We arrived to Honduras on Saturday the 10th of January. Honduras seems to be much less populated than Guatemala. There also seemed to be much more European blood in the people of Honduras as compared to Mexico and Guatemala; people in Honduras more frequently had lighter skin, hair and eyes. The landscape in Honduras was very scenic, although most of the time we were there it was raining. We began our travels in Honduras in the city of Copan Ruinas, a small town one kilometer away from the ruins of Copan. We started our stay in Copan Ruinas by finding [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, January 10th we drove from Antigua, through Guatemala City and into Honduras. Guatemala City was an overpopulated, extremely polluted place. Approaching from Antigua you could see the smog hovering over the city; very sad! Again, roads were unmarked, again we got lost and again we found our way. While in Honduras we will go to Lago Yojoa to visit the family of our friend Dina, who is from Honduras and now is a professor of Spanish in North Dakota. On our way to Honduras we followed a family in a truck for a while and commented that maybe it [View Full Entry]

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Antigua, Guatemala is a colonial city in a mountain valley at the base of Volcan Agua. The town was founded in the early 1500s as the capital city, which was later relocated to current-day Guatemala City. The food was very good with many types to choose from; Mexican, Italian, Regional, Cuban, French, Asian, Fusion. Accommodations were reasonable and also offered a variety to choose from; up-scale and all-inclusive to low-end with shared bathroom. Antigua featured many colonial churches to visit, some in complete ruin, others completely restored. We visited about a handful, and whet [View Full Entry]

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Lago Atitlan We arrived to the Atitlan area of Guatemala on Monday, January 5th. Atitlan is a lake surrounded by mountains and volcanoes in the Guatemalan highlands. The lake itself was formed some 85,000 years ago by a volcanic eruption and is roughly 4500 feet above sea level and its deepest point reaches a depth of about 960 feet; so much for my theory of sinking to the bottom and walking out if I were to ever fall in a lake, not possible here. Atitlan now is home to a dozen communities nestled along the lake. Tuesday morning we rented a [View Full Entry]

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On our first day in Guatemala we drove to the city of Huehuetenango. As we entered town Chuck noticed the infamous golden arches. We followed the signs and it appeared as though McDonalds was located inside of a shopping mall since the golden arches sign was hung above the entrance. We parked the van and went into the mall to have our first meal in Guatemala at a McDonalds. We found the food court, but not the McDonalds. We asked one lady and she had no idea where or even what McDonalds was. The next person pointed us towards the lower [View Full Entry]

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We crossed the border from Mexico into Guatemala the morning of Sunday, January 4th. We stayed the night before at a Pemex station about half an hour drive from the Mexico-Guatemala border. Many Pemex stations will grant travelers permission to pass the night in their parking area, without charge. We always fill our tank with gas at the station we are staying before requesting permission to pass the night in their lot. All the stations we have been to have bathrooms, some have showers, and most have convenience stores that sell drinks and snacks. Passing the night at a Pemex station [View Full Entry]

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Lagos de Colon and Ruinas de Lagartero Our last day in Mexico we decided to visit the archaeological zone, Lagartero, which is about half an hour drive off of the highway to Guatemala. We followed the signs and found ourselves paying a small fee to enter an area known as Lagos de Colon (Lakes of Columbus). The men at the gate assured us the ruins were there. To get to the ruins we first drove across a river (actually an overflow from a lake that flowed across the road) and through a small town. Again we followed the signs and arrived [View Full Entry]

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Tonina: the so-called Mayan Sci-Fi City??? Tonina is about a two hour drive from either San Cristobal de las Casas or Palenque in the state of Chiapas. The site is easy to locate, there are places to stop along the way for drinks and food, and part of the drive is through a cloud forest. Tonina is situated in the middle of a functioning cattle ranch. When we arrived the ranchers drove cattle through the lot where we were parked. The landscape here is very scenic, surrounded by valleys and mountains. The site is one of the larger of the Mayan [View Full Entry]

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Hey Eddie, Kirsten, and Benny. Oh, and Gage and Jayden and all our other little cousins and friends, too! I have been travelling all over Mexico with Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Leila. I am very excited that they decided to bring me along on their trip. I have been to Monte Alban, the Pacific Coast beaches in Oaxaca, and San Cristobal de las Casas. Monte Alban is an archaeological ruin site that was once occupied by the Mixtec and Zapotec indigenous people. There were many structures and carvings to see. The Pacific Coast beach towns were a lot of fun. [View Full Entry]

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We arrived to San Cristobal on Saturday, December 27th. San Cristobal is an old colonial town situated in a high mountain valley in the Chiapas highlands. As an old colonial town, it is not the best place to try and maneuver a bus, least not in reverse. After all, the roads were built for horses (note the pics). We made our way to the historic center of town, found a place to park the van, and walked to find a hotel. The first half dozen or so hotels were fully booked until mid-January and we started to become a bit [View Full Entry]

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