Flashpacking

Mexico City is the oldest city in the Americas and with a population of 21.9 million, the 5th most populous city in the world. And a hell of a contrast to serene Miami, where we came in from.

We arrived in the evening and the uber dropped is off up at a checkpoint a few blocks from our hotel as the area was closed to traffic. It was 11pm and we were a bit nervous wheeling our small suitcases - ‘tourists here’ neon arrow pointing to our heads around the mean streets of Mexico. I had read that Celaya, in the Mexican state of Guanajuato was the murder city of the world. So it was very reassuring when we saw crowds of police everywhere as Mexico City has one of the highest ratios of uniformed police officers to residents in the world.

However, later on in the holiday we were stopped by police for speeding, they took Julian’s drivers license and said they would keep it unless we paid an extortionate amount directly to them. We stood our ground and demanded a formal ticket and their identity number via a heated argument comically over google translate. Nuance was definitely lost with furious thumb typing followed by turning the phone back at the other person to read the retort. Escalating due to translation creep. All the while me dually thinking are they colluding with drug cartels and also AI – are you ok, why so dramatic and angry ?

Thankfully they backed down and let us go with no payment – but in hindsight probably should have paid it. They all had guns.

Anyway yes Mexico City. Urban, stylish, vibrant, noisy and delicious.

Mexico City has a London on steroid vibe. But unlike London, everyone wore masks as it doesn’t quite have the health service to pick up the pieces of indulgent conspiracy theorists.

Our hotel Gran Hotel Ciudad De Mexico was a little fusty and oldie worldly but with a spectacular Tiffany glass atrium – featured in a number of films including the recent James Bond. And it was right by Parque de bolsillo Zocalo and the Catedral Metropolitana, the largest and oldest cathedral in the Americas (building started in 1573). Built using the remains of Aztec temples (the floor of the square as well) with a series of underground catacombs which lead to the Templo Mayor. This rich fusion of Aztec and Spanish Colonialism permeated everything in Mexico.

On the square, there were a lot of oversized mega Christmas decorations, a stage overlooking fairground rides and many many stalls selling nik naks. We looked down from our hotel terrace and by 6pm there were probably 100000 people milling around queuing for rides and shopping. It was the festive season and there was certainly a party atmosphere. We had become unaccustomed to crowds, it was a little bit terrifying.

There is an overwhelming amount to do in Mexico City - it is a world centre of culture, with the largest number of museums (151) in the Americas and the second largest number in the world, only to London. The Anthropological Museum already mentioned in the Identity section is the best in the world. And the history is everywhere where you look. Just on the outskirts, there are the nearby Teotihuacan Temples (not pyramids which are only Egyptian). Incidentally, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more making it at least the sixth-largest city in the world in it’s heyday (1 AD to 500 AD). These astounding temples had many rituals associated to them and literal associations with the Sun, Moon and number of days in the year. Incidentally there were a few tour groups of European/American women in white floaty garments doing the eat pray love re-birthing shamanically. Not judging but curious about spirtual enlightenment tourism … there’s a business idea there.

This area only started to form into Mexico City, when in 1325, the Mexica people (Aztecs) founded twin cities Tenōchtitlān and Tlāltelōlco (1337) on an islet in Lake Texcoco, within the Anahuac (Valley of Mexico). They expanded it into an artificial island with an irrigation system with dams and canals to provide drinking water, support agriculture and to control the level of the lake. In 1521, the Spanish destroyed all of this and in an effort to control the flooding, drained most of the land which led to centuries of ground water extractions and consequent ecological disaster, subsidence (it’s definitely sinking) and reduced native species including the Axolotl (cute limb regrowing minecraft amphibian featured creature). There are campaigns to restore the last remaining wetlands – called Xochimilco a pre-hispanic Aztec site still in use, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area rich with nutrients, was cultivated with canals and Chinampas (floating gardens) to grow food, planting symbiotically including Cannabis. To find out more, we joined an amazing biologist Paco from the conservation and research not for profit group - https://regenerationinternational.org/2020/06/03/a-vision-for-the-social-and-ecological-regenerationof-mexico-citys-xochimilco-wetlands/

We also got to try the salad from the organic farm we had been walking through. All very relaxing and chilled out. Oh except for the blow your head off chilli sauce.

If you hadn’t noticed chilli condiments came with everything. One of our group mentioned that they even add chilli to sweets not just chocolate. They can’t eat food without chilli.

And elsewhere on our trip I would say Mexican food was super high octane with such depth of flavour and interesting too. Really I had never tasted such interesting combinations of ingredients. Someone please open a decent Mexican restaurant in London.
We decided to check out a recommended restaurant Balcón del Zocalo, around the corner from our hotel. Outrageously good.

Oaxaca
Oaxaca (pronounced Wahaca) is 6 hours drive through stunning mountain ranges South West of Mexico City. It’s the heartland of indigenous peoples such as the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs. And consequently a culinary adventure. We were there for Christmas day. It’s a beautiful city set up for tourism and the food was exceptional.

Oaxaca is known as the land of the seven moles. Mole is a “…a style of sauce made from roasted ingredients that are then ground together and slow simmered to allow the varied flavors to blend and play off one another in a way that no single ingredient might be detected. The result: rich, complex, diverse, complementary flavors,” and more crickets, and salads with cactus. So much chilli and chocolate which by the way was first referred to in Mexican text as part of a special drink drink in 1580, and the word Chocolate comes from Nahuatl language of the Aztecs … tchocoatl is derived from two words that mean "bitter water":

Other sites of interest nearby were the Monte Alban Temple complex; swimming in natural springs overlooking mountains Hierve el Agua; and the widest tree in the world - the 2000 year old tree of life in Santa Maria del Tule.

And of course the Radish Festival.

Remix, born and brought up in Mexico City, is a world renowned graffiti artist. He works with brands such as Nike, commissions and even during this lockdown for Mexico City. In fact we recognised his collages of realism mixed with abstract colourful works all over the city throughout our time in Mexico City. During our street art tour with Remix (airbnb experiences) he explained the history of graffiti and the different styles; the inspirations.
We finished off the tour by having a go at being graffiti artists ourselves. I have to say he was so helpful and kind. After my daughter finished her piece, she started crying because she felt her attempts were so bad (it is not easy as it looks).

