Travels of the Bay family and the Yoda Van

After Palenque we spent a few nights in Chetumal (on the Caribbean coast just north of the Belize border) doing laundry and stocking up on supplies. Our next stop was Mahahual. This town is on the coast of the Yucatan and used to be a lazy fishing town. Now Monday – Friday it is a stop for drunken American cruise ship travelers. Several years ago someone built a dock in this town of 500 inhabitants and during the week they have 2 or 3 cruise ships that dock there and shuttle between 4000 and 5000 of its passengers into town to look at the locals, ride ATV bikes around town, rent bicycles and get drunk. They conveniently built the dock within a short taxi ride from the city and there were taxis racing back and forth shuttling all-inclusive, bracelet-wearing Americans back and forth from the bars to the cruise ship. We got there at the height of their Friday afternoon binge. Matthias walked into one place, pushed his way through the falling down drunk Americans to ask if we could park our camper in their parking lot for a night. Smelling the gringo dollar he wanted a whopping 300 pesos for us all – 30 dollars for us to park there for the night. When I walked up and asked the DJs where we could camp, they fluttered their eyelids and offered me a free spot on the beach. We just kept going.

The other half of the town is just past the gluttonous cruise ship tourists that hardly know they are in Mexico. It really is a lazy fishing town, even when the cruise ships are docked. We found a great spot to camp on the beach, met a bunch of other travelers and had a great evening.

After that we headed north along the coast past Tulum to a town called Xpu-Ha where we stopped at a great campsite we had heard about from other travelers. It was way tranquillo and right on the water. The beach was perfect white sand with clear blue waters. We ended up staying there more than a week. We planned on staying only a couple of days, but every day we got up and asked ourselves if we really wanted to pack up and move on. Every day the answer was “No!” Originally we had planned on moving to the camping spot in Cancun before our nephew arrived, but it was such a great spot that we just never left. Eventually we just drove up to Cancun to pick him up, and drove straight back to Xpu-Ha. One of the best things about going on a trip like this – you have time. We can just stay in a place if we like it or else we just keep moving.

On the beach one day we met a woman from Cleveland (Laurie), who we ended up seeing quite a bit during the next week. She was traveling with her husband (a heart surgeon) and two kids (ages 13 and eight). They flew down to a beautiful resort for one week where all food and drinks were included. They smuggled us into their hotel room one evening and we took turns making margarita runs while the kids where raiding the mini-bar of all the juice boxes and watching TV for the first time in weeks. Laurie was really spunky and she seemed to meet and introduce us to all the interesting people at the resort (including one of the members of the Mekons). She also didn’t have a problem leaving her $1000/day resort to hang out at our $10/day campsite, and she even brought us a bucket of beers when she would stop by. How cool was that?

Our list keeps growing of the different type of travelers we have met: Vanagon drivers, backpackers, cruise-shippers, resort bunnies, RV-ers, motorcyclists and hitch-hikers.

Sorry we have been so bad about posting updates lately. We are doing very well. We have been on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. We found a great camping spot right on the white sand beach. The swimming and snorkeling has been great. On Thursday we picked up our nephew from the airport. On the weekend the Mexicans moved into the campsite for Semana Santa and were not particularly gringo-friendly. Tomorrow we are going to drive through Belize, back into Guatemala and visit the Mayan ruins in Tikal. I promise we will write more soon.

I thought San Cristobal was a little funky, but that was because I hadn’t been to Palenque yet.  We had heard from other travelers that a place called the Mayabell was the place to stay.  In our camping bible it said that you will find more VW Campers there than anywhere, so we knew we had to stay there.  We were actually the only VW Camper there which was a little surprising since this is hippie central.

The site was great.  It is in the jungle, just 2 km from the Palenque ruins.  We heard howler monkeys and other jungle animals from our campsite.  There was lots of drumming, acoustic guitars and barefoot hippies singing and holding hands.  There were naked toddlers named Luna, hemp and wooden bead necklaces, men in sarongs, pregnant woman without bras, woolen handbags with long straps, a 4 year old with better dreadlocks than any stupid-ass frat boy I’ve even seen in the States, some pretty scraggly facial hair and lots and lots of marijuana. 

