End of Utila, Nicaragua and Costa Rica

My four fun dives were very tiring but alot of fun. Saw lots of eels and cool fish. Spent one more night in Utila where I went for a drink with my friend Meddie at his new apartment, he is about to do dive master. Went to bed and got up the following morning for the 6 o clock ferry. Arrived in La Ceiba and got a taxi to what I thoight was the right bus station, turns out there are two so after some confusion I found the other bus station where I met these Norwegians who were also going to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, so we decided to share a taxi and go to the same place to stay when we got there. When we got there we were whisked away into a taxi to head off to this hotel I thought was cheap. When we arrived first the taxi driver went back on his word on how much we had to pay, 50 rather than 15 and so tried to drive away with my bag in the boot. The hotel was not 15 US dollars like I thought but 30 so we decided to share a room to save money. Tegucigalpa is a dangerous city so I spent most of the evening with the Norwegians watching films in our hotel room.

I left the following morning at 4 to head for Nicaragua where I would be staying in a place called Granada. The first bus I was put on was the best I have been on yet, double decker, huge seats English films and they gave me a blanket and pillow with a mc muffin. Sadly they moved me to another bus which wasnt so great. The border crossing was confusing as usual, they take your passport and dont tell you whats happening. I made it through though and after a quick bus change at Managua I arrived in Granada.

I spent 4 days in Granada relaxing and walking round it was more a place to rest. I then took a night bus to Costa Rica's capital San Jose where sadly the hostel I wanted to go to was full so I stayed at a pretty rubbish hotel for one night. Got a bus to a place called Manuel Antonio a tourist beach resort with the 11th most beautiful national park in the world. First night I stayed in a pretty rubbish hostel which I left the following morning to go to one called Vista Serena. This hostel has an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean and very nice staff. I arrived at 11 and met 12 Americans who were going to the beach so I tagged along. Had a great evening and alot of fun when we went out to a local bar. The following morning we went surfing early where I made the biggest mistake of the trip, not putting enough or taking enough sun tan lotion. I was in the water trying to surf for 6 hours which was great but I payed the price with terrible burns. The following day I took a trip to the National Park where I saw monkeys, soldier ants and tonnes of reptiles. The park has the most gorgeous beaches I have ever seen, white sand and blue water, however thanks to the very painful burns I stayed in the shade.

I booked my bus back to San Jose today at 11 but when I was down in the town I started getting a stinging itch on my burns on my back. When I got back to the hostel it got worse to an almost uncontrollable fit from me. It was the single most painful and irritating thing that has ever happened to me. I was in a shower for an 1 and a half and after that I ran to the hostel to get help where they put ice on my back and gave me 3 litres of water. It is better but I went to the chemist and got this stuff so Im hoping that will do the trick otherwise my bus journey tomorrow is going to be horrible.

