… sunshine.. and very comfortable temperatures that didn’t require 10 layers of clothing… and 

Flores is a teeny tiny island on Lago Petén Itzá, connected to land by a causeway. It doesn’t take more than 15 minutes to round it. During my visit, the outer loop road was partially flooded, so I could only take a stroll on the inner loop to round the lake. 

As in Coban the main reason for visiting the island is its proximity to other attractions, like Tikal for example, the most famous Maya ruins in Guatemala. I came to Flores simply because it was the most convenient pit stop on my way to the warmer latitudes. Having been freezing for so long I no longer cared for any ruins or any other attractions for that matter. My only focus was getting out of the highlands and the bitter chill asap so that I could take most of my layers off, put on the flip-flops and soak the Caribbean sunshine on sandy beaches.

Flores took me by surprise. Big time. It is a real pearl. The most picturesque and charming village you can imagine. As any other place in Guatemala, it needs a lot of plumbing work, general maintenance, and buckets of paint but there is no way anyone can deny it its charm.

In the middle of the village, on the top of the hill, there is (as it should be) the Central Park, and right in the middle of it next to the church and other municipal buildings, the villagers found as good a place as any for… a basketball court. 

Not sure how many inhabitants live in Flores full time. However, I am pretty sure it has more hotel beds per 100 inhabitants than any other place I know. There is no shortage of restaurants either. In fact, this is all there is: hotels, restaurants, tourist agencies and souvenir shops. (Bit touristy?) Other than that? There isn’t all that much to do or see – with an exception of walking the charming streets. Unless you rent a boat and visit the local museum located on an even smaller island on the lake or Petencito Zoo located on the other side or take a walk over the causeway to the neighboring towns on the mainland – Santa Elena and/or San Benito. The latter two, however, are better left alone after dark.

My office away from the office was a dream. Two decks, one on each floor, right on the lake where I could not only write and contemplate, but also order food, drinks and socialize with other guests. I stayed on the island for two nights and wanted to extend my stay for two more but could not as the hotel was fully booked for the next two weeks. Who’d know my home away from home was also home away from home for so many other travelers.

Thanks to Oliver, one great German guy from Munich who owns and runs The Flores Waterfront Hotel Lacadon the German way. It was the second time I was staying in a place run by a Westerner (the first one was run by a Dutch in Leon, Nicaragua) and must say I appreciated both my stays. Immensely. For no matter how fascinating other cultures may be, sometimes it is very comforting to come ‘home’. Even if it is only for two nights.

Sunshine, comfortable temperatures, picturesque town, office away from the office and a home away from home. Flores will stay with me for a long time to come.  

Flores in Pictures

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It took 5 hours to get there, partly on a two-lane (one in each direction), partly on one-lane (ongoing construction) serpentine-like road zigzagging through rocky and very dusty highlands.

Cobán itself is (supposed to be) the most uninteresting place, which is interesting in itself, as you get to see a typical Guatemalan town with hardly any tourists to influence the environment. Whoever comes to Cobán doesn’t come to visit Cobán but to visit the neighboring Mayan villages. Cobán is just a starting point for other destinations. For all, but me. I came to Cobán for Cobán – to do nothing and to write. 

As soon as I entered my room, I knew things weren’t quite right. It wasn’t a nice cozy room, it wasn’t my office away from the office with a lovely deck. It was a… freezer. Raw, humid and bitter cold with the max temperature of  5 degrees Centigrade (41F). OMG. What have I done to deserve this? I abandoned hiking up the Aqua Volcano as well as visiting Lake Atitlan (supposedly the most beautiful lake in the world) for some warmth and I ended up here? A place much colder than the one I left it for? 

The instincts told me to run for my life even though I had already paid for three nights. But my stubbornness, on the other hand, was deviously whispering into my ear: You came here to write THAT post (I think) so DO IT. You cannot give up. You’ll manage. So I stayed, and ‘faced the music’. 

