To the Center of the Island: A trip to Jayuya

When people think Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, they think about the beach. But there is a lot more than beautiful beaches and tropical drinks on my Enchanting Island. At the inside of the Island you can explore incredible landscapes, filled with leafy trees and magical singing from the birds and coquíes. And the Municipio that we are going to explore on the mountainous Puerto Rico is: Jayuya, known as the center of our Taíno history. 

First stop, Museum of the History of Jayuya, there you can see a painting with iconic reference about the history of the Municpio and also a wall with all the ex-Mayors of the City, also next to the museum there is a very good coffee shop for you to try (Paliques Café). Right next to the coffee shop there is a staircase where the Monument of the Cacique Hayuya lays, a sculpture of the Cacique and a medallion of the "dios Sol" decors the stairs that lead you to the "Indio Puertorriqueño" tomb.    

"Jayuya: Cuando nos separamos de Utuado, 2010"

Grisergio Rivera Gonzáles

                                              

                                                      

The Cultural Center Alberto Suárez can be found when you climb all the way up the stairs. Stablished since 1986, this building has some expositions about our indigenous past. From tools that the Taínos used to some from the colonials, and also you can see the catholic influence on wood sculptures around the center.      

A few minutes away there is one of the most characteristics museums on town, Museo el Cemí. This museum is particularly interesting since is has the shape of one of the most well know pieces that the Taínos possessed, the cemí. A cemí is an artefact that the Taínos used for religious purposes. At the museum you can see pictures of indigenous findings around the Island, also tools and artefacts are spouse. Next to the museum you can visit Casa Canales, which is a replica of the house of Don Rosario Canales Quintero, the first mayor of Jayuya. Also there are the remains of the national hero Nemesio R. Canales.  

The last stop of the trip was to "La Piedra Escrita", an historical place on the Salientito River. The incredible rock has engravings from the Taínos, which has being subject of study from a great number of archeologists. Since 1994 there has being great efforts from the Education and Cultural Commission of the House of Representatives to declare the Petroglyphs a National Monument.     

Well, this is just a pick of what you can explore at the center of Puerto Rico and Jayuya. There is a lot more you can do on the Municpio, and on the Island. Hope you enjoy your visit to Puerto Rico anytime soon!! ^.^♥

A piece of South Korea in Puerto Rico

A few weeks ago I went with my friends to a Korean restaurant, and it was a great experience for me. Since I got into Korean culture a few years back I was always curios about their food, it seemed spacy and with a lot of vegetables. Finally I got the chance to tasted, and it was amazing!!

Located at Montemar Plaza 205 Calle Federico Costa in Hato Rey, PR, TaKo- Korean BBQ Taco is a fusion of Korea and Mexican food. The idea came from the streets of L.A., where traditional Korean street food meets tortilla tacos. They stablished on October of 2011 on San Juan, P.R., and since is the only Korean restaurant on the San Juan Metropolitan Area.

Their menu includes: tacos, burritos, al plato, salads, bibimbab, gimbap, and Korean ramen, the plates can be with chicken, galbi (steak), chorizo, bulgogi (beef), mixed, and with veggie. They also have a topin bar and hot bar (spicy ingredients), you can choose what you want on your order. For drinks you can have the traditional soft drinks or can order Bubble Tea, which the flavors can be strawberry, taro, mango, papaya, etc. They also have kimchi!!

On the top there is galbi ramen (non spicy), gimbap, and taro Bubble Tea; on the other dish is spicy ramen with cheese and also rice and kimchi.

On my perspective the food was really good but to pricey, being the only Korean restaurant at San Juan the price for the ramen is to high even though the taste is great. If you want to try something new you can go visit them and experience some Korean culture, they also have k-pop music on ^.^

You can check out their web site for more information: http://www.takopr.com/

A look underground: Rio Camuy Cave Park

I would like you to take a look at one of the amazing landscapes that surround the Island of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico being the smallest of the Greater Antilles it has a lot of beautiful spots to visit around, one of them being the Rio Camuy Cave Park located at the Municipio of Camuy with around 300 acres of land. The Rio Camuy is the body of water that goes through the Cave Park and it is the third underground river more abundant around the world. Recently it has being designated as the First Natural Enchantment of Puerto Rico, with approximately 45 million years.

This underground system has Cueva Clara as its main Cave, where you can get a good look around of its amazing stalactites and stalagmites. On the pad that you have to get to go through the cave you have to be extremely cautious of its slippery floors, that's why you have to get a good grip on the handles. As you know it's very dark, it's a cave, but it has little light around for you to see the way around. At every visit to the cave you have a guide with you that is bilingual and that explains to you what are you going to see on the tour, if you stay behind it might be a little difficult for you to listen what is he talking about.
 

Entrance fee: $15.00 adults and $10.00 kids (4-12 years), groups might vary on low season. Visits from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., if the Park and climate conditions are good. They also have a camping area, were you pay $5.00 per person.

 

Hope you go and visit if the opportunity comes ^.^ ♥