Antigua & Guatemala city
Day 1
Got to panajachel by boat about 2 hours early for my shuttle to Antigua so I tuk tuk'd to the travel agency to see if I could jump an earlier bus. No go so I left my bags with him and went shopping again!
Had the best shuttle driver and most comfortable ride in Guatemala yet. There was a crazy american lady in the back till we dropped her off at a junction. She was headed to the chichi markets but they weren't even open on a Saturday. The driver just shook his head when we took off again and said in broken English "fuck my life" and laughed!
I had the front seat and the best views as we headed back up the mountains. It's truly spectacular except for the road kill. Poor dogs hit by cars everywhere and they just get left on the road :(
Got into Antigua and straight to banana hostel where they were gearing up for a party. I left a message for Amanda, liz and Sarah then of course took one more look at my fave markets!
I booked my shuttle for tomoz and made her promise it would turn up even if I was the only passenger. They tend to just do a no show if they dont have enough passengers but don't bother telling you.
I walked up to meet liz and Amanda at their hostel. I got a message from Sarah's boyfriend John that she was sick as a dog, poor thing.
The three of us went to the Irish bar for dinner where liz and Amanda dropped cutlery left right and centre after we stocked up on happy hour rums!
We then went to my hostel because the girls had heard about the party anyway. Denzyl was there as well and we ended up across the road on the roof of another hostel.
I had a pretty sleepless night with people running amok till about
2am! Antigua was going off last night, people everywhere. I had the joy of listening to a girl spewing for about half an hour while a nearby hostel cranked gangham style (they friggin love that song in central America).
Day 2
I'm at maccas meeting the girls to say goodbye before I head off to Guatemala city for the night.
Met some cool people on the bus. A guy from Boston that lives in Antigua working as the only bookie in town and shoots documentaries.
Guatemala city is the dodgiest place I've ever been. I noticed a bus riddled with bullet holes driving next to us then we were driving down gated streets with barb wire everywhere near the airport looking for my hotel. Boston helped me out by trying to call but then the van stopped and apparently this shithole in front of me is where I'm staying
tonight. Fark me, what a hole. The upside is its 600 meters from the airport............that's all.
The one staff member doesn't speak any English so it was fun asking to be taken to the airport
at 5.30am and I'm not even sure if that's what I've done. The wifi doesn't work which is always a bonus when you are stuck in one of the most dangerous capital cities in the world!
There's old mate with no teeth from Portland staying here but he doesn't speak Spanish either!
I'm going to risk being murdered and see what's outside the 10ft high locked gate, wish me luck!
I'm back after exactly 8 minutes. It looks like a friggin war zone out there. Nothing around, seedy looking people. I see the airport is literally across the road which is a relief. I cannot wait to get the hell out of here. All I can say is thank god there is a tv in my room because I'm locking it and not coming out until I leave tomorrow.
Third world capital cities really do my head in. It's the gateway to their country for tourists but they are scary as fark and not a very positive start or end to anyone's trip really.
Day 3
Woke up at dawns crack to get the fark out of this joint.
The true sign that it's dangerous here, the lady who runs the place booked me a taxi to drive me across the road to the airport! I stupidly picked up the local paper while i was waiting, i swear there was a picture of a body after a shooting on every page. Who the hell would live here?? After un bolting the door and the gates to let me out, I made the 30 second trip and didn't get shot.
At the airport the dude was going to charge me $200 US for my third bag (yes I bought that much shit!) but I used my charm and he put 2 bags in a giant plastic bag and made it one.......sweet.
Going through the checkpoint they gave me the most thorough pat down of my life even though the beepy thing didn't even go off. They also pulled me aside to check my bags. The guy going through my purse was so friggin dodgy and was really creeping me out. He took my lighter..........bastard!
I've never been so happy to be sitting in the departure lounge. Guatemala city is farked up and ruins it for the rest of the beautiful country.
I'm about to board the plane headed to another dangerous city, Managua. But it's ok because my mum will be there!
Really looking forward to seeing mum, dad and buzz.
Just got on the plane...........business class baby! Noice.
Scary entrance though with the dude in front of me stopping to put his hand on the outside of the plane and start praying and blessing it or some shite. Good luck with that.
I leant over to ask if the 2 guys in front of me were from Australia. Yes indeed they were and after chatting they mentioned they have a dutchies stonegrill in Perth, um that's my uncles franchise! So on a plane from Guatemala to Nicaragua turns out they do business with my family! Small world indeed.
Glad they were there too because I forgot to get $10 US to get into the country, so they spotted me until we got through :)
At the luggage collection a local guy walks up to me and says "there's a woman that looks like you waving through the window at you". Yep that would be mum. So at last I'm
Back at the casa and it is packed with crew I recruited on my travels, a really good crowd. They have even written up a welcome home belinda sign and made jelly shots! Happy to be 'home'.