We set up camp with our Swiss friend Marcus and we just happened to be right next to another German guy, Dietmar, who has been traveling by motorcycle through South and North America for about 14 months.  Again each one of us had great stories to tell and it was interesting listening to each other’s adventures.  The first morning Marcus and Dietmar set off to the ruins bright and early.  We got up slower, had breakfast, went for a swim and then went to the ruins.  Both kids had fun again climbing up and down the ruins and exploring the tunnels and crumbling stairwells.    The ruins are pretty spectacular.  You just can’t beat the setting in the lush green jungle. 

The next day all 6 of us went to Agua Azul.  This is a river that travels through the jungle and cascades into pools as it comes down the mountain.  The water is turquoise blue and beautiful.  Some people at our campsite gave us some good advice where to go when we got there.  There are lots of restaurants and vendors selling stuff, but we just kept going past all this until there were no more stands.  At that point most people turn around and go back, but we kept going a little ways further and found a nice spot where we could swim.  There current where we were was not that strong so it was possible to walk just a little ways upstream, get in the water and float downstream.  Occasionally a few people would walk by, but for the most part we had the place to ourselves and we were the only ones swimming there for the entire afternoon. 

I was sad to leave since this was one of the nicest settings we’ve stayed at in a long time.  Next we’re off to the coast on the Yucatan Peninsula where we’ll by meeting our 16 year old nephew who is flying in to Cancun in about a week.  He’ll be traveling with us for 2 weeks before flying home to Germany.

We ended up in Huehue and it was quite a bit different than we were expecting.  It was a very raw, real Guatemalan city, with not too much to see and enjoy.  Maybe it was just our anticipation about returning to Mexico, but we high-tailed it out of Huehue the next morning and headed straight to San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico. 

Our first stop in San Cristobal was the campsite.  We picked up a book on our way down to Central America that one could refer to as a bible.  The title of this book is “Mexican Camping,” it is written by a couple whose last name is Church and all the vagabonders follow it religiously when camping in Mexico.  Now that we have our traveling sea legs, we’ve decided to mostly camp in Mexico.  We’ve gotten used to the temperatures, our money is running out, and we have no more excuse to spend big bucks on expensive Mexican hotel rooms. 

San Cristobal is a funky little city high up in the mountains.  The houses in the center of town were painted in bright colors, there is a lively market and lots of there is a lot of Mayan influence.  Our campsite was a short 15 minute walk in a quiet neighborhood outside of the center of town.  What was great about this campsite is that we also met 4 other groups of other travelers who were on similar trips as we were.  One was a group of French-Canadians that gave us great tips about other campsites on the Yucatan.  Another was a Basque couple who have been traveling off and on for years.  We swapped music and movies and they gave us great tips about the Palenque area.  There was a Swiss guy who imported his car and has been traveling through Canada, the US and Mexico (so far) and another couple who were driving a 1985 Westy.  One night when I was returning to the van after brushing my teeth, I looked down on the campsite and realized we are all a bunch of weirdoes sleeping in our cars, but we are all the same type of weirdoes and have a lot to talk about and really enjoyed each other’s company.  It has been really good to connect with other travelers traveling the same way we are.

One of the most unusual acquaintances we made was a guy who has been traveling off and on for over 20 years.  He sustains his travels by working as a clown and a balloon twister in the places he visits.  He even spent 3 years living in a Tibetan monetary.  One day when we left him he was lying on the grass in the sun waiting to figure out where he was headed to next.  “I’m just going to lay here until it comes to me where I should go next. “  Originally he was thinking it would be Guatemala, but two days later he was still there and it turned out his destination did come to him – he was headed to the coast in Oaxaca.  I wish I had had more time to talk to him.

The only problem with San Cristobal was that it was cold.  During the night the temperatures were in the low 40’s.  4 nights of super cold weather caught up with us and we were ready to head out.  We started a mini-caravan with the Swiss guy toward Palenque.  We stopped off at some neat Mayan ruins half way between San Cristobal and Palenque.  The ruins were neat and nearly unrestricted on where we were allowed to climb and we all made it to the top.  It was especially fun for William to be able to climb and climb and climb. 

