08.41 It is morning here in Santa Ana, El Salvador. Four of the beds in our dorm are empty. One is so because Christer is having a shower. He just returned. I do not know why the others are empty. There are however, objects in and around the beds.

09.46 We had breakfast on the roof of the accommodation. Christer told me during the meal that people came in the room during the night and that they left the room this morning. I have not heard either of it. Now we plan to find an accommodation in this city which can offer us a room. It is possible that a room with a bed might become available here today but there was nothing that could be guaranteed. We want a room and a bed each. We have also said goodbye to one of the ladies in the dorm.

10.08 Christer paid for our stay here and we said goodbye to Carlos. He asked us where we were going. We said that we would look for a place that offers private rooms. There is one available here now, he said then. He took us to the now vacant room number 2. Here we have AC, TV, toilet and balcony. An extra bed has been brought in by the elderly lady who cleans the house. It is the bed I slept in last night. Now we will get ready for our last El Salvador day. Carlos has also promised to take us to the bus station tomorrow. This worked out easier than we thought.

Finally we have a room. Here Peter is standing on its balcony.

11.40 We said see you later to the room and headed for the centre. We have reached the central park, Parque Libertad and seen in the cathedral here. As in so many cities in Latin America, it feels as if the city is built for far fewer people than the people who live here today. It is crowded everywhere. Here, there is a festival, Fiesta Juliana. There are many people on the streets and a parade is passing by. Some beauty queens are bussed around and various costumed characters appear.

12.01 We left the festivities and I bought myself a souvenir. Now we are at the little café Tiffany. Here we have coffee and slice of cake for only $ 1.35. It is tough to walk around in the crowds and heat.

Catedral de Santa Ana.

Fiesta going on in Santa Ana.

A few girls and...who?

12.59 We are at home in Casa Verde for a short break. Nothing wrong with the dormitory, but it is nice to have a private room that one can spread out in. CNN is continuing to monitor the U.S. debt crisis. Their problems must be solved before they have to repay the loans on the 2nd of August.

13.41 We have seen a TV clip from South Korea's "Talent". There was a young man, Sung-Bong Choi, who had been abandoned by his family at age three, escaped from the orphanage when he was five to avoid getting beaten. He had lived on the streets and slept in public toilets. He got the signal to start and began singing spot on opera, fascinating! (Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaplLP0QjB8)

Teatro de Santa Ana.

A nice break with coffee, cake and some notes in the journal.

We tried pupusas, typical food in El Salvador.

14.12 We're out on the streets again. Cafeteria Dips Terraza is the name of the place which will chase away our hunger. We will try their Pupusas. Pupusa is a typical dish of El Salvador and the local cuisine must always be tested.

15.21 We were served small, round and warm tortilla bread, a small chicken sandwich, drink and alongside two kinds of sauce and cabbage salad. It was really tasty. We kept on discovering the town after lunch before drinks was bought and we went home. Christer has also purchased a gift for his nephew; it was a football shirt from the city's local team.

17.02 The sodas have been consumed. It is necessary to drink on hot days. We have been reading about our detective heroes John Rebus and Harry Hole. Reading took place on the roof. It's really nice view from here.

Peter is reading on the Casa Verde roof.

18.35 Today we had a simple, fast, and by others cooked dinner. We are on the fast food restaurant Biggest and have eaten a "Biggest Con Queso Mediano" was. It was nicely wrapped in paper and when we had, as we opened up the package, a hamburger cut in half. This made it easier to eat. Fast food is really popular in this country. I wonder how it is in tomorrow's country.

19.23 Now we're home again. We have brought two small plastic bags each with us. We have purchased balcony beer, breakfast and some for the cross-border trip tomorrow.

22.01 We have drunk some Panamá-bought instant coffee. We have also surfed the internet and talked with one of the guests here, an American teacher colleague. Her boyfriend was impressed at how we in Sweden cope with the long, dark winters. It is raining. It is not good. How does this affect our balcony beer?

22.45 Surely there was balcony beer after all. We must not miss on such a classic.

Tuesday 26th of July

08.48 So here we go again. Everything should be packed down and the most important things should be accessible. Christer had a less pleasant surprise when he looked in the mirror in the morning and discovered that one eye had a large red spot. It probably was a ruptured blood vessel after all rubbing of the eyes. You become irritable in the eyes from all exhaust the old local buses releasing.

