Okay, I know it´s only been two days since my last post, but we´re about to embark on a tour of Guatemala and I don´t know if we´ll find much time to get on the internet.

Yesterday morning at 7:45 we got on the bus to the border town of Ciudad Cauhtèmoc, where we had to find a "taxi" to the Guatemalan border town La Mesilla. The taxis were actually just local guys with cars who charged ten pesos a person and constantly slowed down to shout happily out the window to his friends.

La Mesilla is a frighteningly busy town. There are street stalls everywhere, and it´s rather dirty. First we had to get our passports stamped, and then we had to exchange our pesos for quetzals with the random fanny-pack-clad men. They did not give us the proper rate, I´m quite sure. Then we found out which direction the bus station was and started walking. And walking. And walking.

So eventually we accepted one of the many taxi driver´s offers and hopped in. These taxis were like golf carts with three wheels and no doors or seatbelts. Luckily there were handles in front of us to hold on to.

The bus station was a collection of brightly painted school buses parked in no particular order or direction. And the moment the taxi stopped, a man ran off the bus, grabbed George´s violin and ran back onto the bus! The taxi guy said "I guess that´s your bus!"

Luckily it was. And the bus ride was quite an experience, although I´ve heard they get much worse the further south you go. Like I said, it was just a painted school bus. If any of you have ever taken the school bus, you´ll remember how uncomfortable those little seats are.

And the buses here stop anywhere along the road where people are waiting! I think you just have to flag down the bus! And the bus doesn´t stop. Oh no. It slows down, and you have to run and jump on. And they don´t stop allowing people on once the seats are full - they keep taking on more and more passengers! It got so full at one point that we were three to a seat (four in our case, with a mother and child) and people standing in the aisles. And sometimes, as long as there was no seen oncoming traffic, the bus decided to randomly drive in the oncoming traffic lane. I have no idea why.

And the landscape is stunning! It is very mountainous, and covered in lush bush and jungle trees! We drove past a couple waterfalls that were literally on the road, which also followed a lovely river which sat at the bottom of a steep guard-rail-free cliff.

Anyways, we arrived safely but sorely at Huehuetenango and found a nice hotel for 60 quetzals a night (about $8 CAD) and wandered around a bit. The people here are incredibly friendly. Every second person has stopped us on the street just to say hello in spanish and english. And people are constantly staring at us with amusement. I guess it´s because we´re the only white people in the city.

And we splurged, although we were way over budget already, and had a delicious meal in a "Cafe Economical" and we each got our own plate! For twenty quetzals each, we got a huge piece of chicken, pasta salad, rice, potatoes, soup, and a big pile of tortillas. Wow.

Now here is our itinerary for the next while: tomorrow, Saturday, we are going to Quetzaltenango to climb some inactive volcanoes. After two or three days we will go to Panajachel to kayak around the lake. After two or three days there, we´re going to Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa where we can see giant stone heads in the sugar plantations and on the hills. Then Antigua for a very dangerous active volcano, and unless we hear about any more interesting places to go, we´ll go to Honduras.

Keep your fingers crossed!