Flores

After beeing scamed for 3 Dollars at the border Timmy took a bumby collectivo to Flores a.k.a. Gringo Island. While staying in "Los Amigos" and desparatly trying to get some money out of these ATM's he was able to get to know the atmosphere of Guatemala. The city looks like an african city with latinos. Tuk Tuks and dust make up 50 % of the experience. Burger King and beer were the evening program.
The following day Grace and Rachel joined me. Thats a good thing. That meant there will be more jokes with " fish and penetration" coming up. We wen't together to Tikal to see the ruins. Amazing structures in the middle of the jungle. With some cool wildlife.
In the evening we crashed in the cheap bar at the seashore anf finally listend to a live snorring concert in the dorm. The following day we chilled while canoeing on the lake. Since I missed the bus in the morning I'm down to crash for another day - nap in the afternoon and beers and loughs in the evening.

San Ignacio

To get to San Ignacio you have to take the boat to Belize City. Belize City is famous for two things: Crime and for not beeing famous. So I skipped "The big Ugly" and went to the western border to a nest called San Ignacio. People are still really cool but more activ than in Key Caulker. I took a view at some more ruins and they keep to amaze me. After almost 40 days of travelling I'm now the first time by myself. And this is good for a change. I obviously could catch up with some writing and reflect on my amazing trip I was able to enjoy. You meet wonderfull people in the worlds most beautifull places and have fun. No hidden agenda, just straight good time. If this is going to be like that for the next 23 months I'm going to come back as a rich man. By the way; I want to thank all the guys that I had the oppurtunity to meet. As soon we have the year 2011 - be sure that the swiss guy will allways welcome you at his home.

Key Caulker

Well, where to start? Key Caulker has a population of 1300. Most of them look like Bob Marley. All act like him and most of them smell like he probably did. We stayed at the hostel "La Bellas". The dude in charge is named "Mission" and thats porbably what he is on. Since he keeps it real all day long he wants to teach everybody else to do the same. He drinks and smokes all day long because it's focking betta. He took us to a fishing trip with some kayaks and caught some snappas.

He used to be a fisha so he knows all the tricks. In the evening he made a BBQ for everyone while keeping it focking real. And we are talking about really, really real. Next to whole lot of otha turists there was Fabrize. An Italien who spend a few years in French Polynesia and set up a business that sells pearls to "Cartier" or "Tiffanys". Since he left French Polynesia he can travel the world without loosing money, because business is doing good. He lived in Belize for three months and thinks about renting a house on Key Caulker. On Super Bowl Sunday the two english girls from the bus checked into the hostel.
Those two crazy girls like to hit the booze and party. Maybe thats why we got along from the early beginning. Maybe Nick and Grace a little more ;-) Me and Rachel, an interesting good looking girl spent a lot of time with each otha and I had the luck to get to know her holarious humor. Black, dry, dirty, spontanous, english jokes are her speciality. I hope to meet her in Flores again. Ted joined the islands speciality and smoked all day - well just about everybody was hitting the Mary J. Key Caulker is a must see and "La Bellas" the place to be. Then we're talking about the ingredients of happiness. Betta than otha

San Pedro

After a 4 hours bus and 2 hours speedboat trip we finally arrived in San Pedro - a key of the coast of Belize. Home of the biggest barrier reef next to the australien one. On the way we met two sympathic english girls. But they were going to Orange Walk before going to the keys. Key San Pedro is a pretty big village with an airstrip and a handfull of hotels. People are mostly african descent and have a carribean lifstyle. They love the USA, Barack Obama, US-Sports and the whole HipHop-thing. "Yo bro, Wasssup", "Keep it real" and stuff like that make up 50% of their sentences. Rastas all over, mostly golfkarts, bycicles and an extremly friendly attitude make Belize a must see. But the best was still to come: Key Caulker

Tulum

Trying to keep the costs low in Tulum is not easy. So Luna, Ted, Nick and me joined to get a cabaña. With clear turquise water, white sand and mostly good weather we had a good time. The "I-don't-have-any-responsiblities-live" was at his peak. Luna had her birthday - and "we" gave her a "present". After Luna left it was to expensive to stay in the cabaña. So we decided to camp - sadly we didn't have a tent. So we slept on the beach in the mosquitonets. It's a good thing it didn't rain, really goood. After 3 days of lowlife activities we decided to head to Belize.

Palenque

I had the honor to spend my first two days with Victoria. After we found the worst dorm ever we ate dinner together and got drunk with a mexican dude, a spanish zapatistafan and a guy from Cali. I even met a swiss girl, that I knew from back home. Next day I went with "Bicu" to the absolutly amazing ruins of the mayor mayan city of Palenque. In the backround apes were constantly making noises that were more typical for cats. To our amusement Victoria went in to the temple of bats and fell in to the ancient tomb. In the evening probably a parasite caused me some mayor pain in the lower stomach area. I guess similar to the mestruation pain women have learned to live with. After taking some medicin (booze) it got better. The next day Victoria had to catch her flight to Mexico City. Bored and by myself I decided to go to the ruins again, to experience them with the stoked music of my IPOD. After that I decided to head back to chill out. Than I bumbed into Patrick and Jimena. The lovebirds have joined each other again and Patrick is thinking about flying back to Buenas Aires with her. So we got drunk in the evening with Live-music and Salsa-man. Next day we went to Miso-Ha and Agua-Azul. Agua Azul is a endless barage of waterfalls with crystal clear water from the Chiapas region. It was a nice swim, except of course, if you can't swim like Linda from Scotland. Luna from Norway and me joined each other to get to Tulum. Nick and Ted coincedently took the same bus.

