Yesterday we took a chance and actually rode on a chicken bus for the 1st time. It was not an ideal choice, and certainly not our 1st, but to get from San Pedro La Laguna to Quetzaltenango (Xela) was going to be really expensive.

All I have to say is that those drivers are clinically insane! We speeded up the hairpin bends...well as fast as a battered old bus can go! And although Ian said we really weren't at all close to the edge, it seemed that every time I looked out the window all I could see was a sheer drop! Ian said he was evening enjoying it, that it was more "interesting" than most bus journeys..."Just imagine you are on a rollercoaster and you will be fine"...tried tested and failed!

The drivers side kick, who deals with the fairs and luggage is very enthusiastic with the horn. For example, instead of slowing down at bends, he just honks the horn to tell anyone coming around the blind bend to move out of the way! The only proof that I have that they are not totally psycho, is that in a stalemate scenario (ie, the person coming in the other direction doesn't slow down or move), the chicken bus driver will back down and reluctantly apply the breaks.

One thing I will give them is that they are not as evil as British bus drivers. When they see someone running to catch the bus, they do not speed up and wave with a big grin on their face as they watch your run and wave your arms like a hopeless idiot. They actually slow the bus down to make sure that you get on...although they don't always stop, you were late after all and the bus cannot possible be held up by passengers!

These drivers are also the most impatient bus drivers I have ever come across. They make London drivers seem positively laid back!! Not only will they honk their horns every 2 seconds in a traffic jam, when there is clearly nothing that can be done, but they also won't even let the little old ladies get two feet inside the bus before they are speeding on their way again. The driver's most stunning piece of impatience however was when his side kick was on the roof of the bus dealing with some luggage when he started on his merry way again! How the guy on the roof stayed up there as we speeded through pot holes and over speed bumps is a mystery!!

Just when we were wondering when and where the bus was going to stop to let the guy back in the bus again, he appeared at the window, clambering down the side of the moving bus and in through the door!!!

We all made it through the hairpin bends intact...though I'm not sure how well the bus was as we needed to stop and pour cold water on the engine when it started steaming! We had finally reached the nice smooth Pan American Highway and we breathed a sigh of relief. This breath was short lived however as we soon realised this was not the end of our fun on the chicken bus experience! For those of you who know, imagine if you will a four lane Fetticairn road...this my friends is the Pan American Highway in Guatemala.

It took every inch of our muscles to hang onto the seat in front so we didn't slide off ours as we sped round very tight corners. We were sliding around so much on the seats that Ian even got a wedgie! By this point, the Stugeron I had taken had fully kicked in and I was feeling very floppy and drowsy, which was making clinging on even more difficult! Just when I thought that things were hard enough, I got a severe case of the giggles. So I was sliding all over the plastic seat, clinging on for dear life, half asleep and with tears rolling down my face from laughing so hard. Then add to the seat sliding, giggling equation a Guatemalan woman and her baby on our seat for 2. Before, we were just trying to keep ourselves on the seat but now I was trying not to push Ian, who was trying not to put the lady, to make sure that two Scots, a Mayan lady and a baby didn't end up as one international heap on the floor!

After 2 and a half ours of chicken bus fun our experience and thankfully come to an end. I am not sure the journey was even worth it ("but it was cheap", Ian keeps telling me). Xela was a typical, big, polluted city and I wouldn't recommend going there. The central square was worth a look but other than that, there wasn't much else. The Museum of Natural History (this term is used in the loosest possible sense) did give half an hour of amusement. It is a few rooms of thrown together stuff including Mayan artefacts, computers and phones from the 60s, 70s and 80s, old photos of random things and various other random bits and bobs. In the stuffed animal section, there was a two bodied mouse, an 8 legged goat and a two headed goat...that was definitely worth a look! We managed to take a few sneaky photos which we will upload when we have faster internet.

For now though, I need some sleep. We were up at 6am this morning for two very long bus journeys. 12 hours later we are in Coban...Zzzzzz