Wowsa - I spoke too soon - I thought my journey into Guatemala was going to be a breeze! I caught a ´first class bus` to the border, which had coffee on board, separate male and female toilets with auto-flush, full lay back chairs, and a driver wearing a full suit. That bus was great - slept the whole night, and as far as traveling overnight goes, woke up pretty fresh.... then the interesting stuff started happening. Nothing bad really, but I was exhausted by the end of that day.

After the 1^st class service from Oaxaca to Tapachula, I had to catch a minibus to the border (1hr; about 23 people in a 12 seater), but it cost about 2 dollars. Then, when I got to the border, I got done for an absolute sucker!!! It was all too hard, so a bicycle taxi man rode me across the border, and even though I said no, his friend came along for the ride to ´help´me across the border. Absolute extortion! Any savings I thought I was going to make by catching `chicken`buses on the Guatemalan side of the border were negated by this. Add to that the fact that when I paid for my Mexican tourist card back in Ensenada, the stupid bank didn`t stamp the card acknowledging payment, and I had no receipt, so I had to pay it again...that was the pits. Thanks god there was a lady from the Cayman Islands (who spoke English) in the migration office who could help me through that one, so I didn`t end up in  jail!!!

Then I had to get another bicycle taxi man on the Guatemalan side b/c the bus station was a fair way from the border and I couldn`t understand the directions, so I got ripped off again, although the driver/cyclist also got a bad deal, b/c he started driving me to one bus station (thinking I was going to Guatemala City) when in actual fact I needed to get to Panajachel, and I had to then get him to take me to the second bus station. And when I say bus station, what I actually mean is a big, muddy parking lot/field with a lot of buses in it and a couple tiny stalls to one side.

Anyway, I got on a collectivo bus ´(the old american school buses, which have all been painted brightly and renamed) headed to ´Pana. The buses still have the original, horrid, vinyl seats and are made for small people, so my butt and knees were numb for quite a while after the journey!!! So I managed to get on the correct bus for a 3.5 hr ride to Quetzeltenango. And was rather confused for a little while while the guy kept calling for people wanting to go to ´Xela´, when in actual fact that is just the local name of Quetzeltenango. Then it was 2 hours to Panajachel (the town on the edge of Lake Atitlan). Fortunately the first driver was really helpful in finding me the next bus to get onto, b/c without him, I would have had no chance. In Xela, there were seriously over 100 buses at the ´station´and I would have had no idea where to start…

The bus rides were actually quite entertaining b/c there were so many people getting on and off with all sorts of packages and goods (eggs, potatoes, luggage, washing, cloth etc etc), and the scenery was pretty cool. Once we left the border and started climbing up, it was all jungle-ly and then we were driving through the clouds. The only thing that I cannot get over here is the lack of concern that the Guatelaman people have for the environment. They all just throw their rubbish out of car/bus windows (ie bottles, plates, cups etc etc) so the roads are littered with junk.  What was also cool about the bus ride was that in each town that we stopped, vendors got on to sell drinks and food – at one placed some ladies got on and actually made up tacos on the spot!

I was, however, terrified on the second leg that my pack was going to be stolen, as the driver and his helper would not let me take it inside with me, and instead had to go on the roof. What also concerned me then was when it started raining and I knew that I didn´t have my waterproof thingy over my pack. To my relief, however, it was there and reasonable dry when I arrived. It`s actually pretty good, each bus I was on had a driver, a Money collected and some one who looked alter luggage, and I didn´t seem to have any dodgy people on my buses, just locals needing to get from A to B.

Apart from that, I have lashed out and have a room with a private bathroom and TV for 3 nights (only 12 dollars a night) b/c I think that after my epic journeys of late, I need a bit of space... Have decided to stay in Panajachel for only three nights. The weather is not fantastic, it has rained each afternoon and we are up quite high, so there is lots of cloud and mist and a bit of rain, so you can hardly see the lake. This also means that you can also only catch glimpses of the Volcano through the cloud.

And truth be told, I´m not totally sold on this place. Maybe it´s better when the weather is clear and when there are more tourists (May is their quiet time), but I don´t think it´s really my kind of place. There are quite a few semi-permanent/gringos here, but they are all of the tie-dye t-shirt wearing, Hessian bag carrying, crappy woven clothes wearing, dreadlocked persuasion, who are really not my type.

