After an interesting day of travel from Guatemala, we crossed the Honduran border at El Florido. Our entry into Honduras went without a hitch or bribe, and we breathed a sigh of relief! We negotiated a fare on a minibus taxi waiting at the border, and bundled in with eight locals for the short 10km ride into the town of Copan Ruinas.

Cobbled streets and brightly coloured buildings

Balcony view of a typical Copan Ruinas street

Copan Ruinas is a quaint town with cobbled streets and brightly coloured buildings, entrenched in Mayan culture and of course, Spanish colonial history. The key attraction in the area, with deep historical significance, is the Copan Ruins. This is a UN World Heritage site containing some of the most elaborate and extensive examples of early Mayan sculptures and hieroglyphics carved on magnificent staircases and stellae (columns/pillars).

We were dropped off in the centre of town by the taxi and made our way on foot to our hostel, The Blue Iguana. The hostel came highly recommended as clean, cosy and well maintained, centrally located to explore the town and its namesake. We were not disappointed with the hostel and quickly settled in to our spacious private room, even deciding to extend our stay to three nights instead of two. We enjoyed homemade vegan empanadas and cold beer while watching the sunset at The Blue Iguana’s garden deli next door.

Richard outside The Blue Iguana

Our brief stay in Copan Ruinas had many highlights, most impressive of which was the amazing sacred ruin site with its breathtaking structures, intricate stone carvings, vast layout and jungle foliage. We took a $2 tuk-tuk ride from the town square to the visitor’s centre and spent a half day walking the site and taking in its many marvels. In addition to the ruin site, there are a number of nature trails and picnic areas on the premises. We were very surprised and delighted to find many beautiful and brilliantly-coloured macaws in the trees as we entered the site, and discovered that the ruins are also a breeding ground for these endangered indigenous birds.

Sacred and tranquil Copan Ruins

An ancient carved staircase

Close up of the staircase detail

One of the many magnificent examples of carved stellae (columns/pillars) on the site

A beautiful grand old ceiba tree

Bright, beautiful macaw!

Other highlights included our first haircut since departure, expertly handled by Honduran barber, David. While exploring this very walkable town on foot, we came across a number of interesting sculptures in the town square. The square is a lovely meeting point for locals and tourists alike. The square, together with the fresh produce market, are typical elements in the Spanish colonial towns we’ve visited so far – and we really love the idea of buying fresh fruit and walking over to the square to sit, snack and watch the local scene unfold. We also discovered a wonderful array of comfy cafes and restaurants (like Twisted Tanya’s) with yummy cocktails, coffees and easily veganized food options.

Time to visit the barbershop

Bev’s turn!

The town square with its sculptures to watch over locals and tourists alike

Cobbled lanes leading to the town square

Sundowners at Twisted Tanya’s

Vegan pizza and cocktails at Twisted Tanya’s (clearly a favourite spot!)

Although our stay in Copan Ruinas was short, we enjoyed our time there immensely and packed a ton into a few days. We even sent our first package home by mail from Copan Ruinas – with fingers firmly crossed that our goodies would find their way safely to Vancouver (and happily, the package arrived three weeks later)! Our departure came far too quickly, and before we knew it, we were packed up and ready to board the bus to the murder capital of the world, San Pedro Sula. But more on that adventure in our next installment!

Bev thumbs up: Serenity of the ruins, happy hour at Twisted Tanya’s (a great place to wait for a downpour to pass!) and The Blue Iguana
Bev thumbs down: Not enough time to explore the surrounding jungly hills and trails
Richard thumbs up: Awesome vegan pizza at Twisted Tanya’s and comfortable little town to explore
Richard thumbs down: Laundry not drying for three days due to two hours of rain every day!

After 3+ weeks in Guatemala and so many amazing sights, sounds and experiences, it was time to move on to a new country. We travelled east (+/- 7 hours via shuttle bus through mountain villages and over bumpy roads) from Semuc Champey to Rio Dulce, a town on the banks of the River Dulce (hence Rio Dulce!). We spent the night at Hotel Kangaroo, a few minutes up the river by boat from the main town of Rio Dulce. Run by an ex-pat Aussie (obviously!) and his wife, the hostel is a great spot to touch down for a few days in a very tranquil environment – and it has a great little Mexican restaurant too! Unfortunately we only had one night there as we decided we needed to press on into Honduras.

Lush hills in the countryside between Semuc Champey and Rio Dulce

Another view of the gorgeous countryside!

The deck at Hotel Kangaroo – perfect for a cold sundowner after a long travel day!

Richard looking relaxed at Hotel Kangaroo

Bev in the boat on the morning of our departure from Hotel Kangaroo

We departed Rio Dulce via local bus the next morning for the 220km / 7-hour journey to the border at El Florido, located between Chiquimula, Guatemala and Copán Ruinas, Honduras. The journey started off with images of a comfortable coach style bus on which we would while away the time sleeping, reading and writing blog articles. Unfortunately, when the bus arrived, it was clear that the conditions would be slightly different! The somewhat rickety bus was completely packed with people and packages in all shapes and sizes (including a goose in a box). After paying our fare of roughly $6 each (Richard tried to negotiate a lower fare as we clearly were not going to have a seat for the full journey, but the conductor was not interested!), we stood for the first hour, after which I was able to find a seat. At some point Richard was offered a rickety stool to sit on in the aisle next to the driver by the conductor! Can’t imagine this scenario playing out in Canada!