I asked to change the room for less drafty one inside the building and spend the next three days in bed trying to keep my body temperature at survivable level. Drank as much hot tea as I only managed during the 30 seconds I had before it became freezing cold. Put on whatever clothes I could and didn’t take them off during my entire stay, got under five blankets leaving only fingers out so that I could type while counting seconds to my departure. But even that didn’t help much. Sheets, pillows, blankets could not keep me warm(er) as they were icy cold and damp due to the bitter rawness and humidity in the room. The towel I never used was soaking wet. Not that I needed it as there was no way I could shower, there was no way I could take off one single bit of clothing. There was no escape. I was about to give up. Many times. 

Got none sympathy from my friends either. They checked AccuWeather online and teased me: “Five degrees? Not a biggy. It is colder where we are”. What they didn’t understand was that while it was cold outside in their countries it was nice and warm in their homes. I  didn’t have that comfort. The temperature inside my home was the same as the temperature outside. In fact, due to the chill factor, it felt much colder. Subtract the dampness and rawness that have been sitting deep in the walls ever since the house was built from 5 degrees and you may get an idea. For me, there was no escape from the bitter chill. Outdoors, indoors didn’t make any difference. The only people who understood the situation were my fellow travelers out of Cobán. They also spend their entire stay in bed trying to preserve whatever heat they could.

(And, btw, it never even crossed my mind Central America could be so freezing cold. My suitcase is full of bathing suits and summer dresses that I have yet to wear but lacks sweaters, jackets, hats, and gloves or anything else that protects from cold).

So, how was Cobán?

Hmm, I don’t really know. Freezing cold?

I don’t think I spend more than an hour sightseeing the town and took only 29 pictures. Still, the little bit I glimpsed at felt rather local and provincial. High narrow curbs, quite a bit of traffic, fruit/vegetable stalls everywhere. And of course, as anywhere else in Central America, The Central Park. This one was, however, somewhat different – there were few large tents right in the center selling books. I don’t want to sound judgemental but it is very unusual seen in small towns of Central Ameria.

Cold or warm, there is nothing to see/do here anyhow. The one thing of interest (?) was the locals’ obsession with shoe shining. Everyone,  in town: men. women, kids, cued to have their shoes shined. 

…and the best for last?

But the strangest thing of all was … surprise, surprise… fine dining. Yes, who’d know there is fine dining in Cobán – La Abadia. The city also has a few first-class restaurants (Kardamomuss, Casa D’Acuna). Unfortunately, I never made to any of them. I needed no fine dining in my despair, all I wanted was comfort food. So I dined at the best (and cleanest) Chinese restaurant in town – Restaurante Cantonés.

p.s. I don’t need to tell you but the happiest day for the longest time was the morning I left Cobán.

Cobán in Pictures?

Well, there are no pictures. What You See (above) Is What You Get. I took only 29, some of them are doubles, some of them are of shoe shiners. The rest of my shooting time I spend in bed trying not to freeze to death  

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La Antigua was to be my home base for at least four weeks. My home where I would walk lovely and well preserved colonial streets, admire the amazing baroque influenced architecture, sip on the coffee in stylish cafes, breath culture, socialize with many expats who made Antigua their home, get inspired, do tons of writing and above all shoot, shoot and shoot. 

It took a while to get there. But once I got there I couldn’t have been happier to have arrived. Couldn’t have been happier to have found an accommodation right next to the Central Park with rooftop from where I would take the most amazing shots of the most amazing city. At night. I was so looking forward to shooting again at night, an activity I’d done so little of lately due to discomfort walking the streets alone after sunset. Now I had a chance.

If I only had a chance. Instead, it all came crashing down at me the very first evening. Stomach bug followed by cold. I spend most of my first three days in bed. My Central Park hotel was dark, freezing cold and depressing. Not a home away from home. Very disappointing. And so was the town itself. Not as pretty, not as charming and not as well preserved as I thought it will be but rather worn down provincial town in need of plumbing, maintenance and lots of paint ‘paved’ with razor-sharp uneven cobblestones making sidewalks and streets almost impossible to walk and drive on. Bump, bump, bump. Not at all in the class with Granada in Nicaragua. Not even close. 

