Back to Xela,

I thought I would add some recent blog while I update the ones I havent got around to yet e.g. Cuba, Mexico Guatemala. Just so you know what I am up to.

Er in case you hadnt guessed. I am in Quetzaltenango otherwise known as Xela in Guatemala. 7 weeks now... with 3 weeks inbetween to visit Mexico.

12Nov.
After a 12hour overnighter, I got to Tuxtla about 6.30am. But got damned as the next bus out to Comitan was at 10.30. I tried to get a collectivo which would have been a lot cheaper and quicker but no such luck. When I asked no one knew what I was talking about. I had to bite the bullet and pay for a 1st class ticket I didn’t even need. Balls. I then realised, that we were going to San Christobal. If I had known I was heading there I could have taken a direct bus there the night before instead of Tuxtla and stayed in San Cristobal and seen it as it is supposed to be beautiful but I didn’t have a guidebook so had no clue and it was the slow, indirect bus I was now on double bad whammy. So I got to the border, hours after I though I would or needed to.

At the border, I realised I had to pay 20 dollars to Mexican customs. I screwed up by saying I didn’t know if I was coming back. If I had been I don’t think I would have been charged. I had forgotten that. But I just didn’t know what to say. I had almost enough in pesos. I ran out of immigration and bumped in to this Mexican named Isreal, also trying to cross the border. He asked if I wanted to share a taxi to the Guatemalan border so I said yes but I would pay in Guatemalan quetzals, if he lent me the Mexican equivalent. He agreed, so I was able to pay my exit tax. More lost money. aaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh
He spoke Brilliant English so we had a good chat. This was his first time ever leaving Mexico or travelling alone. He only had about 7 or 8 days.

We crossed the border and got a bus almost immediately for Huehuetenango (Huehue). However, the bus broke down about 30 minutes from Huehue. And I mean broke down. There were bits of the undercarriage and oil along the road. The poor bus driver. So we got on the next bus about 20 of us. With me being the only non latino. None of those that got on wanted to pay again as they had already paid and our first bus driver said it was unnecessary.
They say the Mayans are quite timid but this lady, my god but she was assertive and was the spokes person for all of us. One tough cookie… It was fab. None of us paid. She put all the men to shame. All the locals had a laugh about it and there was a lot of respect for this lady.

Well we got to Huehue about 6pm, it was dark and no more buses were running. So we had to stay in Huehue. We found a nice hostel and after a bit of a walk around, found a nice restaurant for dinner. This was Israel’s first dinner abroad.

13Nov
I got the bus to Xela, Isreal came as far as Quatro Caminos so he could carry on to Lake Atitlan.
I got to the hostel after a cheap ride on the collectivo from Terminal Minerva. Lori was there and it was good to see her. She kindly cooked me dinner, that helped. Realised I lost my little purse, either when I was leaving the collectivo or left it on the table here and it was stolen. That is a real pain, as my keys to my padlock, on my rucksack was in it and a little money. More lost money. Don’t seem to be having much luck with money at the moment.

It feels really weird to be back. Gina has gone to El Salvador and Michelle has rented an apartment. Joan has gone to the states. So that just leaves Lori, Julia and Andrew. There are loads of new people here now, many have been here for weeks so have bonded. I feel a complete stranger and not sure I will fit in at all.

Well I decided not to take any Spanish classes. I am now studying by myself. I really needed to study my verbs, as paying someone to correct me on things I already know but can’t remember easily is painful. I have taken up salsa again too. There is a guy, Matt, He is just a beginner but the others here are way ahead, so we have ended up partnering each other. I tried some of the local guys but it just isn’t benefiting me. Matt and I can hash out a step etc and correct each other. The best thing is we have a laugh which makes the class go quicker and a lot easier.

16Nov
Graces birthday today. Happy Birthday!!!!

Amanda, an American girl arrived for a few days and took Lori, Andrew and I on this beautiful walk up to one of the hills around Xela. We walked for about an hour up through some nice countryside to Baul. At the top was a pagoda and a rather large cross. The views across the city were amazing. We then found the giant slides. Of course we had to have a go. So we took turns taking photos of us coming down like a bunch of kids. It was such a laugh. I did manage to graze my elbow when I let it lower, as I was speeding down. And Lori ended up going into one of the other lanes. So it was a bit risky but oh such fun…
The area has lovely pagodas for families wishing to come up here for picnics and a BBQ. It also had a memorial to the first woman who climbed the active volcano nearby.

