Well we had a three hours very interesting drive through the hilly countryside of Guatemala with the countrysiide varying from semi arid to fertile green fields of vegetables (this area produces much of the vegetables for all Guatemala and elsewhere), deep ravines, pine forests and high hills. They have very winding roads with amazing hairpin bends! Panajachel is a small town on the edge of Lake Atitlan...quite back-packerish but interesting all the same. Today (Saturday) we did an all day excursion by boat visiting various other lakeside Mayan villages, wandering through colourful markets, visiting a place where they process the local coffee beans and a women's textile co-operative where they use natural vegetable dyes and weave all sorts of cloths. The coffee beans are brought in from the neighbouring co-operative organic farms and put through a process to remove the outer part of the berry, leaving the kernel which is then washed and dried in the sun for ten days before being bagged and exported. The outer fruit is then composted for fertilising the coffee bushes. Very labour intensive and eco friendly. The three villages we visited are much less touristy than Panajachel and reminded us of the Greek Islands (as they were). Today we also heard about the 8.8 earthquake in Chile - dreadful! Hopefully by the time we fly to Santiago airport en route to Easter Island the airport will be open again. Anyway we're back to Antigua (in Guatemala not the island - Alan) tomorrow. Lots of love to all Ann and Iain

Ann spent half an hour writing the last blog entry only to lose internet connection when she tried to post it...but when she looked today it had saved a draft so at least it wasn't wasted although it was only posted today. After a seven hour drive across the scenic hills of Guatemala and our driver getting lost in a very poorly signposted Guatemala City we arrived in Antigua, a beautiful quiet little town up in the hills south west of the city. Luckily the police we had to keep stopping and asking for directions all seemed very friendly. We are staying in what was an old colonial house, now turned hotel and what it lacks in amentities it makes up for in atmosphere! We had one of the most exquisite meals ever last night in another old, partially ruined and partially restored monastery originally built in the 1500s. An amazing place with great background music and candles and the most fantatsic food....at a very resonable price. We are having our final dinner there on Sunday. Today we wandered around the town, bought some jade pendants, looked around the markets and generally relaxed. Tomorrow we go to Panajachel on a lake which sounds great, for two nights before returning here to Antigua. We get on very well with Kat, Mike and Julie and will be sorry to leave them. Anyway - that's all for now...lots of love Ann and Iain

Well, Chichen Itza was amazing - a Wembley stadium of ball courts and climbing up several pyramids again - I (Ann) must be getting fitter! There are various theories about the ball game they played; some say the loser was sacrificed, others that the winner died as a sacrifice with honour whilst the losers were just killed - not much fun either way! We then stayed in Cacun on the Caribbean coast for two nights. We thought this was a horrible typical costa del tourist coastal resort with nothing but hotels and no character whatsoever (as Lizzy had warned us). The festivities on the beach nearby, disco music and loud speakers, went on past 5am so sleep was not of the best. However the next morning Rick suggested that we might take the bus down the coast for 35mins or so to Puerto Morelos where we could take a boat out snorkelling. This was fantastic! A lovely little cove and pier with few tourists and boats that took you out to the reef (only 5 minutes from shore) for one and a half hours for 25 USD. The coral reef was the best we've seen yet - wonderful varieties of coral and many fishes. It was very shallow - I was worried about touching the coral as I swam overhead! Iain found an enormous crab, more than a foot across. Apparently we learnt afterwards that this reef stretches right down to Honduras and is the second longest barrier reef in the world. We then had a lovely seafod lunch in a small Mexican restaurant, recommended by our boatman and frequented mainly by locals, before returning to a dip in our hotel pool. The following day we visited Tulum, a Mayan site perched high on the cliffs and very scenic but rather overun with tourists, before arriving at Chetumal, a small seaside town with a quiet hotel (bliss) and an unspoilt waterfront. Yesterday we traversed Belize and arrived in Quatemala (after unfounded rumours of a holdup on the border because of a teachers strike) and made our way to Flores, a picturesque town partly on an island, where we have a lovely view from our balcony over the sea. It is much hotter and more humid here and we both tried out the hotel pool as soon as we arrived! Today, I (Ann) think, was our best day yet - we visited Tikal in the jungle and climbed up two pyramids to see a host of ruins rising up through the canopy, familiar to some from some shots in the Star Wars film. The first was the tallest but Iain says the second had an almost vertical ascent using wooden ladders with seven stages.We also saw a striated woodpecker, spider monkeys and two lots of howler monkeys (the first time Rick had seen these here although he has often heard them). We were able to walk on small trails through the jungle which was much more exciting than the wide tourist routes. Whenwe got back to the hotel we tried to ring home without sucess because of poor internet signal and relaxed by the pool for a couple of hours. We then had another excellent dinner at the same restaurant as we frequented last night - when you find somewhere really good why change?! We are off to Antigua tomorrow; an eight hour drive across Quatemala but will try and phone people when we can and blog if we are too late to ring...we have heard that there was an earthquake on the Mexican/Quatemalan border but we never felt anything. We have also heard that there may be trouble in Mexico City that may affect some of our group going home but we are moving to Costa Rica so it shouldn't affect us. Further to Lizzy’s comments; Ann has written this with additional comments and proof reading by Iain....lots of love to all ..Iain and Ann