I didn’t even last a week. As much as I love colonial living in the tropics I hate it in a more moderate climate. Dark, drafty homes with no heating at all designed for lowlands but build in the highlands where the temperatures drop to 10 degrees Centigrade are unlivable (or require years of getting used to). 10 C outdoors is one thing but 10 C indoors + chill factor (humidity and rawness) is pure torture. A deal breaker. 

If you cannot stand the heat get out of the oven. Then, if you cannot stand the cold get out of the freezer? 

As much as I wanted to hike to the top of Aqua volcano I had to abandon that plan. Too cold. As much as I wanted to visit (supposedly) the most beautiful lake in the world – Lake Atitlan, I had to abandon that plan as well. Too cold and wrong direction. I may go back there one day, but for now, I had no other choice but to leave the highlands of Guatemala and travel East towards the Caribbean coast and a promise of sunshine and higher temperatures. The cold stormy winds of Central Valley blew me out of Costa Rica and now the highlands froze me out of Guatemala. 

In the search for some warmth, I set off for a 14-hour shuttle journey to Belize. My first stopover 5 hours later was a town of Cobán. Little that I knew…

Antigua in Pictures

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Someone who travels with a suitcase.

If you like comfort if you like to travel in style then you need to take a bus. Some bus companies (e.g. Hedman) provide super fancy buses equipped with super fancy latest gadgets, bathrooms, bed like seats, foot/head/armrests, blankets, pillows, air con, snacks… AND… they are cheaper than the shuttle.

So, why don’t I take a bus? Because buses operate only between bus stations. There is no pickup and there is no drop-off. To get to the bus station and later from the bus station to my new destination I need to take a taxi.

Traveling with a suitcase is stressful enough. Traveling with a suitcase and having to deal with 50 years old piece of junk called the taxi and taxi drivers too smart for their own good is a tad more than I like to handle. Immobilized by my suitcase I am the target and, quite frankly, I hate to put myself in a vulnerable situation. Add to that the messy and sweaty job of dragging/pulling the suitcase on a dirt ‘paved’ station while looking for the right bus. Nah, thank you very much. Not a good way to start a trip. I’d walk to the station… if I only had a backpack. But I don’t. so I take a shuttle.

Shuttles take about 12 people. No fancy gadgets, not much room leg, in fact, no much room at all (unless you sit right behind the driver), but 3-5 hours on the road is easy enough to manage. You can add few hours if the shuttle is half empty or if you are half the age. 

It is 680 km between León in Nicaragua and Antigua in Guatemala, four borders, and 14-16 hours on a two-lane (one lane in each direction) pretty bad (most of the time) and busy road. My plan was to travel 4-5 hours at a time, make a two, three-day stopover in Honduras and then in El Salvador before reaching my final destination in Guatemala. The ‘master plan’ behind it was not only to make the trip easier on my bones but (above all) to take a glimpse at the two no-go zones – Honduras and El Salvador. A little adrenaline kick. 

Things didn’t quite work out as planned. There was nowhere to stop in Honduras. There was no town, no village, no hotel en route to Guatemala where the shuttle could drop me off and later pick me up. If I wanted to stop in Honduras, I’d need to travel some 14 hours to the Caribbean side (wrong direction) or take a chicken bus and go offroad which was not an option. Thus, I had to abandon my wish to spend time in Honduras and traveled directly to El Tunco in El Salvador.

Border crossing

Note: the shuttle leaves León at 2 a.m. (not fun). The same time also applies from the other direction – Antigua. 

Crossing all four borders went smooth – another advantage of taking the shuttle. 12 people vs 50 can save a good few hours. In addition, whenever possible, the drivers do the job for you: collect passports and exit/entry fees so you don’t even have to leave the van. They all speak English and, if need be, help with translations and assist with immigration. Should there be a problem at the border, the shuttle will wait for you. The bus will not.

Nicaragua

NOTE VISA: when you enter one of these four countries, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, you enter them all: that is you need only one visa (if you need any) to enter the foursome. Also, the total time you can stay in the area is three months – you will not get another three months just because you e.g. leave Honduras for El Salvador.