Over the last 3 weeks many have passed through the hostel although many have stayed. I met a lovely girl called Hele from Wolverhampton and it was great to meet a cool English person. She laughed when I said flipping heck over something so we bonded as she felt at home too. It made a difference having someone form Europe here. Also 2 Irish girls came through. Lori told me about them and in my head I thought ah would it be funny if they were from Kinsale and imagined the conversation. When I met them I was sort of shocked as both Amba and Carly now live in Kinsale, bizarre or what.

I have begun to make friends again here. There is a pretty good bunch of people here. Megan, Kaliegh, Bill, Matt and Mary from the US. Ashley from Canada which I seem to get on best with lately. Michelle also pops by with her boyfriend Andrew. And of course Leite and Hilda are still here. Melvyn, Hilda´s brother now works her too instead of Francisco. He is sweet. I gave a few English lessons to Leite and Melvyn for a few days. Which I must start again.

25Nov

Lori moved to a room in an apartment block so she could live with Guatemalans and speak more Spanish. Although she is not totally happy there. She is a bit of nervous soul and on her first day was told by a Dutch girl also living there, that some of the other inhabitants steal portions of food from other peoples leftovers when left in the communal fridge. Also one of the occupants is a drunk, who comes by each night to knock on the Dutch girls door and of her Belgian friend´s door also. This nearly freaked the life out of Lori. Especially when she found out that the Dutch girl had received a letter from said drunk, asking her to spend her last night with him as he has been in love with her since she arrived. Oops.

We hit the blue angel every now and then to watch a movie. Recently saw “Frida” again. It was such a beautiful movie.
One night, I went solo to see a movie on the creator of Bossa Nova. I was the only one there watching the movie. It was pretty spectacular and I really need to research his music more and buy some as I totally love bossa Nova.

Wednesday nights and Friday nights we hit the salsa clubs. La Parranda or La Rumba. A lot of the long-term hostel guests are learning salsa and Spanish, so it is nice to have someone to go out with.

22Nov

Lori and I went to El Cuartito, this will be one of our favourite bars, I think. It had a band there playing Cuban trova among other music types.

25Nov Well finally the gang got to go to Fonda Del Che. A bar covered in Che Guevara memorabilia. Of course I am going to love this. As I am now in my 3rd of Che´s diaries. There was an excellent guitarist playing Trova. I preferred it there than El Cuartito but the atmosphere is good in both. So will have to go more often.

27Nov
Well as we have so many Americans staying at the hostel we decided to cook a dinner there for all guests. However, turns out the oven doesn’t work. So that put paid to that. There is an organisation here called Quetzaltrekkers. This is a totally volunteer organisation that organises hikes for tourists in quetzaltenango(Xela). They also organise benefit dinners etc. All the money except for the director’s salary, goes to a school for street kids or kids that need to be schooled but cant be in their own home villages so have to stay at the school midweek. All the volunteers work for free. So we decided to go there for thanksgiving dinner and give our money to a good cause. We had a lovely evening, the food was great even though there wasn’t a turkey in sight. All vegetarian food. Although, for those used to pumpkin pie, there were a few complaints as to the quality.

I met one volunteer, an Irish girl some time back. She came over with some extra helpings of garlic mashed potatoes to all us Irish. It was so sweet and funny. So being the good Irish cailin I am, I managed another large helping. They were sooooo good.
We all then went to La Parranda for some 80s/90s music which disappointed. But Matt and I ended up talking to this really cool American girl one age with me and had a laugh. Laurie is a photographer and has moved to Xela indefinitely.

28Nov.
We all went to La Rumba. Best salsa club in town, well in my opinion. Got to dance with one of the teachers, Byron, from a Spanish school. A great dancer even if he was a foot smaller than I. A real sweetie though. Had a dance with Andrew, he is really good. Matt and I tried to dance a few dances but we hit the meringue or some other type of dance and failed miserably, oh well next time.
29Nov

There was protest against violence, kidnappings and extortion today in Xela. There was a good turn out. Many all in white as they had been asked to and had been given white t-shirts by the ex-guerrilla radio that is still in existence since the war years. About 14 or so taxi drivers were involved. All with messages, written on their cars.I listened to the speeches and was able to understand a lot, especially the priests, as they are used to speaking in public, and therefore speak more slowly. There was an award given to one child (all of 10 or so years) . She stood up there and spoke like a professional.