Street art, graffiti and muralism is very important to Mexican culture and heritage. With examples of Mayan murals dating back to 8th century, Mesoamerican civilisations would ‘adorn their temples and palaces with images of religious ceremonies and historical events’. We saw many at the astonishing Anthropological Museum in Mexico City (now I know why the British Museum has so little Mexican work to display – and a good thing too!). I interviewed mural artist - Remix recounted that as an artist it is normal to have self doubt and that he himself cried for 2 days because of self disappointment …. and then helped her produce a new piece of work which she felt proud of.

Rivera’s - "Man at the Crossroads: Mural at Rockefeller Center" commissioned by Rockefeller was particularly controversial. Destroyed on completion because of its leftist leanings. According to David Rockefeller Sr., Rivera added a panel that the family felt was an unflattering portrait of his father. "The picture of Lenin was on the right-hand side, and on the left, a picture of [my] father drinking martinis with a harlot and various other things that were unflattering to the family and clearly inappropriate to have as the center of Rockefeller Center," he said'. Rivera later repainted it in Mexico City.

Graffiti, the edgy punk hotter sister of Murals, is flourishing in the streets of Mexica City, though it wasn’t always the case. There was a time when artists would look out for police and as the coast became clear would create a flash mob to furiously fill whole walls in minutes. Every little bit of wall would be covered across the city but considered vandalism. Nowadays, graffiti and murals are ‘in’ - a way to brighten up the urban jungle with visual narratives while connecting with youth and local talented artists. And as with other forms of Mexican art, graffiti is not afraid to tackle difficult subjects.

They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn’t. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.” – Frida Kahlo
Transfixed I started to spontaneously weep. I had never seen a miscarriage so accurately unashamedly articulated. In fact I had seldom seen any miscarriage depicted. Here it was in all its gory vulnerable, tender, powerful and deeply affecting state. And yet after seeing it I felt better. It was like confronting and stepping through a personal trauma portal and feeling lighter for it on the other side. [Here’s my miscarriage story : https://qr.ae/pG3kFJ ].

Frida Kahlo’s vibrant work was of pain and growth and optimism with passionate references of indigenous Mexican culture, nature, her long term partner - Diego Riviera, and of herself (55 of completed 143 paintings were self-portraits). In November 2021, her 1949 painting ‘Diego and I’ sold for $34.9million breaking the record for the most expensive Latin American Painting (and one of the most expensive female artists in history).
And most recently NFT projects have been cropping up involving her legacy including https://awesomefrida.com/ and https://ezel.life/ where
‘The brick from Frida Kahlo ́s Family home forms the foundation of Ezel.Life's metaverse and connects it with the physical location, where we can all play our part in preserving Frida's legacy’.

Her work and life is heavily documented, countless books and films. The feminist, the disabled, the communist, the seductress, the liberal, the tragic, the optimist, the creative visionary, the fashion icon, the authentic personal brand …. Fridamania is well established. There is not one bad photo of her or selfie painting.

Born in Mexico City on July 6, 1907, one of 4 sisters, Frida Kahlo Kahlo later described the atmosphere in her childhood home as often "very, very sad". At age 6, she had polio which left her with a weak left leg. But it did not deter her from being a curious student. She was initially leaning towards becoming a physcian. Everything changed at age 18, 17 September 1925. She was involved in a horrific accident with a bus and a streetcar. A bus handrail impaled her through her pelvis, which was pulled out of her on site. She later described the injury as "the way a sword pierces a bull." This led to months of recovery followed by bed rest and a life time of operations, wearing corsets and pain. It was also the reason she became a painter.

When she had recovered she approached the then famous painter Diego Riviera (20 years her senior) about career advice which led to a tumultuous passionate relationship with many infidelities including him with her own sister and she with Leon Trotsky.
“There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the train the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.”
She eventually lost her right leg from the knee down due to gangrene, and died in July 1954 from a pulmonary embolism. She was 47 years old.
Her work expresses much of her extraordinary life and character.

I had already seen 2 major exhibitions in London prior to visiting Mexico City. But I always wanted to visit The Blue House, Coyoacá.
“La Casa Azul is the Intimate Universe of Frida Kahlo. In this beautiful residence, the artist lived most of her life; initially with her family and years later, with Diego Rivera.” https://www.museofridakahlo.org.mx/en/the-blue-house/

The house is sprawling with gardens and connected buildings. Like anything about Frida Kahlo, there are so many layers and facets and the house feels small with so many artifacts in shelves and walls. Everywhere you look there is some iconography or book or ceramic pieces. It felt crowded but brimming with inspiration, and with visitors (despite Covid restrictions… book tickets well ahead) but at the same time weaving around the museum, you were so close to her objects and untold stories. In fact part of her collection were only discovered in 2004.
It was quite astonishing to be standing in front of her actual bed where she had convalesced and with nothing else to do became a painter of herself.

“I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.”

We unwittingly chose a very busy week to travel to Tromso, North of the Arctic Circle. It was school holidays for some European countries, the first international travel for many families, and in Norway the first time in 2years when all restrictions such as the 1m rule in public places were relaxed. And it was a week of Northern Light sightings. We caught the train up from Oslo to Trondheim and picked up a 3 night cruise to Tromso.
This was traditionally the postal / delivery boat route ran by the Hurtigruten (‘sailing since 1893‘) and we’d been reliably informed that they perservere through the choppiest seas. The boat stopped every few hours but most of the stops were for deliveries and pick ups. We had a couple of hours at Bodo and made a b-line for a sushi place. Did we really have enough time for a nice lunch off ship ? As luck would have it, they had a eat as much as you want buffet, so no eating time was wasted on waiting for food. And we stuffed our faces and slip and slid-run back to the boat in time for set off.