Waiting for the bus in Rio Dulce

Streetscape of Rio Dulce

Eventually the passenger volume thinned and we were both able to sit comfortably for the balance of the journey. As is the case with bus travel in Central America, the trip was not without incident, as one of the tires was perpetually deflating, requiring the conductor to stop and jump out of the bus every 40 minutes or so to plug the leak with a nail. This went on for at least 5 hours, after which the bus pulled into the bus company repair shop to have the tire changed. As the day went on, the bus emptied but for the two of us, and we were eventually unceremoniously dropped at the “frontera” or border, after what ended up being a 9-hour trip instead of 7! We were pleased that another of our long travel days by bus in Central America had ended without loss of limb, sanity or personal belongings

After each paying our unofficial US$3 “entry tax” upon arrival in Guatemala, we wondered if we’d receive the same request upon departure from the country. Our host at the Kangaroo Hotel indicated that we shouldn’t have to pay a “departure tax”, but our border official had other ideas. This time however, we decided to stand our ground, and asked what the tax was for, and if we could have a receipt – all in Spanish (well done, Rich!). Notwithstanding our basic Spanish, these were not easy questions to ask a stubborn (and we assume, corrupt) border official who has your passports in her hands! Anyhow, after a few minutes of staring at one another, she eventually relented, and waved us through.

Entering Honduras was very easy and less intimidating than we both expected. After paying our official entry fee of US$3 at the border crossing, we hopped in a shuttle bus for a short 10km drive to the town of Copan Ruinas, our base for the next 3 nights. Once again we parted with our bags as they were thrown onto the roof of the minivan – something you get used to very quickly when travelling by local bus in Central America. Most times the bags are tied down and covered with a tarp, but there have been some moments when we’ve wondered what shape our bags would be in upon arrival at our destination – assuming of course they made it that far! More on our short stay in Honduras in the next blog post!

Bev thumbs up: Overnight at Hotel Kangaroo with cold beers on the deck
Bev thumbs down: Delays on an already long bus trip
Richard thumbs up: Going through a town called Chiquimula, Guatemala
Richard thumbs down: Constantly fearing a tyre blow out!

After 2 weeks in the Lake Atitlan region, it was time to head back to Antigua to catch our transport north east to a national park called Semuc Champey. We had previously booked our tour package through The Yellow House hostel which included transport, 3 nights’ accommodation and the activities at Semuc Champey. We found it more economical to book through an agent than to piece the package together ourselves.

What was meant to be an easy 3-hour bus ride from Panajachel to Antigua, turned into a gruelling day of travel as our 11am chicken bus (the only direct bus to Antigua) did not arrive as scheduled. Upon arriving at the bus stop we were told by the somewhat sketchy bus coordinator (a middleman who rounds up people for various destinations) that the bus had a tire problem, but that it should be ready to go an hour later. After waiting for 3 hours we decided to abandon our post, change our plans, and take a different bus to a town close to Antigua, and then get a connecting bus from there. After another hour delay (lunch break for the driver) we were eventually on our way.

Our transport (chicken bus) from Panajachel to Antigua

The first leg on the bus was comfortable enough and we made good time after our late start. We then made an uneventful and quick change to our next bus (which turned out to be fuller than either of us would have considered possible), finally arriving in Antigua at 6pm…only to find that the city’s electricity was out! Fortunately we knew where we were staying and were able to navigate through the dark on the cobbled streets to our hostel, The Yellow House. We were excited to spend the night at this very clean and comfortable hostel that came highly recommended to us. It didn’t disappoint and we settled in for the night – luckily the lights came back on a couple of hours later and we were able to cook dinner in the shared kitchen.

Nice rooms at The Yellow House

Wild skies seen from The Yellow House

The Yellow House

It was up early the next morning for another long travel day by mini bus or “collectivo” – more efficient than the chicken bus but surprisingly less comfortable! The journey to Semuc Champey, only 285km from Antigua took 8 hours! If you’re not on the single main highway in Guatemala, chances are that the road you find yourself on at any given moment is in shocking condition (by North American standards). During our 8 hour journey we traveled through big, bad Guatemala City and north east through Coban and Lanquin, deep in the jungle. Semuc Champey is about 11km on a super bumpy dirt road from Lanquin. Upon arrival in Lanquin we jumped onto a 4×4 truck or “picop” and made our slow final hour to our hostel, El Portal. (We’ve quickly learned that it takes a long time to cover short distances in Central America!)

Unloading the picop

El Portal is the hostel closest to the Semuc Champey entrance and is perched on the hillside overlooking the Cahabon River. We decided to treat ourselves and upgraded to a private cabin with patio and hammock on the quieter side of the property. The hostel has a wonderful common area with decks and tranquil spaces to relax. It’s very isolated there, with limited electricity and internet access (6-10pm every night). This was definitely part of the charm for us as we were looking forward to a few quiet days after a few long days on the road.

