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Part 3 – Queretaro to Zacatecas

December 11, 2022 – Jalpan de Serra

We leave Queretaro and take the road to the Sierra Gorda Natural Reserve. Again, we pass quite a few processions for the Virgen de Guadalupe!

The Sierra Gorda is said to be the most eco-diverse Biosphere Reserve in the country. The landscape is initially very dry with hardly vegetation but as we get closer, trees and greenery are all around. The area is valued for its very wide diversity of plant and animal life, which is due to the various micro-environments created by the ruggedness of the terrain and wide variation in rainfall. ( the mountains block the moisture coming from the Gulf of Mexico). it is home to the Franciscan Missions, listed to Unesco World heritage sites.

There are five missions, built in the 18th century, during the last phase of the evangelization of the interior of Mexico. They are credited to Junípero Serra of the Franciscan Order, who also founded important missions in Alta California.

The missions, in particular the richly decorated facades of the churches, are a manifestation of the joint creative efforts of the missionaries and the existing indigenous groups, resulting after an exchange of values and influences.

We arrive in Jalpan at midday. The name comes from Nahuatl and means “place over sand.” In 1976, the appendix “de Serra” was added to honor missionary Junípero Serra. We tour the local market. It is Sunday and the town is bustling. We then go and see one of the first Missions to be built Santiago de Jalpan ( built 1751-58).

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December 12, 2022 – Cascada de Tamul

Last night we stopped at a restaurant/campsite. The setting was nice, near a river but the Mex$150 was not justified. The toilet block was very dirty and there were no showers…

Today, we continue on our way to the Huasteca Potesina region.

La Huasteca is a geographical and cultural region that spans seven states in the northeast of the country.The area gets its name from the Huastec people who populated the region at the height of their civilization around 750 to 800 AD.

La Huasteca Potosina is a smaller part of the wider Huasteca region, located in the state of San Luis Potosi with unique geography and topography, meaning there is an abundance of waterfalls of all shapes and sizes.

We decide to go to Cascadas de Tamul and Google map sends us to the village of El Naranjito where a dirt road ( 5.6km) takes you to the Falls. When we get there, a rope across the road blocks access and there is a small post manned by young guys. One comes up to the car and says we need to pay an entrance fee and have a guide as the road is bad. We argue that we do not need a guide and that we will be fine. He stands firm and we decide to turn back. I had seen another way to get to the Falls on MAP.ME.

We retrace part of our way , then to El Saucillo (34km) from which another dirt road ( not shown on Google Map above leads to the Falls, going across sugar cane fields. It is a much longer road ! (below, white road from El Saucillo, on the left, to the Falls another 6 or 7 km, following the river)

The road is quite bad with big potholes, wet in areas. We have to stop and open and close gates between fields. We get to a forested area and a very muddy patch. At one point, when I jump out of the car to open a gate, I land in deep mud which sucks my shoes off!

A young guys passes us on a motorbike and tells us we are about 20 mn from the Falls. That reassures us that we are on the right track!. We get there around 3pm.

There is an established resort/campsite at the trail leading to the Falls. Nobody is there so we park the car and take the trail to the Falls. We follow the river for a while and get to a wide area where the river simply jumps off the cliff. You can hear and see the spray before you can actually see the top of the Falls.

We carry on to the first viewpoint, but the best view is from another viewpoint at the bottom of the cliff . To get there you have to take another trail which uses almost vertical ladders to get you down to river level at the bottom of the cliff.

Cascada de Tamul is the most impressive of the waterfalls in the region. The water falls from over 100m high and forms a curtain of up to 300m wide during the rainy season ! You can actually arrive by boat on the river below and hike to a spot behind the curtain of water. We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed the magnificent view before making our way back to the car. There is someone manning the entrance this time and we pay our fee + car park fee. ( Mex$ 50pp + Mex$30). We will camp in the grassy area ( car park) tonight!