Andrew leaves tomorrow. Supposed to go out but we all stayed in the kitchen chatting. Matt bought this girls suede jacket. He is so tall with this girlie jacket that it makes quite a sight. But he has a laugh with it. He tried on a hat and scarf and he decided he needed some rather large white sunglasses to complete the retro 70´s look. He bought the jacket with the intention of using it for a week, then trading it in with some cash and get a super duper rain jacket he has been trying to buy for 2 weeks. He has tried to get the owner of the shop to reduce her price but she wont. He thinks if he wears her down she will give in. I’m putting my money on the owner.

30Nov. An English couple (Rob and Charlotte) moved in, as well as an English girl Eve, They invited us to go on a visit to San Andreas Xecul for the festival of I thin the patron saint of the town. So Matt, Jenny a German girl and I went with them all. We were almost the only tourists there. It was really lovely.

It was a really Mayan town so most people were in traditional clothes. They didn’t seem to mind us and were as curious about us, as we were about them. It was a really lovely day. The town is famous for its amazing coloured church, where the angels have blue boots. In the plaza, outside the church, stood a huge Ferris wheel and 2 smaller ones. Loads of stalls as usual were constructed around the place. I got separated fro a while from the others as I was trying to get a good foto of the start of the parade. I then realised I had run out of battery and had forgotten to transfer the spare battery to my bag this morning. I was gutted. Luckily, I met Matt who was trying to do the same as I and he agreed to give me his photos. Still I would love to have had my own.

Matt and I found some great street food but as I was going to pay for a milkshake, I realised I had lost my other little purse. This time with no keys but 120 quetzales, about 20 dollars worth. I am really having bad luck money wise. I was waiting for item no 3 to happen. We then saw the others back at the plaza. Rob was dead keen to go on the Ferris wheel as was I so we persuaded Charlotte and Matt to go up. What a view. It was fun although matt started to lean forward on the seat to scare me which it did, I am so glad he didn’t lean anymore forward as Rob later informed us that he saw people swinging the full way around as threw was no locks on the seat to prevent them from going upside down. Phew!!!!

Still we had a great day. We had to walk part of the way home, as there was a massive traffic jam of cars and buses trying to get into the festivities. We were in our bus for about 15/20 minutes but eth heat was awful and the locals rebelled and left. We found out it was a short walk so off we set. It was a lovely 20 minute or so walk. We were sad to be leaving because judging by the amount coming in to town, there was going to be one hell of a party. But there were no night buses home, so had to leave.

Over the last 3 weeks, Salsa is still progressing. Albeit very slowly. There are so many moves to learn. Matt and I get to partner each other most of the time, so at least we don’t have to struggle with Spanish and learning to dance. Now we just have to do it on a real dance floor…

1Dec
Gina and Chris came back for a while but have now left for the rest of their trip around Guatemala and Mexico. Angela a lovely Canadian, also left today. That is 4 gone that I have got to like a lot that have left in a few days. A shame. But the communal dinners have made a resurgence. They had stopped completely. They are in no way, as good as they used be, but it is nice to have people stay and chat over cooking and eating.

Lori seems to be fitting in better in her room as she has now met some other Guatemalans which are really nice. She has washed the walls etc. in her room with disinfectant and now has a better lock, after Matt fixed it for her and mended the shelves she bought. She mentioned that Matt looked so manly fixing the shelves and how it was nice to have a guy around to do guy things. Of course this is anathema to me, so I nearly barfed.
And the drunk has never knocked on her door. She was wondering if she should be offended by the rejection but we thought not ha ha.

So my new name for Matt is Manly Matt. Back at the hostel, I told Ashley, she found it just as amusing as I did. She came up with the new phrase… Manly Matt in his girlie jacket. We laughed. I like her humour. Matt seems to be taking it quite well. bless him.

