Thursday 31 July 2014

Porto Progreso

Today a nature tour my hostel offered lead me to Porto Progreso in the north of Mérida,a small city of fishers. We explored the most beautiful places around and got to discover beautiful flamingos and mangoves and even a cenote.

The female flamingos live in different areas than the male flamingos, but they both live in some kind of shallow lakes near the coast. Only in February the male flamingos come to the females to mate. In the picture there are some male ones. In the same area you can also find crocodiles and alligators but you better not go looking for them.


To get to the cenote, we had to ride a boat through small canals in some kind of wood, which was quite adventurous. The boats did not even have motors, just some guys pushing the boat through the canals with a long pole of wood.


The cenote, which is basically a source of fresh water from underground rivers, hold beautifully clear water at a temperature so low that it was really refreshing to swim. There were also some pretty big fishes inside that swam very close to you if you did not move too much.


After that, we went to the beach for lunch (the restaurant offered lots of different ways to eat fish) and afterwards we could swim in the Golf of Mexico. But to tell the truth, the water was so warm it felt more like a bath tub than the ocean. But the beach was almost white, which offered beautiful views.


Then we were introduced to the treasure the Mayans were protecting for their wealth: the salt lakes. In this kind of lakes, for some reason, lots of salt is produced nearly all the time. There are just water (from the rain or the sea) and the sun heating up the water needed for the chemical reaction. The water in this lakes is so salty you will completely float if you lie down in the water, just like in the Dead Sea. Also, the water is very good for your skin. You just need to make sure it is not too hot before getting in.


Wednesday 30 July 2014

Mérida

Today I arrived to Mérida after an overnight bustrip of 13 hours that endet up to be 15 hours. But for some reason I haven't figured out yet I did not get travel-sick at all so for the first time while doing an overnight bustrip I could really catch some sleep and arrived in Mérida without feeling completely wasted.

When I decided to do some sightseeing at noon I quickly had to realise that it's nearly impossible to just walk around and enjoy the city that time of the day. So I tried again in the evening and this time I was successful - that is also the reason why some of the photos might appear a little bit dark.


Mérida is rather different than San Cristobál. First, it is way hotter in Mérida. While in San Cristobál people are selling gloves on the street you can't even buy any jackets in Mérida anywhere. Also, San Cristobál is more traditional than Mérida. You won't find many people here that wear traditional garments. Therefore, traditional handmade stuff and souveniers are more expensive while casual clothes are way cheaper here in Mérida. Shirts are about 3 to 8 euros and pants are about 8 to 15 euros and they really look great. I already thought of renewing all my clothes over here, but unfortunately both my budged and the space of my backpack won't allow it.


Just like in every other mexican city, all the shops are open until at least 10 in the evening, which is quite refreshing, because like I wrote before, just walking along the streets before 7 in the evening is nearly impossible for someone who is not used to that temperatures like me without getting a sunstroke. But that does not mean that it gets colder in the night. Right now the time is 10 p.m., I am sitting outside and still longing for more ice-cold water which I would really love to pour over my head rather than drinking it. But I am sure I will get used to the heat since i will be staying in this climate zone for almost two weeks.


This picture was taken from directly in front of the hostel - it is located pretty central at the zocalo, the center of every city. The hostel is quite luxurious in comparison to the hostels I experienced earlier. There is a water supplier with both ice-cold and very hot water available for free, also the beds are not bunk beds but single beds (which is great because bunk beds always cause bumps on my head) and the water pressure of the shower is rather strong. Also I heard that the breakfast is excellent - I am looking forward to experiencing it tomorrow.

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Palenque

Palenque was a mayan city that was inhabited between about 200 b.c. and 800 a.d. and was absorbed by the jungle afterwards. It was discovered accidential in 1773, but by now only an estimated area of less than 10 percent of the whole city had been explored, the rest, which might be about thousand buildings, is still covered by the jungle.


Like in Monte Albán, the most buildings of the archeologic site of Palenque are temples. I really need to figure out where all the people of the city lived back then. Palenque has a palace, where the kings and the king family lived. These palace also has a tower, which was probably used as an observatory tower, and lots of patios to light up the rooms around the patios. I really like the style of their buildings, especially the palace. In the following picture you can see the palace on the right side.


