HE SAID... Today we were travelling the very short distance (7km) from Panajachel to San Jorge la Laguna. After checking out of Hotel Utz-Jay at midday, we lunched on the shoreline of Lago Atitlan. We then headed back to the hotel at 3pm, jumped into a minibus and climbed out of Panajachel to San Jorge la Laguna, the village of our host family for the night. We arrived around 3:30pm, unloaded our packs and met Dora (our host) and her eight year old son Anthony on the steps of the church in the main town square. Dora’s family is from the ethic group of the Kaqchiquel in San Jorge, and she has been welcoming travellers into her home for the past four years. We climbed the narrow and steep cobblestone path to Dora’s small concrete brick ... read more

HE SAID... Today we were travelling southwest from Palenque to San Cristobal de las Casas. We woke early, as we had a 7:20am bus to San Cristobal. Depending on the activity of the Zapatistas, the trip was going to take between six to nine hours. We were more than happy to contribute to the movement’s support for indigenous Mexicans, but the decision was out of our hands. The bus company makes a daily decision on the safest route from Palenque to San Cristobal. We checked out of Hotel Xibalba, walked to the nearby bus station, had a quick coffee, loaded our packs into the baggage compartment and settled in our comfy seats. We were once again travelling on a luxurious ADO bus, this time with complimentary ear plugs for the movies (a welcome change from the ... read more

HE SAID... This afternoon we were travelling west from Chichen Itza to Merida. After a mix-up with the public bus, we were left standing under a tree in the Chichen Itza car park at 6pm, only to discover that the bus we were booked on had left right under our noses at 5:10pm. Our guide caught a taxi into nearby Piste and returned 15 minutes later with a minibus and a driver. We squeezed into the minibus with our packs and left the Chichen Itza ruins at 6:30pm. We also gave a young guy who missed the same bus a lift in the nimbus – he had travelled from Mexico City to look for a new life in Merida – it was a big leap of faith on his part, and it would have stalled completely ... read more

HE SAID... We were leaving Tulum this afternoon and heading northeast to Playa del Carmen. Feeling suitably refreshed from snorkelling with turtles and swimming in a local cenotes (natural sinkhole) after our tour of the bustling Tulum Ruins, we jumped into the minibus and headed to Playa del Carmen, arriving at our hotel (Casa Tucan) at 4pm. We checked in, showered, dropped our laundry around the corner, picked up some drinks and settled in to our very spacious and comfortable room. We headed out for dinner to Los Aguachiles at 7pm. We feasted on aguachile, fresh tuna and octopus tostadas, fish ceviche figurines (lettuce leaf cups) and smoky tuna tacos. The meal was fantastic, and doubly so because we started with complimentary tostadas and sauces. On our way back to the hotel we dropped into Fah ... read more

HE SAID... This afternoon we were travelling northeast from Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve to Caye Caulker. On the drive from Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve to Belize City, derelict concrete houses dotted the highway, with little to no immediate reason why they had ever been built in the first place. On our arrival in Belize City at 4:15pm, our new driver (who replaced our street fighting driver who was sent home at breakfast) suddenly started making calls back to San Ignacio asking where the ferry terminal was. Not a good sign when we had a 4:30pm ferry to catch. We drove down roads, doubled back, asked service station attendants and finally found the ferry – only to be told by a policeman to move because we were blocking the road. Luckily, the policeman promised a parking spot ... read more