Did you go to Mexico?
Nope but I did got to New Mexico :)
This was actually one of the most frequently asked question when I got back. Since I been to America and went way way south to New Orleans and Houston a lot of friends and family ask me this question since Mexico is somewhat pictured in their mind as dangerous for drugs and all kinds of illegal stuff … I had to paint the picture of the aiyacaramba tiny tunes wild wild west into their head and all the beautiful things I could think off about Mexico but have yet to change any minds.
What’s the differences between New Mexico and Mexico?
Any American’s want to answer this question on my behalf? Well as much as I always laugh or felt insulted when white men paints a whole new unreal picture of South East Asia or somehow made a wrong assumption, I realized we in Asia do the same thing too. My answer sometimes to that question …. It’s like Malaysia & Singapore … go figure
New Mexico was different compared to all the places in the states that I had visited so far. The people and culture is strongly tied to Spanish immigrant or Mexican and also the nature of American Indian which makes it more vibrant. I first notice the difference was when the Greyhound Bus driver which normally gives his bus route journey briefing before setting off in English started doing translations in Spanish as well. If the English version was 1 minute long , the Spanish translation was 10 minutes.
Hostel Route 66
Route 66 passed smack in the middle of Albuquerque so I had manage to stumble onto it somehow. Along that route was Hostel Route 66 a cosy shack with a comfy feeling to it. The people that you meet can sometimes makes a trip worthwhile or totally ruin it. Hostel 66 was kinda that special glow that made Albuquerque special.
The hostel had was also the first one that had chores built into the price, meaning you had to do chores every morning while you were staying in t he hostel. They had a chore card which says like, take out the garbage, wash up all the dishes in the sink, clean the table, so and so. Simple stuff that you would normally clean up after yourself anyway. Still it was a fun way to crack the ice chatting with fellow strangers which chores we were going to do the next day.
Lay Back and Smell the Grass
It was near end of February 2012 and the clock had started ticking again for me. I was well into 5 months of my trip and there was not much times left. So many thing to see and do and I was very tempted to move faster from one place to another.
Do you guys wanna take a walk ?
A simple question from a group of strangers who were all traveling alone somehow made up the everyday activity. Laid back chill and just watch the world skip by. No one wanted to do anything productive … a suggestion by a stranger to idle by time doing meaningless stuff was a reason for another to procrastinate. Somehow I was sucked into the warp zone but was thankful for it.
Nothing better than remembering back of Albuquerque doing absolutely nothing other than chilling and watching the world skip by ….
