Well, for a little bit! So it’s the end of Central America - it’s been great, marvellous and all that but I suggest you just entertain yourself by looking at around 400 pictures I posted in the previous bunch of articles :) (I know you guys hate reading ;))

Back to the “First World”, back to (more) luxury stuff… off to the USA for a little road trip! Upfront I was sure entering the country would be the biggest challenge in this final part of my trip, but after answering only 100 questions and being held up for another 15 minutes in customs I was allowed to enter! (what the hell is it with me and customs anyway!?)

It eventually took a while to get to Phoenix but all went more or less as planned… which freaked me out since that didn’t happen once in the last 10 months ;) Anyway, I was happy to get back in the heat since that’s what I had been in most of the time. So off goes our road trip… first stop: Sedona! Famous for red rock formations in the desert (and extremely good musicians), a generally nice atmosphere and good sushi ;)

- see pics! Second stop: Grand Canyon! Guess there’s no need to explain but I’ll do it anyway; as you know, everything rips up after a while. So does the earth so there’s the Grand Canyon: a rip with rock, trees and big birds :) Life’s just so simple at time :)

Stop three: Las Vegas! No, I’m not broke. I’m not a millionaire either. And whatever else they say about “Sin City” is true! But it’s nice to see it for once and experience what over the top is really like :) Also felt unique

as I’m one of very few people that has come out clean and sane ;) LOL

Stop four: Disneyland Posh sh*thole Los Angeles! Time to increase the Disneyland-factor on this trip, and it can’t be made much easier than here in LA - Universal Studios was fun though :) Oh, and the walk of fame isn’t that impressive… though I do expect the ReneMiltenburg.Com star to be included there in about 15 years ;)

Stop five: Home! Oops…. NOT! Racing back to Phoenix and getting ready to head back home… aka the hardest part! Nothing special there, except for an early trip to the airport and standing in line on the curbstones :) As I had a 7-hour layover in New York I decided to add an extra stop to this last part, so here we go… Stop six: Manhattan! I couldn’t make it much cheesier than sitting in the AirTrain, heading straight into Manhattan, walking down a few blocks and going up the Empire State Building - but hey, it’s one of those “gotta-have-dones” in life, don’t you think? Besidews, the views were nice ;)

Enjoy the bunch of pics I posted down here. Next up: arriving home and The Aftermath! (like someone’s ever going to read that - LOL!)

-René

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Red rocks - Sedona

Rockin' on... Grand Canyon!

FYI: the thing is rather big...

Sorry, that list is too long! I’ll write it down in an “about me v2.0″ section at some point in time but not now. (Yes, there are some background developments going on with regards to this website, so stay tuned!)

So, back to business. From city to city, bus to truck and the hills to the coast; time to complete the loop! After Bayamo (sshhh, be quiet!) it was time for some more coastal work; off to Trinidad! FInding a place to stay is easy as there are about 1200 rooms for rent and 400 tourists scattered throughout the city… so you’re pretty much being nailed to the wall by casa owners desperately trying to rent their place to you - lol! Having to deal with such a thing a 6am is all the more fun! Other than that, this has definately been the nicest city I’ve been to in all of Cuba, though I know a lot of people will argue this :) Trinidad forms a nice mix of Caribbean and Latino/Cuban culture, along with beautiful surroundings in the inland as well as a pretty beach. Quite the place to crash down for a couple days and get drunk so that’s what I did! The days merely consisted of city-viewing, beach-bumming, exchanging stories (and laughing my butt off) and dancing! Great to be there so go watch pictures like you always do!

Next up; a final visit to Habana! Since I knew I’d be passing through here a couple more times I decided not to visit all parts in one go so here’s part 3! You know, buildings, old cars and stuff… so on to Vinales; tobacco country, backed by limestone rocks and a lot less linear than the rest of Cuba - or so it seemed at first sight :) I got there together with this guy (you’re welcome Trav!) and went on cave visits, biking trips and some longer hikes, in the middle of the day while it was 33C (what were we thinking again!?). Visiting local tobacco farmers, discovering (well, sort of) a cave nobody told us about and going on bike trips is fun after a lot of city-flavour!

After Vinales it was time to crash down in Las Terrazas, a Soviet-style model eco-village (try to say that 10 times in a row), pretty much out of the way of most places. Pretty fit to chill out for a while and explore a little more nature, after all I now realise I like being near nature more than being in big cities :) Part of the fun was staying in a bird’s nest-style house but I forgot to take a picture, sorry!

Then, the final stop: Habana, getting ready for the return leg to Guatemala. This basically meant I re-re-re-reconfirmed my flight for the 5th time - although it was fun I didn’t want to go through this hassle again - and found the time to help Travis out trying to file a report for his stolen camera… NOT!!! A couple hours, three different police stations and A LOT of talking later, we were simply being told this: “Your story about this theft is strange, so how about we start investigating your story and hold you in custody until we sort this out?”. Ehmmmm… (sweat, tremble, gnawing for breath) … not quite what we need only 4 hours before our flight’s departure. Anyway, we eventually managed to get the hell out of the police station and subsequently the country :) Socialism, at some point it just gets to you… bye bye Cuba!

The next article will be posted on Wednesday night so stay tuned and come back soon!! Hasta luego!!

-René

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A church! After all it's been a while!

Trinidad's street "life"

Trinidad - unique rooftops and hills ;)

Another little hello! I’m back from Cuba which – theoretically – means I can start scribbling down here again! Since the last article was posted in the stone age several weeks ago, let’s do a little catching-up here; I’m still summarising my “history” on Cuba so meanwhile you can have a little read on my closure through El Salvador. I know, that’s not fair, but life isn’t fair anyway so get used to it! ;)

So alright, away from the parties and beach – on to the hills in central El Salvador. Suchitoto is supposed to be everything El Salvador was before trouble started and it certainly has a nice character of its own. They say travelling is about discovering oneself – and this trip is no exception – so I tried out my mental flexibility on seeing some art in nearby Las Palmas (no… not here!). I “discovered” (read: reassured myself) the fact that art just isn’t for me. Period. Funny buildings though J and it made for a nice trip anyway!

Next up was a little history lesson, all to do with the aforementioned civil war, of which most tourists seem to think it’s still going. (Idiots!) A long trip to Perquin, in North-eastern El Salvador, and a hook-up with a former guerrilla warrior is just the thing to do this! We ended up viewing (and sometimes) holding some of their equipment – from Soviet rifles to 0.5-inch TV’s – which is pretty impressive. No pics allowed unfortunately. Also visited a village in which the biggest massacre in that time took place (El Mozote) and I must admit it’s shocking to say the very least. Good to learn about a place though a different point of view, especially when stories are being told to you by people whose experiences are all first-hand.

Anyway, on to more positive things; spent the night in San Salvador (thanks Jeremy!) which despite its ten murders a day still has a nice vibe to it! Then, on to Guatemala City (my passport is pretty much full of Guatemalan stamps by now – lol) and off to the country of endless creativity: Cuba! So while I put that stuff together, you go enjoy an old song, alright?

-René

PS: Would you all please stop counting down my travelling days in your comments / e-mails / Facebook messages? I’d like not to be reminded too much (no worries, I’m just kidding…right? ;)).

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Silent Suchitoto

ehmm... ART!

"How to crash a plane" - Salvadorean style