The building on the opposite of the palace is the temple of inscriptions, which is the most popular one and also has a small corridor with wand paintings that leads to a chamber tomb. The king that was buried there, Pakal, designed the temple (his son built it) and is now the best known king of Palenque. The building is the biggest one in Palenque, but unfortunately we were not allowed to go on top of it.


Monday 28 July 2014

La Naturaleza de Chiapas

In the last few days I saw a lot of amazing stuff which I am going to summarize in one big post about the beautiful nature in the state of Chiapas.



First, i visited el Chiflón, a river with some waterfalls down the hill. We had two hours there and for some reason I really felt the urge to go on top of it. There were only stairs all the way up, and altought I have no idea how high i climbed, I can tell for sure it was way higher than the castle hill in Graz. Also, it took me about an hour to get on top. But the sight was beautiful and everytime i got near the waterfalls it felt like it was raining.



After that, we visited the lakes of Montebello, that are very close to the Guatemalean border. The water is clear as crystal and very warm. But I always thought: "We have that too in Austria. Why don't anyone organizes tours for tourists into the Salzkammergut?"







On the following day, I visited the cascades de agua azul ( = waterfalls of blue water), and I can only convince that the water is totally blue. I have never seen water in that colour before and I really didn't want to leave this place anymore. There was also the possibility to swim and the water was really cool and refreshing. Since I liked this place the most you get two photos of it :)


Then we visited Misol-Há, a waterfall like out of nowhere into a pool of water. All in all, there are plenty of waterfalls in Chiapas.


Later in Palenque, a place that gets its own post, I caught a little piece of nature hanging around on a tree.


And last but not least today I visited the canon the sumido, a canyon with rock hillsides on both sides that are about 1000 meters high. These protected area is part of a big natural park, therefore we could watch lots of birds, and also this guy that was just chilling in the sun.


Sunday 27 July 2014

Things I miss in Mexico

A friend told me that she gets jealous when reading my blog, so I decided to write a little bit about the downsides of Mexico and the things I don't like. Therefore, I made a list of things I miss here in Mexico:

- My bed
I can nearly sleep anywhere if I am just tired enough, but after some time of travelling you really start appreciating a room where nobody else talks, goes in and out whenever they like, bed and bedclothes you are used to and a bathroom inside so you don't need to put your shoes on to go there.

- Cats
There are dogs everywhere! I really like dogs but cats are just better and when there are that much dogs I just need as much cats to keep my balance. Until now I have seen about two cats in Mexico. It feals like a world without cats which can't be good.

- Cooking
I do enjoy eating out in a restaurant but not all the time. Also, when I am cooking for myself, I can prepare everything just as I like it best. And I really miss my spaghetti bolognese I normally eat about once or twice a week.

- Reading
Besides of my travel guide I didn't take any books with me which is very unusual. For normal I even take a book with me when I am going to Upper Austria just for 3 days. I don't know if I ever spent that much time without reading a single book. But this one is not that bad since I am very busy discovering beautiful places here in Mexico.

- People I know
Sometimes you just have some mini-issue you want to talk about or you see something you like. Then you need someone who knows you and knows why you are telling him this. Most of the time I really enjoy travelling alone because of all the people I meet and already met but sometimes communication is just easier with people you know.

- Speed Traps
It may sound strange but I really miss the radars on the street in Austria. Over here to control the speed they use speed bumps about every kilometer and they are really horrible. The car/bus has to slow down to about 10 km/h to pass the bump on the street and it still gives everyone in the car/bus a quick shake. Combined with some streets over here that are definitely not in the best condition, you sometimes feel more like riding a boat than riding a bus. And I do get seasick on boats.

- Trains
Since riding a bus is sometimes a quite adventurous experience for people like me who get sick when traveling too long or the bus shakes too much, I really started to appreciate the trains in Europe. In a train I just can chill out, read a book or sleep without needing to concentrate on not getting sick all the time (which I can't do on a car or bus).

- My shower
The shower in Puerto Escondido had no thermostat, so the motto was "you take what you get", which was pretty warm all the day and a little bit colder in the night, but still not cold enough for a refreshing cold shower. Here in San Cristobal they do have thermostats, but the water pressure is about as much as the pressure of a gentle rain. Sometimes I feel like the hot water doesn't even reach my feet.