Fjords, icebergs, islands, seafaring is a way of life in the Nordics. For us, they clearly knew what they were doing, it was a really comfortable cruise. It felt unusually cosy with rocking chairs and blankets in one section. And the staff were so friendly. In fact there was a box of knitting materials and people would knit squares and then these squares would be stitched together to create cosy blankets for the ship. And on outer deck it was crazy cold in the wind and bearable with gloves and hat in the sun.

We would run out to take photos of the incredible iceberg piercing crystal clear saturated luminous skies and then run back eyes and noses dripping with cold, to throw mishmash hand knitted blankets over our legs …. ahhhh that high.
So yes …. the skies and the sea reflecting the skies and the snow and ice shimmery and magical and spellbinding and envelope me with this crazy beautiful light.

But the real reason everyone was here… they wanted to catch the The Northern Lights. … Aurora Borealis.
“Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn, and Borealis was the Greek name for the north wind”.

The absolute money shot of weather shots.

They can only really be seen in the dark, so from 1700 HRS. The other thing is that is best seen away from as much light pollution as possible, to allow our eyes to adjust and probably we would see it as a white streak with a tinge of green but our phone cameras night shot mode could pick up the light at the required wavelength. We even had the cabin internal radio on throughout the night in case of a sighting.
But we didn’t see it on our voyage. Don't get me wrong, we saw absolutely unbelievable skies and sunsets and icebergs and fjords. But by this time, was feeling a kind of next level fomo anxiety of not seeing the Northern Lights. Seriously what's wrong with me?
And what was all the fuss about ?

“A scientific phenomenon caused by electrically electrically charged particles from space (originating from the sun - solar winds) entering the Earth’s upper atmosphere at a very high speed. 98% of these particles are deflected by the Earth’s magnetic fields and the rest leak through and are funnelled towards the Earth’s magnetic North and South poles, colliding and exciting atoms and molecules. On decaying back to their original state, colours of light are emitted, Oxygen emits green and red (only visible sometimes) and Nitrogen emits purple”.
Or also explained by a scientist - Sophus Tromholt – a Danish astrophysicist who set up the auroral observatory in Kautokeino, Norway and also allegedly took the first first photograph of the Northern Lights in 1885 :

“From one side of the sky to another a drapery, woven of light and colour is wafted; now here now there, first one then two, then several bands, one above the other, never at rest, and never the same form, hither and thither the folds sway with a soft, fascinating motion, as from one end to the other waves of light chase each other, over-taking, crossing, meeting, while the lower, intense border, displays the loveliest colours of red and green, the upper one fading into the dark background”

Our final destination was Tromso, 400 km North of the Arctic Circle. It is one of the places were the sun sometimes never sets and sometimes (November to January - the Polar Night) doesn’t rise. It was termed in the nineteenth century as the Paris of the North, one commentator at the time, poet Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who wrote the lyrics to the national anthem of Norway, said that it was all “..champagne and spectacle”. Certainly it had become the starting point for several Arctic expeditions and I can imagine was one of those exotic bragging rights destinations for curious Victorian era travellers. Even today it has more restaurants per head than any other Norweigan city and it is the largest fishing and transport hub in the Arctic North of Norway.

For us, it was kind of a quaint town with 70K inhabitants and bustling with tourists.

And we had booked possibly the most touristy thing we could -, a night at the Ice Hotel, walk in the forest with snow shoes, make fire, drink hot chocolate in the light of the moon, eat reindeer stew and sledge on reindeer the next day with an indigenous Sami local. And it was all bloody brilliant. Really it was absolutely spectacular … all of it. The first time you walk into the ice hotel, it is like nothing you have ever seen. Cavernous airy and again the light … the whole evening your eyes adjust to either bright moonlight or the weird spooky icy light. Makes you wonder so our eyes get used to this, how much light do we need ?

But heat we need heat .. I also confirmed when looking at our bed of ice. And I saw a wire with a switch next to it and I said to my husband reassuringly - oh they have some heated mattress setup I think. God I am silly… husband couldn’t stop laughing … the wire was actually for lights and yes we had signed up to sleeping on a block of ice, in a dome of ice with a hole into the night sky for ventilation. But we are zipped up in an arctic sleeping bag over reindeer hide (don’t even think about going to the toilet in the night !) and we did manage to get some sleep.
And best of all the Northern Lights cascaded in wisps across the skies like a celestial ghost throughout the evening while in the forest. I could understand why it had inspired so much folklore and legends about ravens to spirit guides. Especially if you had just been happenning to be trying to survive in these harsh conditions. Can you imagine your moustache and brows are crystalised with icicles with relatively monochrome backdrop probably no sun for months and you look up to see a coloured light show out of nowhere. Aliens (replace with Nordic god) I’m yours - you win.
The indigenous Sami culture called it “Guovssahas” - “the light you can hear.. thinking that the lights were caused by a magical fox running across the Arctic fells and sweeping it’s tail sending a trail of crackling sparks up in the sky”. And Norse mythology feature the Northern lights prominently …the lights were thought be reflections from the shields and armour of the Valkyrie, female warriors and also the bridge “Bifrost Bridge” which led those fallen in battle to the warriors final resting place in Valhalla.

It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s a universe size reminder to forget your own hype, feel suitably insignificant but monumentally lucky and connected to your own ancestors through an otherworldly sense of awe. You are feeling what they felt.

The Scream by Munch, 1893, Sold for $119.9 million in 2012. The idea for the Scream, came to Munch when he 'heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature' inspired by a sunset …. but we all know it was about the anxiety of the modern man. We feel the utter despair - used as a pop culture reference for so much including the movie and the masks .. what was it called again ?

I had read that the seasons of long nights and no sunlight are associated with depression. There is a whole industry based on it.
But on the the contrary, Norway frequently featured in the top 10 best places to live in the world. So what was up with Munch ?
There are many many reasons to be happy in Norway compared to other countries, but every day people are still exposed to everyday awful experiences. Around half of people in Norway experience mental health problems or disorders at some time during their life. And Munch was one them and his work revolved around this. Also heavily influenced by his visits to Paris, categorised under Symbolism – focusing on the mind rather than reality.

"In my art I attempt to explain life and its meaning to myself."