But I´ve had a nice time here nonetheless. Yesterday I decided to walk around part of the lake to one of the neighbouring towns, Santa Catarina (about an hour), and when I got there, thought ´why not´, let´s keep going to the next town, San Antonio, and see what that´s like. I worked out that this turned out to be a 22km round journey…ouchies, my shins are killing today! I stopped for lunch in the second town, which was a very generous portion size, but not particularly exciting – just roasted chicken with rice and steamed vegetables. Again, I´m sure this would have been quite a great location, if you had been able to actually see across the lake!

Then today I caught the ferry across to San Pedro, the next biggest town on the other side of the Lake – I think it took about 50mins to get there (stopping by a couple of other little towns on the way) and then about 35mins straight back across. San Pedro was interesting, it was market day, so I wondering through their smallish market, past all of the fruit and vegetables, into the butcher section where all of the meat was just sitting there on the counters, unrefrigerated and uncovered, and have chosen not to think about where any of the food that I eat comes from!!!

Speaking of food, I was totally and utterly put off my breakfast this morning (which was actually quite delicious) b/c there was a dog sitting out on the footpath just infront of me, with hardly any hair and scatching and some revoltingly infected sores all over it´s legs and paws. There are also a lot of apparently stray (though probably owned) dogs here, which appear to be riddled with fleas, that just roam the streets…

So anyway, I had a really nice lunch in San Pedro overlooking the lake (and could see most of the way across, though it was overcast) and then headed back to Pana to watch the Champions League soccer match in one of the bars/restaurants. I also found a little coffee shop which is owned by an American/South African couple who are really nice and who make particularly good coffees. They also source, roast and grind the beans themselves.

The plan from here is that I´m off to Antigua tomorrow lunch time. I have all sorts of things lined up there, like hiking and mountaining biking and horse-riding, so that should be fun. I´ve also decided that I am going to bypass Guatemala City at this stage, and go straight from Antigua to the airport on the 29^th (have bought a flight from Gautemala to San Jose, Costa Rica).

So as you may be able to tell, I am not going to be putting Lake Atitlan on my list of ´must see´ destinations, but that said, I have still enjoyed my time here, and I know that other people have had a brilliant time here, so who knows!

Well, after an epic adventure I am now in Oaxaca, about 6 hrs south of Mexico City. It was an 18hr ferry ride across to Mazatlan (on the mainland), what turned out to be a 20hr bus ride, followed by another 6 hour bus ride!

The ferry actually turned out to be good fun b/c there were two new Zealand guys and about 8 brits onboard, so we watched an incredible sunset (no land to be seen anywhere), then had a couple of beers and played cards for most of the night. Meggie has a lot a lot of beginners luck with the first game that we played, ´last card´,but then the dream run ended abruptly when we started a new one called ´Kings and A**holes. Well, at least until they closed the bar, ie turned off the music and the lights mid-game, and we had no option but to end when we did. Party poopers!

I took Russell and Kim´s advice of getting a cabin to sleep in, and that was definitely the thing to do. It did only go tourist class, as opposed to the next one up, but it meant that you purchased a whole cabin to yourself still, so you could lay down, rather than sit up all night with ratty, crying children, packed into upright seats like sardines. That said, there were three Brits, all over studying Spanish for the year near Cancun, and they had only purchased seats, so I did offer my other beds to them. I figure that I have had a couple of sweet breaks along the way, and I hated the thought of anyone having to sit up all night, or try to sleep like that.

Got in to Mazatlan and caught a crazy taxi to the bus station, and when i got there, there turned out to be only 30mins to the bus i wanted, so i figured to go with that. Turned out there were about 5 others from the ferry also heading along that route, so i had company for the first few hours. Unfortunately within the first 2 hours, we had a blow out, so that took about 1.5 hours to fix, and from then on we had to stop every few hours to either put more air in the tyres, or do something-or-rather. So we were already 3 hours behind schedule when the others got off, so I knew I was in for a long night!! Entertained a couple little Mexican girls for a couple hours, and then slept on and off as we kept starting and stopping.

Finally got into Mexico City at 7am this morning and it just so happened that there was a bus leaving in 30mins to Oaxaca, so I grabbed some breakfast and jumped on that one.

