spent xmas in Granada in Nicaragua after 2 days mad rush through honduras to get there. a nice place to spend xmas, quite a few travellers, but just enough to have fun and then move on quickly. saw michael again, just bumped into him on the street, the guy who I met on the bus coming from the USA 5 or so weeks ago.

xmas day was spent eating and drinking, the hostel Cocibolca had an oven and kitchen we could use, so we went out to buy a chicken to roast, almost bought a live one, but we chickened out...

after Granada, took a 4 hour boat trip through lake nicaragua and the islad of Ometepe, a beautifull island with 2 volcanoes on it. arrived at night, and moved to Merida, a village with a great guest house and Kayaks and horses for rent. Kayaked over to a small island with monkeys on it (unfortunately they had been put there!) and got swept out by the current trying to come back, after a long struggle we made it back, there were 3 of us in the Kayak but Rosie swam back leaving me and Jeremy. we made it back after changing direction and heading for a different coast accross the current. we collapsed and watched the sunset, after which hundreds of fireflies came out, I have never seen such big fireflies and so many, incredible, then had a big buffett prepared by the hostel, played guitar and watched the stars, the best view of stars I have seen , so little light pollution here.

next day climbed the smaller of the 2 volcanoes and got very wet and muddy, bt had fun. at the top you can go down inside the extinct crater and there is a very cool lake there. the cloud cleared long enough to see it...

headed off the next morning, leaving Rosie to relax for a few more days before she goes to costa rica to teach and work, we had travelled with her for 2 weeks, and still with jeremy now, we are legging it back up to Mexico City in time for me to start university around ythe 8th, and him to fly to the uk to see Europe. still hitchiking, and we have been quicker than the bus for the last two days, stoppping in Leon the first ad Teculcigalpa in Honduras again tonight. heading for Guatamala and the Myan temples at Tikal before heading back through San cristobel and Palenque in Mexico.

New year looks like it willbe a small event, but not fussed as the last 5 weeks here have been awesome...
Hsppy new year.
John

Ola,
Travelled through Guatamala and now in Honduras, countries in Central America are very close together and small so its easy to hop between them. Got a cold at the moment, up in the mountains and its raining, been taking it easy for a couple of days to rest, back to hitchiking tomorrow morning, hopefully we will get to Nicaragua by xmas, after which I will have until the 8th to head back to Mexico City, so pleanty of time I hope.

Now travelling with Jeremy, 20 from NZ, and Rosie, 18 from UK, very cheap here, especially the 3 of us sharing, but I have just lost a bank card in an ATM, so am on the net trying to contact them to cancel it.... but it was my singapore bank, so a bit complicated....

Hitching is going really well, a great way to see the countries, so far hitched from Puerto Escondido on the Mexican Pacific coast to Guatamala City. Went from Ketzaltenango in guatamala to some hot sulphur springs in the mountains, we rented out a bungalow there with log fire, and swam in the hotsprings unitl midnight, with no one else about, was one of the best times here so far. Hitched on from there to Lake Atitlan, guatamalas biggest toursits attraction, and lots of tourists, but still beautiful, spent 2 days there, one a panajachel one at san marco, then headed off to Guatamala City, hitched through some back roads to see what it was like and got dropped off in the middle of no where, as I sat playing my guitar, in for a long wait, a big dark blue Volvo went passed and stopped, this rich 50 something year old white looking man got out and opened the boot for us to throw our stuff in. It turns out he was the ex Guatamalan ambassador to Sweden, El Salvador and Costa Rica, and he was currently working for the government on regional devolution after he was ousted from his position as ambassador by the last government and lived in exile in Costa Rica! He gave us a potted history of Guatamala and central America, very int3eresting.

Looking forward to starting in Mexico, gotta go,
bye
john

Hello,
Left Mexico City after sorting out some very cheap, but interesting accomodation for the new year. I headed for Oaxaca, pronounced
(WooHaKah) and there met up with loads of other travellers that Id met in Mexico and then again in Oaxaca. One of the guys, a Kiwi from New Zealand called Jeremy, was a chef at home, so we decided to cook up a big meal for everyone in the hostel, as it had a kitchen with an oven. We got to work collecting 20 pesos (1.30 pounds) from anyone interested and the next day headed to the market. We cooked up a great veggie meal, roasted vegtables, salsas, guacamole, stuffed eggs, pasta, salad... 20 people joined the party in the end and it was the highlight of the trip so far without a doubt...

