Love to travel, but hate tours? This blog offers insight on how to go it alone, from safe accommodations to seeing the best, and maybe the worst. After all, independent travel is an adventure. Flexibility and traveling on a budget are critical. No five-stars or all-inclusives. So hop aboard. Learn to enjoy travel at your own pace and price. Meet other adventurers like yourself and mingle with the locals. Remember: You may travel alone, but you wonʼt be lonely. gloria.independenttraveler@gmail.com
Gloria Maschmeyer
I've been a traveler since I can remember. I spread my wings as a flight attendant at age 20, then married a traveling man and we've never stopped. While based in Anchorage, we've ventured to India, Peru, Bali, Morocco, Burma, Tunisia Singapore and Ecuador. I love ferreting out places off the beaten path. And when things don't go quite as planned, that's just part of the adventure.
Gloria's videos
Plan your trip
BEST TIME OF YEAR
www.myforecast.com
Click on "almanac," then on "historical climate" and plug in the city you wish to check.
CURRENCY RATES
www.oanda.com
For more information on currency exchanges and helpful hints, read my blogs, "Should I change" and "I've decided to change."
TRAVEL WARNINGS
www.travel.state.gov/travel
This site can help you determine the type of crime that goes on in foreign countries against visitors. It also will tell you areas of the country you should avoid.
WORLD TIMES
www.worldtimeserver.com/
Features the current time anywhere and weather. Helpful when you need to call for reservations or want to call back home while away.
WHAT TRAVELERS SAY
www.tripadvisor.com
A favorite sites to see what other travelers have to say about places to stay and visit worldwide
CAR RENTAL
www.hotwire.com
A good site for finding the best deals on renting cars anywhere in the world
TRAVEL INSURANCE
www.squaremouth.com
Web site that compares costs of travel insurance between companies.
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Guatemala's most famous Sunday maket, Chichicastenango
Posted by indietraveler
Posted: February 21, 2010 - 10:22 am
Sunday market activities in Chichicastenango begin with rituals on the steps of Santo Tomas.
The frenzy started well before sunrise this morning. Local villagers by the thousands got on buses with literally tons of vegetables and textiles heading to Chichicastenango to sell their goods. Tourists by the hundreds got on buses to Chichi to watch the locals and buy their goods.
Chichicastanango's Sunday market is the single biggest draw for locals and tourists alike in Guatemala.
Thousands of pounds of vegetables and fruits are hauled by hand into Chichi to be sold at this vegetable market.
But the market isn't the only thing that Chichi is known for. The peoples' spiritual practices are unique. When the Spaniards conquered the land in the 1500s they also brought along Catholicism. What is practiced here today is a unique blend of the people's former pagan beliefs and Christianity.
Visitor beware. Fire crackers ward off the evil and fires attract the spirits to whom the living ask favors be it prayers for health, wealth or happiness. I'm not privy to the complexities of today's practices, but what I witnessed this morning were rituals that I know are hundreds if not thousands of years old.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.