Diving in Utila

Sorry I haven't written anything in ages. Have had little time to sit down and write something. Well I left Antigua at 1 in the afternoon to go to Copan in honduras. Was picked up in a mini bus that was full of people already, it was the most uncomfortable 8 hours so far, the leg room is none existent and the traffic meant we weren't moving much and so fresh air didn't come through the windows. The border crossing from Guatemala to honduras was surprisingly quiet compared to the last one. Not a single person around just a guy in a booth. Was pretty stress free. Got to Copan and followed a French guy who spoke perfect Spanish who told me about this cheap hostel. Probably not a good idea to just follow any old person but such is travelling. Was a very nice hostel so I obviously made the right choice. Got the bus to La Ceiba at 6 the following morning, was an actual bus this time so far more comfortable than the last. Was a pretty standard central American bus trip, kids crying, bus drivers annoyingly honking at any large vehicle they passed and of course the same Enrique song played over and over again. Arrived at La ceiba and got a bus to Utila a carribean island of Honduras. Met a nice Irish couple who were going so chatted to them, I convinced the Irish guy Arthur to come to the UDC dive centre with me as I had heard it was the best. We went to the accommodation and met our instructor called Deklin an Irish guy who has been diving all his life, he is a really cool nice guy. He convinced Arthur and I its the best place so we stayed. We went to a BBQ that night and met some great people and played a drinking game called nails. Over the next two days we sat written classes about diving we had a theory part of the course to pass so it was boring but necessary. Arthur and a guy called ed were the people I was doing the open water course with. On the third day we got our first chance to put the kit on, we went into shallow water and did skills like taking our masks off and putting them back on again. We did this the following day but in deeper water. That night we went to a bar called skid row where if you drink 4 of the most disgusting shots in the world you get a free t shirt. I can tell you now that was the hardest thing drinking wise I have had to do, i thought I was going to be sick. But I got the shirt and now I'm one of the divers. The following day we did our first dive in open water, was really good fun and it was great to see all these different types of fish on the reef. We passed our open water course and so the others left this morning to head back to the mainland. I am doing a 2 day advanced course so I'm still here. Yesterday I did three dives, drift dive, a buoyancy dive where you swim through hoops by breathing and out to lower yourself. The last dive was a night dive, the best dive so far. I saw a huge stingray hunting, tonnes of lobsters, an octupus hunting fish in the corral and a baby stingray which are hard to see. We had lots of little fish swim by and when you shine your torch on them you can see there little hearts beating. Today I did a wreck dive which goes to 30m the limit of a recreational diver, it was really cool, got to see a huge eel which seemed to be the captain of the wreck as it was very protective of the boat. Later that afternoon we went diving again but it was navigation diving so it was swim and then find your way back to the boat. Got to see an eagle ray which was beautiful. It swam right up to us. And that's the diving so far, I have 4 fun dives tomorrow so will be pretty tired by tomorrow night. After here I've got to race to panama city to get there in time for my flight.

Antigua

Left Panajachel at 8 in the morning with the swiss girl to go to Antigua. We arrived in three hours after a pretty trecherous journey on tracks winding round these mountains. The suspension was terrible so I spent most of the time with my head in the roof. We arrived in Antigua after 3 hours and I checked in to my hostel. I did some exploring in these huge markets which are easy to get lost in. The hostel im staying at has a bar so I met a good bunch of people up there. We went to this other hostel where we met more people. I chatted to a German from Frankfurt who had just come from Utila, a place im going diving at in a few days. He convinced me I need to stay there longer so Im now going to do my my PADI diving course and my Advanced diving course.

The following day I had organised a trip to go up the volcano at 2. I met this good bunch of people namely Adrian a very relaxed Aussie who also told me that Utila is amazing. We reached the base of the volcano and were harrased by 8 year old children who were desperately trying to sell you walking sticks or horses. As much as I love horse riding I feared those skiny horses would not be able to take my weight up the volcano. As I thought this I watched a very large American get pushed onto the saddle of the horse. You could see that horse was dreading the climb. Despite it being cold and misty the climb was very tiring and I was relieved I didnt put any jeans on. There was a big group of us so we all chatted about where we were from and where we were going. When you get to the top you see a huge mass of black molten rock which had rolled down from the previous eruption. It felt like we were in Mordor it was misty and everything was grey. We had a walk around and a chance to take some pictures. The tour guide then whacked out some marshamallows and we roasted them on the hotspots. After that we found a cave and all of us had to crawl out of this hole. As we were begining the walk down I asked the tour guide whether there had been any accidents. He told me that when it erupted 2 years ago the volcanic rock that erupted into the air struck and killed a women as they were fleeing the volcano. A couple years before that two guides were walking and stood on a hotspot and melted on the spot. This was probably routine for him to not tell us the dangers before we start. That evening we met up with the English girls and Americans at this restuarant and had the biggest plate of nachos I have ever had.

The following day I had a lazy start skyping the family. Spoke to Rob for 2 hours, probably the longest conversation I have ever had with a family member on skype. That afternoon I found a spanish teacher that would teach me 1:1. He was called Fernando and he was a great teacher. I was there for 2 hours but booked more for tomorrow. That night the hostel went out drinking, was a great night one I can´t remember though after 11 o clock.

