After the short stay in San Cristóbal it was time to visit a country I didn’t know that much about and was a bit apprehensive of visiting due to safety reasons but boy am I glad I made that decision to give it the benefit of the doubt!

I needed a country that was still cheap after getting used to the Pesos in Mexico and the more money I can save in a country like this the better for when I arrive in Cancun, Quito etc. Time to get familiar with the currency ‘Quetzals!’

Guatemala ticked a lot boxes for me for all the right reasons and one in particular was the way it’s so easy to get around the country via shuttle bus but it comes with the added risk that the drivers are incredibly fast and tend to let you think that the way they drive could well be the last day your going to be alive! Defo an adrenalin rush though. Also do keep in mind it’s worth paying a little more for a comfier seat as well as sometimes finding the very few that even have wifi! It’s very basic wifi I will tell you but handy all the same especially if you are looking to update a blog you may well be writing up ;).

The first destination was the long road trip to ‘Panajachbal’ which in doing so meant passing the border of the two countries themselves. The place I was going to stay was ‘San Pedro’ which is surrounded by a few volcanoes and other islands also, although on route this came with the rather uneasy drive through crossing the border and seeing soldiers eyeing you up and down with from what I saw looked like, loaded guns. This was a first for me. Very uneasy! We were asked to pull over and get out of the bus. Is this the last time I will get to see the light of day!? My first uncomfortable experience indeed!

We are taken to a stamp office and asked how long we are intending to stay in the country, what our objectives are and what we do for work? Majority relevant I guess but didn’t think they would understand what I do as a profession so I had to improvise and have somebody translate on my behalf. Very tense! Obviously they aren’t aware I’m here for the piss up of all the islands I wanna drink and try out the local beer on! My passport is then stamped and it’s time to get this show on the road! Adios Mexico for now and it’s Hello Guatemala!

We are all approached by locals who are holding big wads of local money clearly after our Pesos and wanting to exchange but I had to be careful here as some of these guys use fake Guatemalan currency so to be able to tell the difference is going to be tricky one that’s for sure! I went with one guy who seemed legit enough to me and fortunately for me he was! I kept back some Pesos anyway for when I arrive in Cancun just in case. Never know when I might need them.

I met a guy from Warwickshire called Greg on my bus who I immediately bonded with being as we were the only two Englishman and he was telling me how he has been living in Mexico on an island called ‘Islamujeres’ for best part of six years. His home is a tent somewhere on the island and he earns his money via teaching yoga! Talk about living the dream! The way he renews his visa is he leaves Mexico every now and then and pops into Guatemala for a short sort of holiday/sightsee then goes back to as he states and I quote he said this…. “his island!”.

We were both heading for San Pedro andvafter arriving eventually from a bumpy ride to Panajachbal the next thing was to pay a small fare to get to San Pedro via small speedboat but not before couple of photos of where I will be living for next couple days from way up high….

Little did we both know that upon getting half way across the water in our funky boat it conked out not once, but twice! It was already starting to get dark and having had no lights on it either was obviously giving me great cause for concern as to whether we were either going to need to actually attempt to climb on another boat with our bags intact or spend the night in what felt like the middle of the sea! Luckily though after giving the motor a little rest we got back up and running again much to my relief and finally made it to the island! What a palava!! This was sadly the last time I got to see my new found friend Greg as we both had the same intentions of climbing the ‘Indians Nose Volcano’ but he wanted to go early doors the next day to see it at sunrise and after the long road trip we had both just encountered all day I in honesty just needed some kip and was quite happy doing the climb at my own leisure! We swapped Facebook details and went our separate ways, maybe I will get to see him again on his island Islamujeres in Mexico who knows!?

My hostel was very Aussie based and as we all know Aussies love a beer don’t they! My check in was a welcome one and I was offered a beer on the house! Maybe because I was the only English guy there it seemed they might of felt a little bit sorry for me lol. This hostel though definitely had something about it I must say and the view was insane, check for yourselves below.

