Devendra Gadgil's Blog

Tag: travel

  • HOLIDAY IN MEXICO

    Holiday in Yucatan Mexico 25-10-2025 to 1/11/2025

    I arranged this trip through Trailfinders as usual. I was undecided between Canada and Mexico. The Mexico trip was £1000 cheaper. I went for it even though it did not include Mexico City. United Airlines flew me from London Heathrow to Cancun via Houston Texas. It was difficult to believe that leaving London at 10 am I got to Cancun at 7 pm on the same day. At Cancun airport I met the agent from Intrepid Travels who took me to the Calixta hotel at Playa del Carmen. The other members of my party had got there a few hours earlier and met up with our guide Alejandro Starcevic Dzib (Alex) who saw me later and explained what had happened up to my arrival and what the schedule was for the next day.

    Others in the party I joined were Sue Bradbrook and Nigel Wills, a couple, Louise Paramore and Joe, a couple or just friends – all the above were Brits, Canadian friends Nina D’Andrea and Hunsa Jain and from Ireland Tony, Deirdre and Deirdre’s son Liam. For one day during the tour we had a very good and knowledgeable guide called Edwin. Edwin’s joke was that when the Spaniards arrived in Yucatan one of them asked a native the name of the area. The local fellow said in Mayan “I don’t know what you are talking about”. To the Spaniard it sounded like “Yucatan”. That’s how the place got its name.

    Two pictures below show the party of tourists I joined:

    Front row from the left Nina, Nigel, Sue, Louise, Liam, Tony and myself. Back Row from left Hunsa,, Hunsa, Deirdre and Joe
    Our guide Alex with a vegetable lady

    Below is a map of the route we took anticlockwise

    26/10/26

    We left the Calixta Hotel in Playa del Carmen after breakfast for Chichen Itza and Merida. ..

    Wandering around at Chichen Itza and we took pictures of the Mayan ruins.

    Near Chichen Itza there is a cenote (Chi -No -Tay)

    A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting when a collapse of limestone bedrock exposes groundwater.

    With life jackets on we swam in the cenote. On the periphery of the cenote were trees with long roots stretching down to the water.. I attach below photos of the cenote and some of the Mayan ruins.

    26/10/25- 27/10/25

    We arrived in Merida and were given the option to visit the Mayan ruins in Uxmal with another guide, Edwin. I thought Edwin did an excellent job as a guide.

    It was an enjoyable day.

    These are the only pictures I can find of Uxmal.

    In the picture from left to right are Sue , Nigel, Edwin , Joe and Debbie

    28/10/25

    We may have stayed in Merida for another day and night I think and moved on from there to to Campeche via Becal .

    Above are pictures from a hat shop in Becal which is on the route from Merida to Campeche.showing me, Hunsa and Nina and the lady in a hat shop. The lady is working on a new hat. The hats are made from palm leaves and the shops are often underground

    Below is a church in Merida (I think). But it might be Campeche

    Some Mexicans dig out the bones of their relatives from their graves and preserve and worship them at mini-temples. We visited a site like that with mini-temples but I didn’t take any pictures. From what I read the place where this happens is Campeche where we went after Merida

    30/10/25

    From Campeche we moved on to Bacalar to enjoy the fresh water lagoons. This is what Alex refers to as “banos”

    The first picture below shows us on our way to the paddling area of the lagoons.

    Deidre, Liam and Tony
    Joe and Louise
    Sue and Nigel in the lagoon

    Me in the lagoon

    In the pictures above

    1 at the top a boatman taking us to the bathing area

    2 Deirdre, Liam and Tony

    3 Joe and Debbie

    4 Sue and Nigel

    5 Me

    On 31st October we arrived in Tulum. I attach below three photos from there: from top

    below

    a lizard

    Next, me with the sea behind

    Next Templo de Los Frescos

    Three more from Tulum: from the top

    El Castillo

    Me with parrots

    Giant skeleton dancer

    Of the three pictures above. El Castillo was one of the ruins. The parrots were a surprise inflicted on me when I emerged from the Tulum ruins by the wrong exit. The giant dancing skeleton is part of the “Day of the Dead” festival which Alex mentions below

    Here are three pictures I was sent probably from Chichen Itza:

    We got to Merida, the capital of the state of Yucatan. Alex said it was going to be a “Most chaotic day”. We did an orientation walk with Alex and he gave us information about places at which to eat.