Feeling pretty fragile the next morning I had a 5 hour lesson with Fernando, he figured out I was not feeling great so taught me how to say hungover and rum is bad. I learnt alot though and feel a little more confident. It was a pretty lazy day after that, went to bed early as I had a bus that would take me to Copan at 4 in the morning.
Sadly I got the dates muddled up so the bus was scheduled to pick me up tomorrow so woke up at 4 for nothing. Have booked another bus for Copan to leave here in a few hours. Im only staying in Copan one night and then I´m off to Utila for the diving. Cant wait.

Birthday in San Cristobal and Guatemala

Checked into the hostel at San Cristobal, wasn't as nice as the last hostel but I guess we were spoilt with the swimming pool in Puerto Escondido. I spent most of my first day walking around the huge markets looking for presents to send home. It was a relaxed day. In the evening I was invited to a meal with the hostel owners. He made one of the best carbonara's I've ever had. The following morning I was treated to his amazing breakfast as my birthday present. Shortly after breakfast 4 other Aussies from Puerto Escondido came to celebrate my birthday. I skyped most of the family as you do on your birthday, I then went about buying presents for the rest of my family.  The post service for Mexico is hilarious. Everything is done on type writers and they used shoe boxes and scrap paper to make up the finishing package. Had to go get cash for it when my card was declined so sat in HSBC for an hour trying to explain what happened so I could get my card working again.  Later that evening I went to dinner with the Aussies at this really nice restaurant. After 8 quite hot tacos I was pretty done. After that we went to a bar and listened to some great live music.  The following morning we all went our separate ways. I was heading for the Guatemalan border while the others were heading to Belize. The mini van journey to the Guatemalan border was pretty uncomfortable and we got a puncher so were delayed. At the border itself we waited for an hour and half for this women who was suspected of illegally entering Mexico. I finally got to the border crossing which was a hectic scene of people running around and huge market stalls lining the streets. We were transferred to another van which was even smaller. The average height of a Guatemalan person is 5ft 8 so the leg room in these buses was terrible, the American next to me was 6ft 7 and was having a horrible time. You first notice that Guatemala is not as well developed as Mexico. We were on long winding roads through the mountains where locals were just getting by on the side of cliffs.  The journey was very long and I get the impression that its one big game with all the drivers to see who can overtake as many cars as possible on corners. Our driver was tanking it down the straights, making overtakes I never deemed possible.  I met a Swiss guy on the bus called Christophe. He was staying in Panajachel to and he recommended a hostel so on arrival we went there. It's a really cool hostel with a bar and good food. We had drinks and then i crawled into bed. Christophe and I had a plan to go to kayaking today but I got a message from mum saying I had booked my flights from Panama to Ecuador wrong. Turns out instead of booking the flight for the 31st of May I booked it for the 31st of March. I stopped all my plans for the day to get it sorted. I used an Internet cafe's phone which was a terrible line. After 45 mins I managed to almost sort it, all i needed to do was pay for the next booking. I called back again using a guys iPad and after an hour and a half of being on hold and being hung up on I finally sorted it. So have seen very little of Panajachel. I leave for Antigua tomorrow which I have heard is an amazing city. 