- Drinkable water out of the tap
Nobody in Mexico drinks the water out of the tap because it just isn't healthy. This means you always have to think about buying some water somewhere before going anywhere. You always have to pay for it. Also, you collect lots of plastic bottles and have to look for some dustbin to throw them away. I will definitely not pay for bottled water anymore in Austria. We should really appreciate our clean water way more.

- Getting up late
I really love sleeping late and I do it everytime it's possible. But since I arrived in Mexico, the latest I got up was half past 8, which is not exactly my definition of sleeping late. Most of the time there was some reason I had to get up, like a tour or spanish school, but in Puerto Escondido I had the chance to get up later but it was way too hot to sleep after 8 a.m.

Friday 25 July 2014

Zinocantán & San Juan Chamula

Today I visited the native villages Zinocantán and San Juan Chamula very close to San Cristóbal de las Casas. There they only speak spanish as a second language, their first language is their native language, which is spoken by all the natives in the region. There also exist books and grammar in this local language. They are catholics, but their believes are influenced by the native believes they once had. In both villages it was forbidden to take pictures inside the church.





In Zinocantán we first visited the church. All the locals around there were wearing the purple traditional garments. At the moment, they are purple but it changes with the fashion. Therefore, Zinocantán is also the fashion capital of the region. Besides of fashion, the people there are known for their flowers. So the altar in the church was filled with beautiful flowers. Also, there were lots of animal figures standing around the saints, that, in their believes, represent a part of your soul which is the soul of an animal. It is a little bit like a totem as it is known in canada (for more information about totems, watch brother bear).

(This picture shows how the inside of the church almost looked like.)

After that, we got to a local market where we could taste local spirituos beverages that are known there as "medicine". They showed us how they make their clothes and we could have a selfmade taco filled with beans, cheese and salsa as a snack.



After that we visited the church of San Juan Chamula, which was quite impressive too. There, the traditional garments are black woolskirts, because it is the coldest village in the region and it rains quite often. Therefore, the skirts keep them warm and dry. Inside the church, the floor was filled with dried grass and there were lots of statues of saints with tables in front of them. On the tables, there were lots of candles and in front of some tables there were people lighting up candles and praying. We were told they are healers preying for the healing of other people. If they only light up white candles, it is a small disease, and if there are lots of colorful candles, the disease is very complicated. Some of them even brought chicken or eggs, because in their believes, if they move a chicken (or egg) above the sick person, the chicken absorbes the disease. Therefore, it is no longer good and while preying for the sick person it gets sacrified in the church by breaking its neck. It was quite a mixture of catolic believes as we know it and their traditional believes they had before.


Thursday 24 July 2014

San Cristóbal de las Casas

After I got sick in Puerto Escondido, I had to stay in bed for at least a day (which was even hotter than outside). But I was lucky, when I got into the bus yesterday evening for a 13 hour trip my relationship to the toilet was not that close anymore and by now I don't feel sick anymore.



So I arrived at San Cristóbal de las Casas today in the morning. The city is really adorable! It is in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas at 2300 meters above sea level in Chiapas, a State of Mexico close to the guatemalan border with lots of jungle. My travel guide also told me that lots of dropouts of the industry nations live here and I completely understand them. The weather is really nice, about 25 degrees every day, the nature around is marvellous (by now I only saw it on postcards but I will tell you about it) and the city is really cute.



It isn't that big, you can walk everywhere in at least 30 minutes, but you find everything you might be looking for somewhere in the city. The houses are beautiful and there are no big streets anywhere close to the center. If you look around you just see tops of the mountains around you that remember you of the altitude of the city. Despite the altitude, the city is not located on a hillside but on a plateau, so you don't have that mountain feeling when walking around. Also, I really like the smell of the cathedral Santa Domingo (a little bit like candle wax and wood).


The city was founded in 1528 and was capital city of Chiapas for a long time. It got its name from the bishop of Chiapas at the time of founding, Fray Bartolome de las Casas, who was one of the first to support the indians against exploitation of the spanish crown.

Monday 21 July 2014

Puerto Escondido


In a 10 hour bus trip I headed to the pacific coast on saturday night with two irish girls I met in Oaxaca, Fiona and Laura. I must tell you that I really don't like long bus trips because I felt sick and could not sleep all the time. So on sunday morning we arrived at Puerto Escondido and nearly got a thermal shock. All the time here I feel like melting and when we relaxed on the beach, everytime the sun touched my legs my legs just felt like they were burning. It even feels hotter that it felt at the time of the heatwave last year in Austria.


