La vida loca!

Wished you were there? We did, so here we are on our big adventure! A year in central America, to make sense of this vida loca...

Trip: A year with a difference

There are [92] stories from my trip: A year with a difference

Semana Santa in Oaxaca

MEXICO | Monday, 23 Nov 2009 | Views [22]

We took the night bus to Oaxaca – an 11 hour journey down into the arid plains and up again into the mountains. This was our first taste of the massive scale of Mexico – it’s a big country! It was also our first taste of near ubiquitous cactus desert, ... Read more >

Tags: oaxaca, semana santa, mitla, monte alban, santa maria del tule, teotitlan del valle

Gallery: Mexico - Mexico City

MEXICO | Sunday, 4 Oct 2009 | Photo Gallery

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Gallery: Mexico, Oacaxa - Surrounding Valleys

MEXICO | Sunday, 4 Oct 2009 | Photo Gallery

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Gallery: Mexico, Oaxaca - Botanical Gardens and Museum of Culture

MEXICO | Thursday, 24 Sep 2009 | Photo Gallery

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Gallery: Mexico, Oaxaca

MEXICO | Thursday, 24 Sep 2009 | Photo Gallery

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San Cristobal

MEXICO | Monday, 21 Sep 2009 | Views [83]

After the long drives around rural Chiapas, we were glad to get back to San Cristobal and spend a week or so just bumming around. There are worse places to bum, and it seemed that quite a few fellow europeans had chosen the same place to hang out ... Read more >

Tags: san cristobal, chamula, zincantan, canon sumidero

Northern Chiapas - Mucho Mas Mayan Metropolises

MEXICO | Tuesday, 28 Jul 2009 | Views [161]

We booked a micro bus to take us out of Guatemala. We suffered a rather large wait for a connecting bus at Quattro Caminos, which caused a rather large Italian fellow traveller to go into an angry tirade with the new bus driver in good Italian fashion.... Read more >

Tags: palenque, chiapas, lacandon, yaxchilan, bonampak

Xela and Volunteering with the Mayan Stove Project

GUATEMALA | Saturday, 4 Apr 2009 | Views [185]

After surviving our chicken bus challenges (I now see why most tourists travel by private microbus in Guatemala – its still pretty manic, but its this side of hair-raising) we arrived in Quetzaltenango, or Xela (pronounced ´Shela´) in Quiché Mayan.... Read more >

Tags: xela, quetzaltenango, fuertas georginas, mayan stove project

Chicken Bus Challenge

GUATEMALA | Friday, 3 Apr 2009 | Views [292]

Missing the direct bus from Chichicastenango to Quetzaltenango (Xela), in the west of the country, we instead got a chicken bus to the junction with the InterAmericana at Los Encuentros. We were ushered onto a chicken bus by the youthful, ... Read more >

Tags: mad guatemalan bus drivers, near death experiences

Lago Atitlan - check out the vibes, man.

GUATEMALA | Friday, 3 Apr 2009 | Views [91]

After surviving Pacaya, we booked a tourist microvan to Panajachel on the shores of Lago Atitlan. A thankfully uneventful journey, although I did marvel at the way that the Guatamalans appeared to be in the process of blasting away a good proportion ... Read more >

Tags: lago atitlan, san marcos, panajachel, san pedro, chichicastenango

Gallery: Mexico - Chiapas, San Cristobal, Chamula and Cañon Sumidero

MEXICO | Friday, 3 Apr 2009 | Photo Gallery

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Gallery: Mexico - Chiapas, Yaxchilan and Bonampak

MEXICO | Friday, 3 Apr 2009 | Photo Gallery

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Gallery: Mexico - Chiapas, Palenque

MEXICO | Friday, 3 Apr 2009 | Photo Gallery

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Gallery: Guatemala - Xela and Stove Project

GUATEMALA | Friday, 3 Apr 2009 | Photo Gallery

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Sidenote - The Curse of the Coffee Tour

MEXICO | Wednesday, 1 Apr 2009 | Views [129]

Observant readers may remember that back in Panama,we went on a tour of a specialist coffee producer on the slopes of Volcan Baru . The blurb on the tour said ´ warning you may become a coffee snob ´. Unlikely, I thought – I´ve been ... Read more >

Tags: finding a decent coffee in central america

Antigua, Pacaya, and the herd of ponderous donkeys

GUATEMALA | Wednesday, 1 Apr 2009 | Views [252]

Another tourist micro bus, another long journey south to Antigua. This time the bad road bit was at the start, so we were able to enjoy the fantastic views whilst not minding the banging around. Our driver was of the ´there´s no speed except ... Read more >

Tags: antigua, volcan pacaya, colonial architechture, bad trades

Tikal and the Guatemalan Suicide Dogs

GUATEMALA | Tuesday, 31 Mar 2009 | Views [245]

We left Chetumal and got a long-distance bus going straight to Flores, Guatemala. This involved heading down through northern Belize again to Belize City, and then across to San Ignacio and over the border. We drove through the Peten basin ... Read more >

Tags: tikal, flores, suicide dogs, languin, semuc champey