The Wanderings of busman7

Panama CanalMy good luck is holding as I went to the canal museum at The Miraflo Locks this aft & a few small vessels were going through just after we came out from the movie. They put the small ones through together 7 this time & room for a lot more. A fairly impressive sight & well worth the $4.00 it cost for entry (1/2 price for seniors in Panama).

So I have accomplished the first part of my mission, travelling by bus through most of Mexico & all Central America in search of a new place to live & have found 2 acceptable countries & 2 back ups where both the climate & cost of living are right.

Two more sleeps & it’s the big silver bird to Cuba for dental work & more Spanish lessons. How long I stay there is up in the air with the Canadian Loony trying to be on par with the Belize dollar which is 50 cents American + the high cost of travelling in Cuba, can stay 4 nights in any Central American country for the price of one in Cuba so don’t be surprised that after a month or so I return to CA for the balance of the winter especially now that I have found that Cubans don’t have a monopoly on being nice friendly people but it is common in most of Mexico & all Central America with the exception of Costa Rica & parts of Panama.

Have to return to Antigua for semaine santa & follow up on a couple things there any way so just might go back early after Havana & a quick tour of the island but with an 75 cent $ 3 months is definitely as out of the question as is returning to Canada with snow on the ground. 

What a great place to spend Xmas on the road. A nice small farm town in the mountains with eternal spring, temps between 70-80 F year round, a bit of rain today so decided not to do the coffee plantation tour & stay in town. Am staying in an old hotel that’s now a hostel right on Central Park, every thing you need with in a block, the owners are great the place super clean & even hot water showers. Only thing is the neighbour’s rooster can’t tell time & likes to start crowing around 5 am LOL

A couple restaurants were open yesterday, even one of the barber shops. A couple travelers at the hostel rented a movie last night so spent Xmas night with new friends watching a movie as we spent Xmas eve with drinks on the balcony, sure is nice to be able to sit outside on Xmas eve.

People have discovered this little bit of paradise & the gated communities are starting to be built so the price of real estate is rising but with the world wide financial problems hopefully that will change. Still it is one of the nicest areas I have visited & only an hour $1.50 bus ride from David.

Tomorrow it’s back to Panama City to do the canal tour, get my pics downloaded to a flash drive while I still have access to cheap high speed Internet so I can send them to pina who can hopefully post them for me. Now only 4 days to Cuba.

Fitting at Xmas & all year

OK I have been asked a couple of questions in the comments to my latest blog entry that might be of interest to the rest of the readers. Jan asked what it is about Guatemala that has my interest & the ... [Continue reading this entry]

why things happen as they do! The missing the stop at David turned out to be a blessing as I wouldn't have been in the city for Bob's open house if I had gotten off the bus & would have ... [Continue reading this entry]

OK rested up from the bus trip & moved out of hotel into hostel,   feel almost human again so can give first impressions. The first thing you notice when arriving by bus is the bus station is the first decent all ... [Continue reading this entry]

Two months travelling through 7 countries always with good friendly service and no complaints was the record for my trip. Well 2 days into the 3rd month and the 8th country I finally found a place with service so bad ... [Continue reading this entry]

As I had visited 4 Mayan sites already & Copan Honduras was out of the way & there wasn't any thing else in Honduras that really piqued my interest decided to go straight to Managua Nicaragua then head for Granada ... [Continue reading this entry]

So after saying good bye to the GVI group in Antigua I made my way to San Salvador a 5 hr bus trip from Guatemala City & must say that El Salvador is the prettiest country I have seen, the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Just had to have a Cuba fix so went to the local Cuban bar for dinner & some Cuban music last night. Food & music were good but no Cristal so had to settle for Gallo, the local brand which ... [Continue reading this entry]