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December 13, 2022 – San Luis Potosi

Woken up by loud birds (macaws?) early this morning, but we wanted to leave early anyway. The plan is to go on the short dirt road back to El Naranjito, where we were refused entry initially and get through the barrier before it is manned. Got through OK !

We take the road to San Luis Potosi, almost 4 hours away.

San Luis Potosi

Once a gold and silver mining hub, San Luis Potosi is a town in central Mexico graced with pink-quarry colonial buildings, historic landmarks, and contemporary museums. It is surrounded by lush countryside where tropical fruit and sugar cane grow.

December 14, 2022 – Zacatecas

Founded in 1546 after the discovery of a rich silver deposit, Zacatecas reached the height of its prosperity in the 16th and 17th centuries. Built on the steep slopes of a narrow valley, the town has breathtaking views and there are many old buildings, both religious and civil. The cathedral, built between 1730 and 1760, dominates the centre of the town. It is notable for its harmonious design and the Baroque profusion of its façades.

The town has narrow and many one way streets but after circling for a while we managed to find a small car park near the historic centre. This is a pleasant town and being close to Christmas there is no lack of decorations everywhere you turn!

Today is one of the Football World Cup semi-finals( France vs Morocco) and whilst Paul sits at a bar to watch the match, I go and wander.

I visit the Museum Rafael Coronel, housed in the ruins of the lovely 16th-century Ex-Convento de San Francisco. It shows Mexican folk art donated by Zacatecan surrealist artist Rafael Coronel, son-in-law of Diego Rivera. ( famous Mexican artist (1886-1957) and a splendid collection of masks from Mexico, Africa and India. One floor is also devoted to paintings and drawings from Picasso, Kandisky and may other famous artists.

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Part 2 – Coscomatepec to Queretaro

December 6, 2022- Coatepec – Xalapa – Martinez de la Torre

The drive to Coatepec takes us through coffee plantations. This region in the foothills of the Sierra Madre has been growing coffee in the cloud forest since the 1700’s. We stop in town and get a nice coffee, not the weak version you normally get in Mexico !

Further along we pass through Xalapa (also spelled Jalapa) which gave its name to the jalapeno chili pepper!

Too far to reach El Tajin today so we settle for another Pemex station at Martinez de la Torre. The attendant readily agrees to let us camp but asks for a bottle of coke for the favour, He also says that there are showers we can use! Paul gives him a beer and he is happy! This is a huge station and we park away from the forecourt, next to a “doble remolque”( an extra long articulated lorry with 2 trailers attached). We are soon surrounded and it works in our favour as we cannot be seen and we feel ok to cook dinner on our gas cooker.

December 7, 2022 – Papantla – El Tajin Ruins

To our surprise, the showers at the station were clean and HOT! a real luxury…

We get to the ruins of El Tajin.

El Tajin was a Prehispanic City. The site has great significance for Mesoamerican archaeology because it is one of the best preserved and most thoroughly excavated examples of a pre-Hispanic town from the time between the fall of Teotihuacan and the rise of the Aztec empire.

El Tajín flourished from 800 to 1200 CE and during this time numerous temples, palaces, ballcourts and pyramids were built. From the time the city fell, in 1230, to 1785, no European seems to have known of its existence, until a government inspector chanced upon the Pyramid of the Niches. The pyramid is so called because of  the unique use of decorative niches and cement in forms unknown in the rest of Mesoamerica.

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Unfortunately due to damage done to some buildings after recent heavy rain and flooding, part of the site is closed and we do not get to see one of the highlights : some well preserved paintings ( “Las pinturas”) on the wall of one of the ball courts. The museum is closed too!

We stop for the night at Huauchinango…. at a PEMEX station. This is becoming a habit !! Very noisy at night as usual but convenient and free!

December 8, 2022 – Queretaro

Early start as woken up by the trucks going in and out of the station. We leave after breakfast for Queretaro, over 300km away. We get stuck in traffic jam near Tulancingo and decide to go on the tollroad.