Well - at last we not only have internet access but have managed to change our password as I had forgotten the old one! Very frustrating especially as it was all in Spanish which I don't read too well.
We have had a great time so far visiting Mount Alban in Oaxaca where there are ruins from the Zapotec civilisdation 200BC to 700AD before travelling to the Chiapas region where we stayed in San Cristobel. We had a wonderful boat trip down the Sumidero Canyon seeing alligators, vultures, herons and 1,000 metre cliffs plunging down to 800m deep waters...very memorable. I then had a day in the hotel with the runs and feeling somewhat wiped out while Iain went to visit some Mayan villages where they were dancing and playing music for a fiesta. The church was agood example of the integration of old and new religions with statues of the saints etc but no altar or pews and people sitting around on the pine needle strewn floor with candles everywhere (health and safety would have a ball!). Unfortunately he was not allowed to take photographs so I had to make do with some postcards! The next day we visited Palenque, one of the highlights of the tour with vast pyramids rising up out of the jungle..I managed to climb to the top and was rewarded with spectacular views as we listened to the howler monkeys making their music all around. After a night in Palenque at a good hotel we then visited Uxmal on the way to Merida - another interesting Mayan site. I thought I was getting fitter climbing up to the top with no problem until Rick, our guide, pointed out that we were now at sea level which was probably why I was finding it easier! Today 6 of us took a half day trip to visit some sink holes which doesn't sound too exciting but included a ride on a horse drawn truck along 7Km of single track rail formerly used to take the sisal from the plantations. The sink holes are natural water cisterns underground accessed by precarious wooden ladders where one can swim in clear blue warm waters under stalactites and hanging tree roots with daylight filtering through places where the roof has fallen in - amazing. These underground waters (literally thousands of sink holes) provide the whole of the Yucatan peninsula with its water as there are no rivers in the area at all. We visited three very different sites and had some great swimming. When we got back to Merida we had time to see a Dali exhibition where there were 56 paintings by Dali used to illustrate Dante's Divine Comedy...a special treat! I also sampled the Sacrificio Maya - a flaming combination of local schnapps and tequila - very good if you blow the flames out first! Anyway I'm stopping now as it's 10.30pm and time for bed as we have a long day tomorrow visiting Chichen Itza before driving to Cacun. Oh, by the way, we have heard that we won't be able to get to Machu Pichu because of the floods in the area - a great shame but it can't be helped.....love to everyone...Ann and Iain

Uneventful flights and several excellent meals later we arrived at our hotel with 15minutes to spare before the group briefing with Rick, our guide. We are a group of 7 Australians, 2 New Zealanders and ourselves. after a very poor night's sleep (I seem to have hayfever or a cold) we visited the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadaloupe (very impressive modern architecture) and then the highlight of the day - Teotihuacan. Amazing pyramid constructions - one of which, the Pyramid of the Sun, we climbed up to the top. Hard work but worth it! We also had a demonstration of all the things you can get from the Meguey cactus - paper, needle and string, fibres for weaving and most importantly polque (fermented juice) and mescal (distilled from same juice and like schnapps). We are staying virtually across the main square from the cathedral which we visited upon our return to the hotel. Mexico city is built on a drained lake and is gradually sinking into the mud - many buildings look misaligned because of this.
Today, Tuesday, we went to the Anthropology Museum and saw a fraction of its contents before visiting our guide's hometown Coyocan, now swallowed into suburbia - much more beautiful than the main city and heavily redolent of its Spanish influence. Then we travelled back on the metro which was relatively easy because the rush hour hadn't quite got started! Tomorrow we have a long drive to Oaxaca because the shorter route is closed because of flooding.....hope everyone is well..do reply to the blog if you get the time...love Ann and Iain

Hi everyone - we are waiting, sleepy eyed, at Heathrow for the 7.25am flight out to Mexico via Madrid; having had a great afternoon in London yesterday with Lizzy and Ryan, eating sushi and wandering around the British Museum. The lounge here is well provided with eatables and even at 6am marmite on croissant is good! And they have tomato juice with worcester sauce! I'm not sure quite how long the flights are with the time zone changes but we are due into Mexico tonight about 10pm local time. We will post to the blog again when we get the chance although I'm not sure what internet access we'll get. Love to all..Ann & Iain