And so we move onto Guatemala. Thursday 4th and Friday 5th March were like never ending days. We left Zipolite in Mexico about 2.00pm and 4 buses and 28 hours later we finally checked into accommodation in Antigua Guatemala! The last bus from Guatemala City to Antigua was the most amazing - a true chicken bus. The buses are old American school buses and carry at least 3 times their capacity with a conductor who hangs off the side shouting out for more people to ...

The Mexican Pacific Coast,Puerto Escondido and Zipolite.Thursday 24th we moved on to Peurto Escondido - an eight hour bus ride. We arrived right on dusk and walked down a steep cobbled street to find the hostel, where we had booked dormitory beds over the Internet, had messed up our booking, BUT they could offer us a private room at a cheaper price. Fantastic! Third floor again but a beautiful room with sea views and a balcony big enough for chairs. We loved the ...

We took a bus from Mexico City to Acapulco which took around 5 hours. The bus itself was quite modern but the road not so with what seemed like millions of speed bumps which our driver had a penchant for hitting way too fast.  We booked into the Hotel California - pretty much a run down dump, like in the Eagles song "Welcome to the Hotel California......" It was in the old, seedy side of town. Our room was up three flights of stairs, which has become a bit of a...

When our hostel airport pickup driver dropped us at the Zocola (Central Square) and showed us the street we needed to walk down to our hostel our senses were reeling. We had spent all night on planes and in airports (Honolulu to Dallas Fort Worth then to Mexico City) and both had the beginnings of the flu and then we were hit by a wall of noisy, colourful, seething humanity. Drums, music, shouting, spruiking and laughing all at once. Our hostel and in particular ...

On Tues 8th Feb we flew to Kauai Island on a plane full of people with coughs and colds and discovered that a bad strain of the flu, has been laying people up for 3 weeks or so. We found our hostel had all nationalities and ages and was full to overflowing - a great atmosphere. The next day Rebecca Hall (was McBride), a wonderful West Australian living in the North Shore of Kauai picked us up for a day out, enjoying the lush beauty of the island, which is often ...