Not amazingly accurate photos I know but the view was directly outside the lake and it was a view you had to see it for yourself to believe. Lucky 21 popping up again! There was even a diving board directly on the outskirt of the hostel for those that fancied a cheeky dip during the day or night! That night I stayed out for a few hours chatting to random travellers and then had to hit the hay! Road trips are cheap but take their toll on you physically!

The next day I made it my personal goal to sort out how to get to the top of the Indian Nose Volcano as it’s pretty dam steep and only way up it was via transport near to the top. It was something I had been advised to do especially within the location I am in as a must see but me being me I had hardly done any research and I didn’t have ideal footwear with my Havaianas or Toms to pick from. I went with the Toms in the end and as it wasn’t a wet day and I was kinda hoping for the best even if it was a bit grey outside as it is!

I popped into the local shop where you can pay for shuttles to elsewhere in Guatemala or airports and they also do tours for the area within you are staying in. You will find these everywhere as its every other shop they are based in and I got a price for the volcano along with an English speaking guide as well too for just myself and a ridiculously cheap price. My very own private tour!

As I boarded the bus it filled up pretty quickly with locals from the area the further up we went up the volcano. A lot of people live up here and Christ knows what they do whenever this volcano decides to erupt! It’s remarkable how many small towns there are up here as well.

The roads are obviously very uneven due to a previous eruption some time ago but after an hour or so me and the guide got out of the bus as it took us as far as we could go via vehicle. The next bit was a steep hike for around 30-40 minutes and the closer we got to the top the cooler the temperature became and the air levels were dropping making it become a lot harder to breathe. My Toms were getting ruined and didn’t stand a chance for grip! This was also a serious wake up call for me finding out how unfit I was as I’m not gunna lie, I was feeling it a bit. Yes granted its my first hike, walk or climb for that matter apart from the pyramids in Mexico but I persisted and pushed myself to keep going at it even after two quite bad stacks and me ending up on my ass! “If at first you don’t succeed then dust yourself and try again, pick yourself up and try again”. #aaliyahrip.

I make it! Another challenge/stumbling block literally out of the way! The views are incredible up here and my guide can see how exhausted I was. I have IncaTrail coming up and I need to get myself in some kind of decent shape for it or I will wanna leave at the first hurdle. I used this climb as just a slight bit of practice because the air was thin at the top and found it a bit of a struggle to, catch my breath. I knew either way the hard part was over any ways wasn’t it!? Perfect cardiovascular training nevertheless.

Going back down after taking ridiculous amount of selfies was also a challenge in itself! Remember I am wearing Toms here and it’s wet, steep and the grip on my shoes is practically non existent. As I go down my guide is in fits of laughter as I am literally swinging from tree to tree branch to try keep myself balanced. Holding on for dear life lol. Yes I am not ashamed to admit I went back on my ass again one more time but at least I didn’t go down head first!

So back to where we began and I am starting to wonder what method of transport we were going to use to get all way back down as it looked as if it was going to hammer down! There isn’t much shelter anywhere unless we ask one of the locals to pop into their home (something I wasn’t that keen on doing) to get a roof over our heads as it’s looking like it’s going to get heavy. Fortunately we didn’t have to though.

At last we are finally picked up by what I can only describe was a motor transit where we both got on with a random other family and have to hold on to a bar support outside of the vehicle whilst standing for the duration of the journey down. No roof! Nothing like what I got to come up in put it that way. Then the heavens finally opened and we are given a sheet to put over me, the guide and a small family whilst we are made to crouch down together going down the bumpiest road ever. Wasn’t a very pleasant experience let me say! Here’s a mini vid any ways of my trip down. The family were giving me some odd looks doing this! Enjoy!