09.40 We had breakfast on the roof terrace today as well. Now everything is well packed and ready, Time to pay for our last night here, leave the key and go.

10.02 Keys and money were left to our fantastic host Carlos. He showed us to the ride which was outside the door and we went on. We have now stopped and the hired driver is about to call Carlos to ask where our bus leaves from.

10.15 We had come to the right place and went into a garage-like room. Here are glass cabinets, all sorts of gadgets and an old uncle who is about to register us for the bus trip. He is making a call now and speaks about our names and passport numbers.

We waited for the bus in this shop.

10.32 The man said a price that I missed but Christer understood, it is $ 15.50 per person. Christer put $ 20 on the counter and I took out $ 15.50. I gave the 5 dollar bill to Christer and the rest were given to the old man. This led to misunderstandings. It was not very smart of me to move around the money. I have to start explaining my quick incomprehensible moves so that people can understand. Just now the vegetable car was here. It was a pick-up with vegetables and a boy in the back. Inside the car was the driver who besides driving the car also was talking into a microphone. All he said was heard in a speaker on the car roof.

11.16 The bus from King Quality arrived, the baggage was added, tickets were torn and we climbed aboard. Now it's only 200 kilometers to go to Guatemala City. What awaits us along the way? We are going on an old friend, the Pan American Highway.

12.03 The bus stopped at the border and was boarded by men offering money exchange and ladies offering six, seven different refreshments. Their situation seems a bit hopeless. They've probably bought most of the drinks themselves and make hardly any great profit. The white-clad officers from El Salvador came on board and checked our documents.

GUATEMALA

12.27 Christer just said, what a madhouse and I agree. We got off at the Guatemalan border control. There was the nagging as usual about exchange. A guy that we thought belonged to the bus staff took my passport and left. When I ran after a guy tried to stop me, it did not succeed. Another gentleman took Christer's passport and said we could not go into the passport booth. The gentlemen who took the passports were out just as fast and asked for dollars to arrange with the entrance. We took our passes back and went in to booth to queue. As we stood there we gave some money to an old lady. My passport police, a young lady, looked in the passport, the stamps and counted something on paper. It probably had something to do with my time spent in the passport union. Christer’s passport however, was quickly stamped. It is now time to enter the bus again.

13.19 We are at a standstill with the engine running. Two women selling things are walking through the bus. The sky is almost clear blue and the surrounding countryside is beautiful.

13.28 The bus is still stationary. An ambulance drove right past at high speed with sirens turned on. Has there been a traffic accident?

14.01 It was no accident, not along our route. It was a road construction that stopped the traffic. After that we met some demonstrating people. Now, new people stepped on board, one that sells drinks and a gentleman who is a bus preacher. There are touches of rain on the left windows and a man on the bus just sneezed. It is time to return to Norway and Scotland, back to the world of books.

14.31 It is time for a retraction. Only now we are on the Inter-Americana, Pan American Highway.

15.42 We finally arrived in Guatemala City. We have once again reached a capital. We are far from alone here. There are traffic jams, congestion and car horns. We are hardly moving at all. Everywhere one can see placards with various presidential candidates. It is election time here as well.

16.23 We arrived at the bus station and took a taxi. Bus station is a little too nicely by the way. The bus drove into a small hole, a small garage in a chaotic part of town. The taxi driver drove us for a while before he stopped. We were not exactly where we wanted to go but he has pointed the way to the accommodation, an accommodation that we, despite eagerly searching have failed to found.

16.31 We went around and around the block and became increasingly confused and irritated. Christer finally found the right way. Both Lonely Planet's map and the driver showed us the wrong way. Now we arrived at Xamanek Student Inn and have asked about our reservation. The driver can have been pointing to and meant to take us to the luxury hotel Intercontinental. Nothing bad about that place but I think our option is cheaper.

Yet again we had to spend a night in a dorm.

16.55 The inn hasn’t received our booking from Hostelworld. Now however has Amanda at the front desk arranged with a place in a dormitory for us. We are in room 6 and are actually quite lonely here. However, it is without AC and TV. We just heard a veiling cry from outside. Now we most prepare to head out.