We have booked an AirbnB in Queretaro for 3 nights and get there after 3 pm. We are looking forward to some peaceful nights and home comforts !

December 9, 2022 – Queretaro

We spend the day in the beautiful colonial town which has a wealth of outstanding buildings, notably from the 17th and 18th centuries.

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December 10, 2022 – Queretaro

We stay at the flat: England is playing in the quarter-final vs France at 9 am mexican time! I try to catch up on the blog!!

PART 1. Puerto Cortes (Honduras) to Coscomatepec (Mexico)

December 1, 2022 – GUATEMALA – Poptun

Puerto Cortes is not far from the border with Guatemala so we leave after breakfast and get to the border at lunch time.

On the way, we go through lush landscapes with banana and palm oil plantations. We also notice a lot of palapas used to shelter restaurants, picnic areas or at the back of houses. A palapa is an open structure made of wooden pillars supporting a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves. it protects from the sun and is cool. The ones we saw had steep pitched roofs which came down low. ( lower than the picture below)

Formalities at the border are not too bad and we are soon on our way. It rains heavily in the afternoon and the place we had in mind for camping tonight is in the grounds of a working farm ( Finca) and restaurant. Comments of previous visitors mention that it gets muddy if wet so we try to find another night spot but without success.

We decide to go to Finca Ixobel anyway, hoping for the best and arrive at night (dark by 5pm). In the end, the camping spot is fine as it is on a cemented area and we are close to the toilet block. We are the only campers but there are a few customers at the restaurant. We do not feel like cooking in the rain so we retreat to the restaurant for dinner and for the wifi !!

December 2, 2022 – MEXICAN BORDER – El Ceibo/Tenisoque

We got to the border around 3 pm. A bit slow on the Guatemalan side and once in Mexico, after the car was fumigated, we had some of our fresh fruit and vegetables + meat confiscated by a Border Agriculture protection Control officer! (tomatoes, avocado and mango as they have seed in them and could potentially bring some infectious disease to the locally grown produce). We foolishly had bought them the previous day!

By the time we finished the formalities at the border it was 4:30 pm and we drove to the next town Tenisoque. We found the Hotel Frances ( IOverlander app) on the exit of town just before dark. The hotel let us park at the end of the building for Mex$ 100 ( around $10). There is access to a small restaurant with wifi and restrooms until midnight so it works perfectly for us.

December 3, 2022 – Villahermosa – Comalcaco

After discussion we decided to go for Villahermosa rather than heading for the Yucatan Peninsula. Our reasoning being that we have a slim chance of being able to ship the car from Texas to Colombia. We have contacted the agent who cleared our car when we entered the USA and should he come with a solution we want to be able to get to Texas as quickly as possible.

We pass by lots of stalls by the side of the road, selling fresh pineapple, mandarins, coconuts. We also see guys trying to sell budgies and small parrots near toll booths. We make it to Comalcalco where we park at a PEMEX station for the night.

December 4, 2022 – Comalcalco Ruins – Cosamaloapan

The Comalcalco Ruins are the most westerly known Maya ruins. They are surrounded by jungle trees and is the only Maya city built with kiln-fired bricks rather than limestone blocks. The bricks were set with mortar made from ground seashells and you can see broken sea shells on the site.

Comalcalco was at its peak between AD 600 and 1000 and an important centre of commerce and a control point between the coast and the interior.

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We drive on and around lunch time we stop in Minatitlan at a restaurant with TV screens. Paul wants to watch the England game! The service is slow but it is working in our favour and we stay until the middle of the second half. We stop for the night at Cosamaloapan.

December 5, 2022 – Tlacotalpan – Orizaba – Coscomatepec

We are now in the state of Vera Cruz which borders the Gulf of Mexico. The climate is warm and humid. We drive to the small colonial town of Tlacotalpan near the coast. The area is quite marshy and even the buildings seem to sip the dampness. On the way we drive through miles of sugar cane fields and pass numerous tractors pulling heavily loaded trolleys, sometimes 2 or 3 trolleys are attached, taking the harvested sugar cane to the refineries.