He had grown up with death and sadness, he had watched his mother die at the age of 5 and then his favourite sister at (both of tuberculosis) and was brought up with his siblings by his religiously zealous father and aunt. He also suffered from physical illness during the long winter months and was kept out of school. He drew to keep himself occupied.

"My father was temperamentally nervous and obsessively religious—to the point of psychoneurosis. From him I inherited the seeds of madness. The angels of fear, sorrow, and death stood by my side since the day I was born."
His mark making and form all a reflection of his inner perspective. “Even Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye... it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.”- Edvard Munch.

So yes, one of the happiest places to live …. that’s now right ? And a lot of the greatest works art have come of from emotinal depths of pain (or religion) ….particularly street art, usually in part protest or break for freedom and traditionally from the ghetto … I was curious to know if Norway, had any of that stuff. Its heritage of Viking warriors, ancient Sami culture and survivalist explorers, gender equality and clean and green (except for the huge oil reserves). Norway is measured and rich. And officially pretty happy.

I turned up very late to a street art tour run by Hanna and James. It started in Rosenhoffgata, the grittier area (if Norway could have any gritty parts) which had become trendy with fun bars and cafes. Their company Oslo Street Art Tour, were producers of streetart, finding walls, connecting with commercial or city organisations and commissioning artists to create murals and graffiti. They also run a yearly Street Art festival in Oslo called Løkka-lykke Gatekunstfest, a zine, support the local community and follow sustainable practices.

Flying into San Salvador from London was arduous – 9 hours to my beloved Miami 6 hour stop over and then another 3 hours. We felt quite fragile getting off the plane and were conscious to have our wits about us in case of loss or theft. The airport was small with a little park straight outside flanked by a huge tree. We had to walk past cultural shows with young ladies in bright big hooped flouncy traditional dresses promoting mobile phone companies.

Picking up the rental car was as easy as anywhere else in the world – took ages. Not one car company in the world we have rented from in over 20yrs of travel, has it not taken forever. You can usually tell the state of country by the rental car they provide. Ours was a sparkling white Toyota, no scratches and pristine inside. Air con working. Radio working. We switched onto a random radio station, also a nice way to get the local vibe … ‘Take me down to paradise city…’ in folk style. Saccharine covers of classic hard rock. Sentimental coffee shop music. It was everywhere throughout our trip.

And may be that is a good metaphor for the place. It was very relaxed. Local people we met and interacted with were so gentle and quiet. A sort of flower petal softness despite a difficult history. Apologies if that sounds a bit colonial.

As soon as we drove out of the airport (on good roads), there was a wild exoticness, luscious palms and bright bougainvillea, and clear blue skies not yet lost to pollution from over development. We stayed a few days in San Salvador and checked out both the military museum and also the Museum of Contemporary Art. The military museum was full of random assorted tanks and planes from different eras in huge colonial buildings.
And the Art museum was small but had a lot of interesting work from traditional paintings to interesting sculptures and an exhibition of local young artists. There was some VR actually !

Not the same level of graffiti art as in Mexico or Colombia. But there were lots of commissioned street art particularly along the famous Ruta de Flores. Stunning brightly coloured adobe houses with murals of volcanoes and birds. We stayed in the colonial town with cobbled streets and a big market, called Apaneca which means ‘river of the wind’ in Nahuatl in the coffee growing regions. The obligatory grand colonial cathedral with fluttery bunting, towered above the main square. There was a long queue outside in the main front courtyard and I believe it may have been a confessional queue in the open because of COVID restrictions. There were a lot of sheepish looks. Confessing with the fear of being heard by the community surely creates the biggest shame and deterrent.

And, of course everyone thought I was a local. Persia my daughter looked particularly Salvadoran. So even when I said no I was born in Bangladesh, locals would resume talking to me in Spanish anyway, in a kind of not to worry it’s fine you are one of us. I feel Iike I have already written this before when we were in Mexico. I'm very ashamed to say sometimes when you travel a lot experiences blur.
As we were there during Easter holidays, a lot of the tourist sites were full with locals. There was this one sort of themed eco park with a very high hedged maze. I felt horribly claustrophobic in the maze, which my husband and daughter persevered with for a full hour.

There were also a set of zipline related high octane activities, which personally I think should be treated with respect. Respect the ziplines. But get this ….you could ride a bicycle on the zipline, one which you could surf on and one which was more like a bungee jump. There was also very very disorientating loud dance music with scratchy base. It wasn’t right. I watched gasping with fear and awe at those who dared participate. These were one entertainment derivation too far.

The one I did do, was high swing with my daughter- NO harnesses which I guess if you decided to let go or jump off would die. But why would you ?
Once the swing started, after the initial scream, I just couldn’t stop laughing. My daughter side eyed me with slight incredulous embarrassment and then also started laughing. I love being the most embarrassing mum ever.
International tourism has been steadily increasing in El Salvador. In fact in 2019 there was a 21.46% increase from 2018.

From our observations there seemed to be 4 types :
1) The time poor luxury tourists who had their own guide taking them around the highlights of Central America. We met an Indian family from San Francisco on our proper Ziplining experience which included being squished up with them on an open top jeep up the mountainous forest.
2) The backpackers and spring breakers…backpacking throughout Central America with no planned itineraries. The consensus was everything was booked out in Costa Rica and Mexico so they had come to El Salvador, as an overspill, with plans to stay longer than expected because it was more beautiful and easier than expected. We met some on our way up the famous Santa Ana Volcano in the west of the country, in the Cerro Verde National Park. We also met other tourists whose parents had emigrated to Australia in the 1980s, but now had themselves become adults, living in the US with 4 children (homeschooling!) working in Texas in engineering visiting El Salvador for the first time.

On a side note, Santa Ana Volcano hike didn’t start 10.30am (we got there at 8.30am), we had to wait for the guide to confirm if the government to safety sign it off due to weather conditions. And you have to have a guide (there were 3 guides for about 30 people). There were also 2 armed policemen and some stray mountain dogs cheerfully accompanying us to the top.
The walk itself was not difficult but I think after our long journey to the Americas I was a bit jet lagged and struggled up the mountain though back down was fine. I felt so lame. But it was worth it, the mist totally cleared up and oh my god the views.

