Once again, I must begin by apologising for my tardiness in updating this. I have recently been criticised by someone who shall remain anonymous, who says the standard of my scribblings has been going gradually downhill. This will inevitably lead to me trying too hard and producing sub-standard work, but you asked for it Peter (whoops). I must begin this here missive with a quick comment on my journey between Central and South America. Unfortunately the staff of my airline at San Jose couldnt find my ticket on their system, and despite me insisting they rang their head office or whoever to confirm I had one, they suggested I used a payphone, despite the fact I had no local currency. Customer service at its best there. So I ended up having to buy another ticket for ... read more

So into Nicaragua I went (I'm actually in Costa Rica now, but lets pretend I'm updating this properly eh?) Travelling between Perquin in El Salvador and Leon in Nicaragua took about 11 hours, required 2 border crossings, and possibly most impressively, required me to take 8 buses. That must be some kind of record, if anyone can beat it I'd be most interested. But anyway, I did arrive, so we continue the tale from Leon As expected, the first thing that struck me about Leon was suddenly seeing lots of gringo faces again. And going to a hostel and not being the only person staying there. However, that first night, I might as well have been, as after the day I'd had, it didn't take long before I called it a night. The next day, I ... read more

Hello again. As the title of this here entry suggests, I decided that being as I´m in a country where surfing is pretty much the main tourist attraction, I´d give it a try. It might have given you a false impression of my ability though. Sorry about that, but I´ll get there in a bit. I did a bit more in El Salvador before I got to the beach, and I like to tell you about things in a nice chronological order. Santa Ana So when I left you last, I was in Chiquimula, Guatemala, not entirely sure whether I was going to go to Honduras or El Salvador. As you´ve guessed, I chose the latter, and headed for Santa Ana, reputedly a really nice colonial city. All lies. I really didn´t like the place at ... read more

After a stern telling off from my mum for not updating this, I thought I better make an entry. So to update you, the one about chicken buses to Guatemala City ends up with an unmemorable journey, with nothing of interest to report. So now you know. Semuc Champey So after a dull journey, listening to what I think was the same song about 300 times, we arrived in Lanquin. In Lanquin, there exists a hostel which every backpacker you meet recommends. Therefore, when we got there it was full. So I´ll never know whether the recommendations are correct or not. Upon arriving at the hostel we ended up staying at, the first thing we heard was a girl shout "There´s a tarantula in the bathroom!" And 2 minutes after getting our room, a moth the ... read more

Hola! Not much of an entry I'm afraid, mainly for the reason that I'm yet to actually do very much. After a shockingly bad flight (Iberia don't think it's necessary to give you televisions for 11 hour flights) I got into Antigua, Guatemala about 6pm on Monday evening. They must have known I was coming, because I was greeted with fireworks, and other forms of celebration. Bizarrely, the only thing they'd forgotten was the "Welcome to Guatemala Stewart" banner. Some would say that this is because they were not actually celebrating my arrival, but were celebrating Guatemalan independence day, but I know otherwise. So I've spent my first day proper wandering round Antigua, its a lovely city, all cobblestone streets and colourful buildings, set against a backdrop of 3 volcanoes. It also happens to be the ... read more