We took a mini-bus from San Cristobal to Panajachel by Lake Atitlan in neighbouring Guatemala. It took over nine hours, which is close to the limit of time you can spend inside a vehicle and still remain in good humor. I had expected we'd be doing the trip in an over-crowded mini-bus in the South East Asian style but that didn't turn out to be so. In Central America they don't seem to operate using the Asian 'shoe horn system'. The system where the object for the bus company is to sell as many bus tickets as possible regardless of minor [View Full Entry]

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June 16th - From Guatemala to El Salvador Anxious to find the road less travelled, Susan and I decided to escape Guatemala and head to El Salvador. There were just too many tourists in Guatemala. So, from San Marcos la Laguna, we began our journey. First by boat, then tiny tuk tuk, then crummy shuttle van that broke down on the steep climb out of Lake Atitlan, then a nice big bus from Guatemala City to San Salvador. We had a fairly uneventful border crossing. What was probably less than 180 miles took us over 16 hours! Susan found a great [View Full Entry]

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Day 800 (08.06.09) and Day 801 (09.06.09) From Roatan we were making our way all the way over from the Caribbean coast to the Pacific coast and some relaxing beach time in El Salvador. You may have noticed a fair bit of relaxing time in the past couple of blogs, sorry if that makes them a little boring to read! We had planned to travel the northern part of Central America in our usual style by taking in as many places as we could in the time that we had. And we started in just that way until we reached Flores [View Full Entry]

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After taking a boat and about 3 buses we arrived at the Salvador border. We did not have a map or any clue where to go in this country but only word from a guy working at the hostel that El Zonte was a great place to surf. Luckily we met 2 Agentinans, Hernán and Mariano, and a Canadian girl traveling with them. They are amazing, selling hand made bracelets to fund their travels. We didnt realize how much better it is traveling with people who can speak spanish so well! After our third bus in Salvador the bus driver said [View Full Entry]

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Okay, so I´m not really in el salvador anymore, but I was this morning, and I was tired of putting the exact same location every time. So I think all of my frusterations from last week are gone. I still get really overwhelmed sometimes, but I was typing up my proposal and I realized that I already have achieved a lot of the goals I came with- I just still have a lot left to do. I can´t believe I only have two weeks left. I am kind of at a loss of where to go after this. When will I [View Full Entry]

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San Salvador is not what I expected. Most Central American cities I have been to have great contrasts...the very rich and the very poor. But I never expected the shopping centers and hotels that are all over San Salvador. It really looked like any U.S. city. As soon as the bus pulled in I asked Jon if he wanted to head to the beach right away and he agreed. We went down to El Tunco and it was a very rustic developing part of the country. A place I'm sure did not even have electricity not long ago. We found a [View Full Entry]

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So we have been and left El Salvador but we loved it so much that we want to tell you all about it. We arrived on 17th May and spent our first few days at the beach. We managed to catch our first chicken bus and headed for Playa El Tunco which is THE place for catching waves in Central America and is a mecca for surfer dudes. Naturally that meant we had to pay it a visit, with the intention of having surf lessons. When we arrived we checked into Hostel Papaya which was in the estury but also in [View Full Entry]

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El Salvador Photos [View Full Entry]

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I just stepped outside the office to watch the torrent of raindrops start to fall, to smell the thirsty soil drinking it all in. If that sounds like a peaceful, thoughtful experience, then maybe I can’t explain through writing—perhaps through an expression: IT’S RAINING CHUCHOS AND GATOS!! The first rainstorm of the season--about time, too, since the dust and the heat were getting to be more than slightly unbearable. Oh, and, here comes the thunder…and lightning...!!!!!!!! And then I started to write a blog entry here--my first attempts foiled by the storm, a [View Full Entry]

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Sauriez-vous situer la Slovénie sur la carte du monde? Peut-être pensez-vous, comme nous l'avons crû aussi, qu'elle est tout près de la Russie? Et bien sachez que non... elle se situe en Europe centrale au nord-est de l'Italie et partage même une frontière avec cette dernière. Le pays obtint son indépendance il y a tout juste 18 ans et est encore méconnu de la plupart des gens. La région fit la manchette des journaux à la fin des années 80 lorsque la guerre éclata entre diverses nations du secteur provoquant pertes de vies, bombardements meurtriés, désolations et misères. Une querel [View Full Entry]

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