The small town of Tlacotalpan ( the name means in indigenous Nahuatl language “land between the waters”) sits at the mouth of the Papaloapan river and on the coast. Founded in 1550, the town is also known as “La Perla del Papaloapan” for its beautiful classic architecture and colourful streets.

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We drove on to Orizaba, known for its colonial buildings and the art nouveau Palacio de Hierro, brought from Belgium in the 1890s and designed by Eiffel. All the nuts, bolts and screws were all brought over from France!

We are near Pico de Orizaba, 5,636m, also known as Citlaltépetl an inactive volcano, the highest mountain in Mexico and the third highest in North America. We are lucky to see it a few times from a distance.

We leave town and take the road for Coscomatepec, this is a mountainous region and the road is narrow.

We notice people wearing same color t-shirts, standing at regular interval by the side of the road and we soon realize that they are taking part in a sort of marathon pilgrimage in honor of “La Virgen de Guadalupe” (Our Lady of Guadalupe) who is celebrated on December 10 in Mexico. This is an important religious festival, associated with a series of five apparitions of the Virgin Mary to a poor indigenous indian which are believed to have occurred in December 1531. This “marathon” is taking place ahead of the national holiday.

We seem to get stuck behind a procession every few kilometers. In each case, the people alongside the road have been dropped by a bus stopping every 30 to 50 m. This is followed further down the road by a head-car/ truck, highly decorated, playing music and with a big picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe going at a crawling pace and following a torch bearer. When that person reaches the new pilgrim by the side of the road, in relay fashion he/she passes the torch, that new bearer starts running and the relieved one jumps on a bus at the back of the procession. There are also people simply walking and singing, waving pictures of the Virgen de Guadalupe behind the head-car.

At one point there is a massive traffic jam ( sometimes processions are going both ways, up and down the road at the same time !!). We are going at crawling pace but see a PEMEX petrol station and stop there. The attendant agrees to let us stay for the night but makes us move away from the road towards the back and we discover why later.

Around 10 pm, we start hearing people singing and loud bangs from firecrackers. It is a procession coming down the road !They stop at the station. We hear people all around us ( we are in the tent) and soon the young attendant calls us and asks us to join in the fiesta. He has brought some food for us: Tamales and a hot fruity drink ! The drink is welcomed as it is chilly but the tamales is an acquired taste and we cannot quite face them at this time of night. There are plenty of families around with young children and everybody seems to have fun. After a while we retreat to our tent. The fiesta is over by 11:30 pm.

TAMALES

Popular street food. It consists of a dough made from dried corn flour(called masa), spread on a dampened dry corn husk, with an added filling of meat or vegetables or even a sweet filling, rolled into a parcel and steamed.

November 22, 2022

This morning had a chat with Nelson, (his English is really good) and he invited us for dinner at his parents house tonight.

We spent the day trying to get quotes from various shipping company, went around the town to their offices. Some were helpful and provided contacts but most were not really interested in doing private business. The weather is still overcast, hot and humid, this is rainy season here in subtropical Honduras.

We had a nice dinner at Nelson’s house: nachos (fried plantain chips) with chicken, refried beans, sour cream, cheese and scrambled eggs , served with Chismol, a salsa made of cubed tomatoes, onions, coriander and green pepper( hot chillis are optional) with a squeeze of lime. This is a staple on Honduran tables and always served with grilled meat.

Nelson’s parents were very welcoming and we managed to communicate in my broken Spanish and Nelson’s help. Nelson’s dad works in logistics and has contacts in the business so will try and get shipping quotes for us. We also met Elsa ( auntie) and Nelson’s grandmother. Elsa speaks good English too and has travelled extensively. She works for a Non-profit Organisation in the sugar industry ( sugar cane). The company provides jobs but also re-invest profits into local communities by building schools, medical centers etc… She lives in the capital Tegucigalpa and has offered to help us if we need to go back there.

