The Remains of Guatemala

David and I enjoying Tikal

So in my last Guatemalan post, I told you quickly about a sexy Spanish man….well it was because of this guy that my first visit to Guatemala ended a week early, so I could go and see him again in Mexico….I know, how sweet, love <3, blah blah. But it was all ok as after changing my plans completely and joining David in Spain for Christmas – I know, what was I thinking?! – I came back to Central to continue through the travels I’d already planned (but on a much smaller timeframe).  After my trek through Cuba at the beginning of the year, I had my incredible guy join me in Mexico and my Central trip now suddenly became doubly better (and I didn’t think it could get any better!).

So after 6 weeks (2 weeks in Mexico, 1 week in Spain, 2 weeks in Cuba and 1 week in Belize), I was finally back in Guatemala, my favourite country (so far) in Central America.  We began our journey in the North in Flores and Tikal.  Wow.  Flores itself was pretty and an easy, safe place to relax, but the real attraction was the ruins of Tikal.  Tikal is not even a “town” as such, just existent because of the incredible ruins that are still intact there, which is why we stayed in Flores. 

 

The "main" temple of the Tikal ruins

Walking through the ruins of Tikal, it’s like a big jungle, with paths carefully paved for tourists to visit each site easily.  There are a massive amount of intact areas and in a full day, we didn’t see everything!  But the main temples and attractions were enough to really see Tikal and we spent our time enjoying the green scenery, the monkeys in the park and walking around some of the less “touristic” ruins.  Because the area is so large, you can get lost and feel like you’re the only people visiting Tikal, when in fact, the area is swarmed with visitors every day.  If you would like to learn about the Mayan history in relation to the ruins, I recommend taking a guided tour, but otherwise do what we did and explore and research on your own. 

 

After Tikal we headed south to Semuc Champey, Lanquin.  This entailed a horrendous full day bus trek for about 300km of road, but once we arrived, all was forgotten.  The landscape was just beautiful – and we hadn’t even got to the park yet!! Here we stayed at a hostel called Zephyr Lodge.  Now, the set-up was incredible, with little huts for the rooms and bathrooms opening into nature.  However, the staff were incredibly rude, the food and drinks overpriced and overall a big party place.  It depends on what you’re after during your stay, either way we enjoyed the place but because of some factors, it wasn’t something to rave about. 

 

The next day we took a tour with the hostel into the park.  First we visited some caves.  Full of water, we trekked/swam our way in to the end and got to cannonball into the last opening before turning around again.  A few small spots, but being claustrophobic myself, not too bad!  And then onto the thing we came for, Semuc Champey.  Semuc Champey is a lime bridge with a natural formation of water holes.  It’s incredible to see and wonderful and fresh to swim in, especially after the hike to the mirador (lookout) to view the area from above.  This is definitely a must-see when in Guatemala, despite being a pain to get to – it was one of my favourite days in the country!

Photos just can't do this place justice - Semuc Champey!

 

Down to Lake Atitlan we headed the next day, on another 10 hour journey, yuk!  But we were told there weren’t many people in our bus so there would be plenty of room, and if we walked to the agency instead of waiting to be picked up, we’d get the first seats.  Sweet.  Well, that was a lie.  We were actually the last, leaving me to sit upright in a chair as the “back” consisted of a hard piece that finished around the mid of my back…But, thinking quickly, at the next stop I asked my driver in my broken Spanish if I could jump in the front cab.  He didn’t seem too thrilled with it, but since I didn’t understand what he was saying, I just jumped on up and ended up having the best 10 hour bus trip!! Advice given J

 

We arrived at Lake Atitlan at San Pedro – a little town, re-known for its party nature, but chosen for its accessibility to other parts of the lake and our onward journey.  Now Lake Atitlan is huge, I mean, it takes an hour on a boat just to cross a small portion of it!  One day we took off to explore Santiago, another village on the edge of the lake, and home to Maximo, a strange saint vs. devil monument thing.  Ok, now don’t judge me, this wasn’t my idea – David has some strange liking to these voodoo religion things that I have no understanding of, but hey, got to be a good girlfriend sometimes, right??  But I’m not that good a girlfriend to actually go in.  Well…that was until a drunk Guatemalan guy came to harass me and when I politely walked away, screamed after me “hey, woman!!”…yeah because that’s going to make me stop and listen…

 

Anyway on the way to Santiago, the water was extremely choppy.  I mean, you would think we were in the ocean.  David and I got absolutely drenched.  I stepped off the boat and I could wring out my clothes and water just came pouring out.  Good day to wear white shorts, just saying.  So my advice to you is sit at the very back of the boat, near the driver – they were the only people who didn’t get wet!!

