Top 9 Museums in Mexico City

Posted: August 10, 2024 | Tagged:

Museo Nacional de Antropología
Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo
Museo de Arte Moderno
Palacio de Bellas Artes
Templo Mayor Museum
Museo Franz Mayer
Colegio de San Ildefonso
Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo
Diego Rivera Mural Museum

I'm Not A Good Storyteller

Posted: August 10, 2024 | Tagged:

I'm not a good story teller; though I wish I was.

Yet again I find myself pondering the future of NomadicBackpacker.com.

What is NomadicBackpacker.com?

Nomadicbackpacker.com provides travellers with much needed intel.

The goal of the NomadicBackpacker.com travel blog is to provide an income

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Posted: August 10, 2024 | Tagged:

Backpacking in Spain: Visiting the 2nd century Roman Amphitheatre of Italica

Posted: June 2024 | Tagged: Spain

Italica was the first Roman city founded in Hispania in 206 BC.

The Roman amphitheatre of Italica was built during the reign of emperor Hadrian (think Hadrians Wall - who was born in Italica), between the 117 and 138 AD and was one of the largest in the Roman Empire with a seating capacity of around 25,000. The Amphitheatre in El Jem in Tunisia, just for comparison, had an estimated seating capacity of 35,000 but a long way off that of the Colosseum.

The Amphitheatre was used to host gladiator fights and animal hunting.

How to get from Seville to Italica by bus:

It's June (and it's fucking hot) so I started early. The site opens at 9 am. I took the 8 am bus from the Estación de Autobuses “Plaza de Armas”:

The fare is 1.65€. I paid cash. Drivers prefer exact change as most people pay with their Seville travel card.

The ride takes 30 minutes. So you can get a coffee across the road from the restaurant.

Travel Hack: How to do your laundry when travelling

Posted: May 10, 2024 | Tagged: Travel Hacks

This is how I do my laundry:

One of the things I hate about travelling are the smelly travellers you end up sharing your hostel dorm with.

It might not be the actual traveller smelling bad, but rather the clothes they are wearing and the dirty clothes they have stored in their backpacks, awaiting laundry day.

A flash back to a hostel dorm in Istanbul, 2010. 2 Aussie dudes had just arrived having flown in from South America and were sorting their gear out in the dorm. They had a pile of clothes bigger than my backpack. I thought, dang, I don't even own that many clothes when living at my dads. And they were on travels. And the smell, OMFG.

Another flashback, to Cambodia I think and I fell into conversation with another traveller who was shocked at my travelling set up of just 2 T-shirts and 1 shorts. He was one of these (new at the time), anal flashpackers, backpacking the world on daddy's credit card and because I only has such a minimal supply of clothing, he assumed I was some smelly bastard. So I let rip.

I had been in the tropics for months and my mo for surviving the intense heat was to shower as often as I could and wash my clothes out, each and every night. I would sleep in my sarong and my shorts and T shirt would be dry enough to put back on the next morning.

And there was this twat with all of last week's clothes, all rank, slowly rotting, cos nothing ever dries properly, in his backpack.

In Southeast Asia it was always easy to borrow a bucket from the hostel, hotel or wherever you were staying and find a small 100g portion of soap powder in the local store.

I even bought a bucket in one place and left it at the hotel when I moved on.

And then as the travels went on, scrounging a bucket became a chore so I started using an Ortlieb dry sac, which is obviously designed to keep the water out but hey they make great laundry bags.

So the whole operation is quite simple though it requires having a spare pair of shorts to change into while the other ones are soaking.

Put some soap in the bag, fill with just enough water, shake it up a bit, put your clothes in, roll the top and snap the buckles together and shake it, then leave it somewhere for a few hours. Then just rinse them when taking your night time shower.

The issue is with finding somewhere to hang your wet laundry.

I wring it out the best I can, then wring it out again after 20 minutes and repeat. Carpets soak up the excess water.

Quick dry clothing is a God send.

And hand washing laundry never gets the stuff super clean and yeah I do get a machine wash sometimes or just dump it and buy new stuff but mostly I get attached to my stuff.

Backpacking in the United Kingdom: Charing Cross, the Centre of London

Posted: May 10, 2024 | Tagged:

There can't be much to write about Charing Cross that hasn't been written before but what the hell.

I needed to get some admin done at an office very near Charing Cross Underground Station (this story may be blogged about one day soon), so after I had sorted that out, I put my backpack and Nomadic Backpacker cap on and went backpacking.

Charing Cross as seen by Nomadic Backpacker; traveller, and travel blogger:

I Stopped Drinking Coffee, and My Productivity Has Increased

Posted: November 1, 2024 | Tagged: Health

Following my Prostate Surgery, I stopped drinking coffee, and my productivity on the blog has increased.

Cortisol is a hormone that your body produces naturally and it helps you wake up in the morning.

The caffeine in coffee is a diuretic, which can lead to water loss via urination. If we're not rehydrating properly, even mild dehydration can impact our energy levels

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Posted: August 10, 2024 | Tagged:

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Posted: August 10, 2024 | Tagged:

All you need is a simple QR Generator. Add your website URL and it generates your own unique QR CODE within seconds.