18.30 We both had a cold shower and went out in another capital city. We looked for the three things; cash, dinner and grocery shops. The latter two was found, but didn’t find any ATM:s. At Citibank was a separate door on which it said 5B, was it the address or? I was not quite sure about it and turned around. I was unable to enter the bank but that didn’t matter. The ATM was beyond the 5B door. Now we are at the restaurant Del Pasteo and have ordered dinner. Now we got some soup in a cup and three small bowls of salad dressing. Before we left the accommodation we met an interesting / mysterious lady. She was an American, 60 plus, who had been in Sweden for in 1967. She asked about our ages to find out if she had been in Sweden before us. She was also unhappy about something, something that had something to do with the staff.

19.39 Good, really good and really delicious. The meal was a pleasure to the full. I rounded it all off with an espresso. Now we're back in room 6 and will probably plan the future. Next to our dinner restaurant was a fondue restaurant, fondue as in Switzerland.

22.03 There have been some valiant attempts to use the laptop in the lobby. It is tricky to work without a mouse. In addition some amusing persons had moved around a few keys. The keys that worked sat in places other than I'm used to. The rain falls across the capital and it is quiet here at our accommodation.

Guatemala City

Wednesday 27th of July

07.43 A new day with new challenges is here. First, we should eat breakfast, pack and check out. These are simple things. Then by using various forms of transport take us to the next residence. This will become tougher. The house we live in shake sometimes and there are whines, thumps and banging from outside. Is someone tearing down the house? What's for breakfast?

08.48 I guessed we would have; fruit, coffee and bread for breakfast. Christer guessed eggs. He was so right. We had tortilla, scrambled eggs and beans. We wanted coffee and had to retrieve it ourselves. We went to a small shop and bought breakfast enhancement, apples and bananas.

09.08 Everything is packed and we are ready to travel to the next home. The question now is this is the next home prepared for us? Have they got our booking from Hostelworld?

09.21 Today's plans have drastically changed. We have booked a shuttle (minibus) to the next town. It departs from the accommodation at 11:00. We depart from this accommodation now. We had to pay full price for our stay here even though we paid 10% in advance, a sum which they claimed that they had not received.

One of the red local buses in Guatemala City.

Police vehicle in Guatemala City.

10.06 We have seen more of our Home zone, zona 10, which is one of the finer and safer parts of Guatemala City. It includes two golf-car-like vehicles with flashing green lights on the roof. They belonged to some police officers who assisted two women to charge their car battery. Now we are in the fancy Coffeehouse Geneva for a little snack. It seems to be a Swiss theme in this city. We have also seen a car which towed empty cans and had balloons. Could they have been newlyweds? The ones in the car that is not the balloons.

10.42 We are back in the housing again. Now it will be one / some issues of private kind before we step into our pre-booked transportation.

11.18 Our shuttle is here. We are about to leave. The accommodation, room, although not what we had expected, was OK. Although a bit expensive, it feels good to slide out of the city in a fresh, comfortable minibus instead of sweaty, crowded and slow bus of a local nature.

Morning muffins at Coffee House Geneva, Guatemala City.

11.30 The vehicle has stopped in a parking garage at the airport. The driver took a big name tag and said "momento" and walked away. Who would have thought this morning? Who will be board, U.S. citizens, Albanian triplets?

11.52 It was neither. There are five French-speaking women in 40-50s who have joined the party.

12.10 There is a presidential election going on in the country. We have seen several different election posters during the trip through Guatemala City's suburbs.

12.38 The bus pulled up and stopped in Antigua, Guatemala's old capital. Here the journey is over for us. Not that we should stop here, we're going to Panajachel. What we are waiting for is the next minivan. We were told to jump out and wait here for another bus. Now we are resting in the lobby of Hotel Dionisio.

12.48 It is time for a new vehicle and new driver, no Albanian triplets but Americans. The backpacks are on the roof and there are rain clouds in the sky. It is slightly less leg room on this tour.

Our shuttle has stopped in Tecpán. Our (so far) dry backpacks are on the roof.

13.58 It is time for another stop, this time at San Cristobal in Tecpán. No one will leave the ride. But we have the chance to leave something behind. It is a toilet stop. Rain clouds gather above us but the driver does not seem to like to cover the luggage on the roof.

14.29 Now it's a new stop. Eventually, the driver finally realized that a tarp is a good idea. He came to this conclusion after it had been pouring down for a while. It is too late to give cow hay when she is dead. I've talked to two Danes in the mini-bus and they are anything but happy about this.

A view from our room 301 at Hotel El Sol.

