OUT OF INTERNET FOR A WHILE BUT ALIVE

Hi!

After the journey from hell today we have arrived 2 days earlier than scheduled on Rio Dulce on the Caribbean coast.  We spent 2 days in the back of beyond in Hotel Cancuen in Raxruja and were the only foreigners in the village.  We had to travel in a cattle truck to the nearby village, then catch an Amazon type boat along the river to the ruins of Cancuen which were deserted apart from our guide and he showed us where robbers had come in and sawed off the hieroglyphs on the stones!  It was an interesting walk through the jungle and river trip.  Then in the evening our host drove us to the Candelaria Caves and we did not want to go down on inner tubes as it was cold so we went into the caves that were dry - the walk through the jungle to get there was the best bit and the caves were big but not very colourful. The 5th biggest cave complex in the world.

Here is a picture of our hotel in Raxruha - it was a real raw town - muddy and completely off the tourist map - though they would like to be on it - trouble is that the transport to and fro is so poor - most foreigners will not cope with standing on the pickup trucks like they travel - we had a view of how poor they are here when the old man shouted for the truck to stop because he had lost 2 quetzal coins from his top pocket - worth 20 pence - then another old lady on the bus yesterday in her 80 with her back covered by a towel and no shoes on - being dropped off with her daughter by the side of the road with miles to walk through the forest to her house.

The kids were very impressed with John's white hair because here the Mayans don't go grey - apparently due partly to their diet of maize! All the little girls ran down the road after our truck pointing at John.

Hotel in Raxruha

Lots of chaps with ten gallon hats on - this chap liked having his photo taken with Moira!  You had very little room for your feet due to all the provisions stacked for the next village on the floor - John used his fleece to protect the head of a baby on board propped up in the corner - they spoke very little Spanish but their native language with many clicks in it called Kekchi.  There was not a lot of smiling around Raxruha - we think life is too hard for them - our guide Oscar was very grateful for the £10 we gave him and invited us to his village any time - he didn't know much about the Cancuen ruins but proudly read us the Spanish at each notice board in the forest - he said the last guides gave up and left due to lack of tourists - shame as the river trip on the traditional boat was pretty exciting and bird life was a plenty - King fishers, herons and egrets.

The food has been dire in the villages - don't ever show us another tortilla or frijoles!

Today we set off at 7.am from Raxruha and had to change buses 5 times - waiting on lonely crossroads in the middle of nowhere - for a bus that surprisingly always eventually turned up!  There was not choice of transport - cattle pickup or collective minibuses where they cram as many in as they can.  We had a massive detour around Lake Izabal and we have booked in to Casa Rosada in the old slaving town of Livingston.  We got a private launch for 45 mins across the bay to our hotel which is one of those Caribbean dream places - small and laid back with Pelicans diving in and we are in 2 cabins a few metres from the dock.  We are in paradise now and we have ordered our dinners of shrimp or lobster and are drinking our beers.  We have 2 nights here on the recommendation of a fellow traveller then we move to our planned hotel on the lake called Tortugal -- looking forward to taking it easy for a few days.

Here is a picture of our hotel dock and our cabanas are just to the right

So it is good to be in contact again- hope you are all well and were not worried about our disappearance off the blog scene.