaxaca. Tomorrow I´ll spend here as well. Next day I would like to venture into one of the many valleys around here and then off to the Pacific Coast for a few days.... to get a tan! Bye, bye for now.

Monday, August 27, 2001

Hola chicos! Yes, I am on the other side of the Big Pond. Had a good flight into Mexico City. Lilia Picked me up from the airport. Next day she shopwed me around downtopwn Mexico City. It is a very, very big city. In the evening I took a bus to SM to arrive in my hotel filled with Dutch peopel: all friends and family of Bastiaan. The wedding was really marvelous. Afterwards there was a big party with about 250 people. Lots of good dancing. Today checked out of our hotel and relocated to a small hostel. Went to visit a small village just outside SM, Atotonilco. Very impressive. Had some nice tortillas, guacamole and frigoles for dinner. Will leave tomorow to Mexico City (4 hours) to take a bus to Oaxaca. Looking forward to going there. What adventure! Will post some pics later on during my trip or ASAP after coming back to London!

Sunday, August 19, 2001

At no. 2 in the MSN top 10: Route planner and traffic jam info! Just good to know my skills are in high demand!

Tomorrow, I'll write some more about my plans for Mexico. Planning to extend the section "maps" to "maps and travel" to incorporate information about some of my holidays in maps...

After a tiresome week at work during which I had to tell a couple of people how to do their business, it's weekend at last! This morning I met up with Aya. This weekend she is London, meeting up with some of her friends. We spent a few hours talking in one of the many coffee bars around Leicester Square. Then we finally decided to visit the map exhibition "Lie of the Land" in the British Library. On our way we decided to grab some lunch on Charlotte Street. Spent too much time and money again, before we finally made our way to Euston Road. Interesting exhibition. The title does not really cover the theme of the exhibition, promising more than there actually is to it. Then came the biggest surprise of all: Aya got us tickets to the Vermeer exhibition in the National Gallery. Quite exciting to see it with her, as she is very interested in Dutch art. There was a lot to talk about while admiring the pieces of art. We finished the day just off Shaftesbury Avenue in a fish restaurant. It was really good to see her again and talk about our friends in Enschede. Thanks for the "vla"!

Wednesday, August 08, 2001

My trip to Mexico is coming nearer by the day. On Monday I received a parcel from Aya with some nice birthday presents: the Rough Guide to Mexican Spanish and a small bottle of whisky. Really starting to get into the mood. Well, I still have quite some work to do. At last I have time to do a write-up of the travel directions service at Multimap. So in case I will be kidnapped in Chiapas, someone else at Multimap can take over... As a friend wrote me the other day: "A job and the sad fact of life is that anybody can replace your position, but not you as Edward". Thanks for that.

Saturday, August 04, 2001

Have quite a sunburn now! I am now becoming one of those Brits that are usually completely pale and get as totally red as soon as they are exposed to the sun! Today I have been drinking the whole day on the nice terraces all over Leiden. It was really great to meet up with MJ and Jeronimo after such as long time. Tonight my parents took me to a nice restaurant. Had a really nice birthday altogether. Almost a quarter of a century has passed since I was born!

Friday, August 03, 2001

Yeah, the Netherlands: here I come. It's just a weekend, but still I am quite excited to get out of London and to get back to my hometown to see my parents and friends. Looking forward to hear my parents' stories about their trip to Indonesia and to tell mine about Egypt. Saturday I am meeting up with MJ and Jeronimo in Leiden! Long time no see, for sure.