So I am now here in Oaxaca and am happy b/c I´ve showered properly and I smell nice again (!). Just had lunch overlooking the main square of the city with beggars coming up every 2 secs or people selling wares. It´s a lot bigger here, but I think it´s alright. Lots of churches, museums etc to see, and tomorrow I am going on a tour out to the valleys to see some mayan ruins, and to a factory where they made a drink similar to tequila. Ugh!!

There are some new photos up now, so check them out when you have the chance 

So it has to be said - Baja is just amazing and it is definately a place that I have to come back to.

After finally getting a few things organised, I went on a snorkeling and scuba diving tour thingy with four girls from the US on Saturday. The four of them were all from Seattle and are down doing a 1/2 Semester down here in Baja. They were up in La Paz for the weekend, and it worked really nicely in that I wanted a group to tag along with and they were booking at about the same time. It was a pretty full day - we first headed to the top of Espiritu Santos Island where we went snorkeling with the sea lions. None of us were expecting that and were a little bit nervous about getting in the water at first. But our guide was great and we just followed him and kept our arms firmly pressed against out bodies! It was the most amazing thing to see - these massive bull lions swimming just below you, or gliding past and missing you by no more than about 20cm! I think we all wished that we had underwater cameras to try and capture it as it`s definately no everyday you get to do something like that!

After the snorkeling, we headed a back along the island were were kayaked around 4 coves and Benjamin, our guide pointed out all of the different bird species, showed us where the native fisherman once lives in caves on the coves and explained how only the indian fishermen are allowed to live permanently on the island nowadays. There was also these crazy crabs which looked like they belonged in a Disney or Pixar film - they were bright, bright blue and orange. At the fourth cove, we came into the beach for lunch, which the boat driver had kindly prepared for us, and once we had had time for the to digest and to sun ourselves a litte, we were back in the boat to one last spot to snorkel before heading in. In terms of the things that we saw snorkeling, my favourite was the `chocolate chip`starfish, which was bright lime green with brown spots on it.  The trip officially ended when we got back to La Paz, but we all went out for dinner for some more fantastic tacos (chorizo this time) and an icecream.

The following day, I did head down to La Ribera, and had a marvellous time. It`s a smallish (3500)  fishing village about 2 hours south of La Paz, though development has been started on a marina so that is all about to change. Russell`s house is amazing. Given the climate down here, the house itself (a bodega is the correct term I think) is just three rooms downstairs, but then it has an open air second story (so effectively you can by lying in bed or sitting up there with the breeze coming through and be looking out over the water) and a massive outdoor area adjoining with a palm thatched roof, where they have their meals and entertain friends.

On the Sunday night (Mothers Day), Kim and Russell had some friends over for dinner and  Russell BBQ-ed a pork on rotisserie for dinner. It was a delicious meal with good company, so add to that a few Pacificos and it made for a great night.  Amongst  the friends  that came around (Josh, Chuck and Brad), they all had some amazing stories to tell of how they have survived the hurricanes down here, and in particular Hurricane John two years ago. Also great was the fact that Chuck very kindly gave me a couple of maps of Baja (I have already started planning my return trip!) and a brilliant `Spanish for Gringos`book –learning the spanish that you need to get by, but without getting too caught up in actually learning it!

It was also Josh who very generously picked me up from the bus stop when I first arrived, and then took me into Cabo yesterday. Now Cabo , I didn`t really know much about until the OC came on TV a few years ago, and that`s where Jimmy goes sailing in his boat. Anyway, it`s the very end of the peninsula, and it`s where all the cruises end, where all the college kids go for spring break, overly rich people moor their yachts etc etc. Ridiculously priced, but if you`re after a few massive nights, that`s where you go. It`s a town of excesses.

 But we had a marvelous day. Josh did the business that he needed to do, and in true Mexican style, we went into an office to organize some immigration papers, but when we got there, the person he was supposed to be seeing, and that he and his dad had had conversations with, apparently doesn`t actually work for the company – go figure! Anyway, it was sorted out (I think) so we hit the marina, to check out the sights (ie the very flash boats) and grab lunch and a couple of beers. We stopped for lunch in a restaurant overlooking the marina, where we had a mariachi band coming up every 5 mins offering to play a song for `the pretty lady`or some other cause!  You do start to feel bad saying no all the time. We found some markets and I brought a pretty great ring if I do say so - I`m trying not to buy too much `stuff`, but for some reason, I can`t seem to walk past earrings and rings, so it`s starting to accumulate!!