Nelson’s parents asked us to stay with them (they have a spare room) but we declined as we did not want to impose on them. So, we drove back to our spot on the Puma petrol station for a second night!

November 23 to November 26, 2022

Our new home is now the Puma station! On the plus side, there is a coffee shop where we can have light snacks + wifi and toilets so it is reasonably comfortable. Also most important for Paul, there is a TV showing the Football world Cup so at least he is not missing on that and can cheer with the locals! we can also continue our search for a shipping company.

Lastly, there is air conditioning and we gratefully retreat there as it is in the mid 30’s Celcius outside!

On the minus side, the station is on the main road going into town, is open 24/7 and used essentially by large trucks so it is very noisy even at night.

Our roof tent arouses interest and some of the drivers come to us and ask questions. All are welcoming and just curious and I manage to answer in Spanish mostly. Some of the drivers have spent some time in the US and speak English too!

We spend most of the week trying to get quotes , some are too high and the breakdown of the fees do not make sense $900 for lashing the car in a container ?? This is at least three time what we expected from previous experience. Most companies simply do not want the extra hassle dealing with the paperwork for a private shipment and charge ridiculous prices.

We are quite deflated but keep trying.

Saturday

We go for a drive to a small town on the coast called OMOA. We get there early and the weekend crowds have not arrived yet. Most of the coastline appears to be private and the only access is if you go to the restaurants or resorts that are right on the beach.

It is rambutan season and lots of little stalls are set up by the roadside selling them by the kilos. They are called lychees here and they are actually related to them. The fruit inside has similar taste and texture.

We go as far as Cumayel along the coast then turn back as we are due to have lunch at Nelson’s. There, we have a great time. Nelson and his Dad are also into football so together with Paul, they watch a match. His parents ask us again to stay at their house and this time we accept.

After 5 days camping at the Puma Station , we welcome the home comforts!

Later in the evening, we go and see Nelson’s new house which is nearing completion. It is in a gated community on an elevated position. It is a good size with two bedrooms and an outdoor space. Nelson hopes to get the keys soon so that he can finish all the indoor painting and move in the furniture before his wedding in January about 6 weeks away. We then go for a drive into town and see Puerto Cortes by night!

November 26 to November 31, 2022.

On Sunday, I go to Pedro Sula with Nelson’s Mum, his fiance Paula and his cousin Deborah. There is no traffic and we get there in an hour. We go to a modern shopping mall (sales are on) and Paula manages to get a few more furniture items and household goods at a good price.

We also have lunch there and I try the famous “POLLO CHUCO” a Honduran favourite. The portion is huge but excellent as confirmed by Nelson’s Mum who loves Pollo Chuco and knows the best places to get it. Pollo Chuco is a portion of grilled chicken served on a plate of fried plantain with some marinated onion slices( they turn pink as marinated in vinegar and beetroot juice), shredded cabbage and chicken stock based sauce poured on top.

Simply delicious !

The rest of the week is spent chasing various shipping agents for quotes .Nelson ‘s dad is also approaching all his contacts but it becomes clear that, despite everyone’s efforts this is not going to work.

We really appreciate the time spent with Nelson and his family. We had nice chats and got to know more about the family and Honduras in general. We are very grateful but it is time for us to leave. We have decided to make our way back to the States with a faint hope that we can still arrange shipping from there.

Nov 20 – 21, 2022

We drove back to Puerto Cortes, hoping that we could arrange shipping of the car. We sent all the documentation to the contact we were given and crossed our fingers. The weather seemed to mirror our mood and took a turn for the worse with torrential rain pelting down for most of our drive, especially as we got closer to Pedro Sula. We got stuck in a traffic jam for 1 hour, barely moving, not knowing what the issue was until we got to the point where the road dipped sharply and was flooded. Cars had to go at snail pace to cross over!