There were lots of squealing college age selfie-takers. There was one girl holding a Canadian flag backing closer and closer to a sheer drop off the ridge of the crater for the perfect selfie, and my mum instincts in overdrive had to tell her off .. .I shouted to her that she was about to fall and die. She did move forward closer onto the main gravel but cheekily responded ‘I love living life on the edge’. I put my hands over my daughters ears.
A lot of these backpacker types, seemed to have visited El Salvador before through American Bible groups.

3a) Which leads me to the 3rd type - old school missionaries in white vans and guitars (groups of whole families) on Christian missions. Perfectly nice people but well … charity work ok but missions ?

And finally the 4th type or may be 3b) the other soul saving evangelists - Californian crypto surfers.

It’s really hard to get a handle on what’s going on in El Salvador, ‘The Saviour’ … known as the Land of Volcanoes (170 with 23 active).
It feels like it’s moving. And I am not talking about the two tectonic plates it sits on, dramatically known as the Pacific "Ring of Fire". A place prone to eruptions and earthquakes. And not just a little, there are a lot of moving parts accelerating right now.
For such a teeny weeny country – the smallest in Central America (21,041 square kilometers) but with 7million people, also the most densely populated in the Americas - there’s a lot going on.

Conquered by the Spanish, in the 1500s, it became a producer of coffee and sugar which created a small elite in currently the 5th poorest country in North America; 38% live in the rural areas, 40% fall below the poverty line, 50% don’t have internet and 70% are unbanked. Its main exports with coffee and sugar are textiles, chemicals ,rubber and plastics and metallic products with 45% going to the US. ‘Over 2.5 million Salvadorans live abroad - mostly in the United States - and in 2020 they sent back almost $6 billion, equivalent to 23% of the country's gross domestic product’ - that’s a lot of transaction costs which could be saved.

The capital city of El Salvador is San Salvador founded in 1524 by Pedro de Alvarado. Alvarado was a Spanish conquistador sent by Hernán Cortés from Mexico. It is the oldest and most long-standing capital in Central America and El Salvador remained a Spanish colony for about 300 years.

As recent as 2015, it was known the homicide capital of the world with 105 homicides per 100,000 and it’s still reeling from civil war, guerrilla
activities and military backed political parties and governments. During 1979-1981 around 30000 people were killed by army backed right wing death squads.

In 2019, there was a regime change with the new youthful, charming, great on Twitter populist El Presidente disrupter and part-time autocrat, Nayib Bukele. There is certainly a sense of hope amongst everyday people. Food and computers were distributed during COVID and deals were negotiated with the gangs halving the homicides.

However very recently in March and April 2022, the gang violence started to spike which led Bukele to take a hard line. With the help of his army, he has arrested 10000 gang members but he also brought a state of emergency measures which have violated human rights and had much criticism from advocacy organisations and journalists, who have been allegedly put under surveillance.

A sort of perfect storm for a new world order.

Indeed, El Salvador has become the first Bitcoin country with Bukele decreeing it as legal tender, issuing $30 via Government administered wallets in September 2021 to all citizens. This has led to 3million people using it. That’s nearly half the population ! Not without its opponents, both the World Bank and the IMF have voiced their concerns.

Alongside, El Salvador is promoting one of it’s real USPs, and it’s being rebranded as a Surf haven - I mean it has always been such but more so now, with ‘Surfcity’ attracting - ‘We are here because the water is too cold in California right now’ rich crypto Californians (we met many). In fact, as a testament, I didn’t mind getting mostly slapped in the face by the waves and the surf board pretty much temporarily breaking my nose when we had surf lessons there because the water was an unbelievable 28*C.

And as the story goes, even before the government, a ‘Californian surfer Mike Peterson happened to be doing charity work and surfing in El Zonte, when an anonymous American donor offered a gift of more than $100,000 paid in bitcoin and and distributed directly to residents of El Zonte with the aim of kickstarting a local bitcoin economy. In fact El Zonte is creating Bitcoin Beach with a huge wave centre.

Surfing Bitcoin Missionaries in countries determined to break from its shackles and move to economic salvation … evangelical holidays.

This is certainly a well travelled path El Salvador is accustomed to in welcoming new ideologies.
Salvadoran cuisine is rooted in Mezo-American Pipil culture with staples of corn, beans, squash, tomatoes and chilies with more recent additions like cheese, onion and beef from the Spanish. The national dish is called Pupusa, a flat chunky corn tortilla with a choice of stuffings like cheese and beans or meat.

With 4 main lakes and a 307 km coastline, the fish and seafood was exceptional.

In fact, the sea and water was a big part of our experience in El Salvador. My surf lesson in the warm waters of El Salvador was pretty amazing. 28*C, out into the deep waters with my daughter and our individual instructors. They were so attentive and I was so bad. It was still amazing. No I did not stand up. But I did just bob up and down on the waves which were quite big sometimes and not freak out and instead soak up the glistening sun reflecting off the deep waters, so that felt like an achievement. We never felt not supported by the instructors of course but also there were about 30 very experienced surfers floating about in the vicinity particularly keeping an eye my daughter during the swells.
Later on we were walking up along the beach to catch a sunset, a sinewy local orange dog came over to lick my hand. Wouldn’t leave me alone. You know when they say an animal adopts you. Total connection. So cute and then I saw it the next morning with his dog friend, gleefully jumping in and out of the white water and body surfing. What a zen life.

Spread the love my little blissful surf dog.

Also, in the picturesque Lake Coatepequewe, we had the most amazing fish dishes including, Sopa de Pescado (Fish Soup) in a restaurant out on a wooden jetty surrounded by breath taking mountains and volcanoes. The sand off the shore, made up of volanic basalt, andesite, and glass was very dark and soft.

