{"id":383,"date":"2002-07-27T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2002-07-27T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/2002\/07\/27\/jacquis-diary-guatemala-andmexico\/"},"modified":"2002-07-27T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2002-07-27T22:00:00","slug":"jacquis-diary-guatemala-andmexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/jacquis-diary-guatemala-andmexico.html","title":{"rendered":"Jacqui&#039;s Diary: Guatemala and\nMexico"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Greetings from Antigua, again!<\/p>\n<p>When last I wrote I was in San Crist&#243;bal las Casas<br \/>\nand just started on my trip through Mexico, and here I am<br \/>\nready to launch in to the second section of this trip as we<br \/>\nleave for Honduras tomorrow, and the last of the Mayan<br \/>\nruins in our itinerary. Strangely I am not all<br \/>\n&#039;ruined&#039; out yet and am quite looking forward to<br \/>\nseeing the temples and stones of Copan on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The last three weeks have been excellent fun. My lads<br \/>\nhave been good value and we are still getting on well so<br \/>\nthat has helped to make the time positive. And the Ruta<br \/>\nMaya took us through some of the loveliest parts of<br \/>\nsouthern Mexico. We detoured down to the Guatemalan border,<br \/>\nin Chiapas, to explore a new road and visit the lesser<br \/>\nknown sites of Yaxilan and Bomampac and they remain two of<br \/>\nmy favourites due to the smaller size and the exquisite<br \/>\ncarvings and paint work there. Camping for about half the<br \/>\ntime, we cooked some excellent meals and stayed in lovely<br \/>\nplaces. Palenque was made more accessible by our excellent<br \/>\nguide, Ernesto, and Uxmal was made worthwhile due to the<br \/>\nfact that we missed most of the tourist hordes by being<br \/>\nthere as the site opened. Chich&#233;n Itz&#225; wa huge<br \/>\nand very touristy but very interesting. We then retired to<br \/>\nthe beaches of the Caribbean, south of Cancun, for a couple<br \/>\nof days. Swimming in the turquoise waters there was lovely.<br \/>\nThroughout this time the food remained good and people<br \/>\nfriendly. Our last ruins in Mexico were those at Tulum, a<br \/>\nsmall site built on the edge of the Caribbean and for the<br \/>\nworship of the dawn. I also went for a cavern snorkel<br \/>\nnearby &#8211; fun and blessedly cool after the heat and humidity<br \/>\nof the area.<\/p>\n<p>We crossed into Belize with the minimum of fuss and<br \/>\nheaded straight to Caye Caulker for two days of sun, sea<br \/>\nand relaxation. Although I managed to get sunburnt and not<br \/>\nto see a manatee (dugong family of sea-cow), we had a fun<br \/>\ntime snorkelling, watching dolphins and wandering around<br \/>\nthe small town. Back to the mainland and straight out of<br \/>\nBelize city. A short stop at the small but lovely zoo,<br \/>\ngetting drenched in a tropical downpour, and then to San<br \/>\nIgnacio for two nights. During that time I did another<br \/>\ncavern tour &#8211; beautiful colours and formations &#8211; in a<br \/>\ncanoe, and we all worried about a sudden closing of the<br \/>\nGuatemalan\/Belize border due to a demand for back pay by<br \/>\nthe ex-paramilitary forces who had blocked the roads in and<br \/>\naround the Pet&#233;n area (i.e.: where we were headed).<br \/>\nThankfully it was all settled quickly and we lost no time<br \/>\nbut the prospect or retracing out steps through the north<br \/>\nof Belize and most of the parts of Mexico that we had<br \/>\nalready traversed was not a welcome one.<\/p>\n<p>Into Guatemala and the Pet&#233;n area we had mid-summer<br \/>\nin Tikal, perhaps the most important and largest Mayan site<br \/>\nin Central America. Unfortunately the sun did not cooperate<br \/>\nand show us how all the buildings were built according to<br \/>\nthe seasons and light directions but it was a brilliant<br \/>\nmornings ramble. I think I have climbed more stairs in the<br \/>\nlast three weeks than I have climbed in the last three<br \/>\nyears! We saw lots of wildlife and had another excellent<br \/>\nguide. Part of the film &#039;Return of the Jedi&#039; was<br \/>\nfilmed there and it was amazing to be high over the canopy<br \/>\ntop looking into the greenness and seeing structure over a<br \/>\nthousands years old poking up through the trees. Wonderful!