We left San Cristobal early, around 7am. Naz had to call O2 customer services and was using my tablet to call. He was on hills for a while but managed to get through to speak to someone. Our shuttle to Guatemala arrived and the driver was asking us to get our stuff on but Nas was still on the phone to O2. He literally finished the call as 1 foot was out the door and WiFi got cut off. Naz cuts things pretty close.

Our journey in Mexico to the border was fine. We had no problems. We stopped at a petrol station with a restaurant next to it. I think this is a practice that most tour companies do, take tourists to specific restaurants along the way to somewhere so the driver or tour company get a kick back. Everyone got a breakfast but Naz and I didn’t have any money as we’d spent it the night before as we thought we weren’t gonna need it anymore as we’re leaving the country. Oh well, we got a nice coffee as that was all we could afford. We had pot noodles as backups.

So we get to the border, things look really shabby here. We queue to get our passports stamped, or in this case nothing was stamped as we had use a departure form which was part of our entry form. So then I never really arrived in mexico only left it according to my passport.

After we left immigration we travelled on the road for another 20 mins before hitting the Guatemala immigration office. I read there was a fake tax to pay and it was true. 20 pesos. We could have argued it but I didn’t bother as it woulda been hassle.

The border divide was literally a vehicle barrier. Security in terms of police or army was little. The only guns I saw were from the dodgy money changers, they had massive wads of cash the size of your fist but also had a large hand gun with an extended clip. If I had the balls I woulda taken a pic!

After the border we travel through some really poor areas. Kids selling petrol on the side street. Kids selling sweets on the street. I never grasp the fact that I pass through rural areas and not metropolitan areas of the country. I haven’t yet experienced a metropolitan city in central america. Last time I was travelling I hit major cities but this time I seem to be avoiding them.

Driving in Guatemala is pretty ropey. People tend to overtake recklessly and they don’t have a problem doing it around corners. Es mucho dangerous! Our driver was pretty pathetic as he kept trying to overtake cars and lorries but never managed to do so as he was either too slow or the minibus was too weak to get past the vehicle. There are still tonnes of speed bumps here too!

We finally get to the city of Queztaltenango, or Xela as the locals call it. We unpack our stuff and jump on another minibus. The original minibus was going to Antigua so they carried on but we had a local minibus take us to our hostel/hotel(we were travelling with some French retirees).

We get to the hostel at 6pm having left at 7am. We were told the journey should take 6 hours! A German guy is staying in our dorm and he and recommends we go to the local market as they sell some cheap enchiladas. They’re veggie, soy based mince, but dirt cheap. Like Q5 for 1 which is 40p! We end up getting 3 each as we were starving. Once again we were eating with our eyes. Waaay too much food. Also the woman put sprinkles of cheese on it so I couldn’t stomach it all. Still excellent value for money and very tasty albeit cold. We ate in the Parque Central which made us feel sort of like at home when you get a munch from a kebab shop and eat outside. No one else seemed to be doing though… We go home and relax as we’re set to book a volcano hike for the following days!

So I’m writing this in transit, on a shuttle bus going to Guatemala from San Cristobal.

Mexico has reminded me about my time in Thailand. Buildings are of similar structure. Shop fronts are usually open. Electricity or other cables are all overground and the roads are all dirt. I have a hard time drawing then line between poverty and wealth here. Back home I guess tarmac road and pavement mean the area is decent. But in mexico this could be totally different as I’ve seen grand houses and dirt roads. Its possible that in the UK, we can’t have dirt roads as we’ve got soil and earth so all our roads need to be tarmac of something.

The people here are extremely friendly and polite. It really helps if you speak some Spanish as I’ve had a few times where by not speaking the language, your reception for assistance is lower. Its not too bad, serves you right for not learning the native language! People pretty much understand English and you can sort of get what you want by talking in English so long as you’re not asking for something complicated. They don’t seem to correct bad Spanish much. Maybe the younger people do a bit, but if you’re saying something in a rude manner, it’ll be forgiven.

For some areas and services there is a Mexican price and local price. When I bought a Lonely Planet Mexican Spanish phrasebook, I could see that I was getting ripped off in front me as they scanned the book and I saw the price on screen but the manager told the guy at the counter to knock it up a couple of quid! Also at nature reserves they is a specific sign reminding natives that they get a discount. The local buses, the collrctivos, are a hail and ride service and they might knock up the price by 50p or so. This isn’t a big deal as transportation here costs 1million times less than the UK. Sometimes the people I have travelled with debate and get pissed off we foreigners are getting ripped off. I don’t actually give a shit as my wealth back home is far greater than the people in mexico. To them squeezing a few extra pesos is a massive bonus. To me, a few extra pesos is like, 5mins work in the office. I’m still unsure how the roadside pitstop cafes and garages earn money. While driving past them on the bus, the staff are doing nothing but waiting for business. I’m not an expert on business or economics, it just seems that they setup shop and hope someone stops by occasionally. Who knows if they make much or any money. Maybe I’m just too western to understand the value or I’m too much of a city boy the appreciate the slow pace these people have. It was the same in Thailand too.

I thoroughly recommend mexico as a holiday destination. Nothing bad has happened and everything is cheap compared to the pound. I don’t quite know how much I’ve spent, but I don’t think I’ve spent as much as my plane ticket to get here.

We’re staying at this place called the Rossco Hostel and everything here is awesome. Its pretty cheap, 125 pesos for a room and they offer a free nights stay if you’re there for 3 nights, theres a pool table, TV room where you can watch DVDs or plug in a USB stick with movies, they provide extra blankets here if you’re cold, there’s a bonfire from 8-10pm, they sell backpacker items such as locks, sprays and food, the showers here are hot(!), free breakfast, use of kitchen, laundry service and last but not least the staff are amazingly helpful and friendly.

It just dawned on me that if it wasn’t so cold and I wasn’t farming later I would actually ask for a job here! The boss speaks good English and the staff understand English so I could learn from them. There aren’t any westerners working here so I could be a good English speaking receptionist. All you need to know is admin, house protocol and policies and you’re done. I think I could pull it off.

Last night we were at the bonfire and we cooked hot dogs and marshmallows! I never in a million years thought I’d be cooking hot dogs over a fire in mexico.

I thoroughly recommend this place to anyone who comes to the area. Perhaps later on in life this is an option to stay for a while.