The soup was multilayered with a whole fish submerged in a thick creamy broth, prawns decoratively hanging off the side of the bowl. The glorious fish head and tail were sticking out so initially I thought yum, fish head soup (being Bangladeshi) so I was just happy with that - smacking my lips looking forward to chewing fish eyeballs. And what a pleasant surprise when I poked into the soup and the whole body was melting into it ! There were also these tiny crabs with very hard shells, which I wasn’t sure how to eat so I tried to chew them whole but ended sucking the intense soup juice out of them which was highly satisfying. Much mess was made.
My only complaint was there was very very loud music. And the adjacent restaurant had equally loud live music. I hate different music on at the same time. And I think it may have triggered turrets because when the guy started singing, I was thinking very very loudly in my head as I literally couldn’t hear myself … ‘For F*ck’s Sake’. Well I thought it was in head but then my daughter turned to me and said aloud, ‘Ýou owe me £5 for the swear jar'.

There were a few other tourists on nearby tables including a youngish group of backpackers. The guys were full of bravado stripping off, looking over to see if any females were looking and jumping into the water (it was quite a drop!). One guy who was nervous anyway (requested a life jacket) … then lost his underpants in the jump and they filmed it, probably going viral on Tik Tok right now.

We were not so brave, and instead climbed some rickety wooden steps down the side of the jetty, into the warm soft waters. It was quite deep on the other side of the restaurant but we didn’t venture too faraway from the dilapidated framework of rusty poles and nails underneath. I would recommend reef shoes.

Bulgaria
The festival of Kukeri, Bulgaria dates back to the Tracian times (c. 10th century BC to 1st century AD) to ward off evils spirits by performing traditional rituals. Around New Year or before, the men of the town are usually costumed elaborately with decorated wooden masks of animals sometimes double faced with large bells attached to the belt.

In wiki, the description states ‘Kukeri is a divinity personifying fecundity’ – the word fecundity .. .what a fabulous word, as well as meaning abundance of fertility it also means an abundance of ideas.
Issue 6 was created from travels in Bulgaria in July 2022.

This trip held a slight change of trajectory or really may be it was realigning to a more authentic one. I wanted to connect with the spiritual nature or the nature of spirituality. It is not empirically proven my dr scientist devil on my shoulder shouts. People think artists are the hecklers, oh no no no. The artist angel on my other shoulder, happy to be hippy or have the odd witty protest sign and some interpretative dance.
The scientist devil on the other er scapula, this one I mean. Cantankerous as fuck – and armed with evidence.

Spirituality ? Why ? Well there are some things unexplained. I don’t mean most of the universe which we have blanket names Dark Matter and Dark Energy. I mean the other unexplained creepy hairs on the back of your neck that earie feeling cousins with awe.
So where to start ? Whenever you type spirituality or spiritual places into google, usually it lists religious sites and we did visit a few.
But I wanted to look under the surface. The forgotten places. The abandoned buildings.

So in Plovdiv, I managed to connect with http://abandonedbulgaria.com/. I immediately loved the concept, which he called the Dark Tour. That’s were all the secret stories hide, in contrast it was run by the very enthusiastic and breezy Genadi. He himself was a photographer and with his friends found their way into derelict urban buildings motivated mainly by curiosity. We took a whole day driving around Plovdiv visiting a variety of buildings including an old warehouse (I nearly lost my drone camera in there), an orphanage, a sanatorium, a block of flats and a brutalist monument.

Most of the buildings, I felt scared in. They were out of a horror movie. Broken dolls. ‘See you in your nightmare’ graffiti. Crumbling mottled walls with water stains or fire damage. Some of the buildings more in the city were being used by drug addicts, so be careful of used needles on the ground. Wear decent shoes. I wore sandals !

I asked Genadi about any more spiritual places he knew about. He mentioned the Sitovo Inscription. Discovered in 1928, the carved, so far undecipherable, is dated between 300 and 100 BCE.

Riyadh and Diriyah Biennale
Riyadh is a sprawling busy city with a mix of sky scrapers, shopping malls and old mud buildings with a hotchpotch of architecture. I initially started in local hotel in the old district. It was not easy with congested roads cutting the hotels and the cafes appart with lines of noisy traffic. I soon moved to the Holiday Inn which was in a quieter part of the city. I ended up being a mall rat going shopping there for my outfits before heading to the Biennale in Diriyah. I took Ubers everywhere it was very easy to get around.

I saw many international people everywhere I went including Diriyah which was on the outskirts of Riyadh.

The Diriyah area has been redeveloped around the old Diriyah fort in Al Traif. It had a museum, a tower and the old city had been restored to walk around and attached to modern café and shopping complex just in a few minutes from new galleries and art and design district including Diriyah Futures where my friend Irini was working. I touched based with her and she was enjoying it very much. During the Biennale, I had a fun packed week; touring the historical city as well as viewing art and music from around the world. And I had a special dinner with Diriyah executives as well watched an amazing movie about camel herders. In particular I was part of an arts workshop run by two very personable Bahraini artists. I also caught the show jumping championship at Jump Saudi.

I was so enamoured by my experience I was determined to come back and bring my daughter.

Mecca
The holiest city in the world for Muslims is Makkah or as the west term it as Mecca.

I had visited KSA, UAE, Bahrain and Oman already for art, fashion and culture.
Under the progressive leadership of 40year old Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia had opened up as a centre of culture to international visitors from around 2019 as part of ‘Vision 2030’. Notably women could now drive in Saudi Arabia which I was determined to. “Historically, the most celebrated moments in Saudi have been traditional events, like Eid-al-Fitr, Eid-al-Adha, and Saudi National Day. However, new peak moments are emerging in Saudi throughout the year including “Saudi Founding Day”, “Riyadh Season” — a three-month long annual entertainment and sports festival — and Halloween have all grown”. Equestrian and particularly Football is a big deal in Saudi with its most famous captain being Ronaldo. Oil rich Saudi is also digitally literate meaning many new products and services are being developed in the region and they fund innovation.

Though its main visitors were still for religious reasons.