Now we are in the jungle near Palenque.  The drive here was totally green and amazing.  The temperatures are more like we are used, we’ve thawed out from the near-freezing temperatures and we are looking forward to exploring the area – more Mayan ruins and lots of swimming holes and waterfalls. 

We are back in Guatemala and it was such a great feeling to be back in the Guatemalan highlands.  This area of the country is so spectacular.  Most of the places we have been lately have been dusty, brown and brittle due to the lack of rain (it is the dry season now).  Somehow this area has remained greener than any other place.  Over 50% of the population of Guatemala is indigenous and you are constantly confronted with the Mayan tradition and colorful clothing, weaving and textiles.  I think it is by far one of the most interesting areas of Central America. 

After leaving Guatemala City we stopped in Chichicastenango.  There is a renowned textile market that takes place every Thursday and Sunday in this town.  We got there on Wednesday evening and watched the town transform itself into a bustling lively market.  Matthias isn’t so into these markets, but I sure am.  He let me out in the morning (with an empty wallet) to scope out the goods.  I came back with a list of a few things that I wanted to by and he came back out with me and did the haggling.  I’m terrible at it, and Matthias was able to talk all of the vendors down to a price he was sort of ok with. 

The next stop was Quetzaltenango – more commonly known as Xela.  We spent two weeks in Xela in October taking language classes.  We met up with Matthias’ old teacher and did some shopping.  Up in the highlands it is really cold – like highs in the low 70’s and lows in the 40’s.  For the last several months we’ve been in areas where the temperatures are always in the 90’s (and sometimes higher).  Honestly, it is too cold for me, and I’m looking forward to getting back into warmer climate.  However, Xela is such a great town and we’ve really been glad to have a second chance to explore it some more.  We’ve found a nice hostel (next to Neuroticos Anonimicos – Neurotics Anonymous en español) with parking, wireless internet, and the cutest group of 3 little Mayan kids that William and Julian have been playing with.  Xela is working out for all of us.  We have been able to take care of some errands and today we went back to some hot springs near here, set high up in the mountains in the cloud forest.  The drive up there is jaw-dropping and I think it was just what I needed to get over the cold I got since being in this frigid weather.    

Next we are off to Huehuetenango.  Huehue (pronounced way-way) is close to the Mexican border and we plan on spending two nights there.  It is rumored to be one of the most scenic stretches of the Guatemalan highlands.  We’ll take a small day trip on a chicken bus and after that we’re off to Mexico again.

Matthias signed up for YouTube and he has put a couple of our videos up there.  I think the following link will work:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=lotzbay

We have driven 11,000 miles (17,000 km) on our trip so far and very few things still surprise us on the road.  Our guidebook says the traffic rules are pretty standard like everywhere else in the world and are universally ignored.  They couldn’t be more accurate.

I remember when we first started driving in Mexico we were pretty excited and surprised when we saw a pig or even a goat next to the road. In the meantime we don’t even notice livestock on the road anymore unless it’s a herd of 20 bulls or more blocking all lanes. This also happens on major freeways like the Pan-American highway which is, by the way, much better than its reputation. It has also become normal that cars are passing each other in curves (blind to any on-coming traffic) and almost never let you change lanes. On a two-lane road if there is space for three cars side by side, someone might pass (straddling the center lane) which means you just have to move over on to the shoulder.  If you are a pedestrian in Central America you know better than to cross a road when cars are nearing, no matter if there is a crosswalk or a traffic light. When you are in your car, you are in control.

In the meantime I know not to let other cars squeeze into my lane and I must admit I start to enjoy protecting my territory. It took me a while not to let pedestrians cross the road anymore, but I mastered that, too. And the fact that the Yodavan isn’t the newest and nicest car on the road means I can be as aggressive as I wish, because one more dent will make hardly any difference in its appearance.  No matter how aggressive people are in their cars, I noticed that if you hand signal to another driver that you would like to change lanes or pull out into a busy road, people almost always let you in. All you need to do is have eye contact, look friendly, push your way out into the road and people let you in. I do the same thing.