View from El Portal of the Cahabon River

El Portal dining area

Our room at El Portal

Semuc Champey is a beautiful natural collection of pools, waterfalls and rock formations with water in amazing shades of green and blue. The rock formation features an underwater canal through which the Cahabon River flows, with another water system fed by natural springs from the mountains that runs over top of the rocks.

Rio Cahabon flowing under Semuc Champey’s limestone bridge

Our tour package included a morning at the pools with a guide. We first hiked up to a lookout point or mirador to view the pools from above. Such an amazing collection of colours, shapes and formations created by years of water flow and limestone accumulation. The rest of our morning was spent swimming, sliding and jumping through the water, pools, waterfalls and natural rockslides. Richard was much braver than me, climbing up 12 meters on a rock face and jumping into the pool below! We finished the day by tubing down the river on inner tubes. Fun!

The pools way below us as seen from the mirador

Richard blown away by the view!

Yeah, how amazing is this view

The pools look more amazing in real life

Jungle

More jungle

Even more jungle

The second part of the adventure package was a 2-hour guided exploration of the K’anba cave system close to Semuc Champey. Kitted out with headlamps, shoes and bathing suits we ventured into the dark recesses. We quickly found ourselves waist deep in cold water, holding onto ropes and surrounded by darkness and amazing cave structures from floor to ceiling. The adventure included climbing up and down chain ladders, swimming across deep pools guided only by rope systems, climbing across and up a waterfall and blindly throwing ourselves down a hole to pop out in a lower cave pool (think Blair Witch with bikinis and board shorts ). Exhilarating stuff! Take a look at the GoPro footage from our cave tour here!

Our stay at El Portal was really relaxing and unplugged. We enjoyed reading and chatting with other travellers on the large patio overlooking the river. Unfortunately it rained most of the time we were there (rain is becoming a common theme in our grand journey!), and while this kept everything damp and soggy, we still enjoyed our time in this special place, the mist and rain making it seem that much more mysterious and mystical.

Bev thumbs up: Amazing views and lush jungle setting – and surviving the cave tour!
Bev thumbs down: Long travel days to and from Semuc Champey
Richard thumbs up: Caves were super cool, the jungle running and hiking were awesome
Richard thumbs down: A lot of rain!

We spent over 3 weeks in Guatemala and during this time, had the opportunity to try a wide variety of foods and restaurants that satisfied our vegan requirements. The staple of rice and beans is nicely complemented by the ever-present corn tortillas. It’s impossible to walk down the street and not hear the pat-pat-pat of the tortilla dough being hand-shaped into 5-inch rounds or to smell the tortillas toasting on the cast iron griddles. The tortillas are made from many different corn varieties – white, yellow, blue, black and likely more! Delicious on their own or as part of a meal!

At our first stop in Flores, we were delighted to discover a full menu of vegetarian and vegan options at the restaurant inside Los Amigos hostel. We tried the tofu wrap, burrito, curry, falafel and salads, as well as the fruit smoothies. All were very tasty, and very reasonably priced for our backpackers’ budget. We decided to eat all of our meals here, as the food, prices and atmosphere were just right for us. They also have an awesome happy hour menu with great deals on all sorts of yummy cocktails and local beers.

Richard relaxing in the garden restaurant at Los Amigos hostel in Flores

The city of Antigua provided a wide variety of options for us including well-stocked supermarkets and a large outdoor produce market. We had a kitchen at our accommodation, Holistico Hostal, so we were able to cook for ourselves most of the time – economical and healthy! We whipped up bean and veggie fillings for our delicious corn tortillas, hot off the griddle! We did enjoy two meals in local restaurants – a fresh and tasty quinoa and tofu wrap at Pitaya and a typical Guatemalan meal consisting of veggie-stuffed tostadas, guacamole, salsa and pickled cabbage at Sabe Rico. Both were on the pricier end of the scale, but were good quality meals. We were also able to temporarily return to banana heaven and enjoyed the use of the hostel’s blender, making a deep green spinach and 8-banana smoothie on two occasions!

Lunch at Pitaya in Antigua

Guatemalan meal at Sabe Rico in Antigua

Return of the spinach-banana smoothie – oh, how we missed you!

The majority of our time in Gautemala was spent in Panajachel, a town on the shore of Lake Atitlan. Here we lived with a local Guatemalan family while we attended Spanish school for two weeks. We ate all of our meals with host-mom Magda, and she did an amazing job of catering to our (unusual) requirements. Breakfasts were fruit and cereal or oats, lunches included pasta, beans/rice, veggies, tortillas and bread, and dinners included soup, bread, tortillas, salad and veggies. We supplemented our meals with peanut butter sandwiches as snacks during lessons, and lots of fruit during the day. Our host-mom was very intrigued that we could not only survive, but thrive on our diet – especially since we ran a marathon while staying with her!

Panajachel has a fair number of restaurants offering vegan options, some even advertising vegan meals and treats on their window signage. Our culinary outings in Panajachel on Calle Santander included a wonderful smoothie/juice bar called Pitaya (not connected to the one in Antigua), a great little restaurant called Llama del Fuego with a multitude of tofu, tempeh and other vegan friendly options, vegan apple strudel from Cafe Kitsch, wood-fired pizza and delicious freshly made pupusas (bean stuffed corn pockets) with salsa from a street vendor.