It was pretty darn hot though, so went back to La Ribera, or at least to the property which he and his dad live on, which is just out of town on the beach. So I got to meet Jim, and also see their spectacular piece of a tropical oasis. There is plenty of water in and around La Ribera, so Jim and Josh`s property is covered with palms and lawns (all green and flourishing). And to finish off a fun day, we went down for margaritas on the beach... hard to beat sitting under a palapa at the end of the day with a margarita in hand!

And then we all (Russell, Kim, Josh, Jim and I) went out for dinner to one of their local restaurants, the Lighthouse where there was a man celebrating his 86th birthday, and everyone on that table swore that it was true, that he had been out fishing that day and caught 5 sailfish and 1 marlin and reeled them in by himself! Wowsa!

So after enjoying everyone`s kind hospitality in La Ribera, I am now back in La Paz for one last night before heading across to the mainland tomorrow afternoon. It`s an 18 hour ferry ride, so I`m not particularly looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to the next part of my adventure. And if nothing else, the ferry ride will give me plenty of time to practice Spanish for Gringos!!

After four or so days in Mulege, I´m not in La Paz (getting down towards the bottom of the peninsula). It}s not bad here, a lot bigger than Mulege and lots of American and even a few Australian tourists. I am staying in a hostel which is somewhat alike to staying in a jail - the rooms are cement cells and I have a padlock to lock the door!! Fortunately all of the rooms are out the back, all off a courtyard, and so it´s quiet and safe.

I think I have to say that Mulege has been my favourite town so far. Smaller and relaxed, with a decent mix of locals and americans who come down for 6 months of the year.  Following my adventure to Bahia Conception, I went snorkeling the following day at Punta Prieta, a beach about 5mins out of town, with one of the tour groups. The guy that runs it is British, so for once I had no trouble with language, and it there were some pretty awesome sights. We saw lots of small sting rays and angelfish below the water, and then pelicans and osprays (?) and a heap of other birds resting on the rocks above the water.

On the last day, I caught up with my new friend (I would have absolutely no idea what his name is) and rather than going to the beach, as first intended, he borrowed a friend}s kayak and we went kayaking. I was pretty cool, we paddling down along the Mulege River to the mouth and then headed a little bit south to another beach. All was fine until he thought he heard a rattlesnake (they really do have a rattle) and with that I was straight back in the kayak and back to the town! I}m sure it was nothing, but I was not taking any chances!! I was pleased that we had the tail wind going back in!

It was also in Mulege that I had the most fantastic nachos ever!! I think that the serve would have weighed about one kilo ( I hardly got through a 1/4) and it had everything on it - cheese, meat, tomato, jalapenos, onion, capsicum, guacamole, sour cream - the list just keeps going! So of course I have to go back that for dinner the next night, just to try out something else on the menu!

The bus ride down here was rather uneventful, except for the fact that the trip was supposed to take 6 hours, and it ended up taking just over 8. I suppose that}s mexican time for you... We had three 1/2 hours stops, one on the other side of Mulege, and one when we got into La Paz, but before the bus terminal. ahh! The view of the Sea of Cortez may have been good, except that I could hardly see through the bubbled tinted glass, so instead I settled for watching Armagedon and some Jackie Chan movie with spanish dubbing!

Today is my organising day and it is driving me absolutely nuts! I want to do a mountain biking trip tomorrow, but the store doesn¨t seem to want to open today. I}ve been to the Baja Ferry Office to buy my ticket across to the mainland, but the internet is wrong and there is no ferry on Tues/Thurs (and I want to go Tues) but instead on Mon/Wed. So I am trying to decide - prob Wednesday. I am also quite keen to go to La Ribera and visit the town where Russell (the fellow that I got the ride from El Rosario to Mulege with) and his wife live, and so will try to do that on Sunday for a night or two. Once I work out where I can buy a phone card, I will be able to do that too!!!  Anyway, I will have all of this sorted shortly, and then it will be time for a bit of shopping! There seem to be some pretty good shops here, so I think that will make for a fun afternoon..

