PhilK

Arrived in Chinandega, a short hour trip west of Leon, and arrived in a town full of conflicting aspects when compared with Leon. The town has many colonial influences in the styles of very old Churches, but has very little of the commercialization associated with other tourist towns…one of those factors, tourists, are virtually nonexistent. I had to take a taxi to my next destination. Arriving in the local bus terminal, surrounded by outdoor markets and the everyday hustle and bustle that one can last remember from time spent in Xela, Guatemala. The cost of the taxi for a European was very reasonable. 15 US dollars for a forty minute journey, and there is no shortage of taxi drivers wanting to take the odd looking, tall white fella, burdened with a heavy backpack and guitar, and ... read more

Arrived in Leon yesterday, from the capital Managua. Spent the night in a little hotel, well room at least not much of a hotel, just outside the bus station in Managua. Took a taxi to the mini bus station, and waited for a little while until the bus was full and we were ready to go. Not much to tell, about the trip up, other than it was hot in the micro bus, it cost 40C. Arrived at the bus terminal, smaller than the one in Xela (bus wise), yet the market was quite impressive. Found out what way the centre of town was, and started walking. Took about 15 minutes, and had to stop a few times, as I have far too many things with me. A sort out is on the cards for later ... read more

On the bus for 5 in the morning, or so they said, little late leaving. The Scenery was once again great, changing from forests to clearings to different types of forests. The one thing that did stand out was the amount of logging that has been done over the decades. On some hills you'd see one half of plains,and the other full of trees. The crossing into Honduras was fairly easy. Unlike the crossing into El Salvador, where people meet you and harass you once you get of the bus, trying to get you to exchange some of you money with them, there was no need to leave the bus. The difference was that we had no river to cross over, and it seemed like one minute we were driving in El Salvador and the next, ... read more

Left Antigua at about 9 in the morning. Lucked out with the front seat in the micro bus to Guatemala City. Ended up costing more than I thought it would,because I made a mistake and went with the wrong company, but no worries it got me to where I wanted...the Tica bus station. After about ten minutes in the micro bus, (this was still in Antigua), we pulled over to pick up some other westerners. My surprise to see Kevin, a guy a knew from Xela, and through the El Nahual volunteer program. After having a chat with Kevin, I couldn't help but laught as he (well I think he was), proceeded to chat up the girl from Austria sitting next to him. Classic lines were as follows, "So is Austria near Hungary?"(It used to be ... read more

July 5th, Left the shared house yesterday as they had booked my room out, but it was good, because we all had some pizza and watched a movie before I checked into a hostel for the night. The hostel was cheap only, 35 Q, bargain for a bed, but a little noisy due to the traffic at six in the morning, and a little painful, not sure if I had bed bugs for company last night, but something bit me! Just before 6 this morning I could here a girl from the house that I had just moved out of. I actually thought I was in my old room for a minute, but it was Josan and Rhainon, waiting for the bus outside of the hostel that I was staying in. Man she can't half talk ... read more

Hi, So as you can tell I'm not very good at keeping promises. I've been living in Guatemala for two months now. I honestly can't believe that it has been so long. I'm not sure as to whether it's because I've switched of my body clock or that I've been having such a nice time. So apologies for the length of this entry but I do have two months to cover, I shall try to keep it short. After visiting my brother in San Diego I was able to get a flight from LAX to Guatemala city for 165 US dollars. Really recommend spirit airlines, cheap but not nasty. As those of you who know me I am rather tall, and always find air planes uncomfortable. That being said, Spirit Airlines is no worse than British ... read more

So thoughts so far, almost four years since i left the UK, in search of "finding" a different way to life from my previous mundane existance. And here we are, New Zealand covered in the first year (skills obtained, second chef, decent waiter, good cocktail maker, night truck loader, and housemaid, wow), Australia in the second and third (skills obtained, good little fruit picker, above average furniture removalist, cracking van driver, as well as real life skills such as German, much better guitar player and relaxation techniques), micro spec of time in Thailand(TEFL, thankyou), and ten months into teaching English in Korean elementary schools. The first career job i'd had in ages. The first three years were fantastic, met some amzing characters and try my best to keep in touch, and as for life skills i'm ... read more

Just some photos from my time in NZ. Shamefully I didn't keep a blog, fantastic country, would relocate there in a heart beat. ... read more