13TH - 16TH MAY 2008

Left the hotel with the police escort in the front and the tourist board behind.  Started off on a good road into the mountains through the pine forests.  Then the road book went a bit off and chaos prevailed as the local police stopped some of the cars taking the prescribed route!  Lots of radio calls and we all ended up parking in the centre of PATZUN to wait for everyone, causing quite a stir amongst the locals

 

               

  

Curious locals..........................                 These three got bored..................            Waiting for the rest of the team..........

 

Finally hit the mountain road – beautiful – described in the book as a precipitous descent.  Had the video working all the way so not many photos guys – can’t do two things at once.

 

Around Lake Atitlan we cam across the Lotus – Joyce and Steven at the side of the road – poor Joyce she thinks they are the only car we have to stop for.  The lake is fantastic surrounded by six volcanoes.

Used the time whilst we waited to take some photos – just as well because once we got started again we were in the police escort and motored through all of the other towns, Panajachel, Chicencastenango and Solola – all of which were mentioned in the guide book as interesting places to stop!!! (No stopping for us – this is not a holiday!!)

 

         

 

Lake Atitlan & volcanoes......                  Bringing home the washing..........           Its' that Lotus again..........

 

   

 

Ladies making tortillas.............             Not quite Costcutters.............

 

 

The road just goes on and on today up and up – definitely over 2000 metres at least in some places.  Some of the towns we passed through were not in the road book so we had fun driving round and round, up one way streets and shouting at locals asking for directions – they must wonder what on earth is happening.  Jus as well Coxy can read a compass and has a great sense of direction, otherwise we could still be riding around Solola!  After another stop with Joyce and Stephens’ Lotus (Harry White – if you are reading this take note!)  we decided to stop for lunch with Paul and Nikki – no chance – just a we pulled up we heard on the radio that there was a landslide ahead and that all of the classics were stuck!!  Worried about whether or not we would all get through by nightfall, we stopped at a local shop to get in some provisions.  Three bags of rice, ten mangoes, packets of tortilla crisps and soft drinks.  I think we would definitely have needed the help of the miracle worker to feed everyone, particularly as between us we had four plates, four knives and forks and four cups!!

 

When we finally arrived at the scene there were lorries and small trucks all over the place – no sign of the classics but lots of sand, flying dust, diggers and scrapers.  Finally spotted the Rover being towed up one steep hill!  This is definitely the time for Paul and Coxy to have their fun after chugging up hill and down dale all day today, watching the classics zooming along .  Now the 4 x 4s can play in the sand.

As darkness fell, we had no idea how far we were from the hotel  - we estimated we must have done about 20kms on this road. Visibility very poor and now fully understand the statement “Eat my Dust”…..

 

       

 

Arriving at the landslide....                    Vehicles and dust all over the place...........................................

 

 

     

 

Can you spot the Rover?..........                Yes Julian that is a Case digger............

 

 

Stopped to fill up with diesel.  The vehicles were all covered in thick dust from the road.  They looked like ghosts trucks in the dark.

 

The hotel, once we got there was much better than anyone expected considering its loation.  We got there around 7:30pm after 12 hours on the road. We passed on a shower and headed straight for the bar.  No English spoken and not many quetzals left after filling up but we managed to get a couple of beers and spaghetti for around five pounds fifty equivalent.  Mood in the camp was varied from mild hysteria to a great sense of achievement and the ‘team’ as everyone shared their experiences, good and bad.  Rick (team leader) was exhausted and warned Coxy that he wasn’t in the mood for his “Yorkshire humour….”

The main issue was how the classics had all fared on the road, it was too dark and they were too dusty to check for damages.  It would all have to wait until morning.

 

 

 

 

The morning after......

 

On the road again. The trip today should be better just a bit of gravel to get over – or so they say.  We drove through the rolling fertile land around Coban where they grow coffee and cardamon – at one point we could smell the cardamom on the air.  Stopped at a roadside Tienda for drinks – the owner couldn’t speak English or Spanish – must be some Mayan dialect and allowed David to go inside and get what we needed

 

 

        

 

 

25 dollars to you sir...............                 John, David and Dave relaxing with apple juice (yes apple juice!)....

