KarenMark

The bus ride to Puerto Escondido was a marathon 14 hour overnighter. We were entertained on the way however, with a variety of Spanish films, a 3am breakfast stop and 3 Ricky Martin albums! We'd been looking forward to some time on the coast and we weren't disapointed. There are plenty of seperate beaches here and we managed to visit a different one every day. Zicatela beach is the main surf break and too rough for swimming, but others are calmer and good for snorkelling. The only irritation was being continually hassled by touts to go on a snorkelling trip with sea turtles. Whilst we were initially tempted, the practice of lassooing and riding the turtles to entertain the tourists put us off. We ventured out 50km further west along the coast to the beach town ... read more

We arrived in Antigua after dark, having caught a direct shuttle bus from Copan. The main plaza was lit with fairy lights and you could just see the outlines of the 3 volcanos looming over the city. In the light of day we were able to fully appreciate why travellers come here and bypass Guatemala City. Despite the hoards of people passing through, Antigua seems to have retained it's own cultural identity - cobblestoned streets, brightly coloured biuldings and colonial churches in various states of ruin and repair. We spents a couple of days exploring the city, wandering the streets, museums and churches. Karen's favourite museum (in truth the only one we actually went into) was one displaying the different textiles made by local indignous groups in the area. Immediately after we stumbled across an earthquake ... read more

The journey to Rio Dulce was quite entertaining. The kamikazi driver had a 'no fear' approach to driving, overtaking on tight bends and racing along bumpy mountain roads. The pit stop halfway for a toilet break allowed Karen to see the locals in all their glory. Rather naively looking for the 'ladies', she walked into the communal bathrooms to find an aging cowboy, pants round ankles. With toilet doors apparently being a luxury, he maintained the friendly Guatemalan approach giving a warm 'Hola' and a cheeky smile! Upon getting off the bus in Rio Dulce we were besieged by touts offering river trips and places to stay. We decided on one that was a short boat ride into the mangrove swamps at the side of the river. In a stroke of genius we had already had ... read more

Throwing caution to the wind, we decided to cross the border into Belize and make it into Orange Walk in one go. After arriving in Chetumal, on the Mexican side of the border, trying to get a connecting bus to Belize was like an episode of "Its's a Knockout" but the obstacles weren't wearing inflaitable suits making them much harder to spot. Our first opponent was a sketchy information woman who muttered something about a bus leaving from the market place. The second opponent came in the form of a smooth talking money changer who managed to rip off a few people but we thankfully managed to side step him. For opponent 3, see opponent 2 but now in the guise of a shady bus conductor, who was willing to take ticket money from gringos without ... read more

Hola from Mexico. After the 2 week epic entry from Jamaica, we are trying to keep these diary entries like our bowel movements - frequent!! We have been in Mexico for 3 days in probably the most touristy region in the country. We flew into Cancun airport, but because of recent hurricaine damage there, decided to head south to Playa del Carmen. 10 years ago it was a little fishing village but now is fast becoming an extension of Cancun. Sprawling resorts and back to back souvenier shops selling sombreros and maracas. Without having left the airport we somehow found ourselves unknowingly embroiled in a timeshare hustle, not realising what we´d got ourselves into until the following day. Our accommodation for the first night proved equally as sketchy. Tired from all the travelling we found a ... read more