Pitaya Juice Bar in Panajachel – banana, mango and papaya smoothies – yum!

Another smoothie break at Llama del Fuego in Panajachel – chocolate, banana and mango – yum again!

Snack time at our study table at Casa Magda!

Bev with our host-mom, Magda, in the kitchen at Casa de Magda

During our time at Lake Atitlan we visited two other villages on the lake shore. San Pedro is the largest village after Panajachel, and is a bohemian oasis with a wide variety of vegan choices. We enjoyed a yummy veggie burger at the Irish pub (only one of the many nationalities represented here!), and made the mistake of only buying two delicious vegan choc-chip banana cookies from the natural foods market on the main street just up and to the left from the ferry dock. This market stocks a wide variety of local and imported foods that would happily support a plant-based diet, albeit at a hefty premium. The other village we visited was San Marcos, and it’s a little more hippy trippy than the other villages around the lake. We tried to find a few of the vegan outlets that we’d read about, but were unsuccessful in locating them – either due to closure for the season or poor directions. We were later told that they do exist by friends who visited the village!

In Guatemala we did feel a bit restricted with breakfast options in lodgings that included breakfast in the room rate. Most often breakfasts included bread, fruit, eggs, pancakes, juice and coffee. We usually opted for the fruit, bread and coffee, and then added our own granola, oats or cereal as we were able to. We did have pancakes on occasion once we’d confirmed that no dairy was used in the batter. It’s worth considering this when you’re travelling as a vegan, as the inclusion of breakfast is often not great value if you don’t take advantage of the full spread. Going forward, we may opt to ask for a reduction in rate in favour of an included breakfast.

Breakfast on the deck at El Portal Hostel in Semuc Champey – granola, Cheerios, soy milk, bananas and coffee

Finding staples like fruit, vegetables, soy milk, cereal and peanut butter was very easy in Guatemala and the supermarkets are very well stocked. Bread is in plentiful supply with bakeries or “panaderias” almost outnumbering the tortilla vendors! Be aware that the bread is usually made with white flour and is more cake-like than the crusty bread that you might expect if you’re from North America or Europe. You can also buy sandwich bread (wholegrain and wholewheat) in the supermarkets that are a little healthier although who knows what goes into that bread to keep it fresh! There are also many street vendors who sell cut fruit, fresh juice, pastries, breads, chips, candy and soft drinks. Similarly, there are vendors who board buses with all sorts of food items. Most of these were deep-fried items and definitely not vegan-friendly! Be sure to ask if the item is “sin carne o lactosa o huevos” if you’re intent on staying vegan!

Learning a bit of Spanish was very helpful to us when navigating meal times and shopping for groceries in Guatemala (and all the other Central American countries we’ve visited). It’s definitely a good idea to brush up on a few Spanish phrases and to learn the Spanish words for meat and dairy items. Most restaurants understood vegetarian, but very few understood vegan, so we were careful to describe as best we could in our limited Spanish what we did and didn’t want!

We picked up a batch of supplies as we moved through each major town and were never without an “emergency” source of calories! Aside from more secluded jungle locations like Semuc Champey or smaller villages across the countryside, we found it very easy to continue our plant-based diet in Guatemala in the locations that we found ourselves.

And last but not least – beverages! We enjoyed many wonderful cups of coffee in various spots across Guatemala. Our favourite place for a strong brew was undoubtedly Crossroads Cafe (notwithstanding the religious underpinnings!)  in Panajachel. Of course, we are now in the habit of taking our soy milk with us wherever we go as there is usually a great cup of coffee within arm’s reach! Favourite drinks in Guatemala included the deep, dark Moza beer (our favourite beer hands down on the trip so far) and the many delicious smoothies along the way made from the fresh and plentiful fruit supplies including papaya, mango, banana and pineapple. Be sure to ask if the smoothie bar has soy milk as cow’s milk and/or yogurt is commonly used to make smoothies. You can ask for purified water to be used if no soy milk is available (or bring your own, as we did!).

Rich enjoying a cold and satisfying Moza beer

Best local food tried: Corn tortillas

Most surprising food experience: Eating wonderful tempeh sandwiches in Panajachel

Most challenging food experience: Too much bread

We were thinking about how to summarize the 16 days in Panajachel in a way that would be interesting and short enough so as not to discourage readers from reading it (is it just me or is it rather common these days for people to have seriously short attention spans – I blame the internet, what with all those hyperlinks…). As we ran through the list of things that we’ve done and seen while in Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, we quickly realized that it is a long list with many loco adventures and perhaps the best way to tell the tale is simply to stick to a simple, summarized listing with some photos. So here goes.

Arrived in Panajachel on Saturday November 23rd via 14 seater minibus “collectivo” from Antigua – a relatively easy ride.

Arriving in 14 seater luxury

Spent two nights in a hostel on the main drag, Calle Santander, where we met two german motorcycle riders who are riding their off road touring bikes (Dakar rally style BMWs) from San Diego to Tierra del Fuego (the southernmost tip of South America).

