Let´s forget Belize, but Guatemala is sweet

Since my last post, I have sucessfully made it through Belize and am now in northern Guatemala. I say ´successfully´rather loosely, however, as I ran into some snags and barely made it with my bags and in one piece. After taking the fairy from Guatemala, I rode a delapidated school bus for seven hours before arriving at Belize City. Getting off the bus, I realized I had forgotten my small bag under my seat with my camera and other pricey things. I realized it quickly and grabbed a taxi and told him to take me where the bus ends up. Our only chance was to catch it a gas station and fortunately it was there, so I got everything back.

Mostly a stressful experience, I stayed in Belize City (which offers very little other than grungy buildings and hustlers) for two nights. I did manage to make it to Caye Caulker for an afternoon which is absolutely gorgeous. It´s an island in the Caribbean and it is just like you see on TV or in magazines... aqua green waters, palm trees and a coral reef. I should have gone there right away, but I messed up my planning.

The interesting thing about Belize is that it has an incredibly diverse population relative to it´s size and is a mix of English, Spanish, Indigenous and African decent. Still part of the British Commonwealth, Belizeans speak English, but most commonly speak a type of Creole derived from English and African languages.

Transferring buses heading to Guatemala, I put my big backpack in the rear of a bus and then went to the bathroom quickly. When I got out, I saw my bus driving away so I chased after it waving my arms and yelling. It was a couple blocks ahead of me but fortunately they saw me and I, once again, managed to make it through unscathed.

I am glad to report that Guatemala has been much more tranquil and enjoyable. I stayed the last couple nights at sweet little hotel that overlooks a beautiful lake in the northern part of the country. The town is tiny, but is near the Mayan ruins of Tikal, which I must say, where perhaps some of the most impressive things I´ve ever seen. There are a series of six temples, which are massive and tower over a tropical dry forest, and all kind of other buildings. You wander around for hours just feeling the immensity of these buildings, some of which have been around for more than 2000 years, and you just feel wonderment. There were also lot´s of monkeys swinging in the trees and birds flitting through the air. Pretty awesome.

It was a fantastic respite from the chaos of Belize and now I´m on my way to Antigua, Guatemala to climb a volcano and hang out for a couple days. Then it´s on to El Salvador, hopefully to meet up with my friend Mike Melamed (from Mac) where he is just starting Peace Corps. That´s all, hasta luego.