To the Lake

Ben writes -

We have made it to Guatemala. It was a bit hairy getting here though. My nerves had settled down a little after driving Anna crazy for 2 weeks. We got the shuttle from San Cristobal de las Casas to the boarder where we had to change buses and wait for a couple of hours amid what can only be called 'total chaos'. We kept a lookout for the Oliver Twist style urchins who were trying to rob us blind and also the older Fagin types with no teeth. A Dickensian experience but a bit hotter.

Tig says I am exagerating.

We then got underway again and we witnessed the devestation which Stan wrought on the area. At one point we waited in a traffic jam for one and a half hours not knowing why. It turned out that the road had been COMPLETELY washed away and they were letting traffic go one way at a time (changing every 2 hours) down a dirt track they had constructed round the mountainside. We saw the old road go on for a bit and then there was nothing. We made it to Panajachel on Lake Atilan that night and got a fast lauch in the morning to San Pedro which is a lovely place.

Friendly people, cheap food, beer and spanish lessons. It has got two massive volcanoes that go straight down into the lake from 3200 feet. We are staying here for a few more days to improve our spanish. Hopefully we can go kayaking here too.

We are off to Belize in a few days to learn to dive with Degs, who is returning from Playa del Carmen where he had to whether out Hurricane Wilma.

Take care,
Ben