San Cristobal

Cold, cold, cold even with 3 thick blankets. Only during the day the temperature managed to climb to an acceptable level. During the night you had to make sure the booze was ready to hit. In the lovely hostel "Los camellos" people got by with chess, cooking and hanging outside. Patrick and Jimena had to split because she had to meet her sister in a nearby city. That meant Patrick was back in the dormitorio. We met Nick and Ted from the westcoast of the USA and went on a rivertrip through a really high canyon. While we were buying the tickets we coincidently witnessed the swearing- in ceremony of Barack Obama. A spontanous applause erupted. During the trip we saw crocodiles, apes, a lot of trash and really high canyons. The following day we went to two mayan villages in a remote moutainouse region. Neither the mexican police, military nore the vatican have any authority there. This is surprising because the main building of the 60'000 people city is a church. Inside this chruch was no priest, no preaches. Only the saints of the catholic church managed to survive. People buy Coca-Cola and drink it while they pray. Then they burb to get rid of the bad spirits. (PR-responsible dude of Coca-Cola must have a hard on) Timmy knew that thay also sacrifice chickens, so he stayed until a lady took a full grown chicken out of her plastic bag and turned the neck around. They don't kill for eating, only has a gift to the saints. Stange stuff. In San Cristobal I was able to hook up with Victoria (Argentina). She is a life-loving, good spirited girl which means that you are going to have a great time with her.

Mazunte

One of the nicest hostels I ever visited is the "Posada del Arcitectura". Partly on the hillside and on the sea it atracts alternative people from all over the planet. There is a little 60 foot hill right on the beach with hamocks and magic beds on top of it. The spectacular sunrises genlty woke everbody up so they could enjoy the breathtaking view and complain about their hangovers. The village itself celebrated a round year of existence with a week of fiesta. That meant a lot of booze, tacos and local music. There was even a bikini-contest. Sadly only three girls showed up. Most of the time I hung out with three german guys (Sven, Tim and Ben). They know how to chill and how to get the ball rolling. Gordon - a scotish guy who traveled the world for the most time of his life smoked the mary when he got up, before breakfast, after breakfast, before fishing, while fishing, after fishing - I think you got the idea. But the police treated him gently, when they cought him with a bag of his spices. They said: "600MXD para el libertad". A swiss guy helped him out to avoid jailtime. By the way, Patrick and Jimena left their room only to rest, eat, drink and sunbath. Otherwise they were probably testing the structural integrity of their bed. The only trip I managed to do was a boattour to the sea, where I swam with a huge turtle, saw stingrays jumping out of the water, dolphins and some minor fish while snorkeling.

Oaxaca

Oaxaca, a zapatista stronghold and one of the most indigenous citys of central america surprised with Christams celebrations at the beginning of January. The huge zocalo (main plaza) was lit up with electric lights and in the sidestreets locals were selling potential Christmas present - 90% toys for kids. The rest were mostly taco-stalls or other local dishes. The hostel "Luz de Luna" was a primitiv but extremly friendly place to hang out and to get rid of those beers. But the main thing we did while drinking was to play some serious chess. The international audience made it really cool. NY, Australia, Germany, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Chile and those that I forgot. In the mescal night we took the alcohol consumption to whole new level. Thats when Patrick (Canada) and Jimena (Argentina) took the liberty to expand the womenshowers normal usage. They have been a pair ever since. Patrick an investment banker on holiday from the worst recession since 80 years and Jimena a skydiver- and Yogateacher and professor at an argentinian university. The only daytrip I was able to make was to visit "Monte Alban" Nicely located on top of a mountain a complex of ruins oversees the whole area. Definitly worth it.

Mexico City

The second largest city in the world dosen't seem to be that big, if you enter it. Three hours before New Years Eve I finally arrived at my hostel. After putting my plunder in to the dorm I met Sven in the lobby while asking where I can find a beer. Sven is the guy you wan't to meet while travelling. He knows central america like a local and gave me some really good tips for my fist 3.5 months. In the "Mexico City Hostel" it's really easy to get to know other travellers. But if you have only 3 hours to set up a New Year Eve party with a bunch of strangers it can be difficult, evidently. Half an hour to twelve we found out, that the party with two million people is not at the plaza right next to us - no it's a long way to go. So we ate some basic food in front of the reception.
With Sven I visited the Chapultepec Park and the main neibhourhoods. The trip to Theotiuacan I made by myself - well worth it if you use suncream. The anthroplic museum is the last must see. Otherwise we hung out with the people of the hostel.
One girls story has to be told: It's about Tiffany (Not real name) from Canada who is 49 years old, happily married since decades. A week before she arrived in Mexico she found some gayporn-DVD's in the coat of her husband. He denied everything when she confronted him. So she checked the history in the Internet Explorer and found more clear evidence. Then she didn't sleep for a week until she decided to go to Mexico. Six hours later she sat in the plane. In Mexico City she partied all day and night for five days. Only occasionaly sleeping for 2 hours. The last thing we heard from this amusing and funny lady is that she took a flight to Cancun to celebrate her 50th birthday because she thougt Mexico City was to boring. This story had to be told.
Mexico City is worth a visit, but at some point you have to move on.