Calle Santander – the main drag in Pana

Took two very educational and entertaining weeks of Spanish school – learned enough Spanish to get by (well, so far we think so – will let you know…)

Where the Spanish lessons went down

The view from Spanish school

Lived with a Guatemalteco (Guatemalan) family while in Spanish school. Spent meals (3x a day) learning about life in Panajachel (and Guatemala) in slow, broken and usually hilarious Spanish conversations with our homestay mother, Magda.

Our homestay mom, Magda

Got the living sense scared out of us (before we understood the custom) of super loud firecrackers going off at 5:30AM.

View from casa de Magda (Magda’s house)

Apparently it is customary to set off firecrackers early in the morning to celebrate (and wake up) any child in a household’s birthday. This happens every morning.

Ran the extremely challenging and spectacular Lake Atitlan Challenge Marathon (42.2km) – a race called one of the top 10 challenge marathons in the world by ESPN.

The Lake Atitlan Marathon package pickup

Bev placed second in her age group (how amazing is that?) and she won a night’s accommodation for two, including breakfast, in a luxury hotel on the lake – OK, yay!

The winner on her prize bed

The pool at the hotel

The Christmas tree lit up at night, as seen from our room

Took a couple of lanchas (powerboat taxis) across the lake to explore some of the other villages on the lake.

On one of the many lanchas

Hiked up and down a volcano (the Volcan de San Pedro, with a maximum elevation of 9,908ft).

View from halfway back down the volcano

Walked around town by foot and rode as passengers on the ever-present Tuk-Tuks.

Typical street scene with tuk-tuk

Rode on the back of a “picop” (a regular pick-up truck with a series of metal bars installed in the back to allow people to hold on while standing on the back), a regular mode of taxi transport in these parts. One one occasion there were 20 of us on the back!

Watched a fascinating parade of costumed dancers – part of the Catholic Christmas traditions in the area.

Not sure what these costumes have to do with either Christmas or the Catholic church…

Generally had a fantastic time!
Really enjoyed the Guatemalteco people – they are very friendly and generous, and rather loud!

Bev’s thumbs-up: being challenged by a new language, colourful Guatemalan/Maya fabrics, smoothies at La Pitaya in Panajachel…and placing in the marathon!
Bev’s thumbs-down: 3 days of freezing cold and strong winds

Richard’s thumbs up: learning Spanish, the marathon, hiking the volcano
Richard’s thumbs down: loud firecrackers at all hours

After a harrowing overnight bus ride from Flores to Guatemala City (“Guate”), we connected with our “collectivo” or shuttle bus and completed our journey to Antigua. The trip through Guate was interesting – it’s a sprawling city set against a volcano with congestion, chaos, shacks and modern, first world presence via brands and storefronts. The drive to Antigua was just under an hour through city and countryside.

En-route to Antigua through Gaute

We arrived just after 9am and checked into Hostal Holistico – the base for our 3-night stay in Antigua. We were greeted by the very lively and flamboyant owner, Sergio, who made us feel very welcome and immediately offered us coffee and breakfast. The hostel is arranged around an open courtyard with communal kitchen, seating areas and upstairs patio with gorgeous views over the rooftops and of the volcanoes. The common areas were decked out in full Guatemalan Christmas regalia including piñatas, tinsel and poinsettias. A very comfortable and festive spot for our stay in Antigua!

Our private bedroom at Hostal Holistico with beautiful, colourful fabrics and window seat

Courtyard at Hostal Holistico

Rooftop view from our hostel

A UNESCO world heritage site, Antigua is a Spanish colonial town with cobbled streets, churches, markets and a lovely public square with fountain. The streets are lined with buildings with enclosed fronts that open up into courtyards, stores, homes etc. All storefront signage is standardized in size and material (discreet and in brushed metal) to ensure that the history and essence of the town is protected. The town is set amidst lush vegetation in the shadow of a few volcanoes – a common theme is starting to emerge here! It has a really lovely vibe and very welcoming, friendly people.

Typical Antiguan street

Coffee in the town square

One of the churches overlooking the town square

Church ruins with ornate details still in tact

We spent our time in Antigua relaxing, walking, shopping at the markets for fresh fruit and veggies, cooking, drinking delicious Guatemalan coffee, reading, and of course, running. Although the cobbled streets were tough to run on, thanks to friends Nick and Hannah, we explored a lovely run up to a hill with a cross (Cerro de la Cruz) overlooking the town with a winding road into the hillside communities. Roads are steep around here but you’re often rewarded with gorgeous views and amazing scents from various flowers and fruit trees.

View overlooking the town from Cerro de la Cruz

Just one of the many beautiful doorways in Antigua!

A long overdue and very much enjoyed spinach and banana smoothie!

We departed Antigua via shuttle bus for our next stop, the town of Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. This would be our base for two weeks of Spanish school and immersion into local culture through a home stay with a Guatemalan family. The lake would also be the setting for our participation in the Lake Atitlan Marathon! More on these experiences in the next post!