It was twice in a lifetime for muslims as obligatory if you have the means to visit is the pilgrimage Hajj. Umra is additional - Hajj lite and not a substitute. Both need spiritual prep. In fact all Muslims pray towards the Mosque Masjid-al-Haram where the Kabah sat. The big black cube stone always shown in the media in the centre of millions of people. Apparently when my parents took me when I was a toddler in the mid 1970s I argued with my dad that the Kabah was too small for Allah to reside in. My dad told me this story with such a big smile so many times.
During Ramadan as it was for us, all routes to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were particularly busy with the international Muslim community. On the plane to Jeddah via Istanbul (chatting to someone from the UK) a taxi driver dressed in normal clothes like the whole plane until we changed at Istanbul airport SAW. There after him with 90% of the passengers men and women from Istanbul to Jeddah were naked but dressed in white robes. This tradition is to humble everyone as equal.

And as we got closer to Jeddah, the full cabin filled up with melodic prayer chanting from the white robed smiling army. I looked out of the window past Persia and we could see the shimmering lights of Makkah. The excitement was palpable. It was quite magical.

We reached Jeddah in the middle of the night, it was all a bit daunting. I knew KSA was safe and we were heavily monitored. There was a raised stone platform where a café with internet sat. with some women nearby. It took a good 30 minutes for the uber taxi to appear. We had some fun and games with the taxi driver who initially couldn’t find our 5 star hotel as the name had changed, in the Red Sea Mall.

It was a modern hotel with a swimming pool. We felt a little self conscious to go swimming though we did see some kids swim in the pool while their parents sipped juices. I did use the womens gym there every morning and I was fasting. Persia joined in in the fasting. I had purposely situated us in the mall so we could easily get food and also clothes or anything we felt like. We did go to the mall a lot. And we did eat in the mall as well as the buffet dinner at the hotel which was amazing. It was nice to break fast with a group as well. My favourite dish was pistachio coated lamb chops. Absolutely perfectly cooked in the hotel.

During Ramadan it’s like being in a different time zone. Things get lively in the evening during dusk and dawn.

I thought that going to Makkah would be only for pilgrims but there were cultural tours available for all Muslims. It was easy enough, we got a comfort uber from Jeddah to Mecca (101.6km / approx 1hr / 242 SAR / £50) which took us from a pick up point in a hotel in Mecca. Well I say easy, Persia had a set of hello kitty lip glosses in a little bag her dad had given her and she left one in the uber taxi which upset her a lot. After a lot of disruption and losses in her life over the last 12 months particularly the last few years she got really upset when she lost anything else. I had found this with grief and divorce. And she missed her dad a lot especially as we travelled together – our first family holiday was to France when she was just 3 months old and then another trip to Europe Spain Portugal before we starting long hauls with her – Julian and I and Persia travelling as a family of 3 to Japan at age 6months.

Before she was born everyone had said that travel was a nightmare with kids, so we and so we carried on and we had visited around 60 countries already by age 11. And most of those with us a family of 3.

But since 2022 – I had now travelled solo a few times and / or with Persia. I had taken her to LA/San Francisco and also Kenya. This was certainly the most adventurous coming to Saudi Arabia.

I was keen to share the Makkah adventure with Persia to open her mind and also have an insight of her heritage from my side. All the same it was a new life experience for both of us. I felt very honoured we could do this. I’ve been thinking about Islam, particularly since Mum died in 2019 and then again when Dad died in 2023. I saw solace in spirituality and religion and I was just curious.

Makkah felt quite mysterious because I had never met anyone before who had been there just for a cultural visit. And those in the community who had been there for Hajj or Umra (pilgrimage light) didn’t really talk about it in detail other than the sense of fulfilment it gave them as a requirement for a Muslim, that it was arduous and they had picked up colds. In fact they were among around 3 million pilgrims (who visit in the last month of the Muslim calendar) following in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) completed his first and only Hajj in AD 628.
And there is a period of preparation and serious conviction and intent of the pilgrimage.

To put in context what Hajj is about … It relates to Abraham, the prophet from the Old Testament. To those who are new to this, Abraham is important for Jews, Christians and Muslims and that’s why they are called Abrahamic religions and these religions all sprung out of the middle east.
So Hajj is a series of rituals which happen in the city of Mecca and different landmarks have different significance.
The main landmarks are
- The Kabbah
- The 2 great mosques including the Grand Mosque Masjid al-Haram
- The well Zamzam
- Mount Arafat
- Jabal Thawr
- Jabal al-Nour
Our Pakistani guide recounted the traditions and the stories which connected to the actual places we were. Imagine all mentioned in the Koran and throughout religious history. It was breathtaking.

Persia was curious and getting a Religious Education in situ. She has also visited the Vatican but yet to visit Bethlehem as I am.
“Hajj itself centres around the tests of Abraham (Ibrahim)

- Rites 1 : Abraham is ordered to abandon his wife (Hagar/ Hajira) and son (Ishmael); Hajira desperately runs and up down the hills Safa and Marwa looking for provisions and asking God for help, and when she returns to her baby son, he is scratching the ground with this feet, and beneath him is a bubbling freshwater well (thought to be the well Zamzam) which saves them both.
o Hajj pilgrims renacts this search of the hills.
o Hajj pilgrims drink water from the well Zamzam
- Rites 2 : Abraham is ordered to sacrifice his son and on his way, the devil tempts him to dissuade him, before Abraham is about to proceed with the sacrifice and his son is replaced by a ram by God.
o Hajj Pilgrims throw stones at these ‘temptations’ symbolically marked by Jamarat (2 pillars in the desert just outside of Mecca).
o Muslims around the globe (not just the pilgrims at Mecca) sacrifice an animal at Eid-al-Adha on 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah.
- Rites 3 : Abraham and his son Ishmael, at the station of Abraham ( ) rebuild the Kabaah 4000 years ago.
o Hajj Pilgrims connect with this by praying behind the Kabaah after circling it 7 times (tawaf).”

To accommodate this practice of approximately 3 million pilgrims from all around the world during this short period of time mostly through Jeddah and Medinah, the Saudi government give out specific visas and you have to pay approximately $10k for the hajj visa and stay on site in tents and hotels. There is a festival atmosphere with tents and everyone robed in white togas with a strong focus.