    BELOW ARE SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS WHICH TOOK PLACE AT VARIOUS TIME.

    IN ALEX’S WORDS

    “Mérida’s evenings are warm, lively, and safe to explore — perfect for dinner, a cocktail, or a slow walk under the lights of Paseo Montejo.

    UXMAL (and back to Merida)

     😊

    Louise:

    Hi Alex

    Joe and I would like to do Uxmal basic please.

    Sue:

    Hi Alex.

    Nigel and I would like to do the basic too. Thanks Sue

    Wonderful, I’ll send you the details of pick up!

    Alex:

    Friends for the tour tomorrow it will depart at *8:00 a.m.* sharp from the hotel reception.

    The guide will be Edwin Góngora. Please be on time so you can start the tour without any delays.

    Enjoy it and have fun

    Thank you

    Devendra Gadgil: 

    Hi Alex I am late to say this – I had problems accessing my hotel room but I would like to do the Uxmal basic trip.I should be ready at 8 pm.  Dev

    Solved!

    Devendra Gadgil:

    Everybody. That was a great trip to Uxmal. Edwin is as enthusiastic and knowledgeable as you Alex

    Alex: Devandra glad you liked, sure Edwin is and expert too!

    I hope you all had an amazing day for those ones who went to Uxmal Ruins and same for those who stay here in Mérida ✨️ exploring the historic center and museums or just taking it easy 🙌🏻

    Don’t forget that tonight we have the *”Yucatecan Jarana”*(typical dance of Yucatán) event in the historic center in front of the city hall at 9 PM.

    It’s going to be a fantastic way to experience the local culture, especially with the Day of the Dead festivities starting close. If you can make it, I highly recommend checking it out.I’ll be sending out tomorrow’s itinerary shortly. Thanks, and have a great evening, don’t forget to keep yourselves hydrated.

    Alex:

    Tomorrow’s itinerary 🚐

    Tomorrow will be nice cause we will be at the city of Campeche, another beautiful place to relax and keep enjoying the Mexican culture.

    We will depart from the hotel at *9:00 a.m.*  Please don’t forget to take your *room key* with you.

    I kindly request that you have your luggage ready to go, so we can depart on time and respect the time of others by being punctual. ⏰😊

    Breakfast will be ready from 7:00 am / enough time to be ready at 9:00 am

    We will make a stop at a local artisan in Becal town where you will have the opportunity to learn about the traditional craft of making *Jipijapa hats*.  Afterward, we will head to the city of Campeche, where you will have the chance to explore its historic charm.

    Once we arrive to Campeche we are going to have our lunch at *El Pez Conde* local restaurant well know for its fresh seafood

    Finally we will check into our hotel *Plaza Campeche* and later have our orientation walk in the small city.

    We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow morning, keep enjoying Mérida.

    Day of the dead celebrations from last night. X

    Friends welcome to the lovely city of *Campeche* as I told you the place is to explore walking and walking 😎

    Alex:

    Tomorrow’s itinerary to *BACALAR* (7-8 hours drive)

    Breakfast will be ready at 7:00 am try to take advantage of it cause there will be 2 big groups of Netherlands too!

    We are going to be leaving from our hotel at 8:30 am

    We will have some stops on the way for baños  🚻

    Nice local restaurant

    After that we will continue to our final destination Bacalar.

    We also gonna have our short orientation walk , bacalar is smaller than Campeche.

    Tips!

    Get some snacks for the way! Get some cash from the ATMs here in Campeche / some change $$$ for baños and be super patient for the ride 😄

    Have fun walking around Campeche

    Buenos dias amigos 🙌🏻☀️  

    For the breakfast just ask for our table, *Alejandro*

    Bonne appétit 🥓🥞

    Friends we’ll arrive to *Bacalar* a small town to keep enjoying and relax after the long ride 🥴

    We are having a beautiful weather to jump into the pool and have some drinks!  🏊‍♀️

    Then like in the other cities, just walk to explore the place and enjoy the ambiance of the little town.

