Pop goes the hermetically-sealed air-conditioned bubble!

After 4 days of air-conditioned, high-end comfort on luxury buses and in even more luxurious hotels, we are now back in traveller mode. We had 3 lovely nights at the Hilton in San Salvador and a fab night at the Crowne Plaza in Managua, where we were forced to stay in a suite as they had no regular rooms left. Oh, the life of the budget traveller...

Now we are back to earth, although not with too much of a bump as we are staying in a lovely little hotel in Granada, Nicaragua. Granada is another colonial town, but it's different to the others we've seen so far on this trip as it is much quieter, far fewer Gringos around, and it has a very laid-back, almost Caribbean, atmosphere. We like it a lot.

This morning we went to Volcan Masaya, an active volcano where you can drive right up to the edge and look down in to the smoking crater. No lava to be seen, unfortunately, but constant smoke and a warning on the brochure to park your car facing downhill (presumably for a quick getaway), and to take shelter under your car if the volcano starts spewing rocks. And it is recommended that you limit your visit to 20mins. We were there 45mins, thus doubling our chance of death by lava, but we survived.

It is v v hot in Nicaragua, way hotter than in Guatemala. We don't really know what the weather was like in El Salvador as we were totally air-conditioned, but it looked hot out of the window...

MacDonalds in San Salvador

Look what you can get for $2.99 - El Chavo! Wonder if that comes wrapped in Burberry print paper and with a side of gold jewellery?

Kate Adie Reporting

From, allegedly, the second most dangerous city in the western hemisphere - San Salvador. I've just been on Google, but I can't find out which is the most dangerous city in the world though - anyone know the answer? Anyway, San Salvador is allegedly dangerous and so in order to protect ourselves from the gun-toting drug warlords, we were forced (tee hee) to check in to the Hilton which, again allegedly, is the most luxurious hotel in Central America. How fancy! The photo above is the view from our room of a volcano, hopefully inactive. When we arrived, despite doing our best inpressions of bedraggled, weary travellers straight off the bus from Guatemala, we got upgraded to an Executive room. Double fancy! Being executives means we get to use the Executive Lounge where we get free food and drink pretty much all day (we have been filling our boots) and free wi-fi (am currently using the computer in the Executive lounge and ear-wigging on a business conversation, some people are sooooo important).

Yesterday we ventured out onto the mean streets of the city. Well, actually we got a taxi everywhere we went cos that's what you're supposed to do (although apparently the area we are staying in - Zona Rosa - is perfectly safe to walk around as long as you don't go out after dark and aren't carrying anything...) I was massively excited as we made our way to MetroCentro, the largest mall in all of Central America. I had such visions in my head of the Oracle in Reading but a gazillion times bigger. Imagine my disappointment when, although large, it turned out to be more the sort of mall you'd find in Watford (apologies to anyone who lives in/loves Watford). So, after a quick jaunt around, we took another taxi to Galerias Escondidas, hyped by the Lonely Planet as the fanciest mall in the city. I was looking forward to browsing Louis Vitton, Chanel and Dior before putting my feet up in the champagne bar and feasting on blinis and caviar. Back to earth with a bump. There was a Macdonalds and a Pizza Hut Express in the food court, and Nine West and Bennetton was about as high-end as it got. Still, at least there was a nice coffee shop and hubby was v happy to find a sweet shop selling jellies.

From our drives around the city, and also the bus journey we took through the country when crossing over from Guatemala, both El Salvador and San Salvador look really nice. It's such a pity they both have such a bad reputation and, being a bit of a sissy, I don't want to be the one to push it to find out if the reputation is actually warranted.

A Miraculous Recovery

Just so you all don't spend the weekend worrying about poor hubby's health, I'm pleased to be able to tell you that through the magical healing powers of Fanta and half a Twix, he is feeling much better. He even managed a few hours out  and about in Antigua this morning although, bravely or foolishly, he has let me out alone this afternoon with only a wodge of quetzales and a credit card for company. Sit back in wonder as I single-handedly transform the ailing Guatemalan economy using only a small piece of plastic and an eye for expensive fru-frus...   Tomorrow we are off to our next country - El Salvador. We're getting a bus straight to San Salvador where we've booked ourselves into the Hilton for 2 nights. how fancy!

