January 24 2017

Getting Around Guatemala: Part 2

Yesterday I ended Part 1 on a cliffhanger (literally) as our driver dropped us in the wrong place on the side of a mountain in Guatemala. The bright side was that the girls were learning how to wash laundry by hand from a patient local woman.

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January 23 2017

Getting Around in Guatemala: Part One

Our family just returned from two weeks in Guatemala and getting from one place to another was sometimes a challenge. The girls loved some of our rides as if they were at a carnival while there were other parts that I dreaded and gritted my teeth through, and a few moments that we thought might require a barf bag. Continue reading

May 5 2016

Getting the 180 Day Stamp-Visa Run Part 8

visa run border crossing

Part 8 of our visa run (start here if you didn’t read the earlier posts.) We spent the last of our Guatemalan currency having breakfast at the Hotel Casa Amelia and were picked up in another smallish tour van for the ride back to Mexico. Even though it was only 8:20 we were the last ones in again, so we sat where we could and settled in for a long ride. Continue reading

April 12 2016

Tikal and 3 Kings Day Fireworks – Visa Run Part 7

Guatemala tikal

After a 6 hour bus ride we were finally in Guatemala.  The tour guide for the ruins of Tikal had said they would pick us up “At 8, maybe 825,” which I took to mean they would be late. We were sitting at the breakfast table downstairs in our hotel at 750 and had just placed our orders when the van showed up. So much for food, we had to go, couldn’t keep the group waiting. Continue reading

February 25 2016

Getting to Guatemala – Visa Run Part 6

visa run

Part 6 in my series detailing our first Visa Run:

When we left off we were having our family’s first backpacker-esque experience at Lacun ha cabanas somewhere near the border between Mexico and Guatemala; no power, limited food options, free-range poultry for an alarm clock. It’s not unpleasant, but I wouldn’t want to do it long term. Continue reading