    Tony: Which bar has Devindra led you astray to?? Deirdre and I will meet you there.

    We’re in the little market stands in the centre if the square just now

    Spotted!

    Devendra Gadgil: I shall accept that as a compliment Tony! I wanted to stay with all of you to be sure I got back to the right hotel. Good decision.

    Buenos dias ☀️

    Hope you have had a nice night tonight 🧘‍♂️

    Sunscreen on before we leave from the hotel and be ready with your short and 👙🩴

    Alex: Tomorrow’s itinerary

    *TULUM*

    The end of this beautiful trip. (4 hours drive)

    Breakfast will be ready at 7:00am

    We are going to be leaving from the hotel at 8:00 am

    We are going to arrive to *TULUM RUINS* for a tour atfer, that we are going to have our lunch in a authentic local restaurant then:

    Check-in! Our Hotel is

    Mestizo Gallery

    Finally our *Farewell Dinner* at 7:00 pm 🥲

    Keep having a beautiful night ✨️ was a lovely day at the lagoon.

    Buenos dias amigos ☀️ Hope you had enjoyed our last night in Bacalar Town.

    Don’t forget to bring the Key Rooms

    Provecho  🥞

    Devendra Gadgil:

    Hi DSA I am near the Subway store and the Mayan Market. Where are you? Or please find me. Dev

    Me and José went to see Devandra

    If he arrives at the gate let me know please.

    Thanks

    Yes we will

    Check the other entrance/ gate. He would not have known which bus to get.

    Yeap! That’s what we did with jose 😎

    We got him 😎

    Drinking a margarita, laying on the beach 😜:

    Well done Sue and Jose 👏🏻

    Me: The comment about the Margarita is Sue’s. I did pick up a taste for Margaritas though!

    Our Tour ended in Tulum from where I got a taxi to Cancun. The return flights were Cancun to Washington DC and from there to London Heathrow

  • Antarctica Trip March 11-25 2018

    Havant to Ushuaia March 11-14 2018

    Antarctica Trip March 11-25 2018


    I got to Heathrow Terminal 5 in plenty of time for my flight to Buenos Aires. At the BA counter they checked me in without fuss but handed me a £10 voucher to use at any of the airport restaurants as the 10 pm flight was going to be delayed till 12 am. I wasn’t particularly hungry so after clearing security I took my time deciding where to eat. I was still feeling a little deflated from the previous day when my choir, Get Vocal, Chichester failed to retain the cup we had won in a singing competition in 2017. In fact were weren’t even runners-up. I have some suggestions for Jo, our leader for next year’s competition. Furthermore, a Gaelic song, one of three we had sung kept repeating itself on me as it was to throughout my Antarctica holiday. I settled on a Giraffe restaurant in the airport departure lounge. I have only recently noticed Giraffe restaurants at airports.  Anyway I liked whatever I ate and drank at the restaurant and before long it was time to board BA245 to Buenos Aires.  A very pretty robot lady was able to tell us in six languages which train to catch and which stop to get off at to reach the departure gate. I was glad of my aisle seat. Aisle seats allow you to get up as many times as you like without making anybody else get up. I had decided on a recent BA flight to India that I liked BA’s Spanish wines and they are quite generous with them over dinner. Well I had a taste of those on the nearly 14-hour flight to Buenos Aires and they were almost as good as they had been on my Indian flight.

    Robot Lady at Heathrow
    Tower I can’t remember
    Touring Ushuaia by mini train

    At Buenos Aires airport two young ladies received me and others to help transport us to our hotels. In my case this was the N H Crillon, Avenida Santa Fe. At the hotel I rested for a bit and then went out to get lunch. Turning left along Santa Fe I found myself near a Subway restaurant before long. Approaching  a young chap at the bar I had the following conversation:

    Me: ¿Puedo pagar con mi tarjeta?
    Him: Oh yes we take everything except American Express. Are you from London?
    Me: No I live south of London
    Him: Ah yes Manchester!
    Me: No Manchester is to the north of London. I live near Portsmouth (I knew Havant would be hopeless)
    Him: Port?