The pacific ocean is really great. The waves are huge and pretty strong and the water is very clear even if the beaches are sand beaches and the sand muddies the water. There are lots of surfers here that enjoy the huge waves and it also feels great to swim with the waves. The ocean is also very warm and quite salty. After swimming, when I am dry again, it feels like I can just scratch the salt off my skin.



Today we got up at 6 a.m. so we could go on a boat tour to see some dolphins and turtles and we really were pretty successfull. There were plenty of dolphins everywhere and they even jumped out of the water the way dolphins seem to do it all the time according to postcards. I was told dolphins always travel in groups of about 10, so when you see one there will be some others around too. We also saw some turtles just swimming in the ocean and two of them that were just mating. For turtles, mating lasts about 2 hours and they don't seem to be easily disturbed while doing so.


Afterwards, when we were as far away from the coast as we could only see shapes of the mountains in the distance we could also jump off the boat and swim around. When diving, nobody of us saw anything but the deep blue ocean underneath us.

Saturday 19 July 2014

Monte Albán

Since there might be someone reading this blog who doesn't understand german (like everyone I met in Mexico so far), I am now switching to writing in english. I am positive that everyone who is reading this blog understands english :)

Today I have been at the archeological site Monte Albán, a zapotecian city on the top of a mountain next to Oaxaca - and it was amazing. When I first entered the site, I felt like I just discovered Machu Picchu in Mexico. It was originally known in mixtecian language as Yucucúi, which means "green hill".

The city was inhabitated between about 1500 B.D. and 800 A.D. and most of the buildings were temples.To build their city the Zapotecs cut the top of the mountain. Besides of temples, they also had an astrologist building, where astrologists watched the stars and made predictions for the future. Furthermore, they had a kalender that worked through a column and the sun.
 



Friday 18 July 2014

Los Mexicanos

Im Gespräch mit vielen Mexikanern hab ich schon so einiges über die hier lebende Bevölkerung herausgefunden (das wurde alles mühsam in Spanisch erfragt!).

In einigen Schulen wird zwar Englisch unterrichtet, jedoch nicht in allen, und um richtig Englisch zu können, ist es meist notwendig, auf eigene Kosten einen Kurs zu belegen. Es gibt in jeder Stadt einige Institute, die das anbieten. Ansonsten kann man noch Französisch, Italienisch, Portugiesisch und Japanisch lernen in den Sprachschulen - was wohl die Mehrheit der Touristen abdeckt. Generell sprechen jedoch nur die wenigsten Mexikaner wirklich Englisch. Gerade in Oaxaca sprechen manche Kinder Zapotekisch, was nirgends unterrichtet wird, da jede Region eigene Abwandlungen der Sprache spricht. Diese Kinder müssen oft erst mühsam Spanisch lernen.

Bis 18 Jahre ist die Schule zu besuchen, immer vormittags, danach kann man studieren oder arbeiten gehen. Allerdings ist es auch möglich, noch vor Schulabschluss zu studieren, wenn man es schafft. Viele Mexikaner haben mehrere Jobs gleichzeitig - weil sie sich so über Wasser halten, etwas zusätzliches Geld verdienen wollen oder einfach nur aus Leidenschaft.

Geheiratet wird in Mexiko üblicherweise zwischen 17 und 20 Jahren, es gibt aber auch Regionen, wo Frauen/Mädchen schon mit 13 Jahren heiraten. Generell ist es sehr unüblich, als Frau mit über 25 Jahren noch nicht verheiratet zu sein. Vor dem Antrag hat der Mann die Eltern seiner Zukünftigen um die Hand ihrer Tochter zu bitten und für gewöhnlich werden vom Mann Geschenke an die Familie der Zukünftigen gemacht.

Ein klassisches Lebensziel der Mexikaner gibt es nicht, jedoch ist es für Männer eher üblich, ein eigenes Haus zu wollen, das größer und schöner sein soll als das der Anderen. Aber es gibt auch Männer, die eher Wert auf ein tolles Auto oder immer das neueste Handy legen. Frauen dagegen wünschen sich eher ein kleines Haus mit einem großen Garten, in dem die Kinder spielen können. Generell geht es sich mit dem Gehalt der Mexikaner aus, sich den Wunsch nach einem Haus zu erfüllen.