One thing I still have to work on is the honking. Unfortunately the horn on the Yodavan only works when the steering wheel is slightly off-center.  When I am driving straight it doesn’t work. Therefore I have a real handicap on the roads. I think I need to get this fixed soon, because other ways you are at a real disadvantage, especially if you are a taxi driver. We drove in taxis with built in special buttons to make it easier to honk.  (I have yet to ride in a taxi that had a working speedometer, but almost all of them have pimped their horn.) Just like a parent who can distinguish between a baby’s hungry-cry, tired-cry or dirty diaper-cry, I also figured out the different meanings of honking. Some mean “thank you”, others warn you of something, like “I’m passing you on the left” or “I’m passing you on your right”, others are just the random “I’m driving in Central America so I’m going to honk a few times” and finally there are the “get lost gringo” honks.

Once you have learned all that you are almost good to go, but the most important thing is to realize that you should never expect anything to be as it would be in the States. Don’t ever assume the brake lights of the car in front of you work.  For that reason most cars leave a nice distance between them and the next car.  You expect that animals, palm fronds, broken down vehicles and man holes without covers might materialize at any moment – regardless of whether you are driving on a residential road or the nicest paved 4-line highway (of which there are few in Central America).  Expect that a car might be in your lane as you enter a curve, because not being able to see on-coming traffic is no reason not to overtake another car.  Besides, the oncoming car can always pull out onto the shoulder.  It is this new mindset that enables me to enjoy driving in total chaos through San Salvador with loud 80’s music in-between 2 busses that were both an inch or 2 from my rear view mirrors.  Knowing all this you just need to be “tranquillo”, be prepared for anything and you’ll have the best time on the road, at least if the outside temperature isn’t above 95 degrees.

Can anyone please explain to me how much I am supposed to tip where? Restaurants are pretty straight forward. 15 – 20 % I hope. How about the taxi driver or the hair dresser? The same? And the maid in the hotel? Do you tip the garbage man or the paper boy? I read that you are supposed to leave him 10 to 20 dollars preferably around Christmas time?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to pay people appropriate wages that make tips unnecessary? That way you can still tip to show appreciation for good service and don’t need a calculator the figure out what 5, 10, 15 or 20% are when the total bill is $45.86.

I started thinking about this issue when I spoke to the German hotel owner in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. We talked about how expensive traveling is getting in Central America and his response was: “It’s all the Americans’ fault with their stupid tipping”. He told us about an all inclusive 1 week sailboat trip he was invited to. When the trip was over he was ready to head home, but then was asked to first tip the captain $300 and the staff on the boat another few hundred bucks. There where a few more hidden tips, so you couldn’t really call it “All Inclusive.” I guess if you are American this doesn’t shock you as much, because it’s normal and accepted to tip large amounts no matter how good the service is.  It is not normal in most other countries. What excessive tipping does in poorer countries is it makes things more expensive for everyone else, locals and tourists alike.

On our trip we constantly run into situations when we don’t know how much to tip. The guidebook says 10% and the locals say you shouldn’t tip at all! It feels so strange to leave tips that are only 25 cents or less, but if you consider, that a workers wage is only 8 dollars a day that amount is not inappropriate at all.  Couldn’t it also look somewhat arrogant if you keep tipping much more than what’s expected everywhere you go? But it also feels cheap at times to only leave a few cents.

At the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica we felt that we had to tip on 2 occasions and it’s confusing. When we got there, there was a huge line. It could have taken between 2 and 3 hours to cross the border, but some guy approached me and told me that for 5 bucks a person he could get me to the front of the line. I declined, because it seemed like one of the many rip-offs.  A few minutes later he told me that if a woman travels with kids, she doesn’t have to wait. I still didn’t really believe him, but Allison went up with William and Julian and it worked. The policeman let us right through. The guy just saved us 3 hours of standing in line in hot weather. How much is that worth to you? I decided that I would change our leftover Costa Rica money with him and I had 4 dollars left in small bills. It seemed appropriate to give it to him, because border crossing are a pain and he saved us 3 hours.  