    Anyway I enjoyed my toasted sandwich. Exiting the restaurant I turned back towards the hotel. Approaching it I noticed a band playing music at a monument near the hotel.  The monument is a statue of San Martin. I watched as in turn three important-looking men came and laid wreaths at the statue. They turned out to be the ambassadors of South Korea, Italy and Peru. I understand that  12th March is “Shield Day” in Argentina and is celebrated all over the country. José Francisco de San Martín was the commander of the armed forces of Argentina, Chile and Peru and helped all three countries achieve independence from Spain. His statue would be an appropriate place to mark the day.


    The Crillon hotel is in an attractive and I think very central part of Buenos Aires – I didn’t like the very heavy traffic on Avenida Santa Fe, though. I’ll have to dig up my photos from the year 2000 when I was last in Argentina to see whether I have been to this spot before. I did take pictures  of a tree with very pretty pink flowers and of a British-built tower, Torre Monumental – formerly Torre de Los Ingles. There was a flock of parakeets squawking in a little park near the statue. I have seen parakeets in abundance in India but noticed them in England for the first time in the 1980s or 1990s – in Esher. I suppose they had escaped from an aviary or zoo. Since then they have spread and are probably accepted , along with egrets as native British birds.


    Strolling around in the neighbourhood it struck me that Buenos Aires is ethnically very European, indeed more so than many European capitals. I don’t remember seeing any people of African, Arab, or Asian origin, though I am told there are lots of Chinese-owned shops in the capital. Looking at the demographics less then 3 % of Argentinians are pure descendants of  the indigenous inhabitants. This is so different from Peru and Bolivia where the Quechua and Aymara are everywhere.

    I ate at the Dandy restaurant opposite the hotel that evening. The tables on the kerb outside were tempting as it was like a cool summer evening in England but then there were fumes from heavy traffic as well. I went in and found a vacant table, ordered a meal and a glass of wine. A woman possibly in her 50s came over to talk. All I could say was “Perdón Senora” The gist of her response was “it looks as though we won’t be able to communicate”. She approached another man who was on his own. I think they were able to communicate better because I saw him grinning as she left the restaurant. I wonder what the discussion was about!

    Early the next morning a taxi took me to the domestic airport for the flight to Ushuaia. I like trying new aircraft types and so I thought the Brazilian Embraer 190 belonging to Aerolineas Argentinas made a nice change from European Airbuses and American Boeings. However they had crammed a few more seats into the aircraft than they should have done for I didn’t find too much leg room when I was seated – and I am not a big man! Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina is 1475 miles from Buenos Aires but only 621 miles from the Antarctic Peninsula. There are no towns of a similar size as far south. No wonder the locals call it Fin del Mundo – end of the world. The flight took about three and a half hours. I tried sleeping, listening to music and reading P G Wodehouse’s “The Mating Season”. I managed a bit of everything. That is how I know that Bertie Wooster’s aunt Agatha chews broken glass and kills rats with her teeth.

    I seem to remember a very smooth landing for which I congratulated the crew. I had managed a few of those myself when I had flying lessons many years ago but I was in a Cessna 152 and  I gave up for lack of  progress. Ushuaia nestles among  the Martial Mountains which the locals refer to as the Southern Andes. The airport is picturesque with plenty of snow-covered mountain peaks nearby – yes I took pictures. The organisers of the cruise which was to follow received me and others and transported us to our hotels, mine was the Albatros (no not Albatross) Hotel.

    At the hotel there was a briefing, in fact several briefings about what was to happen in the next  24 hours. We were going to be free most of the next day as our cruise was to start in the evening. Would we like to go into the National Park of Tierra del Fuego? While we were doing it would we also like to use a mini train operating in part of the park, the End-of-the-World Train? Later that day I met Sebastian from Böhl-Iggelheim in Germany, not far from the French border. I was already regretting that, to save about £2000 I had agreed to share a two-person cabin on the ship because the sharing was to begin at the Albatros hotel. Sebastian aged 21 is a pleasant enough chap but I didn’t like the idea of sharing a cabin; I was to regret it even more later. I bought a ticket for the national park trip as did Sebastian but in addition I paid for the train ride as well.