February Expenses

Considering everything we did to keep busy in February, including driving all the way the Guatemala (!), we did pretty well in the expenses department. But you're not surprised by that anymore, are you?

Surprise visitors!

We woke up yesterday morning and checked our computers to find that Dave and Bonnie who we had met in Acapulco, are also currently staying in San Cristobal! There was a message asking if we wanted to get together, and we did!

We are back in Mexico!

Now that we've finished telling you about our six day hike, and the blog is now back to our regular morning updates, we can tell you a little bit of our recent activities and current plans. The biggest news is of course that we are back in Mexico!

Todos Santos and heading home!

Our last post left us at the side of the road waiting for a bus to take us to Todos Santos for the night. Our hiking was finished and we were going to explore the town before heading back to Xela early the following morning.

Last day of hiking. But it's a good one!

Now into day 5 of our hiking trip. We've done 45 kms (28) miles over the past three days of hiking and we're about to start on our last day of hiking. Day 6 is just a travel day to get us back to Xela.

Early to bed, early to rise! (day 4)

When you hike 18 kms (11 miles) in a day and you had been up since 4:30am that morning, it makes sense that you would go to bed early again. Especially when you're not sleeping well to begin with!

Tough hiking day...

But very rewarding. This is day 3 of our six day excursion with Quetzaltrekkers hiking through the remote western highlands of Guatemala. Check the two previous posts for day 1 and day 2!

Hiking the Guatemalan highlands (day 2)

Day two of our six day trip is actually our first hiking day. (Check the previous post for day 1!) We were told that our first hiking day would be not that difficult, with a distance of about 13 kms (8 miles). Only one problem with that.

Our Six Day Trip with Quetzaltrekkers. (day 1)

Here's the first installment of our six day excursion with Quetzaltrekkers. We're going to give you updates twice per day for the next few days so that we can get caught up! I hope you enjoy it!

Getting Ready For Our Next Hike!

You would think that we would be resting up for a while after the weekend we had. Well we did take a bit of a rest day. But some of it was spent getting ready for our next hike, the 6 day grand excursion from Nebaj to Todos Santos that leaves today!

Santa Maria Volcano Hike (part 2)

If you haven't already, you REALLY need to read part 1 of this report before continuing on with part 2

http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2013/02/quetzaltrekkers-santa-maria-volcano.html

Okay when we left you last it was only 6:20pm. We had not had any dinner, preferring instead to try and stay relatively warm and dry inside our sleeping bags in the tent.

Quetzaltrekkers Santa Maria Volcano (part 1)

We originally came to this area to do a six day excursion offered by the popular "hiking for charity" organization here in Xela...www.quetzaltrekkers.com. We figured we had a few extra days and that we should use them up by doing a warm-up hike!

It wasn't long before we figured that maybe we bit off more than we could chew...

A little info about the city of Quetzaltenango (Xela)

We continued on our walking tour yesterday morning and had to make our way back to the ATM to try and get some more cash. We had decided to do the overnight hike up the Santa Maria volcano and it was going to cost another 300 quetzales ($40.50) each. Plus, we wanted to get enough cash to pay for our 6 day hike next week. So we were crossing our fingers that the ATM casino was going to pay out!

Men's haircut, only $2.00!

That's right, the going rate for a men's haircut at a barbershop here in Xela is only 15 quetzales ($2.00)! And for the first time in almost 30 years, someone besides Ruth cut my hair. Pictures to follow...

Some great news to share!

We have mentioned in previous blog posts that we've been looking for a job for this coming summer. We're too young to be called retired, we're not independently wealthy, and we've never worked in a position that offered a pension plan. But we don't mind earning a living when there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Send cash!

In Guatemala, they use the quetzale as money. There are approximately 8 quetzales to one dollar. We've had to make a little cheat sheet so we know how much things cost. Our problem yesterday was that we needed some cash!

From the border to Quetzaltenango (Xela)

Okay, when we left you in yesterday's post we had just departed from the border circus. From there, we had two choices. There's a northern route to Xela, and southern route.

In to Guatemala!

Well, we made it! I won't go into detail about the whole day yet because I want to save some for tomorrow morning's blog post and then we'll get back on schedule with our regular morning updates.

Puerto Arista to Tapachula

We decided that it wasn't worth the effort to try and post the blog first thing Monday morning and that we were better off getting an early start and trying to be as prepared as possible for our Guatemala border crossing tomorrow (Tuesday) morning!

Huatulco to Puerto Arista

Just a short update this morning, and sorry it's late. There is no decent internet here, and even though we do get a cell signal, the internet is slow as molasses, so no pictures!

Huatulco (day 3)

When we got up yesterday morning, we had sort of planned to move on. But we got a little lazy and before we knew it, it was past 9:00am and we hadn't lifted a finger to get packed up. So we decided to stay another day!

Huatulco (day 2)

This campground is a kind of a funny location. It has a golf course on one side, and a chunk of forest on the other, and then a big resort. On the other side of the golf course there are two more large resorts...a Barcelo property, and a Dreams resort.

Camping in Huatulco

There is really only one option for camping in Huatulco. But it's a pretty decent option if you don't need to be plugged in to electricity. We've been here before with the motorhome, and now we're here with the little blue car and the tent! Let me tell you how our day went yesterday...

Next stop, Huatulco!

We're heading further south (actually more east than south!) this morning along Mexico's Pacific coast. Not going far, only about 120 kms (75 miles) to the resort town of Huatulco. No idea where we're staying, but there is a campground there and of course we have the tent if we need it.

RV Parks in Puerto Escondido

We've been to Puerto Escondido with our 28 foot class A motorhome several times. But we've never had to find somewhere to park because we've always stayed with friends. We noticed the other day that one of the larger trailer parks on the main road didn't seem open this year so we decided to check out all of the possibilities here.

Want to Housesit? Top Tips to Get Started...

This is the first of a two-part guest post by James Cave of Trusted HouseSitters. As you know, we like to housesit and when James offered to give you all some valuable information, I thought it was worth sharing!

Accurate information

Even with all of the resources available on the internet, it is still sometimes difficult to get accurate information. We've been doing a lot of research regarding our upcoming Guatemala trip and one of the things we've been trying to find out is how much we will have to pay to cross the border.

The Funniest Book Ever!

Okay, I know this isn't a book review club, but we've had a bit more time to spend reading by the pool and when I like something I have to tell you about it!

You try to do the right thing, but sometimes...

Our regular readers will remember when our tourist visa's were stolen back in November. We think we've followed all the right procedures to try and get them replaced, but holy cow, they don't make it easy!

Sunset Point Resort Hotel

I promised to tell you more about the place we're staying, and there is certainly more to tell. This is not your typical hotel, although the biggest difference comes from the attitude of the owner, not the buildings or the rooms or the services.

Big news!

We love traveling, but one of the drawbacks is the lack of time with family. Sure, skype and internet access have made this a lot easier than it would be without those electronic marvels, but it's still not the same as being there in person.