There is more to do in Oaxaca, but as its only 6 hours from Mexico City, I decided I could go back on a day trip and left it for another
time, headed south to the coastal town of Puerto Escondido, which means something like "hidden port." I think the name is out of date, as the beach was full of deckchairs, umbrellas and people selling t shirts and necklaces... left after a day with Jeremy, and as he is on a similar budget to me, we decided to try and hitch hike along the coast, ended up getting the bus to the next town along, Muzunte, which was really nice, we stayed there a couple of days in a hotel with a great view of the beach and a dodgey kitchen for 150 pesos, 10 pounds a night, accomodation is now cheaper as we can share a room, Oaxaca was the cheapest plaec so far though, 45 pesos a night in a dormatory. The waves along the Pacific coast here are fantastic, dangerous to swim in, but great fun, surfing is popular, but I have not had a go yet...

Met up with another guy we had met in Oaxaca on the beach who informed us that we were not in Mazunte, but in San Agustanillo, (we had walked through Mazunte by accident.) After a night of getting drunk and forgetting to put up the mosquito net, we both woke up with really bad mosquito bites. I woke up at 6, before the sun, and headed along the beach to the fishing boats Id seen the day before. I jumped in and off we went for a two hour fishing trip to collect the previous nights fish. We picked up a Manta Ray and a small shark as well I think, plus tonnes of fish, big and small, I got to keep a couple of them, which they wouldnt take any money for, and we had a great BBQ on the beach that night.

Headed off again hitchhiking, and after 7 different modes of transport, including bus, taxi, and 3 wheeled Motos we arrived in Tehuantepec, after going to the two hotels mentioned in the lonely planet and finding them too expensive, we asked a couple of locals in the market place and they sent us to this really cool little house/hotel for 70 pesos a night, 5 pounds. really cool, and we havnt seen any other toursists the two days we have been here. The Senora let us use her kitchen tonight, and we have been cooking ever since the big meal in Oaxaca, which saves lots of money. Today trekked up a mountain to some old Astec ruins, not that impressive, but still good to see and good to get out of the cities. We have also invented a new meal here, Avocados are really cheap here, about 15p each, you mash one up, and onion, chillies, tomatoes and lime juice, put it in a sandwich bag and take it with you for lunch, then buy a couple of bread roles, and take them as well. when you are ready for lunch, cut the role in half and bite the end off the bag and squirt the filling into your role, no mess and really really tasty...

Leaving tomorrow, hitching again, not sure if off to Guatamala or heading up to Cancun to Cuba... I think Cuba can wait until another year, as my money is tight still, and the flight will be 200 pounds or so, Guatamala is supposed to be good and cheap...

All is going well, not sure where I will be at christmas yet, but not at home unfortuantely...

see you soon,
john

Ola! Life is good. Mexico is very cool. Lots of culture, architecture, singing, dancing, food. Spannish is coming along slowly, and I bought a guitar for 25 pounds to lug about with me, thats going ok too.

From Mazatlan I headed south to a small island called Mexicalitan in the middle of no where, spent a night there then headed to Guadalajara and stayed in a brothel for 3 nights, everyone was very friendly. Saw a great exhibition there of Yann Arthus-Bertrand, a french photographer who specializes in Arial Photography, you may have seen it before, they had loads of his pictures blown up to huge sizes and displayed in the town square, with agiant map of the world showing where the pictures where taken.

From there, I took a bus up to Guanajuato, a beautiful city from Colonial Spain, full of cool little tunnels and streets going up the sides of a valley. UNESCO herritage site. Met some US students studying at University there, and reminded me how nice it was to be a student, also meta french student studying at IberoAmericana, the University in Mexico City that Hull exchanges with, he told me about some cheap accomodation he is in, so I am now looking at Studying again. Im in Mexico city at themoment, which is fantastic, and heading to the University this afternoon to check it out.

Term starts in January so I will have amonth to travel about before I start, thinking of Cuba, Guatamala, Nicaragua, that sort of area. Mexico is cool. www.statravel.co.uk have some good deals to Mexico City, so if you are thinking of visiting me, check it out. so far, appears no moer dangerous than anywhere else, although many more armed guards and police about here than elsewhere, brandishing shot guns and sub machine guns.

Met lots of other backpackers which Id missed for a while, not to many, not too few is good for company.

not coming home for xmas, as too far and too expensive, I will find somewhere nice to spend it. Half way through Genome, book about evolution, tough going, but interesting.

Over and out.