16.01 We left the highway, took a small road down to Sololá at Lago Atitlán (Lake Atitlán). We drove through the narrow streets of Solola before we went to our final destination. The tarp had failed to do it business. It had blew up and let in more water. The bus stopped in Panajachel and we got back our soaking wet packing. We went with a tuk-tuk to El Sol in the city's outskirts. Here we are in room 301. I have spread out my wet / damp clothes. Most beating has my from last year in Brazil purchased Sudoku Journal taken. Our host is speaking about Sudoku from Hiroshima, Japan.

17.58 The rain has finally calmed down. We prepared and went out. We bought postcards and now we are in Naples Steakhouse. We have ordered food eat and Moza to drink. Moza is a dark beer, or as it says on the bottle, Cerveza Oscura.

20.26 It went well with food. A Volvo Amazon outside during the dinner. We left the place in search of an internet cafe. Not much new has happened in our world since the last time. We have walked home and on the way home bought some drinks and snacks for the evening. The light in town went out after we crossed the bridge over Rio San Francisco.

Peter is enjoying dark local beer to the dinner.

A delicious soup was served before the main course.

Thursday 28th of July

08.04 We have woken up after a good night's sleep in a very good hotel room. We have a volcano view from our room. We hear a lot of birds, tame and wild.

09.42 It feels like we are the only non-Japanese. Our accommodation is run by a Japanese family and most of the guests appear to be Japanese. Furthermore, the owners have all the relatives here at the hotel. They sit and smoke under some umbrellas. We have had breakfast. First, we sat on a patio and drank some self mixed instant coffee. Suddenly an elderly Japanese woman pointed and waved at me. I went inside and the lady and the other two said good morning. I went out and pretty soon she waved me back. This time she had served coffee, bread with cheese and a plate of ham and fruit. The fruit that was offered today was a kiwi, pineapple, grapes, strawberries, watermelon, papaya and something resembling dragon fruit. It has been white flesh on the dragon fruit we tried earlier but this was rather purple. It is time to get ready to go out and see more of our latest home town, Panajachel.

Peter is leaving our hotel.

10.50 Behind me is a man of stone. We have a bench rest by the city hall. There are many tuk-tuk here. It feels great to have these little vehicles around us again. There were plenty of them in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. The weather and temperature are pleasant. We met two people with backpacks just as we had left the accommodation. I think they were headed for our accommodation. I know they are from Japan.

11.38 We have seen more of Panajachel and have walked along Calle Santander and unsuccessfully looked for the post office. We have however found a cafe. Here we are having coffee and croissants. The post office will have to wait. Panajachel is a nice small town but has no attractions. It is the Lake Atitlán with its surrounding volcanoes and indian culture that attracts tourists here.

Digging men along the river.

We looked at the Panajachel church this morning.

Souvenirs and handicraft for sale along the Panajachel streets.

Panajachel

We made a stop here for coffee and croissants.

13.02 The post office was where it was supposed to be. We had simply been looking in the wrong place. I don’t know if it depended on us or a bad map. Now we are sitting at another restaurant. This time we have a lake view and will eat lunch. It's rain in the air and we are considering whether to make a trip to a nature reserve or not today. The restaurant is on two floors and is built of wood and called El Atitlán. Atitlán is the name of the lake.

14.40 We eaten up the food and emptied the glasses. Then we paid for ourselves. The umbrellas were turned up and we trotted home in the rain. Now we are at home and are almost dry. It is only sandals that have become wet. We bought two cookies each on the way home.

16.48 We are after a bit of reading having some coffee in the lounge outside our room. We can hear a bird chirping.

18.39 Now we have arranged for transportation from here, not today, nor tomorrow, but on Saturday. We visited an office inside the center and got excellent help. Now we are at the restaurant Atlantis. There were some problems as we ordered. I do not know if it was due to my poor Spanish or waitress lack of attention. On the way here we saw the two Danes from the minibus trip here. At the table next to us sits a man who we saw in the coffee shop earlier today. It's a small world.

An interesting bus.

Lake Atitlán and the volcano Tolimán.

Dark clouds gather over Panajachel.

19.59 We stopped at the supermarket Dispensa Familiar on the way home. There, we bought something to sip on and something to chew on. As we reached the bridge over the Rio San Francisco the lights of the city went out today as well, weird. It is however working on our side of the river.

22.24 I have finished my and Christer have soon completed his Sol. It is one of the countries beers. It is not one of the better ones. On the TV is the weather being presented and we are one day closer to home.

Christer is relaxing in the chairs outside of our room.

Hotel El Sol gives us earthquake instructions.