In the meantime, Paul had found another shipping company and we went straight to their office when we arrived in Puerto Cortes. Luckily for us, Mario was there and could speak English. His company did not ship cars but he promised to find us another contact. Thank you for your help Mario!

By then it was getting dark…and still raining! Next to the office was a PUMA petrol station and we asked if we could park for the night under a covered area on the forecourt. The attendant called the manager who came round and agreed but was concerned about our safety as large trucks go in and out of the station 24/7. He even went as far as putting some traffic cones near the car to give us some protection. This was our first encounter with Nelson… but not the last as the next part of the story will tell…

We left Gracias in the morning with the aim to get to Danli / El Paraiso near the border with Nicaragua, around 350km away but a 7 hours’ drive. The road was not too bad and and we passed through coffee and banana growing region . We apprehended having to go into the capital, Tegucigalpa, but the main road cuts right through the city and in the end it went quite smoothly and the traffic was moving.

We stopped for the night at a Texaco petrol station and parked alongside trucks. It was fine until the bar attached to the station turned the music up at 9pm! It was Saturday night and the locals had a good time!

LOS MANOS – BORDER WITH NICARAGUA

WHERE THE ROAD TO SOUTH AMERICA STOPS FOR US !!!

Left early in the morning for the border. As we got closer, there was a long line of traffic. Trucks parked on both sides of the road was making it difficult to go through and at one point we had to wait for about 20mn until some cars reversed to let an oncoming truck go by.

We eventually got to the Honduran border post and cleared the formalities rapidly. We proceeded up the road to the Nicaraguan post where one of the officials asked for our car documents and then disappeared. He came back 10 minutes later and announced that we could not enter Nicaragua as our car is a Right Hand Drive (RHD) and not allowed on the roads !! He was accompanied by someone who spoke some English and we tried to argue our case and asked to speak to a superior. We even said we would get the car on a transporter but to no avail. The officer allegedly called Head Office in Managua for clearance but nothing could be done and they suggested we go back to Puerto Cortes In Honduras to ship the car instead. Not happy!

After spending a good hour there, we had no option but to turn back and go through passport control and into Honduras again. Further down the road, at a customs checkpoint, the Honduran officials were surprised to see us again. They remembered seeing us on the way to the border and asked us what had happened. We explained and they were surprised, but one of the guys was helpful and phoned some of his contacts in Puerto Cortes and gave us the name of a shipping agent there.

We had two options:

1) try and go to another border crossing and hope that the officer on duty let us through or 2) make our way back to Puerto Cortes and try to ship the car direct to Cartagena in Colombia.( thereby by-passing the need to drive to Panama and ship the car from there as there is no road access through the Darien Gap)

We decided to go to Puerto Cortes as there was no guarantee that we would be allowed in Nicaragua and we then also had confirmation that Costa Rica no longer accepts RHD vehicles and was even stricter…

It was raining last night and the weather is still grey and overcast this morning. We drove to Santa Rosa de Copan. The road was not in best condition with large cracks in the tarmac but the scenery was making up for it despite the weather. This is tobacco growing country.

The old town is at the top of a very steep hill, with narrow cobbled streets. The cathedral sits on one side of the central plaza and you cannot deny the colonial influence in the architecture of some of the buildings. We wandered around for a while before having lunch in a fast food restaurant called “Buggy’s”. The food was good with copious portions and seemed to be popular.( ranging from burgers, fried chicken to tacos and burritos)

The town is famous for its “Flor de Copán cigar factory” and you can have a guided tour but not on the day we were there unfortunately.

Gracias

We drove on to Gracias, birthplace of a national hero, Indio Lempira, who fighted against the spanish conquistadors. He was killed in battle in 1530. Lempira was a chief of the Lenca indigenous people. In Lenca language, ‘Lempa’ means Lord and ‘era’ means mountain. So his name means Lord of the Mountain. ( this is a mountainous region). His courage and fight for freedom is celebrated every year on July 20th in Honduras and the country’s currency is called Lempira in his honour. His effigy is on the 1 Lempira note.