My Favourite Beers in Mexico

Mis Cervezas Favoritas en México

Posted: January 20 2023 | Tagged: Mexico | Donate: PayPal

1. Tempus Doble Malta:

2. Modelo Negra:

Part of the Modelo Group

3. Dos Equis:

Best of the Mexican Lagers, Dos Equis is 4.2% Alc. Vol and my favourite of the regular lagers in Mexico.

4. Corona Extra:

Part of the Modelo Group, Corona Extra (the best-selling Mexican beer in the world).

5. Victoria:

Also part of the Modelo Group, Victoria

6. Carta Blanca:

Carta Blanca is part of the Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Group, a Mexican brewery based in the city of Monterrey and a subsidiary of Heineken International.

Carta Blanca is one of the cheapest beers in Mexico. 6 cans for 56 Pesos at Bodega and it's the beer that you buy when going to a party. Which is a shame because I quite like it.

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Posted: November 2 2023 | Tagged:

Naked in Zipolite, Mexico's Only Official Nude Beach

Posted: January 3 2025 | Tagged: Mexico

The ultimate Christmas getaway at Playa Zipolite, Mexico's only official nudist beach.

Zipolite, Mexico's only official Nude Beach. 2024 and this is my 5th visit here. I first came here in December 2020. The pandemic had worn me out. It had been a game of staying ahead of ever changing restrictions. I came here to escape life for a bit.

That year, I stayed for 1 month. It is where I met up and connected mi novia, Miss CDMX. Yeah, and we are still together.

We returned in 202, 2022, 2023 and now, in 2024, we are back again.

It's the perfect place to come to and escape life for a bit. Zipolite is Mexico's only official nudist beach, la playa Nudista where clothing is optional. So you can forget about life, you can forget about internet because the connection is mostly slow and you can forget your clothes and no one will care.

Bushmills: Gateway to the Giant's Causeway and home of Irish Whiskey

October 28, 2024 | Tagged: United Kingdom

First stop out of Belfast, Bushmills, Gateway to the Giant's Causeway and home to Irish Whisky.

My first time in Northern Ireland and I made a logistical error of taking the ferry from Scotland to Northern Ireland on a Friday, without checking the accommodation options first.

For such a big city, Belfast, there aren't too many hostels and on the weekend, the beds get booked out pretty far in advance

I got lucky on the first night but it just wasn't possible for the Saturday and Sunday nights as it was the Coronation Weekend.

So after a brief 1-night stop in Belfast, I took the train to Coleraine, then Portrush.

With frequent onward buses to Bushmills, I backpacked Portrush for an hour before continuing my journey (I posted the Photos from Portrush on a separate page, so please go take a look).

Top 5 things to do in Bushmills

Bushmills is a cute little town. The Bushmills YHA Youth Hostel is a great place to stay, there are 2 decent supermarkets, SPAR and Co-op, a few cafés, good transport connections and some top places to visit.

1. The Giant's Causeway

The Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland's greatest natural wonder.

Just a few miles east of town, take a bus, ride the tram if it's running or walk.

It's isolated and there is nowhere to shelter so take a rain jacket and decent footwear as the rocks are slippery.

After, you can pop into The Nook for a meal or just a drink.

2. The Old Bushmills Distillery

This is a great activity within the town itself. Just make sure you book online as you must be part of a tour to visit the Old Bushmills Distillery

3. The Northernmost point of Northern Ireland

Benbane Head lies at 55⁰ 15" 6' N, 6⁰ 29" 1' W and is the northernmost point of mainland Northern Ireland.

It is between Dunseverick Castle and The Giant's Causeway. Sadly there are no signs to indicate the position.

4. Dunluce Castle

Dunluce Castle passed me by. It's just a few miles west of town. Easy to get the bus there.

5. Backpack the town itself

The town of Bushmills dates from the Norman times (1150-1520) and was originally known as Portcaman but as water-powered industries developed from the 1600s then so did the village name. At one time there were 7 mills working the River Bush and 5 distilleries.

With the "discovery" of the Giant's Causeway by the outside world in the 1700s, Bushmills became the gateway for visitors who came to marvel at this natural wonder.

By the mid-1800s, much of Bushmills had been redeveloped by the Macnaghten family and boasted 3 hotels, a cattle and produce market, a court house and a thriving distillery.

In 1883, the world's first hydroelectric tramway opened. Pioneered by William Traill of Ballylough and engineered by the Siemens Company, it ran from Bushmills to Portrush where it linked up with the Portrush-Belfast line. The line was then extended to run to the Giant's Causeway.

In 1899 an overhead electric wire was installed and the Tramway was known as the 'first long electric tramway in the world'. It ran for 65 years before it was closed down in 1949.

The Giant's Causeway and Bushmills Railway Company is a non-profit organisation with charitable status and in 1999 work began to reopen the tramway and carried its first passengers in 2002.

I didn't take the Giant's Causeway & Bushmills Heritage Railway as it operates at Easter and from June onwards (though when I got to the end of the line, it says it was running, but the schedule would have meant waiting around a long time to make it worth it) so I walked alongside it in its entirety and spent a glorious day backpacking The Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland's most spectacular natural wonder.

When the tramway was extended to the Giant's Causeway, Bushmills was bypassed and with new hotels being built in Portrush and at the Causeway, the town went into decline and was left to depend upon the success of the Old Bushmills Distillery to survive. It wasn't until the late 20th century when Bushmills became a destination in its own right that the town began to recover.

There are over 80 listed buildings in Bushmills: