GearoidJess' Guestbook

Yellow Fever information update
As of February 1st 2018 the requirements have changed. The facility mentioned here requires physical proof (I.E. paper ticket) of entry/exit of the country to a country requiring the vaccinations. It is still required 10 days before entering(Nicaragua) and now costs $100US dollars for any foreigner and $20 for locals. You must provide proof of intended travel before they will even talk to you about receiving the vaccine.

2017 update / coming from Ruta de las Flores
If you are coming from Ruta de las Flores you can take bus 249 to Ahuachapan. Once they drop you, cross in front of the bus and follow the road to the left. Take the first right and walk down the hill towards the busy market and bus area. The small bus to Las Chimanas leaves on the right side of the road, after the market. Ask around to be sure. At the border, if you need to change a bit of money for the bus ride, do it on the El Salvadorean side, but wait until you are near immigration. The further down the hill you get, the better rates you'll get quoted. The final guy offered me Q6.9 per dollar, whereas the ones near the bus only did Q6.5. The rate is still bad compared to ATM's (currently Q7.34), so don't change too much. At the Guatemalan side, immigration will now stamp your passport for entry. No fees are required. After immigration you can wait for the bus to Guatemala City ("Guate") to show up. The bus ride to Guate is still similar to what is described above. Lots of honking and waiting around. After driving for a while in Guate, the ticket guy yelled a few names including 'Antigua', so I asked if I could get a bus to Antigua near there. They told me to walk a few blocks, which I did. However, the busses I found didn't go to Antigua. As it was not a nice neighborhood, I decided to hail a cab and he drove me to the right bus station in about 10 minutes (Q25). Might be better just to wait until the final station and get a cab there, although I'm not sure if that's farther away. All in all it took me around 10 hours to get from Juayua to my hotel in Antigua. Going to El Tunco and taking a shuttle could be slightly faster and more comfortable, though less adventurous ;-)

Hostel in Otavalo
Hi! do you have any contact information of the Runa Pacha hostel in Otavalo? I tried to find some e-mail adress in internet, so I can contact them, but I didn´t find anything. Thank you!

Yellow Fever Vaccination in Panama
Hi. Thanks for the good information about yellow fever vaccinations in Panama. I am currently in Panama City, flying back to the UK later this week, and then on to Thailand a week later. It was only yesterday afternoon that I realised that I will need yellow fever certification to enter Thailand, as it is less than ten days after I leave Panama. I had already asked at a local pharmacy and a hospital without success, the information you provided, and the address of the "Oficina de Vacunación Internacional" in Los Rios were just what I needed. I arrived at the vaccination centre at 8:00 in the morning, it took only 15 minutes to have the injection and receive the certificate which comes into effect one day before I fly to Thailand. Saved at the last minute!