Later on, on the Nicaragua side there was a young child, who offered all kinds of services to me while Allison was doing all of the paperwork. He offered to wash the car, bring us food, sell us water etc. For me he was just another annoying person who doesn’t leave you alone at the borders. He later on pointed Allison in the direction of the next office she had to go to and Allison felt she had to give him something, too. But how much? It only was 1 finger point. She wanted to give him 50 cents I responded: “Are you crazy? 50 cents!! His dad has to probably work half an hour to make that. That’s excessive. And besides he was annoying me for the last 45 minutes!” So for the 1 guy 4 dollars seemed fine and for the other kid 50 cents seemed way too much.

In El Salvador we met up with a Peace Corp volunteer who showed us around the town where she is stationed.  She said that tipping is not expected at all, and if you do tip, it will be quite a surprise and very much appreciated.  When we went to eat breakfast the next morning it was quite a relief.  There was no pressure and no expectations. 

So I think the right way to do it is to listen to the locals who say: “Don’t tip at all!” and if that just doesn’t feel right to you, leave an appropriate tip, because it’s really not expected of you and people are really grateful of even a small appreciation of their service. Unfortunately I am still not able to tell you exactly what is “appropriate”, but I do know that it’s not the same amounts than back in the states and an 8 cent tip can be really appreciated in many areas of the world.

Laundry is pretty straight forward for us in the US.  Either you have your own washer and dryer, or you take it to a laundry mat.  Once we left from Seattle we did our laundry at friends’ houses along the way or at laundry mats.  When we got to Mexico we were in search of laundry mats and could never find them.  We’ve learned that in Mexico and a lot of other places in Central America you need to bring your clothes to a lavandaria.  You drop your clothes off and pick them up a few hours later clean, folded and smelling fresh.  We’ve paid as little as $2.00 (in Panama) and as much as $12.00 (in Costa Rica) for this service.

In one hostel we stayed at we were able to use the washing machine, but since they didn’t have a dryer, we just hung our clothes up to dry.  Hanging up your clothes to dry is very common in Central America, and since it is usually so warm in most places, the clothes tend to dry very fast.

In many places in Central America you will also see people doing laundry in the river.  Women bring their dirty clothes, their kids, and sometimes set up an umbrella.  The clothes are washed in the river and either laid on the hot stones to dry or brought back home and hung up around the house. 

Our worst experience with laundry was in El Salvador.  We were in a small beach town and had a lot of laundry to do.  We gave it to a woman in town who said she would do it for us.  We expected to have it back later that day.  But that evening we still didn’t have our laundry back.  The entire next day it didn’t come.  On the third day we asked if we could get our laundry back since we were planning on leaving the next day.  It was brought back to us, stuffed in a bag and still totally wet and stinky.  The coast can be so humid and things often take a long time to dry.  If it is overcast and there isn’t much direct sunlight they will take days to dry.  I don’t know if this woman had hung up our clothes in the kitchen, but they smelled like corn tortillas.  We paid her and then in the next town we had to have them washed again immediately.

In a lot of places in Central America you also have what is called a pila.  It is a large stone sink with 3 compartments.  The middle section is filled up in the morning with fresh water and the other sinks on the side are left available for washing clothes/dishes/etc.  One reason the pila is filled up in the morning is because often the water is turned off later in the day and this way you have a large reserve to last you until the water comes back on. 

Many people do their laundry in the pila.  First you let the clothes soak for a short while, then you take soap and a brush and brush all the clothes.  Then they are rinsed and hung up to dry.  In Honduras we had our laundry washed by some women from our hotel.  At first it takes a little courage to give over your dirty socks and underwear for someone else to scrub.  There were two women who worked for about 2-3 hours washing and scrubbing our clothes.  They wanted $2.80 for all that work.  That is some hard earned money.

This last time at the coast in El Salvador I decided to give it a try myself.  I soaked our clothes and then started to scrub them in the pila.  It was fun at first, but the work quickly became tedious.  It is also hard on your back to bend over for that long.  I scrubbed, rinsed, wringed our clothes and then hung them up to dry.  By the next evening they were dry, but they weren’t all that clean and still smelled a bit.  All that work for nothing. 

