Trans-Belizean Busride and San Ignacio, Day 1

While waiting for the water taxi on Caye Caulker, an Asian-American woman asked me if I was going to the airport. I told her no, and that was the extent of our conversation. I boarded the water taxi and alternated staring out of the window and reading War and Peace (brought it instead of Brothers Karamazov as stated in first post). I got off the water taxi in Belize City and began walking towards the bus station to board a bus towards San Ignacio, one of the bigger cities in Western Belize.

I stopped at the first clean looking food place I found in Belize City on my way towards the bus terminal. They mostly served American food though, and I got a cheeseburger and a coke. When I got the cheeseburger, it had the thinnest looking hamburger patty that I had ever seen and instead of a bun it was more of a dinner roll. It was pretty good however, with mayonnaise and lettuce with habanero hot sauce served as a side instead of ketchup. While eating I noticed the Asian girl who asked me if was heading towards the airport pass by with two other tourists. Once finished eating, I payed and went on my way towards the bus terminal.

While walking, I passed the Asian girl and the other two tourists (on the opposite side of the street) and continued walkng for a bit until I reached a split in the road. I did not remember this split at all and as I reached a Christian school, I asked some of the older students or teachers there (not sure which) where the bus station was. They pointed to the corner and I did not recognize it at all. I decided I made a wrong turn. Further back down the steet I saw the Asian girl and her two tourist friends buying some food from the street vendor so I decided to ask them. When I approached, I asked where the bus terminal was and the asian girl was kind enough to pull out her guidebook and show me a map.

Apparently, I had missed a turn. After she showed me the map in her guidebook and got me back on track (I had took two xannies before hopping on the flight to Belize, and they have a tendency to make me black out and forget hours at a time, so the walk from the bus terminal to the hostel after arriving was a bit of haze… I hope no hopeful tentative future employers read this :D). I thanked the asian girl and got on my way, hoofing it to the bus terminal. When I was just about there, tons of buses were parked all over so I got a little confused and started wandering down a few side streets until a generous taxi driver asked me if I needed a taxi and upon refusal, asked where I was trying to go and then gave me directions to the bus terminal. It was right next to where I was but slightly down a side road from where I remembered it being.

At the bus terminal, I found the bus to San Ignacio and hopped on. Then I hopped right back off because it was a two to three hour bus ride to San Ignacio from Belize City and I had no idea how hot it would be, so I decided to purchase some water. I bought the water and boarded the bus again, and it left after ten minutes of waiting. Driving across the country (the bus went all the way across the country, ending in Benque, a small village 10-15 miles further down the western highway from San Ignacio), I became quite depressed. Most of the countryside consisted of short shrubby trees and vegetation with dilapidated buildings and shabby villages randomly scattered along the highway. Every now and then I would get whiffs of marijauna plant smell.

After passing through the capital city of Belize, Belmopan, an older Mestizo lady sat next to me. I never caught her name, but we started talking and she told me about the education system of Belize, and described the villages and area. We talked about random things until we reached San Ignacio, where she helped me get off at the right stop (otherwise I would have continued on and totally missed the tourist area of San Ignacio). After a moment or two of deciphering the map in the guidebook I found the cheapest hostel in town (12.50 a night for a double bed room, and a bathroom shared between four rooms), and luckily enough snagged the last room.

After settling into my room, I walked around the area some more. There were a bunch of houses, buildings and businesses all two, three, or more stories high. One street was filled predominantly with restaurant-bars, gift shops, and tour guide businesses, many containing combinations of the three. I stopped and ate at a little place which served mostly American cuisine. Mostly I was drawn to it because I saw that they offered free wifi and it was happy hour there, so cheap drinks and wanted to check it out. They really didn't offer anything unique so I got a little single serving pizza (go Belize!) and drank a few beers.

After eating, I went back to the hostel and looked through my guidebook to find something to do the next day. I decided I wanted to check out some Mayan ruins called Xunantunich (pronounced Zoo-nan-too-neech). I left the hostel and started walking down that road with all the tour guides until I reached one that offered Xunantunich tours. The main guide saw me reading the sign and asked me if I was interested in taking a tour, and after telling him I would like to check out the tours, brought me inside to look at a notebook filled with descriptions and prices. He told me they only host trips for multiple people and since I was by myself, it wouldn't be profitable for him to take me. He was however taking a small group out to Barton Creek Caves, a creek that flows through some large-ish caves for 10 kilometers. I wanted to do that as well so I signed on for the trip. I didn't have enough money for the trip on me, so the guide, Sergio, took a deposit and told me to meet him in front of the shop (Flayva's Bar and Grill) the next day at noon, bringing a towel, swim shorts (in addition to regular clothes), bug spray, and water, as well as the remainder of the payment. He also told me how I could go to Xunantunich on my own and it didn't sound too difficult and would be a lot cheaper than hiring a guide.

After leaving the tour guide office, I walked around a little more and saw that another place offered the Barton Creek trip for 15 US bucks cheaper and was a little disappointed in myself that I did not look around more before putting down the deposit. I headed back to my room and read a little before going to sleep.