We all randomly woke up between 7-8 and wandered down for some fruit pancakes and omlettes. It looks like it is going to be super hot today with barely a cloud in he sky. We headed down to the market in the morning but none of us had money and we were saving for the big market in Antigua. James bought a bunch of candies to hand out to the local kids which was funny to watch. Some kids really liked them and the parents were plaesed but others got scared and their mothers took them away. It was nice to see though as most were gratuitous towards him. We then relaxed for the majority of the day. There was a cave with bats in it but we couldn't get in because it cost money and ... read more

Dec 12 Off Again After a long refreshing sleep we were ready to head to Lanquin. We all ate breakfast at the hostel then jumped in a van for our 7 hour trip. Our bags were thrown on the roof and 10 of us squeezed in (5 Aussies, 5 Canadians). Luckily they noticed that this wouldn't work for that long a trip, so they called up another van and we split into 2 groups. We were now heading into the poor part of Guatamala. At a river crossing James and Jeff bought cantalope off a little child for the rough equivalent of 10 cents. Women and children work in bare feet with heavy loads and motorcycles wip by at excessive speeds with familys of 4 or 5 sitting precariously on top. We drove passed two children, ... read more

Justin and I decided to head into Guatemala today, leaving the Frasers in Belize. We took a taxi from San Ignasia to the border for 5usd apiece (could have for 7.50 total but missed that deal). We made it to Flores, Guatamala just before noon and checked into Los Amigos Hostel. We met a Dutch girl named Muriela and 3 Canadian girls from Victoria. Went swimming with Muriela and Justin and wandered the town. Got called a gringo countless times and practiced Spanish all day on the locals. At 4 our two australian friends (Lauren and Alyse) showed up, so we went swimming again. Got our laundry done by a local, being the first time that's happened in many years (if my mother loved me she would have done mine like the old guatamalan woman here). ... read more

A group from Tulum that we knew came on the morning boat so again we have a large group of travelers. We were going to go snorkling on the reef but because James and Jeff were in Belize City, we decided to get organized instead. The group headed off to a swimming spot on the tip of the island while I wandered the local market looking for trinkets and food. I settled on a 3 dollar bean/rice/chicken combo while I looked at the local art. I then ran onto a fellow Canadian named Amanda and we headed to meet the others at the swimming spot. We got some coconuts to bash open and ate them while relaxing in the sun. As I said, they are very hard to open but this time the Morris ( Irish) ... read more

We woke up at 7:30am, just in time to catch breakfast and run to the bus. The bus station was half a block from The Weary Traveler and the first bus for Chetumal left at 8:10am. We were fine buying tickets for roughly $15 American five minutes before departure. We arrived in Chetumal at 11:30am for lunch and the next bus to Belize City was leaving at 1:30pm. We got on that bus, meeting some fellow travelers all trying to get to Caye Caulker as well. We seem to learn the hard way, crossing the border into Belize, Matt paid 20 American and Justin and I combined for 70 quetzal (35 American). Fellow travellers were charged 20 quetzal and nothing. If you are not going back to Mexico tell them and say you are not paying ... read more