Now we are back at our friends’ house in Guatemala City.  They have the washer and dryer I’m accustomed to from the states.  I feel like I’ve come full circle in the laundry experience.  I’ve sent our clothes to be cleaned, I washed them myself, hung them up to dry and used the washer and dryer.  The only thing I haven’t done is wash them in a river.  This experience is one example of the subtle differences between the life we know at home and life here.  In the end we can live with any of these options, but after all these experiences I still think there is nothing like pulling warm fresh smelling clothes out of the dryer. 

We left Honduras decided to go back through El Salvador.  After our first couple of border crossings on this trip we decided we wouldn’t go through El Salvador on our way home because border crossings can be such a pain.  However once we actually got to El Salvador and saw how amazing this country is, an extra border crossing or two wasn’t going to stop us from returning. 

Our first stop was Perquin.  It is a small town up in the mountains close to the Honduran border.  It was the headquarters for the FMLN (which was the party of the guerillas during the civil war) and there is a lot of history.  We had met a Peace Corp volunteer who was stationed there our first time through El Salvador.  She said that if we were even in Perquin we should get in touch and she’d be happy to show us around.  First she helped us find a nice hostel, and then she took us up to the top of the mountain as the sun was setting for a spectacular view of all the surrounding mountains and volcanoes.  As we were climbing the mountain we passed bomb craters and escape trenches used by the FMLN radio station which broadcast from Perquin during the war. 

Our first night in the hostel we also met two other Americans: Nick and Jessica from Chapel Hill, NC.  They also quit their jobs and were doing a similar trip as us.  It was great to talk to them about where they had been and share stories.  Unfortunately they were the first people we have met that had anything bad happen to them.  Earlier that day when they were walking back from a waterfall they were robbed by two men in masks.  They didn’t hurt them, but they did take everything they had on them.  Nick called Jessica his big set of testicles because apparently Jessica started negotiating with their muggers.  She asked if she could keep the ring her Mom gave her, and she also worked out a deal with the guys so she could at least keep the memory card in their camera so they wouldn’t loose their pictures.  Either she has gotten really good at bargaining after being in Central America for so long, or her attackers were real novices.

The next day Nick and Jessica just wanted to leave Perquin.  Totally understandable after what had happened to them.  They were headed towards Alegría and then to Suchitoto, two towns that we were also interested in seeing.  They called us later that evening and we told them we’d meet them in Alegría.  Alegría was really beautiful.  It is a small town perched on top of a volcano covered in coffee plantations.  Its claim to fame is all the flower nurseries in town.  Nick found a great pupusa restaurant and we had great Salvadorian dinner.  The only bad thing about this town was the church sermon going on in the Parque Central where the preacher was ranting about the evil militant Americans, homosexuals and hermaphrodites.  One other neat thing we saw in Alegría was a cock market.  One of the nurseries has 100s of fighting cocks for sale.  Each one goes for $100.  Considering the wages of people here it tells us there must be big money involved in cock fighting in El Salvador (which is illegal in this country).

The next morning we all hopped into the Yoda Van and drove to Suchitoto.  It was fun to have others along in the Yoda Van.  I also figured it is a good thing to stay close to them since it is very unlikely than anything bad will happen to them again anytime soon.  In Suchitoto we all went on a hike together down to a swimming hole at a river, we went on a boat trip to an island that is covered in thousands of birds, went swimming in the pool at our hotel, ate lots of pupusas and drank lots of beer. 

Next stop was San Salvador.  Nick and Jessica wanted to stay there for a few days and go to a bunch of the museums there.  We all drove to San Salvador together and then split up.  After a visit to the Children’s Museum, and lunch at Pollo Campero (the favorite fast food restaurant of all children in Central America), we headed to the coast for a few days.  We went swimming, relaxed in hammocks and had a lot of shrimp for dinner. 

Today we met up with Nick and Jessica again in a town called Juayúa, which is in northwest El Salvador close to the Guatemalan border.  Every weekend they have a food festival with all sorts of stands set up and artisan markets.  Unfortunately we only had a few hours with them and had a nice lunch.  They are on their way back to San Salvador and then to Nicaragua where they are meeting Jessica’s family.  This has been one of the great experiences during traveling – making fast friends with other travelers who are also far from home and sharing a bit of our adventure together.