Hi All
We are having an absolute blast! This is most definitely the life.
Since our last message we have been through Belize and into Guatemala. Belize is an amazing country but just too expensive for us. We were on the islands in the Carribean Sea for 2 days, chilling out under palm trees, snorkelling, listening to Rastas sing very loudly along to Reggae, drinking Rum Punch and eating the best Lobster ever! We left Tulum after a few days to cross the border into Belize. The buses in Mexico were the best I have ever seen! We crossed the border at Chetumal and into Corozal. From here we took a water taxi to San Pedro on Abmbergris Caye. We stepped off the boat and into Rasta Land! Dreads everywhere and loads of multi-coloured buildings! We got approached by a bunch of guys a skeptically walked on the other side thinking they would try to sell us something! They only yelled to us anyway in the thick rastafarian accent “ya’right mon”, then pointed us nicely is the right direction! From then on the people were all ridiculously nice! We spent one night in San Pedro an moved onto Caye Culkar. This place was great! We stayed on the beach around 3m from the water! On the island we did a snorkel trip and in 1 day saw Manatees, Reef Sharks, Loads of cool fish, Turtles and Stingrays. We actually sailed back to the island listening to reggae, drinking rum punch and eating raw conch that our guide just grabbed from the ocean and expertly whipped out of the shell with his big knife! He threw the remains back into where we were smimming so I actually got to hand feed this big fish! Yes, we could probably have set up shop for a long time, but on we went!
Next stop was El Remate and Tikal which was amazing. From Belize city we took a chicken style bus to the border, rammed with people, but no chickens. The ruins are just massive. We got some great pics! We walked around from 6am so there was no-one there! We even had the 'grand plaza' totally to ourselves for a little while! That day we saw Spider Monkeys and 2 types of Toucan! Very Cool. We also saw a little croc that I nearly stood on without seeing it! It didnt look real until it snapped its mouth shut and ran into the water! We also met a famous National Geographic photographer who said the Croc was really cool (Mark Costidge)!
From El Remate we took colectivos via Coban to Lanquin. They are basically like 10 seater taxis with a roof rack. You nervously watch the guy tie your pack to the roof praying that it doesnt fall off or get nicked! Then you set off thinking its great with at least two seats to yourself. Before long there has been numerous stop-off’s at definitely NOT designated stops and there are a lot more people on board (yesterday we counted 28 in our 9 seater and 3 more on the roof!!)
We are now in Lanquin, a very small town in the heart of Guatemala near Coban. It is a backpacker heaven here, loads of them are around! There seems to be a definitive trail that everyone follows in both directions through Central America, which nice as it means we keep bumping into the same people. Its just unbelievable here, surrounded by mountains, they are very strange shapes too! Today we are doing a trip to Semuc Champy, much talked about among all travellers in Central America so we are very excited.
I will keep you updated as regularly as possible and try to update our blog too and add pictures. For now we are staying at El Retiro Hostel in Lanquin, check it out im sure it has a web page. Its unbelievable here!
Cheers
Matt
PS. Happy Birthday Catherine!! I hope you have a great day :) Thank you to Nic for going to the bank for me. And cheers for the emails/comments everyone keep them coming :) - Ash