Bev’s thumbs up: Quaint lanes with colourful buildings with beautiful features like wooden doors, wrought iron window frames and unique doorknockers

Bev’s thumbs down: Didn’t have time to hike the active volcano overlooking the town

Richard’s thumbs up: Delicious, rich Guatemalan coffee

Richard’s thumbs down: Sub-optimal running surface

The next stop on our “just-in-time” itinerary was Antigua in the southern highlands of the country. We researched the different options that are available to make this journey, and it quickly became clear that there really is only one viable (and very common) option and that is to take the overnight bus. Once we settled on this option, in favour of the vastly more expensive flying option, we had to decide which bus line to take.

There are a few options: Linea Dorado, Maya de Oro and ADN. These companies all operate large tour coaches, including double-decker behemoths more commonly seen on the highways of Europe than Central America. All also offer what is called luxury (or VIP), first class and regular seats on their buses. Their prices vary somewhat and in the end our selection was ultimately decided by the in-house travel agency at our hostel (Los Amigos) whom we decided to trust based on their excellent reviews on TripAdvisor. Los Amigos is affiliated with Maya do Oro and we booked two VIP seats for Q330 each (Q = quetzales, Q330 = US$42) and hoped for the best. Our journey would take place in two separate trips: the first portion from Flores to the dead scary Guatemala City in the big bus, followed by a transfer from Guatemala City to Antigua in a minibus.

We read that the bus gets very cold overnight, but that the VIP seats recline all the way (and turns into a bed) and that each VIP passenger is given a blanket, a sandwich and a bottle of water. All sounded good to us, and we figured wearing long pants, and bringing a sweater for the ride would have us well prepared for the overnight journey. But, as we often told people as we were getting ready for this journey, the adventure lies in the unknown and expecting to have the unexpected taking a swing at you every now and again. Our ability to roll with the punches was about to be tested.

At about 7PM as we were getting ready for our 9PM departure, I went over to the travel agent to confirm our taxi pick-up from the hostel to take us to the Flores bus station. He proceeded to inform me that he just got off the phone with the bus line, and apparently they had just told him that their double-decker bus (the only one with VIP seats) broke down that morning and that we would have to downgrade to first class tickets. First class seats don’t recline any more than a typical short haul airliner seat, but everything else is exactly the same as the VIP bus, including having an on-board bathroom. At first we were a little bummed about this and considered staying in Flores that night and buying tickets on a different bus line for the following night, but ultimately decided that first class didn’t sound that bad, and besides we’d get a Q120 refund for the down-grade, not a bad thing for two budget oriented travellers.

When the taxi arrived promptly at 8PM to collect us our spirits lifted and we felt that the trip would go just fine. The taxi delivered us to the Santa Elena bus terminal where he told us to take the red “Maya de Oro” bus when it arrives, followed by our instructions for arrival in Guatemala City (aka Guate – accent on the ‘e’): “Don’t accept a ride from anybody at the bus station, ignore everybody and wait for a driver with a clipboard to call out your name. Then follow the driver to his minibus, get in, hand him this ticket, and he’ll take you to Antigua. Oh, and this driver may be there when the bus arrives in Guate or you may have to wait up to an hour – the traffic in Guate is a little unpredictable. Here’s a number to call if he doesn’t show up – but only use in an emergency. And remember to ignore everybody at the bus station”. After issuing this set of instructions the taxi driver disappeared and we found ourselves sticking out conspicuously and super gringo-like in a mega crowded bus terminal. Only after the local dude sitting next to me starting updating his Facebook status on his smartphone did I start relaxing (Mark Zuckerberg will be so pleased to know that Facebook appears to be at least as popular in Guatemala as in Canada). After about 20 minutes of waiting, a mostly red bus pulled up and almost immediately the entire waiting room got up and made for the door. We figured this was our cue, and hoped very hard that our seats were assigned and that people would respect those assignments; we really didn’t feel like starting an argument with the locals. We handed our backpacks to the conductor who loaded them into the luggage hold underneath the bus, and got in line to board the bus. Watching a security guard pat the passengers down and doing a quick scan through their bags made me remember that Guatemala is one of the most highly armed countries in the world with well over 60% of the population packing heat. I put this thought out of my mind but my subconscious made a little note to try to stay awake during the night.

Our seats were indeed assigned and nobody sat in them, which was a great relief – they were also right at the front, just to the right and behind the driver. Great seats, I thought, as we sat down and decided to try and settle in and relax. After everybody was on board the driver and his co-driver started walking through the bus, looking really stern, and it was at this point that I realized that the driver’s area is completely isolated from the rest of the bus, connected only by a door which had a sign on it that read that no passenger shall talk to, or in any other way try to engage the driver. Not long after this the two drivers locked themselves away from the rest of us. At this point Bev and I began wondering if we shouldn’t rather just’ve have gone camping somewhere in British Columbia for the weekend instead of traveling around the world. Little did we know that our fellow passengers would be the least of our worries.