Taif
Our guide asked us if we optionally wanted to go to the renowned city of nearby Taif in the Shafa mountains. We had to pay extra directly to him. It was approximately an extra £80. I figured we had come all this way, so why not. I said that I would love to.

Taif is mentioned in the Qu’ran and Prophet Mohammed visited there and of course I was keen to check out a new place.
And then I pretty much fell asleep and awoke surrounded by mountains at a petrol station where we would change vehicles.
The petrol station was surrounded by a variety of shops including this quirky café. I was fasting but I liked checking local shops so had a little look around including the local supermarket.

We drove up the mountain ranges past spectacular views including a troop of baboons (do not open your windows to them – they are wild and hungry).

On the search of a perfume making factory, we stopped off at an pretty old village with rickety farmhouses, windy streets and vegetable patches.
Our guide mentioned that he wanted to stop off at Taif and pray and I was welcome to join him. I felt embarrassed that I did not feel confident to pray so I replied I was happy to go and visit any landmarks would rather prepare before praying so I want to do it next time I am back.
He said that the Masjid Abdullah Ibn Abbas was built by the grave of a great Islamic scholar, cousin of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) called Abdullah Ibn Abbas. He was known for knowledge and expertise in Tafsir (exegesis of the Quran) and an authority on the Islamic Sunnah, the practice of the Prophet.

Persia stayed in the car and I hurried along side our guide. I mentioned that I didn’t know how to pray. He said ‘I don’t understand what you are saying – to me’. I repeated myself and he repeated that he didn’t understand.

I figured I could just watch and see what happens.

It was a significant mosque in the Makkah region, it was Ramadan, … our guide disappeared into the hustle bustle of a large crowd for Friday Jummah prayers. The imam was singing the prayers over the loud speaker so you could hear his voice.

I tentatively walked into the women’s entrance. It led to a big bright courtyard. On one side there was a place for shoes with a shaded doorway into the prayer room.

I took off my boots and stepped inside.

There with children praying, playing, sleeping and weaving in and out of the rows of women focussed on their prayers. It felt peaceful but casual. I found a place to stand. I certainly did not feel at all prepared but felt very accepted.

Initially I just took photos and a 360 video. I didn’t want to impose. And then I found myself following the prayer rituals with everyone else. I felt very at peace and that I had really achieved something on the trip. I mean it was certainly not what I had set out to do but what an amazing opportunity and honour to have followed prayers with locals in this mosque on a Friday during Ramadan. It was of course a highly spiritual experience, and I felt very supported by the ladies and children and men throughout. I was clearly someone who does not know to pray but I just followed the others.
Afterwards I stepped out with the crowds as a confluence onto the road of parked cars and traffic for such a small road. Persia had been chilling out. It felt safe, there is little crime in KSA. We were tourists and were being scrutinized which felt like a good thing.

So did I become a more devout Muslim ? I am not sure but it did deepen my understanding of myself and where I fit in, in the religious context. I am still a liberal and mix with all religions and they are part of me as I try and find common ground with people from all places. We then drove around Mecca, taking photos of the different sites. There was a lot of construction in the area to accommodate more pilgrims and there were miles and miles of tents and hotels fenced of facing the mosque and the Kaabah. It was breath taking to see such a congregation at any one point.
We also stopped at a tiny little holy house where the Prophet peace be upon him would go to.

Back in Jeddah we went for a leisurely stroll along the immaculate corniche. No doubt I will back to try some snorkelling along the coast.

Update

New rules have been implemented so you can only visit Makkah during Hajj if you have a specific Hajj visa not just a normal tourist visa.

Medinah, Al Ula, Hegra
We decided to get a 4hour taxi to Medinah airport and pick up a car to drive to AlUla. There was a bit of a mix up with the car but in the end, we were on our way after breaking fast with the local airport rental car companies. It was still another 4 hours to go driving in the night but that was ok. I first had to navigate around a busy hectic Medinah. Persia played computer games on her phone and ipad. We did drive through Medinah which was very busy as during Ramadan, KSA wakes up in the nighttime.

Anyway we managed to get on our way with a quick pit stop for coffee at about 11pm from a service station. Generally, the roads are good. A few lorries and some sandstorm slowing us down a bit. We got to Al Ula a luxury resort by the UNESCO site of Hegra.
We had 2 nights here before returning to Medinah and returning to the uk.

We decided to stay at an airstream hotel complex part of a bigger tented and bungalow luxury hotel complex called Al Ula. Our hotel was themed like an oasis with big tented comfy communal areas surrounded by the air streams. We had a spectacular breakfast with the room which we could be served at most times during the night in line fasting. We also tried one of the hotel resaurants – we had a traditional meal – it was of course delicious. There was an open air cinema projected against a rock projections. There was a golf buggy which would take you around the complex to the spa and the restaurants and other sites. There was a access to bicycles which I cycled around on.It was incredible to be honest.

I took some photos and their Infinity pool when we were splashing around. I was a bit confused as to whether I needed to be covered up or not and I didn’t because it was a complex for Westerners and there were many westerners on holiday.

I did do a tour of the area independently in the car and visiting the mirror building – Maraya where they were shooting a movie with horses which was fun to watch. There was also a fashion shoot going on.

We visited Saudi Arabia’s big UNESCO site Hegra (Madain Salih) on a 3 hour guided coach tour full of westerners. Hegra is a complex of 2000 year old Nabataean sand stone cliff rock carved tombs .. 110 infact. All were very well preserved and we wandered in and out of the tombs taking photos as went.

Al Ula town itself was a pretty town with preserved traditional gardens and date palms and handicraft market stalls snaking through the town, where we went for an incredibly delicious lamb shank meal to break our fast while driving back to Medina through the night to a hotel at the airport.
All in all, it was an epic adventure.

We caught our flight via Cairo back to London. We had quite a few hours in Cairo and we managed to see the great pyramids of Giza from a hotel bar, I think persia was a little bit tired out from it all. So on that one trip Persia can now say she has been to Mecca and the great pyramids of Giza.