RIO DULCE

Rio Dulce is a river in Guatemala and has become a popular cruising sailboat destination. It starts where is flows out of the lake Izabal. The river is spanned by one of the biggest bridges in Central America. There is a little village right next to the bridge with local vegetable markets on both sides of the street. Huge trucks, buses, tuctucs and motor bikes cause a big traffic jam every time because the street is so small. By the time the trucks go down the bridge towards the village the use the engine brake and that is a horrible noise, it sound like a plane crash! (unfortunately the hostel is next to the bridge but it is funny) The traffic rules are simple here: Toot and go! ;-) Everyone is running around no one cares about anything and you need to be careful not to get run over by a truck or a tuctuc. Tuctucs, the littel taxis are very common here:-) look at these pictures... awesome, isn't it?

TRAVEL PLANNING

The plan is, see what happens;-)
There is only a rough idea where to go but you never know if it will work out the way you thought about before. That is the challenge! By the time you start in the morning you only know where the bus station is, maybe. Then you ask the people when the bus is coming. Maybe it will be there, maybe not. Then you maybe only find a minibus and they say the are going to the place you want to see. There are only locals on the bus and that is the only possibility to go somewhere. So get on the bus and hope that is works out well:-) It will be fine. They are all very friendly here and I never got robed yet. It would be very stupid to rip off tourists because that is what they earn money with. Well, you only need to pay more than the locals:-) it is only a few Dollars, or Quetzales in Guatemala, but if you pay in Dollars everyone is going to have their own exchange rate to earn one Dollar more;-) I hope they will spend it wisely! (no, I know)
If you hop on the minibus you never know how many people are going to join the bus on the way.. have a look here:-) this bus is made for 12 to 15 people and I think we were about 24 people including the ones standing on the door step outside ... any questions? ;-) haha!

The only thing I really need for travelling is my computer, my camera and the internet. So far it worked out well. While I am travelling around I work online to earn money, do graphic jobs, photography and advertise accommodations and cool spots on my way! :-) 

NERIAS PLACE IN UAXACTÚN

Neria is a Guatemalan Woman from Uaxactún. She spent her whole life there. She has got a little accomodation, very simple but lovely and again awesome local food. The place is called Campamento El Chiclero. Thank you very much Neria! I would like to go back another time with more Spanish;-)
I never heard about Ramón before. It is a nut and they make really good cake out of it or mix is up with coffee, it is very tasty. I already bought the flour of Ramón on the market to make my own dessert! They also make natural chewing gum. It is an old Maya tradition. It simply tastes like tree:-)
Here are some impressions of a wunderful time in Uaxactún:

Nerias Place

Neria and I

Grandma making corn tortillas

her family 

on the left: chewing gum (no bread), in the back: Ramón the nut and

on the right: Pepper fresh from the garden