Xela who... The first pass Late Sep to Late Oct

Xela 28 September

I got the early bus to Sacapulos, then on to Huehuetenango. It was nice scenery but the road was damaged from too much rain and sometimes one side of the road was impassable due to landslides. However, did get to see a lot of Indigenous on their way to the market or at the market in passing with the odd photo. Xela Today I arrived in Quetzaltenango, Xela for short, It is Sunday and the place is dead. I check into a hostel called Don Diego, then set to exploring and eating. I tried looking for this Thai restaurant but no luck. However I found "Sabor de India" which was a delicious Indian Restaurant. I spoke to this American chap and he recommended the Blue Angel for movies.
There is something familiar about Xela. I can´t put my finger on it. I watch a movie later and bump into him. I thought I could organise a Spanish school today but everything is closed. Back at the dorm, I met this young German trainee doctor. She is working far up in the hills in a village miles from anything and came to Xela for a bit of RnR. She is having a fascinating time with her patients, who are now used to her. She told us that if someone cant be treated at her clinic, or it is too serious, they have to drive 3hrs or more or get a taxi to the nearest hospital. Most don’t have a car and often that drive is too long. This is especially true for difficult births. She also said the equipment they had was medieval and very limited. It was sad yet the people were incredible.

Monday. I set to investigating all the Spanish schools around. Oh my god! There are so many. I am so confused. I want to go with a Mayan school but it does not feel the best. I give up and try to find walking boots. I search for hours and hours and hours. Nothing. Oh god.
Tuesday. I searched again for walking boots. I have to find some, as walking around in freezing rain in sandals. It is killing me. By Wednesday, I have given up trying to buy hiking boots and invested in a cool pair of boots, red converse look-a-likes. Always wanted a pair so now I have them but what the hell am I to do about hiking boots? But at least I now feel a million times warmer with covered feet. Life is better already.

I make friends with Lori and Joan two pretty cool Americans, who are a few years younger than I. Joan being the baby. We often end up on the single bed in the dorm chatting for hours. I have another great roommate, called John. He has just turned 60 and is probably one of the coolest men I have met. He has been volunteering for 6 months in another town several miles away, teaching. His wife is just as spectacular. She has volunteered to help protect witnesses on their way to trial. There are trials running at the moment on crimes committed during the war etc. Often the witnesses are intimidated by the perpetrators or their associates. However, just having one foreigner present can stop this. Bizarre but… His wife though has had to volunteer for 6 months as there are other things to be done too and often appearing as a witness is traumatic so counseling and helping is part of the job too.

Friday, well I finally found a school, it was recommended to me by an Aussie called Michael, who was here for the weekend, up from another town where he is volunteering for 6 months teaching English. I booked for 5 hours every afternoon for a week.
There is great excitement in Xela at present as it is the month of the Virgin Mary. Stalls have set up in the central park selling food like tacos, corn and poncho, which is a hot fruit punch. Needless to say I have had great fun trying them all.

There are regular processions around town, which involves carrying a life size statue of the virgin with religious walking behind praying and fire crackers being left off behind he procession every 10 minutes or so (they are so loud). What I do like though is that the men carry the statue for a short while, then the women take over. At home it used always be just the men. The cathedral has been decorated with the finest flowers and draped with long swaths of red cloth. It is stunning inside.

This week met some of the other regulars here in the hostel. There is Marco, from Guatemala, an architecture student here in Xela. He is a doll. And a mad Mexican called Pablo, 26. Then there is Francisco, 21, Lette, 17 and Hilda who has 2 kids and seems to be in her late 20s/early 30s all working in the hostel.

At the weekend, I went around town looking at the festivities. In the evenings there are marimba bands and a great party atmosphere.

Sunday 5Oct. Hilda invited Micheal, Pablo and Lori to the celebration of Day of the children in her village. Lori was ill, so I went instead. She took us 3 to the village which took a total of 3 buses which she has to take each time she comes to work. It took about an hour. Then it was onto the church hall, where we listened to the pastor preach. Later, Lette and some of her sisters and loads of school kids put on a show of singing and dancing. It really was lovely. At the end the villagers insisted on feeding us. It was so nice of them and the food was lovely.
That evening, a few came from the hostel on Sunday and we ate together and played table futbol. Hilda one of the staff came too.

Monday. 06 Oct: Started class. I like my teacher but there is no energy in the class. I start to wane about 30 minutes into it, as does she. I think having class in the afternoon is no good. I am learning but she is going over things I have learned but just can’t remember. I need to study more. We had one interesting class though. An ex president had just been arrested in Mexico and it was in the newspaper. He had stolen millions about 10 years ago but had escaped. However, it didn’t appear that he would be handed over anytime soon and if he was the indications were he would get off. Guatemalan politics are soooo corrupt.

Monday. 13Oct: Francisco, Pablo and Marco often end up cooking in a group. Lori joined them first and now I have. The group is growing and sometimes it is smaller.
I went to another school, this time the Mayan school. The class is so much more interesting and there is an energy between us. It also starts in the morning and gives me time to study in the afternoons and do my homework .