 

 

Along the road we kept seeing a road sign NO CORRO NO MATE.  Checked in the dictionary – translated as NO RUNNING NO COMMITTING SUICIDE!!!  Found out later from one of our Spanish speaking ladies – SPEED KILLS. 

 

We have a river crossing today at Sayaxche.  15 queztals for car and passengers around one pound – cheaper than North Sea Ferries!!  JC was first aboard but had to sit in the middle so that the raft remained stable until others boarded.  No safety railings around us, people swimming and washing their cars in the river as well as passenger ferries milling around. There were children on board selling oranges and frozen coconuts – who were very interested in us!!

 

 

         

 

 

The "Ferry".................                          Waiting to board..............                     One of our fans..................

 

Got to the other side and watched some of the others come across.  Good job we didn’t all arrive at the same time or the queue would have gone back for miles.

 

 

          

 

 

    

 

Nikki and Paul arrived on the next boat and the girls had a bit of a rest in a hammock.  This would be good for your deck Faye!!!

 

         

 

Dr Nikki on call.................                     Denise got in.............                           but had a problem getting out..........

 

 

Changing my feelings about Guatemala – the countryside is beautiful and the people up here in the highlands very very friendly.  We stop at Flores Island with its pastel coloured houses and have a banana split (my mum’s favourite)  - wondered what she would have made of all of this????

 

         

 

Banana split for mam.........       From Flores island.............                    A good drying day........

 

Made it to the Hotel with no breakdowns today!! 

 

After an early morning start we JC and I set off to visit the Mayan site at Tikal – he loves it really but had to promise “no more ancient ruins”.

The road to the ruins goes though the jungle for around 5 kms with signs all along saying – CAUTION ANIMALS CROSSING – see if you can guess what they are……

 

 

 

 

Thankfully we didn't see any!!!

 

 

Fantastic site – much bigger than Coban.  Amazing how they keep the jungle back it must be a constant job.

 

     

 

Indiana Jones in the jungle...........        Some views of Tikal..........................................

 

       

 

                                                         No - not us........                     No chainsaws here - just machete's

 

         

 

Using set square to get right size!..         Is that JC?........                      Lost in the in Mundo Perdido - The Lost World.....

 

Despite the shade from the trees by 10am it was very very warm.  We met up with some other guys from the rally.  John and Gerry (Dutchman) were discussing the pleasures or otherwise of visiting these sites.  Gerry seems to have the same opinion as John and said “don’t worry John it will be erased from your memory tomorrow your hard drive can only store so much…”  This is very true we have seen more in 3 weeks than most people see in a lifetime!!

 

Left hotel the next morning heading for Belize, the tarmac swiftly changed to pot holes and then finally dust and gravel – it’s true what they say “tarmac is better than sex”!!!  especially when you ride the gravel for a whole day!

 

Entry to Belize was wonderful – everyone spoke English.  No running from office to office to get copies of everything – they even have the Queen on their money –very civilized.  We said goodbye to our Guatemalan escort with much hugging and shaking of hands.

 

        

 

We had to go through quarantine.....

 

 

Very different atmosphere – more Caribbean and very colourful houses.  As we passed through the border we ran alongside of the river where the women were sitting doing their washing – much cooler than filling the washer in the utility room!

 

         

 

Views along the roadside..............................

 

We entered Belize City on Cemetery Road – you can see why it’s called that..

 

    

 

The road runs right through the middle of the cemetry, there is even a roundabout with graves on it!!!!

 

After leaving our vehicles at the Radisson hotel we headed for the boat and our trip to Banyan Bay Resort.

 

       

 

Getting ready to board.........                 JC checking out the boar.........               The gang are loving this........

 

      

 

He's loving it............                            The ones who had a big lunch beforehand...........................................

 

Our leader lost his hat as we arrived and promptly dived off the jetty and swam off to sea to find it.  Unfortunately he was going in the wrong direction and was swiftly followed by Paul to much jeering and shouting from the rest of us. 

Welcome drinks on arrival before we all settle in to the lovely hotel located on the edge of Ambergis Caye.

 

 

        

 

JC looking very business like......             Around the hotel..............................................................

 

   

 

Banyan Bay hotel and resort..................... - looks good to me............

 

Planning to have a relaxing couple of days – aside from trying to replace some of the information on the website of course!!! – Got to keep my readers happy.

 

 

RETURN TO HOME PAGE