If today's Tuesday, this must be Tulum

I was all for taking a flight from Guatemala City to Cuba.  Luckily Michele prevailed on me  to be a bit more adventurous and take the standard backpacker trail from Lake Atitlan to Cancun, via Semuc Champey, Tikal, Belize and Tulum.  There were times when the thought of spending another eight hours inside a hot overcrowded vehicle began to lose its appeal,  but I am glad we went. 

We raised the average age on the bus by thirty years.  It was neat to travel with young people.  Israeli travellers were the dominant demographic among the backpackers.  They explained that men have to serve for three years in the military, while the women need to serve for two.  Once they were free to resume normal life, many decompressed by travelling, particularly in Latin America.

 

Alfombras:  the Catholic equivalent to Buddhist Mandalas

In San Pedro, the locals were up all night creating these carpets ("Alfombras") out of sawdust, fruit, etc in time for the Good Friday, Stations of the Cross, procession.  Once the procession had trampled the carpet, it was a mess and had to be promptly shoveled into the back of the street cleaning truck.

 

Sayonara to San Pedro

Michele and I had been made very welcome by our respective homestay families.  After seven or so weeks, we were sorry to have to say goodbye.  Here is a picture of my homestay mother Magdalena, her husband Jeremias, and family, from the roof of their house overlooking Lake Atitlan:

I was happy that I also got a picture taken with Clara (Jeremias' mother) because she did not stop working from noon til night.

The women in the town were very religious and very hard working.  The two characteristics are no doubt related.  One of the few times that I ever saw Magdalena relaxed, was in church.  She had her own altar in the house.  Breakfast was sometimes accompanied by the sound of Mass being broadcast live on the tv.  Smiling, she once said that the only time she expected to get some rest, was when she died.

Semuc Champey:  Cord cutting in the jungle

Semuc Champey is famous for its cascade of cataracts and swimming holes set in the heart of the jungle.

However, I have to rather sheepishly admit that I was actually more excited by the abilities of my new Motorola Moto G smartphone. 

$20 bought me a Sim Card with unlimited data for a month.  Using the phone to create a "hotspot" meant that I could post blogs to the web without an internet cable connection in sight.

 

Tikal:  The Young and the "Selfie"

It was only fifty years ago that an archeological team from the University of Pennsylvania hacked back the jungle to expose the ruins of this epic Mayan city.  We stayed in the Jungle Lodge hotel which originally served as the camp for the archeologists.  The place still had the charming casual feel of a safari camp.

Part of the appeal of Tikal was that we had the ruins more or less to ourselves.

These young beautiful Israeli twins caught my eye.  Wherever we went in Tikal, we saw them taking "selfies" on their super duper telescopic selfie stick.  It made me view travel in a totally new light.  In the future, travel will be thought of as just one giant selection of "sets" for selfies.

 

Belize:  Stingrays, Sharks and Hobie Cats

They say its not a great idea to get married on April Fools Day.  Apparently it's an even worse idea to bring your parents in law on honeymoon with you.  Twenty six years ago we broke both precepts and holidayed with Ray and Vivian at the Journey's End hotel in Belize.  We had a great time, but kids do not worry! - we do not necessarily expect to be invited when you get married!  Ray and Vivian brought their sense of excitement and humor, which always made them such good company .  Back in 1989, Belize was not the tourist hotspot that it is today.

Coming back here, we made two mistakes - first we stayed in Ambergris Caye not Caye Caulker, second we stayed in San Pedro rather than further north.  San Pedro (not to put too fine a point on it) is a bit of a dump at the best of times.  This year the general air of dereliction was exacerbated by a freakishly prolonged  infestation of seaweed from the Sargasso Sea.  There was a rotting compost smell coming from those parts of the beach where the owners were less diligent about clearing away the seaweed.

Having said all this, we were lucky enough to stay at the Caribbean Villas hotel.  The friendly staff and intimate set up made us forget any caveats that we might have had.  Ordrius, the Lithuanian sailing school guy, gave me free lessons in a Hobie Cat before he let me sail it.  A lot of my attempted tacks, left me flapping around "in irons" miles from the sea shore.  Fortunately, the only dent was to my pride.

Michele overcame her normal reluctance on such matters, and went swimming with the (nurse) sharks:

 

Tulum:  what happens when you stay at an Italian All Inclusive in Mexico?

We are staying at the Pavo Real all inclusive hotel:

The Italians running the place have flunked all three requirements of a Mexican All Inclusive:

There are no drunkards around for the simple reason that it  takes too long to get to the one bar on site.  You can read your book without having to shut out the noise of Adele yelling "you can have it all", on the camp sound system.  Most weird of all, when you waddle up to the feeding trough, the food actually tastes good!

Better enjoy the good food now - Cuba up next!