Viele Mexikaner wollen reisen und mehr von der Welt sehen, die wenigsten haben je Schnee zu Gesicht bekommen. Allerdings gibt es auch viele Mexikaner, die bereits gereist sind und mir erzählt haben, wie schön sie Europa fanden, dass sie schon in Budapest oder Paris oder London waren.

Die Mexikaner lieben ihre Früchte, die Papayas, Melonen, Mangos, Ananas und viele mehr, die bei ihnen wachsen. Dafür halten sie von Gemüse nicht so viel - das wird bestenfalls verwendet, um Salsa daraus zu machen. Und ein Salat besteht im Normalfall aus Gurken - möglicherweise werden dazu noch ein paar Karotten aufgeschnitten.

Die sonntägliche Kirche ist für die meisten Mexikaner sehr wichtig, dafür wird das hübscheste Kleid, das schönste Hemd aus dem Kasten geholt. Dabei ist es nicht wichtig, ob das Kleid sich (in meinen Augen) eher für eine Disco eignet - wichtig ist, sich zu präsentieren.

Hier noch 2 Fotos von 2 Prozessionen, in die ich zufällig hineingelaufen bin, die zur gleichen Zeit etwa 2 Straßen voneinander entfernt stattfanden:


Eine Fiesta zu Ehren von Carmen...


...und ein Streik, in dem die Leute lautstark "Queremos trabajo!" (Wir wollen Arbeit!) fordern.




Thursday 17 July 2014

Sierra Madre del Sur

Oaxaca liegt in der Sierra Madre del Sur, einer Gebirgskette im Süden von Mexiko. Hier finden sich auch jede Menge andere sehenswürdige Orte, die ich letzten Sonntag besuchte.

Der erste Halt war die Tule de Santa Maria, der vermutlich voluminöseste Baum auf der Welt mit über 50 Meter Durchmesser, der schon über 2000 Jahre alt ist. Er wird auch Baum des Lebens genannt, weil viele Menschen in der Rinde verschiedenste Tiere erkennen (Elefanten, Löwen, Menschen, ...).



Danach besuchten wir Mitla, eine Ruine eines Zapotekendorfes mit mixtekischem Einfluss. Angeblich zerstörten die spanischen Eroberer die ganze Stadt, es blieb nur ein Gebäude erhalten. Einzigartig daran sind die Musterungen der Wände, die man sonst nirgends in der Art findet. Diese Musterungen wurden Stein für Stein so zusammengesetzt.



Dann ging es weit hinauf in die Berge auf etwa 2000 Meter zu den Hierves del Aqua, einem Naturphänomen, das in der Art nur zwei mal auf der Welt vorkommt. Einmal hier in Mexiko und einmal in Pamukkale in der Türkei. Hier strömt unaufhaltsam Wasser in einer stets gleichbleibenden Temperatur von 20 Grad aus dem Boden, wodurch sich Becken formten und "Cascades del Sal" (= Salzwasserfälle) bildeten. Man kann dem Wasser beim Hinabrinnen am Gestein zusehen - es ist ein stets wachsendes Gebilde. In Pamukkale kann man im Gegensatz zu den Hierves del Aqua in den Becken nicht schwimmen gehen. 



Anschließend ging es zu einem Buffet mit regionalen Spezialitäten (muy buena) und weiter zu einem Zapotekendorf, Teotitlán del Valle, in dem in Handarbeit Webartikel gefertigt werden. Sowohl Teppiche als auch Taschen, Gürtel, Kleidung, Stofftiere und vieles mehr wird hier hergestellt und ist zu 100 % ein Naturprodukt - keine chemischen Farben oder ähnliches. Zum Schluss war eine Distillerie des Mezcals dran, wo gezeigt wurde, wie der Mezcal, wozu auch Tequila zählt, aus Agaven hergestellt wird. Wir konnten alle Sorten des Mezcals kosten - es gibt sowohl den scharfen Mezcal mit knapp 40 % als auch eine leichtere Version mit verschiedenen Geschmäckern, den Mezcal Crema mit knapp 20 %. Dieser ist ähnlich unserem Likör und in allen erdenkbaren Geschmacksrichtungen erhältlich.




Tuesday 15 July 2014

Oaxaca

Als ich letzten Freitag ohne Gepäck in Oaxaca ankam, war mein erster Weg ins Zentrum um etwas Gewand zu kaufen. Wie ich feststellte, ist das Zentrum sehr hübsch anzusehen und überfüllt mit Straßenmärkten, wo handgefertigte Leiberl um 50 Pesos (knapp 3 Euro) angeboten werden.