We are about a couple of miles or so from the bottom and had to be dropped off by this family and we need yet another form of transport as it’s hammering cats + dogs here so we get to another shelter and one of these what I can only describe as looking like a Tuk Tuk motor with three wheels and no bigger then an average person wide pulls over. I manage to flag one down, do some bartering and haggle the price down to around £2 and off me and guide go down the bumpy wet hill.

How about that for a tropical storm!? This is another big thing ticked off on my list, one of many more to come. That night I met a lovely Irish couple John and Lisa at the hostel and they were throwing out more pointers for my upcoming itinerary. What is it about the Irish I’m meeting on this trip offering me sound advice? Could it be the luck of the Irish maybe!? I’ve never met a guy moan so much about everything but have so much of a witty way about him that he made everything he was whinging about incredibly funny! The fella had some top Banter and sounded a lot like ‘Connor Mcgregor’.

I was only based in San Pedro a few days and spent the rest of it sorting out transport for my next destination and hostel which was going to be in Antigua and updating social media/blog and speaking with loved ones back at home. Travelling is forever planning.

The bus journey in itself wasn’t that long to Antigua but it had a lot to live up to if it was going to beat San Pedro La Laguna. When arriving there I have to say it striked me as a striking resemblance to San Cristobal where I had been just under a week ago. Wasn’t as nice but very similar. It wasn’t by choice to visit here as because originally I was desperate to see ‘Semuc Champey’ directly from San Pedro but it was just too far to travel on the road in one ride so to split it up a bit I decided it would be best to see somewhere that’s inbetween Semuc and San Pedro and that pointed only one way, towards ‘Antigua’. Who knows I might get a surprise with somewhere I wasn’t even on planning to visit.

Sadly the only good thing Antigua could offer me was another volcano hike and in fairness I knew I had ‘Tikal Ruins’ in Flores coming up so I passed at that opportunity and used up my time there to do various local sightseeing, get my photos, social media and blog updated/catch up with loved ones at home and have a good look round the town itself. Pick up some bits for my travels along the way. Here’s a few of the area I was based in which was yet another place you need to be careful of if you are out late on the razz….

The hostel I stayed at was called Tropicano and had it’s own tiny pool. It was here where I discovered the comfyness of ‘hammocks’. Dam I could do with one of these back in Essex on the balcony but think it’s going to be a little cold upon getting back in swing of things in December! They are very addictive though and once in and swinging from side to side they are hard to want to get out of! I also had a thing for rocking out my cowboy hat from Texas here and it made other travellers believe I could well be from Texas itself. Billy the Kid is on vacations people perhaps?! Well I managed to convince one woman anyway ha! Here’s a few of the hostel with once again some pretty dam decent views….

Talking of Texas I actually did actually meet a Texan here from Houston. Covered in scars and tattoos and a regular drug user I discovered from being asked if I wanted to try LSD literally first thing after breakfast one morning! No thanks partner, the drugs don’t work and my upbringing was obviously one for the better! The only bad thing you will catch me doing is drowning my sorrows on a heavy nights boozing! I politely decline and see that he has since popped a few pills already, has his top off and attracting the local police outside who don’t look like the type you would wanna fuck about with! This guy is clearly high on drugs and obviously is looking to take the law into his own hands! Good luck with that one mate!

All in all though a great hostel to meet other travellers, discuss where you have been and share stories. Food was amazing and the bunk beds were super comfy, even if it did mean at top end of my bed another guy’s head was close by! I was based in an ideal location near everything and best way of achieving this is using Hostelworld.com or hostels.com. Both sites are easy to use and give accurate desired information you need to get round. Very easy to remember.

It’s so easy to get behind with uploading photos, checking in online, Instagram Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter etc. There are always people who will constantly lose track of where you are, what your doing from back home and I find Social Media is the best tool to use, particularly Facebook for this of keeping all those who take an interest in general updated. It just takes finding a good hostel with super good wifi in doing so! Not easy believe me. You want to know my whereabouts then check my updates!