Nicaragua EXIT – very easy. Fee 7 USD. (4 for Nicaragua exit and 3 for Honduras entry). The driver collected all passports and exit/entry fees. We stayed in the van. The whole procedure took maybe 15 minutes.

Honduras

Honduras ENTRY. Potentially most time-consuming border. We were lucky – first ones to arrive. Only one immigration window was open. We were photographed and fingerprinted. All in all 40 minutes. A bus full of people can waste a good few hours on this border.

note 1: VERY IMPORTANT – make sure you have your fingerprints taken otherwise it may cost you 200 USD in penalty/bribe during exit. Sometimes people traveling on chicken buses miss that moment (and I wonder if they are not deliberately misled into doing that). Make sure you are not one of them.

note 2: try not to lose the small pieces of paper immigration officers put into your passport

Entering Honduras was like entering another planet. We almost drowned in the sea of rubbish. Plastic bottles, paper, wrappings. containers – you name it. Shocking. I never saw anything like that. The road was very bad and boring. Other than dead trees along the way, on either side, there was nothing else to see. Depressing.

Honduras EXIT – no glitches. No fees. They matched out fingerprints with the ones taken during entry. Make sure you have your fingerprints taken during entry.

El Salvador

El Salvador ENTRY – walk in the park. No fees. Some 10 immigration windows open. This border is nicknamed ‘the easy one’.

Entering El Salvador felt like leaving a bad dream behind. Only a few hundred meters in the country we stopped at the gas station to fill up the tank and to have a breakfast. I wasn’t going to have any. But once I saw the station and the breakfast they served I changed my mind. Super modern and spotless place serving fresh just cooked appetizing looking, deliciously tasting breakfast. And they charged in USD. Like Panama, El Salvador adopted USD as its own currency. I couldn’t resist.

Three hours later we arrived at El Tunco, a beach resort on the Pacific coast and my ‘fun in the sun’ place for the next three days. Three days later the shuttle once again picked me up and I continued my journey to Guatemala. 

note: the shuttle is scheduled for 12 (ish), however, it may be delayed if there were some border issues or tons of traffic – after all, it comes all the way from León in Nicaragua. We left on time. (If the eventual delay is substantial they send another shuttle to meet the delayed one.)

Guatemala

El Salvador EXIT: walk in the park. No fees

Guatemala ENTRY: walk in the park. No fees. It took four hours from the start in El Tunco to the drop off in Antigua.

Security

“It is safe here BUT if you go to X… then ...” Then I go to X … and they tell me exactly the same thing. Over and over again; in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala.

So I asked some more, this time in Facebook groups. And ‘they’ tell me “Don’t go“, “Are you crazy?”, “I would never go“. “I have heard this, and I have heard that“, “My friend told me“, and so on and so forth. El Salvador and Honduras are no-go zones – by second, third, fourth hand accounts. Not once did anyone tell me: “This happened to ME while visiting X“. All the stories, every single one of them, were referring to other people’s accounts. 

The very few blogs I found written by people who actually visited the no-go zone countries were nothing but positive. They all described humble, welcoming and generous people who only wanted to show the beauty of their countries and to help.

… and the rumors?

What about the rumors of shuttles (used almost exclusively by tourists) traveling at night being targeted by gangs? It happened once or twice many years ago that a gang held up and robbed the shuttle but it is an extremely rare occurrence. If anything, the chicken buses are at more risk. 

What about tourists being mugged at knifepoint? That can happen anywhere in the world if you’re dumb enough to stroll a no-go zone alone and drunk in the middle of the night. 

Ok then, so what about the statistics? According to the statistics, the triangle Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala is one of the most violent regions in the world; according to the statistics, Honduras is rated today as number one homicide country in the world (it used to be El Salvador) and its current political unrest makes matters even worse; according to the statistics …

All true, HOWEVER, all those crimes are drug and gang dominance related. So, unless you are a gang member, sell drugs, or walk around alone at 2 a.m. drunk and vulnerable you have nothing to worry about. For extra precaution don’t travel at night and don’t show off all your bling – but, as anywhere else in the world, use common sense. Amen.

And above all – enjoy your trip and have fun. 

p.s. Happy Birthday Linnea

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