An jeder Ecke gibt es Tacos (gefüllte Tortillas, egal mit was) zu kaufen, und dazu die für Oaxaca typische Mole negro. Die Mole ist eine Soße, die aussieht wie Schokolade, schmeckt wie scharfe Schokolade und gerne mit Zwiebeln serviert wird.

Der Verkehr in Mexico ist sehr herausfordernd, auch für die Fußgänger. Nachdem Fußgänger prinzipiell Nachrang haben und es kaum Fußgängerampeln gibt, ist man am besten dran, sich nach den Ampeln der Autos zu richten. Die funktionieren auch etwas anders als gewohnt - wenn vor 2 Sekunden noch rot angezeigt wurde, kann mittlerweile schon auf grün umgeschaltet worden sein. Und wer sich da auf der Straße befindet, wird generell sehr empört angehupt.

Hupkonzerte stehen generell auf der Tagesordnung, genauso wie Bell-Vorstellungen mitten in der Nacht. Während man auf den griechischen Inseln überall streunende Katzen genauso wie Hauskatzen findet, gibt es in Oaxaca überall Hunde. Wobei zu erwähnen ist, dass die Hunde mit Besitzer meist nicht größer sind als Hauskatzen. Ich habe noch nie so viele kleine Hunde gesehen. Es ist als wären von ohnehin kleinen Hunden noch Miniaturen gezüchtet worden. Streunende Hunde dagegen sind meist eher in der Größe von Schäferhunden.

Und direkt neben einem schlafenden streunenden Hund findet man einen Lacoste-Shop neben einem Starbucks. Eine Straße weiter kann man in einem verglasten Geschäft Hollister-Leiberl kaufen. Und direkt daneben ist ein Supermarkt, der ein bisschen aussieht, als würde er gleich einstürzen. Es scheint als hätten die Menschen in Oaxaca schlicht andere Prioritäten - und nach österreichischem Geschmack "gut aussehende" sterile Gebäude gehören nicht dazu. Bettler scheint es in Oaxaca keine zu geben - alle Menschen, die an der Straße herumsitzen, verkaufen etwas.

Auf den Fotos: Die Innenstadt von Oaxaca, das Haus meiner Gastfamilie, die Sprachschule von innen und der Llano-Park mit Kirche an einem Sonntag.







Monday 14 July 2014

Mexico Districto Federal


Heute ist endlich mein Gepäck angekommen, welches es leider letzten Freitag nicht mit mir nach Oaxaca in den Flieger geschafft hat. Alles begann, als in Mexico City mein Flug gecancelled wurde. Es war halb 6 in der Früh nach mexikanischer Zeit und ich war bereits seit 2 auf. Bis zur Ankunft bei meiner Gastfamilie in Oaxaca war ich schließlich bereits 32 Stunden unterwegs, mehr als 5 Stunden länger als geplant. Dafür durfte ich bereits erste Eindrücke von Mexiko sammeln, etwa von der mexikanischen Bürokratie und der riesigen Hauptstadt.

Mexico City - die Fotos sagen vermutlich mehr als ich beschreiben kann. Es war etwa 10 Minuten vor der Ankunft, als wir aus der Wolkendecke das erste Mal die Lichter von Mexico City aus dem Flieger sahen. Sie erstreckten sich weit in alle Richtungen. Und umso näher wir dem Flughafen kamen, desto mehr Lichter tauchten in alle Richtungen auf - die Stadt ist riiiieeeesig! Und wunderschön bei Nacht. Man konnte auch die Unterschiede zu österreichischen Städten erkennen - die Häuser sind viel einfacher gebaut, dafür hat jede größere Straße mindestens auf einer Seite einen Streifen mit Bäumen. Österreich setzt hier lieber auf Beton und Asphalt. Und bei Tag erkannte man den größten Unterschied - es schien eine Art Nebel über der Stadt zu liegen, der sich auch nach dem Morgengrauen nicht auflöste und eine Aussicht auf die Stadt erschwerte.

Slums habe ich keine gesehen, dafür war der Flughafen mit mindestens 4 Starbucks und an jeder Ecke einer Handyaufladestation ausgestattet (Steckdosen, man hätte alles andere auch damit laden können).