<br \/>\nFrom there we went to a place called Finca Ixobal, for<br \/>\nlovely food and a chance to rest and relax before<br \/>\nAntigua.<\/p>\n<p>From there it was a straight drive to Antigua and more<br \/>\ngreat views of the volcanoes that surround this town. I<br \/>\nintroduced my friends to a cafe that served eggs benedict<br \/>\nand we all indulged in good coffee and other delights to be<br \/>\nfound here. Our travels also allowed me to revisit<br \/>\nChichicastenango and Panjachal and from there revisit my<br \/>\nfriends in San Pedro. I have revelled in the chance to feel<br \/>\nat home here as I know where things are and how the system<br \/>\nworks &#8211; but from here on in it will be new territory.<\/p>\n<p>The next four weeks promise to be full of adventure and<br \/>\nnew experiences as we traverse the lesser known and less<br \/>\ntouristy countries of Central America. Costa Rica is<br \/>\nperhaps the exception to that but to me it will be all new.<br \/>\nThe other change will be the addition of a new member to<br \/>\nour group, a British lass who is due to arrive today. She<br \/>\nwill be my roommate for the rest of the trip so &#8230;fingers<br \/>\ncrossed we get on. There will be no more camping or cooking<br \/>\noff the truck though, as there are few places that suitable<br \/>\nbetween here and Panama City so it is hotels and<br \/>\nrestaurants all the way. Should any of you get the<br \/>\ninclination, a real letter would find me in Panama City at<br \/>\nthe hotel address on my list and I would love to hear from<br \/>\nyou.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Thanks Jacqui and keep us posted!&#160; If anyone<br \/>\nwould like to contact Jacqui, her e-mail is<\/i><\/b>: <b><a HREF=\"&#109;a&#x69;l&#x74;o&#x3a;j&#x61;c&#x71;u&#x69;&#116;&#x72;&#111;&#x74;&#116;&#x65;&#114;&#x40;&#121;&#x61;&#104;&#x6f;&#111;&#46;&#x63;o&#x6d;\">&#x6a;&#x61;&#x63;&#x71;&#x75;&#x69;&#x74;&#x72;&#x6f;&#x74;&#x74;&#x65;&#x72;&#x40;&#x79;&#x61;&#x68;&#x6f;&#x6f;&#x2e;&#x63;&#x6f;&#109;<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p>What have you seen on your travels? Drop a line to the<br \/>\nBeetle! <a HREF=\"mailto:Beetle&#064;&#103;&#108;&#111;&#098;&#101;&#116;&#114;&#111;&#116;&#116;&#101;&#114;&#115;&#046;&#099;&#111;&#046;&#117;&#107;\"><i>Beetle&#064;&#103;&#108;&#111;&#098;&#101;&#116;&#114;&#111;&#116;&#116;&#101;&#114;&#115;&#046;&#099;&#111;&#046;&#117;&#107;<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Greetings from Antigua, again! When last I wrote I was in San Crist&#243;bal las Casas and just started on my trip through Mexico, and here I am ready to launch&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-main-article","tag-july-2002"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jacqui&#039;s Diary: Guatemala and Mexico - eNewsletter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/jacquis-diary-guatemala-andmexico.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jacqui&#039;s Diary: Guatemala and Mexico - eNewsletter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Greetings from Antigua, again! When last I wrote I was in San Crist&#243;bal las Casas and just started on my trip through Mexico, and here I am ready to launch...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/jacquis-diary-guatemala-andmexico.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eNewsletter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2002-07-27T22:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Beetle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Beetle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/jacquis-diary-guatemala-andmexico.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/jacquis-diary-guatemala-andmexico.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Beetle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d88d8d26b7a5eee19d4a82efb44decf5\"},\"headline\":\"Jacqui&#039;s Diary: Guatemala and Mexico\",\"datePublished\":\"2002-07-27T22:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/jacquis-diary-guatemala-andmexico.html\"},\"wordCount\":922,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"July 2002\"],\"articleSection\":[\"archive\",\"Main article\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/jacquis-diary-guatemala-andmexico.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/jacquis-diary-guatemala-andmexico.html\",\"name\":\"Jacqui&#039;s Diary: Guatemala and Mexico - 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