Enjoying the views of Lake Atitlan

Other than that, David and I spent our time at the Lake to upwind, relax and catch up on some R&R time, and what better way to do it than to stay in a hostel with hot tubs.  Mikaso Hostel is a little walk away from the main area (which is great when you don’t want to be sucked into the party atmosphere of San Pedro), and they have two hot tubs on the roof of their place, overlooking the lake.  It was so relaxing, sitting in the hot tub, under the stars, sipping on a beer.  Tough life.  We had some incredible vegetarian food here (I think the place was called Home? – but it was next door to the Irish place, The Clover) – was cheap, delicious and a refreshing change from the Central American diet of rice, beans and meat of your choice.  Lake Atitlan can give you whatever you’re after – some relaxation, parties, much needed vegetable hit and also they have several volcanoes that you can climb – so it’s a place you have to visit while you’re in Guatemala. 

Lake Atitlan rounded out our last day in the country and it was a wonderful way to finish our time there.  Guatemala stole my heart (which is probably half contributed to the adorable kiddies at the orphanage) and it’s definitely a country I can’t wait to return to! We headed on out of the lake directly en-route to the beach in El Salvador J

Stayed tuned for the El Salvadorian news…

xxx

 

The Backpacker's Guide to Cuba

Cuba has always been a place of intrigue and interest to backpackers and with the recent reconciliation talks with the US, this little Caribbean country is now high on a lot of travellers’ bucket lists.  Hence, along with my two side-kicks, Irina and Oskar, I have put together a list of things that will help you backpack your way through Cuba and get the most bang for your buck.  So whether you’re a novice backpacker, been doing it for years or just a budget conscious tourist, this guide is perfect for you!

However, before I begin, I’d like to stress that while it’s great to travel cheap and barter when you think you’re getting ripped off, these people are living on absolute pennies in a country where prices continue to increase.  If you still think you’re getting a good deal and would be willing to pay $5 for that necklace in any other country, then maybe it’s ok not to barter to the absolute limits just because you know you can.  A substantial tip for an incredible meal under $2, is not much compared to what you would pay elsewhere.  Just a little humanitarian pep talk! :-) Ok, on to the tips…

The awesome threesome - great travel buddies :-)

1.       Travel with someone else

In Cuba, there are no such things as hostels.  Ok, well in Havana they have “hostels” where you can pay by the bed, but it is just an apartment building with bunk beds.  Saying that, anywhere else in Cuba, you stay at Casa Particulares, which are guesthouses and you pay by the room.  Therefore, if you have 2 or 3 or even 4 of you, you can end up saving a lot of money!

2.       But, if you want to travel solo

My advice if you don’t like travelling with friends/family, you’ve got 3 options.  Number 1 – budget more for your accommodation (because you are looking at $20-30 a night, compared to the $8-10 I paid).  Option 2 – stay at the “hostels” in Havana and find a travel buddy that way for the rest of Cuba.  Or the 3^rd option - which is interesting - is try Couchsurfing.  Couchsurfing (anywhere else in the world) is a free mode of accommodation where you can stay with locals on their couch and you can see the sights from a local’s perspective.  In Cuba you still have to pay but I believe it is cheaper than a Casa.

3.       Talk to the locals

The best way to save money is to talk to the locals!! They are the ones that know the best and cheapest places to eat, they are the ones who know the “real” prices of things and they are the ones who can give you a better cultural experience to boot! We met a guy in line for a bar who went and bought us a bottle of rum and mixers for $5; we met a couple who led us to our favourite restaurant in Santa Clara and a local man (the one looking after his mum on a minimal pension) who introduced us to the 5 peso ice cream bowls!! Win! J




Enjoying our $5CUP ice cream bowls!

4.       Carry both currencies

In Cuba they have 2 currencies – Cuban CUC (pronounced Cook) (1: 1 USD) and the Cuban CUP (national pesos).  They are a lot of things you can only pay with in CUC – accommodation, bus tickets, taxi fares and your departure tax.  Anything else, I guarantee you can find somewhere where you can pay with CUP.  In some places, this price is just the exact exchange value from the CUC price (i.e. for rum, cigarettes and other shopping), but in restaurants this can mean a lot of savings for you.  Always change a decent amount of CUC into CUP (exchange rate at time of writing is 1:24 (CUC:CUP)) and ask to pay in CUP every time.  This leads me to my next tip…

5.       Always ask for the CUP menu at restaurants



Meeting a serenading local in Havana

When you arrive at a restaurant that you see locals in, they most definitely have a CUP menu or “locals” menu.  We discovered a very popular restaurant for locals in Santa Clara, where locals would line up for 2-3 hours for a table.  Being so popular, we thought we’d try it, but when we entered, a serving of lasagne was $5CUC!  For Cubans, this is incredibly expensive for a meal and so we asked to see the National Peso (CUP) menu.  The same serving of lasagne was now only 20CUP (under $1)!  Always ask for the local menu as you pay the local prices! We also managed to get a 3 course meal, including a tip for $2!