Despite this, La Paz seems to be a pretty nice place, though yesterday it was freakin} hot. There is a 5km long Malecon (boardwalk) which stretches along the waterfront (no beach here, need to head around the bay further for that) and lots of cafes and restaurants. It is known for it´s striking sunsets and last night was no exception. It is probably the most modern town that  I´ve been to so far, though there are still a heap of unregistered cards driving around, and lots of absolute bombs which I have no idea how they will run (Mexican mechanics, I guess - do what you can to keep them running).

I was walking along the Malecon last night, just taking it all in, and I met a local from here who is in the Mexican Navy (who knew they had a navy?!). As he said, Mexico tends not to be involved in any warfare, so they really only patrol the waters of Mexico. I saw the naval base from a distance - after going through one of the military checkpoints on the Transpeninsula (a bit nerve wrecking b/c all the soldiers have loaded machine guns, and most of them only look 17-18 years old) and one of the soldiers stopping us as we drove off, demanding that I delete any photos I took - I have become a little hesitant to get too close to police/military/navy. Julio, my new La Paz friend, also took me down to see his ´ship´ which is docked at the moment. In all honesty, nothing more than a tug boat (and an older one at that) which is apparently crewed by 20 people. I would imagine it would have to be pretty crowded.. Doesnt quite compare to the USS Midway or the USS Reagan!!

So as always, the plans keep changing, but I am doing well and enjoying myself!

I was going to catch an overnight bus from El Rosarion to Mulege, but a lovely older American guy, Russell, who has been living in a town called La Ribera in the south for about the last 12 years, was one his way back and offered me a ride (and company for part of his trip). So I took the offer and I´m so glad that I did – the scenery as soon as we left El Rosario is absolutely amazing. It changes so quickly - one moment you are driving through mountains, the next mesas, then desert (well it actually all pretty much desert), then glacial rock formations, then past extinct volcanos, lots and lots of every type of cactus imaginable and there every now and then you come across as oasis (literally) with a lagoon and palms etc. I have taken about 1000 photos, but none of them do it justice. Accepting the ride meant that I actually got to see all of this (otherwise I was planning to be on an overnight bus), I had a personal tour guide, and I also got to see San Igacio, an amazing misión town on the side of a lagoon. I was going to bypass San Ignacio if I had gone by bus, so I was very lucky. The Misión was built in the early 1700s, and it is staggering when you think of how tough the conditions were for building it (I can´t even imagine how they would have brought all the stones by donkey over every rise, dodging cacti and probably the ocasional attack from the indians).

We stopped in a town called Santa Rosalita, on the Sea of Cortez, which is an old mining town first settled by the French. So there was apparently a very good french bakery there (closed on a Sunday) and all of the buildings are made of timber, shipped up from who knows where. What is interesting about this place is that the church that is there was designed by Eiffel (the guy who [obviously] designed the Eiffel Tower), but it was actually entended for Santa Rosalita. It was meant for another town, I have no idea where, but when it wa being shipped through the Panama Canal, it was unloaded incorrectly, and ended up in Santa Rosalita instead!!

Mulege is pretty good - went to the (rocky) beach yesterday and met a semi-local with no english, so combined with my no spanish made for a very difficult afternoon, but still, it was company. And a good opprtunity to practice my spanish.

I wanted to do a tour to the Trinidad Canyon today ( to go down into the canyon and there are some famous cave paintings there), but I was the only one wanting to do it, so the guy said it wasn´t on. But then he felt bad that I might of had nothing to do for the day and so took me for a tour of the town and to one of the beaches on Conception Bay anyway! How´s that for service?? Even better is that Salvador, the tour guide, gave me an impromptu spanish lesson on the beach! Slowly, slowly getting there!

The beaches on the Bay (the one we went to was called Coyote Beach) are great. The water is so blue and such a contrast to the arid mountains which run down to the water. Very coarse sand on the beach, but the water was great, and quite salty so you could just float and drift…

So tomorrow is snorkelling, more swimming the following day, and then to La Paz. Plans keep changing though…

That´s about it from here. Today in Cinque de Mayo (5th of May), a holiday, but apparently it´s not really celebrated here, so no fiesta for me!

PS My apologies for any spelling mistakes, but it keeps auto correcting in Spanish and the keyboard is funny.