Not long after we pulled away from the station the driver pulled out his cell phone for the first time (remember, we had those “great” seats right behind the driver’s area, with a perfect view of the driver and his dashboard). Bev and I convinced each other that he was just making a quick call to check on any last minute route information, but alas this was not the case. I watched him make call after call, scrolling through his address book, while steering this huge hunk of metal around the precarious Guatemalan mountain roads. At about 11PM I thought for the first time that I hope the driver had a good sleep and was fresh for his over night duties. Well, I needn’t have worried about this, because not long after this comforting thought crossed my way too busy mind, the driver reached around in his cab and brought into view his first can of Red Bull. Now he was drinking Red Bull and speaking on the phone while driving. I decided that I needed to stop looking at the driver and turned my mind to whether there was actually a bathroom on the bus.

I walked to the back of the bus and found the bathroom, which had a sign on it that read: “Solo mujeres!” (Women only). Well, this wasn’t going to be a problem for me, and I tried to open the door, only to discover that it wouldn’t open! This had me freaking out just a little bit, as there was no way I would be able to go 8 hours without a bathroom break. I went back to my seat, and luckily, not long after this the co-driver left the cab to find a seat in the back of the bus which gave me an opportunity to ask him about the bathroom. He told me to just pull the door really hard. I went back and tried it, and with a serious amount of force the door popped open. Phew.

Now the bigger issue was that my mind was back on the driver again – why was the co-driver sitting in the back of the bus? Shouldn’t he be keeping the driver company (and awake)? I once again decided it was time to try and get some sleep and hope that when I woke up we’d magically be in Gaute. Well, I did wake up…a few hours later when the bus pulled into the single biggest gas station I’ve ever seen. Here they filled up the bus and switched drivers. I sighed a major sigh of relief – the Red Bull swilling, cell phone using, sleepy looking driver was being replaced. And we were halfway there, and still alive. There was a working toilet onboard, we had food – all was well. I could go to sleep, secure in the knowledge that everything was going to be just fine.

I watched the new driver pull out of the gas station back onto the highway…and he started fiddling with the stereo. My mind was back in overdrive about how irresponsible these drivers are and in an effort to retain my fast fading state of calm I once again decided to close my eyes and try to sleep. It was at this point that I saw the driver laugh (presumably at something on the radio, but who knows). It looked rather maniacal to me in my tired and jumpy state.

After a little chit chat with myself I did get some sleep, only to wake up a short while later as the G-force on my body started approaching space shuttle launch levels. I looked back at the driver and all I saw was a man laughing out loudly to himself while wrestling a large and speeding, none too road-hugging, bus (last maintained who knows when) around what seemed to be 90 degree curves on narrow and intense mountain roads. I also needed the bathroom. I decided to risk my life getting out of my seat to do that, and I smiled to myself that the airlines were way too timid in their “fasten seat belts” regulations. Well, I did make it to the bathroom and I was successful in doing what I needed to do, but believe me when I tell you that it required all my strength not to fall over in there as the bus careened around the bends in the road. It was simply unbelievable. It was an amusement park ride without any safety restraints. And all the while I was pretty much sure that the driver was insane and that there was no good reason to think that the bus and the driver could remain on the road.

I wrestled my way back to the front of the bus to find Bev (who had done a way better job of sleeping than me) awake and shivering. Suddenly the air-conditioning had gone into hyper-drive, and it became cold, very cold. By the way, the first class seats did not come with that blanket, sandwich or water that the VIP seats are reputed to offer.

We just looked at each other, decided to hold tightly on to each other, laughed a little maniacally ourselves and got back to sleep. When we awoke again, we realized that somehow we made it to the outskirts of Guate. The bus made its way around what seemed to be a million corners, at way more responsible speeds, and we finally pulled into a most decrepit looking bus terminal. At this point we were so relieved to have survived the bus ride that we would’ve gotten off anywhere. We flew off the bus without hesitation, grabbed our backpacks and happily ignored all the offers of rides to just about anywhere in Guatemala.

We were quickly spotted by another backpacker who joined us and we suddenly felt a little more formidable in this city of ill repute. We waited for our official ride and started chatting with Natalia from Poland. She soon divulged that she had never been more scared in her life than she had just been during the bus ride. She is a travel agent who took this same bus only a few months earlier and she told us that our bus arrived in Guate a full hour earlier than the previous time she took it. The only conclusion I can make that seems to fit with our experience is that our drivers drove like bats out of hell. Adding in the maniacal laughter and it all seems to fit pretty well.

Since we arrived in Guate an hour early (at 5AM) we ended up waiting an hour for our minibus to Antigua. The wait went by quickly and without incident. The 2+ hour ride in the minibus to Antigua was significantly more relaxed and we really enjoyed the trip through Guate – a large and very diverse city.

We arrived safely in Antigua at about 9AM and checked into a wonderful hostel called Hostal Holistico. More in our next blog update!

Unfortunately the time came for us to leave Caye Caulker and turn our compass east towards Guatemala. We purchased a combo ticket from Caye Caulker to Flores, Guatemala for US$30 each which included the water taxi from Caye Caulker to Belize City, with a connecting bus from Belize City to Flores in Guatemala. This daily service is offered by the Belize Express water taxi company and we purchased the tickets right on the island next to our favourite bright pink fruit stand behind the village basketball court. The water taxi ride was 45 minutes, followed by a 4-hour bus ride in a small tourist coach through the western highlands of Belize via the town of San Ignacio. Much of the area had experienced heavy rains over the past month, so there was a lot of flooding in the region, along with closures of many tourist attractions. We were relieved that we hadn’t planned to spend any time in this area, as we would’ve been quite disappointed!