6.       Use your Casa Particulares’ expertise

The ladies that run the Casa Particulares know things.  They are the best people to ask about transport around the town, cheap places to eat or drink and also where to stay in the next town! Often they will call and book you a room in the next place and organise pick up from the bus station.  It’s easy, convenient and you know you’re getting a good price! Also, most casas offer cheap breakfast options from $2-5!  It’s normally heartier, tastier and cheaper than what you would find in the street.

We loved our Casa "mum" in Santa Clara! <3

7.       Catch the local buses

Any local buses in Havana costs 40c CUP (0.0125c CUC).  Therefore, look like a local and just pay the bus driver the smallest coin you have.  Locals pay this way too as it’s not often you have 40c CUP in your pocket!! The buses are crowded, sweltering hot and painfully slow but we all know it’s worth it compared to a $5 CUC taxi ride!  

8.       Buy Internet cards where it’s cheapest

Cuba is a country of disconnect.  They have recently got some internet places set up but it’s expensive, slow and often very crowded so you have to wait a while.  So my first sugestion is to avoid internet in general, but if you really need to connect, research the places along your route that offer cheaper internet.  All internet stations and one hotel in Havana that offers wifi (at time of writing) use the same internet cards.  However, in Havana they are $8CUC for an hour, Trinidad $6CUC and Santa Clara $4.50CUC.  Therefore, if you know you’re going to need the internet, buy cards at a cheaper location to take with you to the most expensive places.

9.       Catch route taxis where possible



Catching our first route taxi in Havana

In some places like Havana, they have taxis going back and forward on a route (normally one long street) and will stop to pick you up and take you anywhere you want on the route.  For us, it allowed us to travel from our hostel to the centre (Parque Central) for only $10CUP (under 30c CUC).  It’s cheaper and convenient and you get to travel in those cool 1950’s cars!!

10.   Bring necessities

Bring anything you need for your vacation – soap, deodorant, tampons, etc – with you to Cuba.  Chances are you won’t find them in Cuba to purchase at all and if you do, they are extremely overpriced, so worth the extra weight in the backpack! 

 

11.   You can barter with anything



Even bread was hard to find!...And given it without a bag...

Take cheap sunnies or jewellery, pens/pencils, etc to use to barter with instead of money.  They love everything that they can’t easily buy in Cuba so whatever you have and don’t really need, barter away!  I never tried it as I had nothing to offer but I’ve heard this is a great way to avoid spending extra money.  If anyone does try it, I would love to hear how you went! Good luck! 

12.   Only carry minimal money when trying to barter for something particular

The first price offered for things in Cuba is never the final price, taxis included.  I always figure out how much I want to spend for something and then just take that amount when I’m bartering.  That way, I can show the person that that’s all the money I have and 9 times out of 10, they’ll agree to your price.  I particular find this is useful at the end of your trip when you don’t want to get more money exchanged or out of an ATM.  For example, my last day in Havana and I had to get to the airport – no public transport there exists.  The original price of the taxi was $25CUC.  I managed to only pay $16CUC, just by asking for him to help me as I only had $16CUC left.  Sure enough, no problem!

13.   Carry enough foreign currency for the duration of your trip

ATM’s can be found in the major places but normally only accept VISA and no American Cards whatsoever.  They attract large withdrawals fees and are often out of money or have limited withdrawals amounts, meaning that you often have to go back a couple of times.  To avoid this and save some money, I recommend taking foreign currency with you to exchange at the bank.  The exchange rates are pretty close to the real thing and there are plenty of offices around.  However, DO NOT take US dollars – it attracts a 10% surcharge to exchange and so instead of an almost 1:1 conversion, you get only 88c CUC for every US$1!  Euros and Mexican Pesos are the best currencies to take if you can get your hands on them. 

That’s the summary of the things I found most useful to save some cash while travelling in Cuba.  If you’ve been to Cuba and have some more tips, please comment here so others can read about them.  Prepare yourself for the culture shock, apply these few tips and you’ll have an incredible (and cheap) trip through Cuba!!

Hablamos pronto!
xxxx