Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala, Chiapas in 12 days.

Cancun - we stayed there only the last night before departure back. Didn't even bother to go to the beach.

Tulum - Mayan ruins disappointment, rope everywhere, very nice beach.

Belize - awesome, awesome. Great snorkeling on the coral reef with stingrays and baby sharks, Belize City - very exciting, good atmosphere, I was called 'white brother' by street weed dealers, maybe not the safest place after dark, I would like to go back and see more of that country. Probably liked the country out of those three the most.

Guatemala - rip-off on the border with entry-leaving fees. Around Tikal they are maybe too much organized for ripping off visitors for my taste. It takes a lot of energy and you have to bargain pretty much about anything.
Tikal - I don't know why, but me and my gf were one of only few people there. There was almost no one else. I was expecting crowds, and instead we spent hours before sunset sitting on Temple IV without seeing/hearing almost no one else. seeing the temples rising out of jungle and with nothing else around to see but the tropical forest and only hearing the few jungle noises and otherwise silence and wind - if only for that the trip was worth it.

Chiapas - it felt like a country on its own - Mexico is only a name over there. A lot of military check-points on the roads, nervous atmosphere, everything along the road sprayed with EZLN letters. Our van got stopped by zapatistas collecting money, I idiot had only half an dollar and no pesos on me - dude for a while looked like pulling us out of car, but fortunately at the end they let us go.
Palenque - good ruins, but crowded - we were really lucky with Tikal. Zapatistas seemed to be very active now, I talked to people who got turned around by armed jeeps with locals on the way to San Sebastian. Our bus back to Tulum also arrived 3 hours later because the road was blocked by zapatistas.

Valladolid - we went to swim to cenotes - very nice and the town itself felt very good.

Overall, I am not surprised if the locals hate Americans/tourists. If I were living there and had to deal with people who go for a vacation over there, I would hate us, too. I was actually surprised how many of the Mexicans we met were very friendly and willing to talk with us.


Rating the ruins:
1. Tikal
2. Lamanai (Belize)
3. Palenque
4. Tulum
didn't go to Chichen Itza. Probably didn't miss too much - it wouldn't beat Tikal, anyways.

what was the purpose of this trip

just to see ruins?

what was the purpose of this trip

just to see ruins?
it was for the first time we were really travelling together. It is a good test of any relationship I guess - travelling together. I wanted to see Tikal and do the snorkeling on the coral reef, and wanted to visit Chiapas after hearing so much about it. I couldn't leave for longer than 2 weeks. More time would be better, but what can I do.

did you pass the test

What did you eat

Afrika Bambaata, Poor Righteous Teacher
Got within myself so it made me a Five Percenter
Say La-Di-Da-Di, UHH! we like to party but
my jam was BDP, with My Philosophy!

hey jan. i have friends living in belize. they live right next to the mayor. are you back in canadia or over in narnia yet? i missed you when i was up there. i brought you a special gift. i still have that amazing picture you gave me. ;)

That's the exact itinerary of a cruise I won when I was 13. The ruins were pretty badass.

what was the purpose of this trip

just to see ruins?
what are you trying to say

when you gave that guy your half-dollar you became an accomplice in his crimes

What did you eatwhatever local cocina economica had on the program that day.

I tried pan de cazon (baby shark meat) in Valladolid (http://lh3.ggpht.com/_MsXQQWZnXYU/SAnLPWLcxdI/AAAAAAAABQA/1FyVkc1ValI/Valladolid-PanDeCazon.jpg) - it was very good.

I liked Emperador lemon taste biscuits.


when you gave that guy your half-dollar you became an accomplice in his crimes
It didn't look like local people over there have very easy lives. I can sympathize.

hey jan. i have friends living in belize. they live right next to the mayor. are you back in canadia or over in narnia yet? i missed you when i was up there. i brought you a special gift. i still have that amazing picture you gave me. ;)
We returned April 22nd :(.

i'm stopping in belize on a cruise in august. would you say it was relatively safe during the day?

i'm stopping in belize on a cruise in august. would you say it was relatively safe during the day?in belize city itself? Oh yeah - we walked around normally and everything was fine. Before we went I browsed Lonely Planet travel forums and the city seemed to have very bad reputation. But I guess it is like anywhere else - as long as you don't flash expensive cameras and watch around you, you will be fine. It is very colorful place :).

i have a friend from belize who is staying with me right now. she's amazing. she also just opened a hotel and i can't wait to go visit.

belizians are very tricky people from what i understand.

That page has viruses on it >:[

in belize city itself? Oh yeah - we walked around normally and everything was fine. Before we went I browsed Lonely Planet travel forums and the city seemed to have very bad reputation. But I guess it is like anywhere else - as long as you don't flash expensive cameras and watch around you, you will be fine. It is very colorful place :).

yeah just the city itself. well that's good to hear, because like you said i think it has a bad reputation

Fettucini, Linguini, Martini, Bikini

belizians are very tricky people from what i understand.
tricky - let's say they are not boring, they are interesting to watch.

We had an interesting meeting - we were walking down the street along the harbor when this Garifuna guy approached me, excusing himself what he will ask now about, that he doesn't want to come across as a racist, but he would like to know - he asks if there are any blacks in my country. I said we are pretty much all white. Turns out the guy was from Guatemala. He tried to get to the US, but he got caught on the border. He spent some time detained there, and then US sent him to belize with another group of 20 Belizeans. He was the only one from Guatemala, so they shipped him with them. He had no money and was just waiting for the Guatemala Consulate to open, but he was out of luck, because they still had Easter holiday. I told him what's the problem that he is Garifuna so I am sure locals would help him out or that he should hitchhike home. He said that yes, he is of Garifuna background like Belizeans, but the problem is that since he is from Guatemala, he knows no Creole, and Belizeans are fucking racists. Because he doesn't know the language, they don't think of him as one of them, and they don't want to help and send him away.

I found Belizeans friendly, helpful, and very easy to talk to.

racists.