Another Mexican called Cesar has joined the hostel group. He is a great cook and has joined the group. Everyone seems to be enamored with him. He is very sociable. The groups for dinner have grown sometimes to 16.

I met this lovely German girl in the hostel and she wanted to go to one of the local indigenous markets in a town called another town called Momostenango.

12October: On Sunday, we got the 8.30 bus and landed in the thick of it. It was heaving with all sorts. A lot of indigenous come to this market and the area is renowned for its blankets and weavings. . I wanted to buy a blanket. However, there weren’t as many as I thought but finally found one I wanted. The lady wanted 200Q for it, but I wanted to offer only 160. She would only go down to 175, so I walked away to think about it. I could find no other so went back. She offered me 160 immediately. So I gave her 165. She was delighted and allowed me to take her photo. She was such a lovely lady. I shoed her the photo and she showed it to her friend and they had a laugh over it. They don’t see many photos of themselves so were well chuffed to see them.

I ended up buying a few other things too elsewhere, like a wall hanging and some scarves.
We ate at a little street vendors and they were delighted with the novelty of serving foreigners. The food was a great homemade soup, a plate of rice, chicken and salad and a cup of coffee. All for approx 10Q. Bargain.

We passed this butchers stall, and the guy behind asked us to take a photo and started posing. It was such a laugh. So we took a photo of the ladies there too and showed them it.
Once we had exhausted the market, we went off in search of the cemetery. It was peaceful place on the top of a hill. The headstones and tombs were a rainbow of colour. We took photos of the cemetery and the pleasant view, then got the bus home.

16October; Loris Birthday, a few of us went shopping for the food in the market etc. and then spent several hours cooking. We we bought a pañeta. Basically this is a paper mache toy see the bear in the foto. It is filled with sweets and the birthday girl/boy has to bash the living daylights out of it, until the sweets are released and scattered to the floor. It was a great party and the Mexicans cooked up a stonking "mole" (Mexican speciality, Meat with Chocolate sauce and spices). Delicious. Later we all went on to a local dive bar.

20Oct. Cesar wanted to go back to Mexico for the day of the dead and to sort some items out so I went along with him as I always wanted to see the day of the dead and thougth it woudl be cool to go with a Native.

I said my goodbyes to the gang in Xela. Hoever, I figured I would be back. I so love Xela.

Mexico 20Oct-12Nov: Visting places I had no intention of visiting but am here anyway..Mexico City

Cesar and I left Guatemala early and arrived in Mexico city the next day after taking a night bus from Tuxla. At the border with Guatemala and Mexico, we met this polish couple, Krystian and Joanna. We had a lovely chat with them They seemed really nice

When we arrived in Mexico city, we got the metro from the bus station and we hit Zucolo first. This is the main Central Plaza in the city and the cathedral and government offices are here. It is an amazing place. They were just setting up the different offerings for the day of the dead. Also there was a lot of activity in the centre. There were shamen/witch doctors blessing people and Aztec dancers in full regalia, dancing to drums. It was bedlam but fun. We stayed the night in hostel cathedral. It was a nice enough hostel and was right in the centre and useful to get to the bus station. We tried to get into the Mexican wrestling but were too late, so we went to this really nice restaurant on a terrace overlooking the Zucolo. The setting was beautiful , the food was great and not too expensive.

Next day we headed to Patzcuaro. This town is famous for its day of the dead celebrations. When we got there we met this Argentinian girl (Florencia) and we all decided to share a room to keep costs down. We booked into this nice pension.

Patzcuaro, had a few markets all with loads of stalls selling everything. However, the most common were paraphenalia for day of the dead. Mostly sweets. There were loads of skulls made from sugar and colourfully decorated. In tandem, there were loads of skeletons based on designs by Diego Rivera and other famous Mexican artists. The crafts were amazing and beautiful.

One night we met this Australian chap and he came with us to this village, that is famous for making guitars. It has so many shops making guitars and sometimes other instruments. After a few days though, Cesar was beginning to annoy me so I left and went back to Mexico city.

I had only intended to go back to sort my flights to South America but ended up staying 2 weeks as the city was so captivating. I booked back into the hostel we had stayed in our first night.

I walked most days to different areas. There are so many beautiful buildings. My favourite is the Belle Artes. It was as amazing inside, as outside as there are amazing murals inside by some of the most famous Mexican artists.

