Pequena Chinitas Blog on RealTravel

Guatemala City journal: Birthday in the City ;)

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:47:24 GMT

Our flight got into Guatemala City by around 9 this morning so it was too early to check into our good ol' apartment style room at Los Torres. So, the plan was to drop me off with all of our stuff at a cafe to hang out and kill time for a few hours. Nate supposedly had one last interview to wrap up in town before we could do anything else. Honestly, I was far too exhausted to catch on to anything. So, when the cabbie began to slow down on a street I didn't recognize I turned to Nate with a confused look on my face. He just smiled and said,"Happy Birthday." Still somewhat misunderstanding the ...

Placencia journal: On the road to Placenctia

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:29:36 GMT

As it would turn out, somehow we got an hour ahead of ourselves and the 7am bus direct to Placencia was really the 6am bus to Belmopan (the capital for those of you who remember 6th grade geography). From there we took another bus East to Belize city and from there another South to Mango Creek. The languages and ethnicities of Belize are complicated to say the least and riding the bus through basically half of the country side (mainly dense jungles and rainforests) gives an accurately represented cross-section of the population. Mayans, Mestizos(mixed euros), Creoles, Rastafarians, Garafuna ...

Atitlan journal: Lago de Atitlan

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:22:27 GMT

The buses in Guatemala are all the old Bluebirds we rode in elementary and middle school in the States except each one has a random theme depending upon the driver's specific tastes. My personal favorite being the Rolling Stones and Dragon Ball Z combo bus that took us out to Ponachel on our way to Lago de Atitlan. It was an extremely bumpy, white knuckle ride crammed in with the beautifully round-bodied locals. Really who knew how fast those busses could fly after they take the governors out of 'em? For the most part Guatemalans have a certain bus code they abide to. Some of the rules include ...

Central America / Caribbean journal: The Rum Diaries '06

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:19:42 GMT

Spending my 22nd Birthday in Guatemala and Belize this year was everything I ever dreamed it would be! Over the course of the 2 week adventure I read two of Kerouac's later novels, a Satori in Paris and Pic. They are both great travel books which is what he does best but they do lack the random fluidness and jazz-like qualities that make his earlier works appealing. Kerouac means "a house in a field." I know this is about 2 weeks late but it took be a while to get all the photos together. Hope you enjoy;)

~Nikki~

Flores journal: Last minute shopping...

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 09:48:47 GMT

We crossed the border back over to Guatemala and caught our first "Tourismo" Bus all trip. It was a nice change from riding crammed in with the locals on the Bluebird busses. The other gringos had all been on the same bus from Belize city so Nate was quick to negotiate with first the driver's "nephew" then the driver himself. He insisted on paying a certain amount because we would only be riding half the distance of the regular fare passengers. After a little heated bantering Nathan said something to finalize the deal in Spanish and the driver looked away. When we got on the bus he told me ...

Placentia Village journal: Playa

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 20:06:15 GMT

The beach itself isn't the nicest I've laid eyes on but the atmosphere, weather and food make up for the seaweed and trash brought in by Hurricane Iris a few years back. The entire strip of land was basically taken out and everything standing now is new construction. We had 2 good beach days and 2 rainy days here. It ended up storming and lightning while we were staying right on the water taking the power out for over 24 hours. It's a tricky thing, figuring out what's safe to eat when nothing's been refrigerated for the past 12 hours but luckily neither one of us has gotten sick. The food here ...

San Ignacio journal: Barton's Creek Cave

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 13:59:19 GMT

We made it back to San Ignacio on the bus late Sunday afternoon and got to bed fairly early in preparation for the morning. Earlier in the week, David had pretty well sold us on one of his adventure outings with his charming hype of Barton's Creek cave. He was actually one of the very first to actually re-explore the cave about 20 years ago and worked with the Archeology departments within the government to help make it a national park. The cave itself is considered "live" which means it is still continuing to grow and erode from a water source deep inside the mountain it's situated in. It was ...

San Ignacio journal: A chance meeting in a relaxed town...

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 13:00:47 GMT

We arrived at the Belizian border in a sudden downpour and stood in line filling out all the paperwork soaking wet. Once accross immediately scamming became less high pressure if you knew what things should cost to begin with. The cabbie started out high ($10Belizian) and Nate was quick to say, "Well, you can take us if you want to charge us what it really costs" (which is already double what the locals pay of course). And that was it, we were off to San Ignacio. We settled into our room and set out to explore the town. The chill vibe was apparent with all the rastas and wannabe "white ...

Guatemala City journal: Back to our hub in the GC

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:38:01 GMT

So, we made it back to the city for one night and we fly out early tomorrow morning to Flores. It turned out to be cheaper to book a domestic flight and cross the border to Belize on foot rather than flying directly into Belize city (where we don't really want to end up anyways). The plan is to stay in San Ignacio right on the border a night and then bus it down to Placencia on the coast to hit up the beach.

Solola journal: Market Day

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:24:31 GMT

Time to do some shopping! We wandered around this great working class (NO other Gringos!!:) in Solola where the women still religiously dress in their region's traditional patterns. I bought some purses and pouches and Nate bartered awhile over a tapestry he finally got down to a cheap enough price ;)

Atitlan journal: A great place to stay but keep in mind they cater to groups (Damn Yogis) and if you're not in one, don't expect anything special!

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 11:47:30 GMT

Guatemala City journal: In the City

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 11:20:46 GMT

My first night of the trip was spent in Guate City. I flew in at night and Nate met me at the airport (with flowers: our airport pickup tradition). He'd been in the country for close to a month already working on his Coffee Certification project in the highlands. So, he was definitely ready to start the "vacation" portion of the trip by the time I got my ass down there from the sweltering 110 degrees in Tucson! Getting off the plane, the sticky humidity of my Floridian childhood hit me and a layer of sweat immediately coated my entire body. That night we stayed in the apartment style hotel ...