The objective is still to get to see Semuc Champey but every time I went to try book there were protests going on (whatever about I didn’t know). Apparently these can get quite naughty and travellers are at high risk if they head into these areas particularly at night. Supposed to be a normal thing that happens a lot in Latin America. It’s an inconvenience so I reluctantly bailed on the idea and booked up to go Flores to see Tikal instead sooner then I was planning to. This was going to give me more time in Cancun coming up so can’t complain too much about that I guess.

Some priceless advice I have to offer travellers is whenever your about to set off on a long journey on the road via shuttle/bus always stock up on drinks and snacks especially if it’s a long trip as stops along the way are limited and not for long. Make sure you listen out also for how long your stop is because nine times outta ten it’s going to be called out in Spanish so read up on your numbers! Always a good idea to have a bit of spare cash on you also as plastic isn’t very reliable out here!

Finally after 8-9 hours on the road I end up at my new home which is Los Amigos Hostel and is smack bang in middle of Flores. I had to head into Guatemala City before getting on route to Flores, Guatemala is deceptively big and bumpy on the road! I officially got around fair bit of Guatemala in a little under a week and not that far from Mexico itself again being as I’ve performed a U shape in the way I got around the country itself. I think I will certainly be paying Gregs island Islamujeres a visit after all soon to but anyway back to the program!

So Tikal is the in thing to do here in Flores I’ve discovered and I am left with the decision of doing the Sunrise morning or Sunset Tour to see it for what it truly is and knowing me and not being a morning person I go with the Sunset Tour which gives me a nice lay in so I’m in a better state to climb after the long trip here. It was said if you don’t have your money in advance to pay for the entrance fee your not allowed in, it’s as simple as that. This place is very sacred and means a lot to the Guatemalan Mayan people. I can’t remember the exact amount it cost me but as I said before Central/South America do not depend on credit/debit card payments. It’s cash or a trade or something of value lol!

The drive is just an hour away and I remember the day like it were yesterday as upon entry there are yet more soldiers eyeing all of us up like we are lunch with their big guns. It’s the girls on this tour I feel sorry for as they are being eyed up for other reasons I am sure but hey I’m optimistic nothing will come of it! We are paying their wages at end of the day and yes the looks they are given us all are evil but I’m sure they know deep down we mean no harm. We wasn’t sure who to be more scared of, the soldiers or the crocs for that matter in the ponds upon entering. Interesting start to events here!

The tour in itself was good and some of the small pyramids were steep but easy to climb up. They were actually used for Human sacrifices! This was a religious activity in Maya culture, involving either the killing of animals or the bloodletting by members of the community in rituals by Mayan priests. Sacrifice has been a feature of almost all pre-modern societies at some stage of their development and for broadly the same reason to propitiate or fulfill a perceived obligation towards the Gods!

I took some photos and seeing Tikal for it’s true self is certainly worth the trouble of going to particularly as its based very near a jungle Amazon and some of the sounds you can hear from far away are like nothing I have ever heard before. We see various types of beautiful birds, monkeys and even a live tarantula which our tour guide seemed to have a idea of how to bring them up from the underground to the surface. Of course the courageous people wanted a photo with the spider itself but we were all warned the spider was non poisonous so on they went. One even had it on his face much to my amazement! Here’s a few shots of the Mayan Tikal Pyramids and some impressive Graffiti work … ;).

Arggggghhhhh scary stuff! Selfie and photo overload I know what your thinking!

Even though there wasn’t much of a sunset for us all to witness that day we all still got some wicked photos all in all and after the drive back I was only in Flores for another day so I used it to get some more photos of where I was based and get prepared for a nerve wrecking drive through the Belize border (which is deemed unsafe at all times according to my Brother) then back onto Mexico again for a nice long week in Cancun this time. That was another twelve hours on the road which physically destroyed me!

Next stop then is Cancun! Ariba Ariba! Oh and little cheeky boat trip to Islamujeres! Galapagos is coming after that! It’s all happening so soon! See you back in Mexico Amigos! Viva La Raza!!