I got museum fever and each day I went to a few museums. My favourites were the Frida Kahlo house, where Frida had been born, raised and had also lived there with her famous artist husband Diego Rivera. They have left their indellible mark on the city. Some of the paintings they had done of each other were on display. The house had been left pretty much as she had left it.

She and her husband had been friends and had put up Leon Trotsky when he was on the run from Stalin until she had an affair with him and he had to move out with his wife. The Trotskys moved into another house but they were not there long before he was murdered by some communist artists on Stalins wishes. The Trotksy story was a very sad one. Most of his family had been murdered in Russia and was continuously on the run. I think one of the happiest times in his life was when he lived in Frida Kahlo´s house .
In the 20s and 30s Mexican artists were leading the way in Fresco art. Some of the murals by several artists are dotted around Mexico city. I saw a small fraction of them but it certainly gave me a taste for more. Diego Rivera´s art was very intellectual and political. His art had so many hidden and not so hidden meanings as well as being visually stimulationg and beautiful. His art graced many a public building, as the Mexican goverment at the time was pro socialist. I definitly think that we have been deprived of Latin American art in Europe. I have rarely seen much at home. However, it is plentiful, diverse and incredible, what I have seen so far.

Mexico City seems to see lots of protests. I got to see a few while I was there. There is a lot of anger against the government in the Chiapas region and they want land reforms. The government keeps promising but doesn´t deliver much.

Along the most historic road, built a few centuries ago, there was an art exhibition. Various paper mache sculptures (Mexico is famous for this art form) were displayed and accesible to all. They were huge and it was a great item to bring the kids to. You could see loads of kids loving them.

I saw a crowd gather around some street perfomers. The lead performer was in his late 20s and was a bit of an actor/comedian. He did a whole show just walking around making fun of various things. He was then joined by his colleague. The level of gymnastics and strenght was amazing. Their sense of balance was just unbelieveable. Here there are performing one of their feats. I saw them perform several days after that. Each day they were surrounded by huge crowds.

The day of the dead is the 31st October. It is a very important date for many ancient cultures here. But I could see similarities with some of the celebrations we have at home for Halloween or at least in the old days. Here though they make fun of the dead and it is a happy occasion.

Throughout the city are various offerings. Basically they create a display with a theme of death and... e.g. Cinema etc. The traditional flowers they use are something very similar, if not the same to our Marigolds. This gives a very vivid yellow colour everywhere. Sometimes a family will create an offering for a loved one. They will add the favourite foods and cigarettes etc. On the actual day of the dead, families go to the graveyard and sit around the grave of the departed and sing thier favourite songs, bring favourite foods etc. It is a bit of a party, and not the sad affair we associate with death in Europe.

Around the central square in Mexico city, a lot of kids and even adults were dressed up and walking around in their costumes.

Some of the costumes were absolutely stunning. Some people even dressed their dogs. I spent most of my evenings walking around the central plaza, looking at the different costumes, trying different street food and drinks. It was such a party atmosphere.

A few days after coming, this lady called Sue moved into my dorm. We hit it off immediately. She is from England and we had the most deep, yet funny discussions. She made friends with a few others through a tour she did and then I made friends with some of them too and met others along the way. Before long we had a little family going and used to meet for breakfast and dinner. We were a diverse group aged between 23 and 57. But age was not relevant. That is what I loved about them. I really hope to meet Sue again. Then there was Ron from the US, Anne from Aus, Asi from Isreal and Ramon from Mexico. And one girl Natalia, lives in Bogota and I hope we can meet. We had many intellectual and silly discussions us lot and much humour and laughter.

One night I went to this salsa club with a few of the gang. I ran in to the polish couple, Krystian and Joanna, that I had met coming across the border from Guatemala. How small a world is that. We hung out for a short while and chatted and became facebook friends.

However, I got foodpoisoning after some ice, which laid me up for a few days. So this meant I had to stay a bit longer.

I went to Oximilco, rated as the Mexican answer to Venice. It is a series of canals and there are gondolas etc taking tourists around and bands singing to those same tourists from other boats. I got stung price wise as I was the only one there at that time, so had to take a boat by myself. balls. Still it was nice.

I really think that mexico is one of the most beautiful, amazing cities I have been in. I really want to come back.

After 2 weeks, in Mexico city I concluded it was back to Xela. I couldn´t find cheap flights from Mexico down to South America so would have to find alternatives and it would be nice to see the gang.