Happy Easter! I am staying at a finca(plantation) called Finca Ixobel just south of the small town of Poptun. Check out www.fincaixobel.com to see more. It is somewhat of a vacation resort for wealthier Guatemalans and a huge international backpacker hangout ... many come for a few days and stay for months. Today I went on a guided river cave tour(cueva del rio) which was just as amazing as snorkeling, only 10 times more dangerous. It started with a difficult 2 h...

Oop´s, while crossing the border a few days ago, I went through immigration, or so I thought. I got my passport stamped but later learned from other travelers that that was the Belize exit stamp. So I had no entry stamp for Guatemala and I am an illegal alien. Apparently, there was a small shack I was supposed to stop at for the stamp but the Guatemala side of the crossing is so disorganized and care free, I walked right past it. I went to the immigration of...

I spent the whole day at the ancient Mayan city of Tikal. It is one of the world's most impressive archaeological sights. The city is huge and it is unbelievable that only 15% of of the ruins has actually been dug out and restored. Everywhere you walk, there are huge hills and small mountains of forest and dirt. They aren't actually hills, they are a pyramid or some other building that no one has had the time or money to excavate.

Today I left Belize and entered Guatemala. Back to speaking spanish again. It is an AMAZING country ... amazingly cheap too. I went to the ATM machine for the first time and had no problems. I was so happy it worked, I took out $100 Quetzales, grabbed my money and card, and then headed down the road with a big smile on my face. Then I realized I just took out like 12 bucks and had to go back and do it again to get more. I found a great hostel on the island of Flo...