We got to the border at El Florido mid- morning and there was a long queue of people at the immigration office. Both Guatemalan and Honduran immigration services are in the same building which in a way simplified things, except that for Customs we needed a set of copies of the exit stamp in the passport and driving licence and we had to go to a small shop up the road to do that and then again to pay for the car Customs fee! Still, altogether one hour and a half for the whole process is not bad at all !

We chose that border because it leads directly to the town of Copan Ruinas and the ruins of Copan, an archaeological site of the Maya civilization. Copan was an ancient Maya city ruled by a dynasty of 16 kings between roughly A.D. 426 and 820.

it was remodeled and rebuilt continuously over a period of 400 years. In its final form, it contained a great plaza to the north and a built-up “acropolis” to the south. The city was one of the most densely populated in the Maya world, and its people built great monuments and sculptures. Among the monuments they constructed was the “Temple of the Hieroglyphic Stairway.” It’s a pyramid-like structure that has more than 2,000 glyphs embellished on a flight of 63 steps, the longest ancient Maya inscription known to exist.

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We are staying in the grounds of a hotel not far from the town of Copan Ruinas. We walked there a couple of times. It is a bustling little town with a pleasant plaza. we had our first good coffee in Central America! ( coffee in Mexico and Guatemala was very weak).

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We arrived in Antigua around midday and found the informal campsite listed on our favourite I.Overlander website.( this website lists informal and formal campsites and other places like car parks or petrol stations where people travelling like us can spend the night)

This is an enclosed massive park, right in the middle of town, which is normally used for receptions but the keeper allows you to park for a small fee. The park is well maintained with different areas, some planted with flowers, others with shrubs etc.

After settling in, we went for a walk to the old part of town. It is registered as a Unesco Heritage site and is renowned for its Spanish colonial buildings, many of them restored following a 1773 earthquake that ended Antigua’s 200-year reign as Guatemala’s colonial capital. 

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We skirted Guatemala City, the capital and drove towards the border, we stopped for the night at an hotel complex with swimming pool and camped in the park for GTQ 50 (around US$6). Thanks I-Overlander!

The next morning we drove to the town of Chichicastenango, (nicknamed “Chichi” by the locals) in the Guatemalan highlands, only 88km away but the road was bad and very twisty (with the usual humps when going through small settlements and at most unexpected places) so it took 2 hours.

This is an old town perched on top of a very steep hill. Luckily we found a “parqueo” just at the entrance of town and this saved us having to drive in narrow streets jam packed with traffic and people.

The town is famous throughout the country for its market( and the largest in Central America) held on Thursdays and Sundays and both merchants and customers come from all over. There is everything you need from food, home-ware, flowers, second hand goods, handy-craft and more!

This is also the place where the local Maya indigenous groups come to sell their wares. Most women are wearing traditional clothes and it is very colourful.

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We then drove on to Panajachel, small town right on the shore of Lake Atitlan. We arrived from an elevated position and had a nice view over the lake and the two volcanoes dominating it. The lake actually sits in the crater of a massive volcano.

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Lake Atitlan is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Guatemala and it was the week end so plenty of tourists and visitors around. We needed to find somewhere to stay for the night and initially thought we would camp near the beach but it was too crowded and noisy.

As we made our way out of town, we saw a small restaurant with a grassy area next to it, all enclosed with a gate at the side. We asked the owner if we could camp and he agreed. There was even an outdoor toilet we could use : perfect. We ended up having dinner at the restaurant: Tacos with a pork stew meat served on corn tortillas.( the tortillas are heated on a hot griddle before adding the filling. Corn tortillas have a distinctive smell and taste. There are always lots of street food vendors everywhere you go in Mexico and Central America and you get to recognise which tortillas they are using. You sometimes have the option to have wheat flour tortilla instead. (those are the one you find in supermarkets in Europe).