So our first bus journey in Belize was on an old American school bus, this is the norm and it cost very little for a 4hr journey to San Ignacio. Belize has a population of over 300,000 and is about the size of Wales, so traveling about is pretty easy. The main attractions in San Ignacio are the caves, there are a few to choose from and we chose a full day trip to the ATM cave. It's an amazing cave and the guide showed us various limestone formations and some of the animals that live in the caves (spiders, Cray fish, bats and scorpions!) After negotiating our way through the water and over rocks, using our head torches and hands to guide us we made it to a massive room which had loads of pottery remains. Some were intact and some had been smashed by water or tourists, but nothing had been taken from this room since it was last used in 500AD. Pretty incredible, we also looked down upon the remains of a young woman, the full skeleton, with a broken jaw and twisted arms. A lot of Mayan history is speculation and the Belize government hasn't removed anything from here, so we can only guess what happened to her. With the other skull we examined, we could see how the skull was elongated and the forehead flattened. We were also told that people with cross eyes were regarded as superior, so kids spent time starring at stones suspended just infront of their eyes. As far as the teeth go, chiseled teeth like a jaguar were the best!

I should mention that considering Katie is scared of heights and is a bit claustrophobic she did very well. The guide said he hadn't seen the step ladder shake so much in the 13 years he's been doing it. He also mentioned that he took us out the hard way, through gaps as narrow as the width of your head, to help her conquer her fear!

The next day we got a taxi to the Guatemalan border and after only 6 days in Belize we said goodbye. The first experience in Guatemala wasn't too good as we were made to pay an unofficial entry tax, but what can you do. Then we got a cheap local bus to take us to El Remate, avoiding the haggling taxi drivers who were charging too much. We had been told there was an ATM here, which was a blatant lie, which meant the money we saved had to be spent getting another bus to an ATM. Oh the joys of budget travel!

El Remate is a beautiful little town, on the edge of Lake Peten Itza, and just 30km from Tikal, Mayan ruins. That evening we went for a sunset horse ride, over the hills to another lake and back along the beach. Kim's horse was the best, called Tequila and mine and Katies didn't really get out of first gear. That was until our guide started whipping our horse's butts with a branch!