Alaska

Alaska - the Last Frontier and home to a variety of wildlife, including the five types of salmon, grizzly bears and Alaskan black bears, and some of the most dramatic landscapes such as Denali National Park. I was nine years old when I visited.

On of the Cruise ships of the Holland America
Line - it was on one of these ships I travelled to
Alaska on.

Originally a part of Russia, Alaska became a state of America in 1946 after World War II, but their official statehood was delayed until early January 1959. With the history surrounding the peninsula, mainly of the salmon farming and tourism trade, Alaska has become the tourist destination for its uniqueness and diverse culture. However, it is Alaska's North American roots which stand out.

Flag of Alaska

Alaska is on the north-western side of the Yukon Territory and located on the opposite side of the Bering Straight to its former home. Juneau - the Capital City is located within the Alaskan Panhandle, whilst its largest city, Anchorage, is located on the northern edge of the Kenai Peninsula.

Detailed Map of Alaska State -
Homer and Seward are also
on the Kenai Peninsula.

Like certain countries, Alaska also has a large history with the mythological aspect of history. However, unlike those other countries such as Greece, Italy and Ireland, Alaska's history can be seen predominantly in the large totem poles that are dotted around the state.

One of the totem poles
Alaska is famous for.

When I visited in the summer of 2006, I too went to see the vastness of this state where mountains and the ocean alike plays a key role in its peoples health and well-being, its society and culture. As a nine-year old hemiplegic, I was more fascinated by the huge grizzlies, and the wild Alaskan otters that swam in the shallows of Ketchikan and Juneau - two of the most populous cities in Alaska. In Juneau, there were markets filled with the produce of the Pacific Northwest, which the Alaskan people receive most of their food while in Ketchikan, the otters roamed in the shallows. Here, I also learnt the five types of salmon - Pink, Silver, King, Sockeye and Chum, which I hadn't known existed before visiting this widely surprising landscape. Not only was Alaska a place to visit and relax, seeing as the landscape is so remote, but also educational as you are bound to learn things you will never learn anywhere else.

However, it was Seward on the eastern side of Kodiak that stood out more than the two previous cities. Hell, it stands out in my memory more than Homer, which was an interesting trip on its own. Most of the residents live near the sea or just off the beach and the reason Seward stands out more is due to one creature - King Crabs. Whilst there, I and my parents visited a restaurant and overheard a fellow diner order crabs legs. Now, we were expecting small crabs legs, but what arrived was not it. In their place were KING Crab legs.

The town of Seward from the air!

They were huge! Falling off the plate and table huge!

Now as a 22-year-old, it sounds like something inconsequential - an everyday thing in a town like Seward, but as a 9-year-old who'd never seen crabs legs, let alone a King Crab's legs - it was something to marvel at.

Sea Otter spotted on the
coast of Ketchikan!

Another surprise Alaska throws at you has to be the brown grizzly bears and the black bears living in their natural habitats and thriving on their natural food source, living standards and always remaining protected by the park which made it all possible.

Alaskan Black Bears!

Yet, the seafood is only just a fraction of why YOU must visit this diverse and always astounding place. Alaska will always surprise you.

Chichen Itza: Two Perspectives

Blind Man:

Its not easy being blind. People say your other senses lower slightly with the loss of vision.

Boy are they wrong?! 

They actually increase to make up for the lack of sight. Your hearing and touch first as they are the two main senses involving movement. Smell and taste follow soon after but the senses of hearing and touch become exceptionally sharp. 

Standing in the crowd, I can hear my fellows sharp intakes of breaths, their whispers and astonishment at the momentous piece of history remaining for an entire civilisation that lived here in the south of Mexico hundreds of years ago. When my mother - an Ancient History researcher - was alive, she always told me about the Mayan people. Unlike my father, who was forever stuck in his guidelines and tools that came with his beloved job as a nautical engineer. 

Another lad on the trip - Danny I believe his name was - volunteers to help the tour guide guide me to said landmark. From some of what I'd overheard, he was a nice lad if only a little distant with the other members of the trip. We were the odd ones out, if it were. I was a blind man and he was a university or college graduate - one of the two - who was unsure if he was meant to be there.

I vowed in my head, I would make him feel welcome during this trip. I promised myself and the stars that never left me.

Slowly, I place my hand in his. It is smooth yet rough in places with small scars. Soon, I can feel him gently transfer my palm from his to the hard, weather worn stone blocks all carved to fit in with its neighbour almost seamlessly. 

Yet it doesn't!

I can feel the small and large different air gaps between the blocks.

It is an odd feeling to someone with zero experience, but I know - oh do I know! - as a retired stone mason, the air gaps are extremely necessary as they serve their purpose of ripping the burning heat of the winter climates prominent here in the Yucatan Peninsula out of the stones.

Chichen Itza Pyramid -
the large complex remaining of the Mayan
People in the Yucatan Peninsula
of Mexico.

University Graduate:

Being here is not my idea of a holiday. Everywhere around me was sharp angles and flat plains. Mexico's Chichen Itza, whilst one of my favourite holidays during my childhood, was a chore and a half to get to. 

It was slap bang in the middle of the Yucatan Peninsula for fucks sake! Who the fuck thought that was a good idea!

A seven kilometre walk from the coach park to the base of the Mayan pyramid. Thank hell, I had packed walking boots and decided on taking the holiday in late winter/early spring. Coming in the summer like I originally thought, would've been hell. 

The sky above was an unforgiving sheet of steel as the cloud coverage tugged the heat from the ground under my feet, making the light humidity even worse. Looking up at the monstrous landmark shaped like a cut out on a paper snowflake, I first noticed the smaller building resting on the top, which honestly looked like that long low cabin of Poseidon - you know the one in Percy Jackson. Don't make me describe it please! It was exactly how I remembered it from my first trip out here with my Grandparents when I was 8. 

That trip was to get me away from the judgemental stares and whispers, from the students and staff at my school, by parents and workers, by everyone in the neighbourhood and city. It wasn't like I could help that my heroine and cocaine addicted parents were in jail!

Even now, I could hear the confused and uncertain cries of my younger self, witnessing their arrest. 

Shaking my head, I could taste the electricity in the air around me. All I needed on this trip - a summer storm.

This trip just got better!

Blogger Note: This piece was inspired by a small writing task given to me by my lecturer, which asked for a different viewpoint and perspective of a famous landmark. It was also inspired by a day trip to the actual complex when I was on holiday in Mexico.