Time to leave Caye Caulker via ferry to Belize City

On the bus to Flores from Belize City

Crossing the border from Belize into Guatemala went without a hitch, despite the bribe of US$3 each that we were asked to pay on the Guatemalan side. This is a well known unofficial “entry tax” and every traveller is charged a different amount – ranging from zero to US$10. Of course there’s no sense challenging the request, but it was quite an infuriating experience! At least the Belizean departure tax is an official amount of B$37 that is payable by all travellers and for which you receive a receipt and explanation of what your tax will be used for. I’m sure that we’ll encounter a few more informal entry and exit requirements and “taxes” as we move further into Central and South America!

Continuing on to the town of Flores, we switched buses a few kilometres before the entrance to the town. We soon realized that the purpose of this switch was to give a tour operator an opportunity to sell accommodation and tour packages. Fortunately we had been warned about this by the hostel, Los Amigos, that we had pre-booked in Flores, and we were very firm with our responses to the salesman. We were then very quickly unloaded and sent on our way! Fortunately the walk to Los Amigos was a short one!

Outside Los Amigos Hostel

Los Amigos is one of the most popular hostels in Flores. It has a mixture of dormitory beds and private rooms. We opted for a private room with shared bathroom for two nights in the quieter building (Los Amigos II) around the corner from the main hostel. The hostel offers many services to travellers including a travel agency, great communal social spaces, storage lockers and a fantastic restaurant. We were delighted to discover many vegan options on the menu at very reasonable prices including a lentil burger, tofu wrap, tofu curry and wonderful salads. It was also here that we discovered our favourite Guatemalan beer – Moza (as opposed to the very prolific Gallo brand!).

Our private room at Los Amigos hostel

Enjoying the muy delicioso cerveza – Moza!

Gardens and lounge area at Los Amigos Hostel

Located on an island within Lake Petzen Itza and connected by bridge to another town called Santa Elena, Flores is a tiny but quaint village with brightly coloured old buildings and cobblestone roads. It’s a small part of the world that exists mostly due to the tourist traffic to nearby Tikal – one of the largest and oldest Mayan ruin sites in Central America. We chose to visit Tikal before sunrise, to experience the jungle in the dark and of course, to see the sunrise and hear the jungle come to life. We left Flores at 3am and arrived in Tikal at 4:30am. The ruins are located within a national park and access prior to dawn is limited to small groups. We were accompanied by a guide who led us on a 45-minute walk into the ruins, towards Temple IV – the largest of the structures at Tikal, rising up to 70m. We ascended a staircase alongside the structure, and were allowed to climb only parts of the temple to reach the stepped pinnacle where we would sit and watch the sunrise.

Just after sunrise atop Temple IV at Tikal

Unfortunately the morning was overcast and the jungle was shrouded in mist, so we didn’t see the sunrise. However, we were afforded a very unique opportunity to sit and meditate at the top of a 4th Century BC Mayan temple in the quiet of the morning before the jungle came to life with beautiful bird calls and the chatter of monkeys, including the roar of the howler monkeys. We spent the next 4 hours exploring the expansive site with lunch atop another of the temples. It’s hard to describe the beauty of the setting and the presence of these ancient structures which include pyramids, temples, plazas, living quarters and palaces. Only 20 percent of the ruins have been uncovered by archeologists thus far, and work on the site continues to uncover and restore the structures and their inscriptions. At its peak, Tikal was home to roughly 100,000 Mayans, with a long, colourful, powerful and often ferocious history. The collapse of the Mayan empire remains a mystery.

Structures in the Grand Plaza at Tikal

Moss covered structure in the jungle at Tikal

At the top of the centre temple in the Grand Plaza at Tikal

Our stay in Flores included a very hot run around the village – we had to circle the island and cross the bridge 8 times to make up our 10km distance! We also visited the Cuevas de Ak’tun Kan (also called the Cave of the Serpent) just outside of Flores, that we reached via tuk-tuk – the most common mode of transport in these parts. The limestone caves were filled with interesting stalactite formations and of course, the obligatory bats. We were comforted by the investment we made in our rabies shots prior to our departure!

Welcome to Flores via bridge from Santa Elena

Flores rooftops

Lane with coloured buildings and cobblestone roads in Flores

Tuk-tuk ride to the caves outside Flores

Stalactite formations in the Cave of the Serpent (fortunately the serpent wasn’t home when we visited!)

Our first taste of Guatemala was extremely positive. The people are friendly, the scenery is spectacular and there is infrastructure that we didn’t expect – for example, we were quite surprised by how modern the town of Santa Elena is – complete with shopping malls festooned with Christmas trees, santa and decorations! We were also pleasantly surprised by how much cheaper it is to travel in Guatemala, compared to Belize. And of course, we were delighted to discover essentials like soy milk, granola and peanut butter in the supermarkets! However, there has also been one rather uncomfortable (travel) experience in Guatemala so far, which we’ll elaborate on in the next blog entry (don’t worry, nobody got hurt and nothing was lost, except maybe a few nerves).