Puerto Escondido

I arrived at Puerto Escondido at 8 o clock in the evening after spending 14 hours on a bus on winding roads through the mountains. I got a taxi to the hostel which was called Tower Bridge. It's an English run hostel with a pool,bar, pool table and other things. You walk in and it's full of posters of the Beatles and Rod Stewart. That night I went to bed pretty quickly but met the Aussies staying in my room later that night.  The following day I went down to the beach with a Belgium guy called Kobe. Took 30 mins to walk down but it's well worth it. The beach was a little cove with 200 steps down to it. We met up with the Aussie girls from last night and relaxed at the beach. The water was warmer than our swimming pool, it was clear blue. Something you will never see in England. Tried my luck at surfing but the strong currents and waves which were ridiculously big made sure I did not stand up.  Went back to the hostel wondering whether that burning sensation on my back was just a bit of sun burn. The Aussie guys had organised a BBQ for everyone if we chip in 50 pesos, about £2.50. While they were cooking the food we all ordered these amazing white rum and pineapple juice cocktails from the bar. The barman Jesse made some amazing drinks all night long.  The food was amazing, the Aussies had really put the effort in with potato salad, kebab sticks, pork chops, burgers and chorizo sausages. All 15 of us sat down for a great meal. Me being me I polished off any left overs. The humidity here means you don't eat much so this was my first proper meal in days. After that we played drinking games and played volleyball In the pool.  The following day I was a little fragile so relaxed by the pool all day and then went to meet the Aussies friends who had an apartment by the beach. We had some drinks there and then went to a reggae party which was on the beach. Nice evening, the shots they had though tasted like pineapple and milk so didn't drink much.  Was very relaxed up till then, did very little the following day, the big highlight was the fish tacos I had at the beach that evening before I left. They were amazing. Probably the best thing i have had since being out here. I'm now in San Cristobal after a 14 hour bus journey overnight. Bloody bus driver played lelo and stitch 1 and 2 all the way up till 1 in the morning. This is where I will turn 19 in this very scenic city.

A few pictures!

Pyramids of Teotihuacan

Tower Bridge Hostel Puerto Escondido 

The Aussie BBQ

Drinking games after dinner!

Mexico- what an introduction!!

Got the flight at 1 in the morning but one of the passengers had a heart attack so we were delayed by 2 hours while she was taken off. The delay meant it looked unlikely that I would get to the tour bus in time which was in the centre of Mexico city. I was whisked away to a taxi at the airport and told the driver to drive fast. Should have phrased that differently, it was scary fast. No matter what people say about driving in London, this is 100 times worse. There is no organisation. Even the traffic police are ignored. I did however arrive on time for the tour and was put in a mini van by the tour guide. We drove into the heart of the city to see the ruins of some Aztec temples. These temples had a lot of sacrifices weekly. On special days 1800 people could be sacrificed from the surrounding villages, these where either soldiers captured in battle or villagers. It was no wonder the Aztec enemies joined forces with the Spanish.  After that we drove to a restaurant just outside the pyramids where we had an all you can eat meal and unlimited amounts of local tequila. After that we went to the pyramids of teotihuacan. These were huge structures which could take 20 mins to walk to the top. They were both used for sacrifices by the people who abandoned the city in around 800AD. One of the temples I believe specialised in the sacrificing of children. It was an amazing city.  After that I returned to the hostel where i waited for my night bus to Oaxaca city. After the 6 hour long journey I arrived at 6 in the morning at Oaxaca. I got a taxi to the hostel but only had 500 pesos, about 23 quid notes. The fair was 60 pesos about one pound. The driver gave me 10 pesos back and drove off. It being 6 in the morning I did not take much notice of how much I had been ripped off. I went in got a nice room and fell asleep for a few hours. Woke up and met the owner of the hostel who spoke good English. I told him about the taxi, he was fuming that they rip off his customers. We both looked at the CCTV but couldn't see the number plate. So we drove down to the taxi depot where Habe the hostel owner spoke to the taxi companies boss who sat me down in front of 5 huge files all with pictures of the 800 drivers.  On book 5 it seemed like an impossible task but as I was about to give up a person stood next to me. When I looked up it was the driver. I said it was him and after correctly identifying the drivers taxi I watched the driver get told off by his boss and with that he gave me back the 500 pesos and in turn I gave him back the 10 pesos just to be cheeky. Habe said some words on his way out that should not be repeated on this blog. I had a relaxing evening by the pool, I was the only person at the hostel.  The next morning I got a bus into town which was tricky to understand where to get off and how to say can I get off here please. I over shot the place I wanted to go but turned up at this huge colonial church. Inside the, roof, the alter and the walls were all decorated in gold. I got a guided tour and learnt about the deep Catholicism that runs through Latin America.  After that I went to a market where I got leather belts for 5 pounds and lunch for 3 quid. I went back to the hostel where as i was reading my book i got a view of the police raiding a house. A few gun shots here and there. It was a very relaxed day so not much to say about it. I had a bus at 9:30 which would take me to puerto Escondido a surf town full of Aussies and the English.