Montezuma's Revenge

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. We've managed 7 weeks of our trip, 3 of which have been in Central America and, finally, one of us has fallen under the spell of Montezuma. Poor hubby has been suffering somewhat today, and shares in Andrex (or whatever it's called over here) have risen sharply. Typically, poor hubby had to fall ill on the day we decided to move on from Panajachel to Antigua. Luckily, the Immodium did its job on the 3 hour bus trip and we made it to our hotel.

I've had a bit of a wander round the town on my lonesome, and decided to splash out on a nice lunch in a fancy cafe - well, I was all alone so I needed a treat... Poor hubby stayed in bed in a darkened room with just a few sips of water to sustain him.

From what I've seen, Antigua is a very pretty colonial town (in the style of other colonial towns we've seen thus far - Oaxaca, San Cristobal de las Casas). There are plenty of snazzy-looking cafes, bars and restaurants so, as long as Montezuma allows it, there should be some fine dining and much coffee sipping to be done. I'm slightly concerned by the dearth of shops and must investigate more fully tomorrow, especially if I'm not under the eagle eye of hubby. Clearly, I'll have to treat myself to some nice "stuff" to make up for being all lonely and alone.

Guatemala - I'm loving it!

Still in Panajachel on the shores of Lake Atitlan. We had planned to stay 3 nights, but now it looks like we're going to stay 5 nights. Just can't tear ourselves away.

On Sunday we went to the big market at Chichicastenango (don't you just love these Guatemalan town names?!) Luckily for hubby, we were mildly disappointed by the market itself and only spent 25 quetzals (even the currency here has a cool name!) which is less than 2GBP. However, we were impressed by the church procession which wound its way through the market - there were lots of large statues of saints being paraded around and every now and then the whole preocesion would come to a stop so that homemade explosions could be let off. This seems to have involved stuffing lots of small pellets of gunpowder into a scaffolding tube, setting light to it and ducking. Lots of fun!

Yesterday we took a boat ride acoss Lake Atitlan to San Pedro La Laguna and spent the morning wandering round the town. We got a boat back at about 2pm by which time the lake which was like glass on the way out and turned into a churning monster so we crashed and banged our way back across in a little wood and fibreglass contraption, known as a boat. Luckily my doggy paddle has been honed by trips to at least 2 swimming pools while we've been away, so I would have been safe had we met with an unfortunate accident.

Guatemala - tick!

Hooray, we made it to Guatemala! And finally, after 6 weeks and 2 days of travelling I got my first tick! For those of you who don't know about the tick system, there is a spreadsheet that those of us in the know have been using for quite a few years to record every country/dependency/territory, etc, etc that we have visited. TK is currently in the lead with 56 (or is it 57, TK?) but hubby and I are snapping at her heels. Guatemala now puts me on 52 ticks and hubby on 48. TK is sneakily planning a trip to Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil for the end of the year so hubby and I have to put some leg work in to keep those ticks coming!

Yesterday (Friday) was spent travelling from San Cristobal in Mexico to the border at La Mesilla and then onwards to Quetzaltenango. The Mexican part of the journey was conducted in relative comfort on an air-conditioned bus; the journey across no-man's land between the two borders was a bit of a squash in a 'collectivo' taxi, and the Guatemalan part of the journey was 6 hours on a 'chicken' bus. These are basically old American school buses which are garishly painted and drive at high speeds (when possible) belching out noxious fumes with as many passengers as is physically possible (and then a few more) crammed inside. Still, it was an experience!

We spent the night and this morning in Quetzaltenango (shortened to Xela, and pronounced Shay-la - go figure!), which was a very pleasant town (see photo at top). We were especially pleased to find a rather good secondhand bookshop where we were able to off-load a couple of books and pick up 3 new ones. Hooray! It's the simple things that make us happiest.

Then this afternoon we took a minibus another 2 hours across the country to Panajachel on the shores of Lake Atitlan. Fantastic views of the lake, ringed by volcanoes as we drove in to the town. I am very much liking the look of this place as there are shops and stalls all over the place, selling jewellery, bags, clothes, textiles, etc, etc. Hubby might not be so pleased...