the devil´s backbone

this morning i got on the bus from Mazatlan to Durango without having done my homework. most of the 6.5 hour ride is through mountains which I´m sure were beautiful but since I spent most of the trip with my eyes closed trying desperately not to throw up, i´ll have to take your word for it. The driver was taking switchbacks and hairpins at 80km an hour and passing semis on blind curves (another good reason to keep my eyes shut).

i got on the bus with a large yogurt and an even larger chocolate muffin (as an aside, is there really any such thing as a chocolate muffin? isn´t it just a giant cupcake?) and settled in, looking forward to the ride and to my breakfast. Three hours later the yogurt was steaming hot fresh from my stomach in a clear plastic bag (why do i have to keep barfing into plastic bags on or near public transportation?) and the muffin had either rolled off the edge of the seat or been nicked by the dodgy old man sitting behind me.

By the time we got to a rest stop (after I had been holding the bag of vomurt in my lap for about 40 minutes) I was such a mess I had forgotten the word for "garbage" (basura) and was pestering the lady behind the counter for a bag (bolsa)..."where is the bag?" "is there a bag here?" finally she figured it out, told me what the correct word was and then.....gave me a bag.

some new photos from Mexico

i'm having a lot of trouble lately with Flickr (Yahoo won't accept my credit cards and I've lost my Pro account) but was able to upload a few new photos from Mexico:

Sea Lions in Guerrero Negro:


Also saw lots and lots of grey whales in the lagoon there but they're not quite as photogenic...

Hummingbird in Baja:


Vanna White in Mazatlan:

(the van I've been staying in)

One of the Carnival floats in La Paz:



More on Flickr.