Leaving for San Salvador today . . . ummm, still no plans . . .
 

So I'm leaving for San Salvador (El Salvador) tonight, still no plans, no guidebook, no nothing. I have to be in Guatemala City to meet a friend on the 17th at noon. So . . . any last minute advice? Where in town to stay? Get out of town quickly or stay and enjoy? How easy is it to get to the coast, I wouldn't mind squeezing in a dive before getting to Guatemala City. I haven't done one bit of research, I've been overwhelmed with school and now, finally, spring break has begun.

So anything I need to know?

After meeting my friend (NicWat, she's on the boards, barely), we want to check out Tikal, do some diving, maybe climb Pacaya, and . . . damn, I only have ten days total, so I know I can't do it all. Any advice? She'll have a guidebook with her . . . a bit more prepared than me :)

I know nothing of Latin America, but wanted to wish you Bon Voyage ! :)

Pacaya was kick ass. Touristy but kickass. Do it! Check out Semuc Champey on the way to Tikal, it's about halfway between Antigua and Tikal. I stayed in El Gato Negro in Antigua, spent as little time as possible in Guate City and one sketchy night in El Salvador...have a blast though! If you have time, Lago de Atitlan was GORGEOUS.

Thanks atchoum, and freespiritz, I've written it down and I'll have to throw that in my plans. So now the question of the day . . . if you were a passport, where would you hide? I'm sure I'll take some heat for this one.

Well, everything that could have possibly gone wrong as far as flights go, did. The flight to San Salvador was going to be so late that I wouldn't have been able to enjoy anything and get up to Guatemala City to meet Nicole in time, so I flew straight to Guatemala City. My bags didn't. I ended up doing the trip with just my daypack. Actually didn't miss the big pack anyways, wasn't too full, and I wanted to buy some t-shirts anyways. But anyways . . . Guatemala City is a shithole, but still had some great times there, kinda figured that city out pretty well. Tikal was kickass, Flores was ight . . . went into Belize to Caye Caulker and did a day of diving, amazing! Back to Guatemala City . . . flight was delayed 13 hours so I shot off to Antigua for the day, badass, then got back to California having missed a whole day of school, which is half a week of school for me, so now I'm incredibly behind and had to cancel all fun plans for the weekend.

Yeah, this post was too condensed to make much sense or help anyone out . . . but if anyone's headed that way I could offer some advice. Sorry, I'm way cramped for time right now . . . .

And I think I'm doin Cuba over the summer! maybe I should learn some Spanish.

Sorry to hear you missed out on El Salvador...but I'm glad you liked Tikal. Definitely one of my favorite Mayan ruins.

worldwidemike