Stay Away from Guatemala!

Our next destination after Tikal was Placencia, Belize. We had not made arrangements for transportation, and we will regret that for many years.  There was a woman at the Tikal Inn who told us, absolutely, that there was no way to get back to the border except by shuttle which would cost us $30 each person (or $120 US).  But Bill and Ron talked to a guy who had a van parked in the parking lot who agreed to take us from there to the border for $75 total instead of $120 total.


Once we arrived at the border and made it through immigration, we had to find someone to take us to Placencia.  Bill made the tactical mistake of talking to a guy on the Guatemalan side who agreed to drive us all from there to Placencia for $80 US.  Thinking that was too good to pass up, Bill gave him the money and said we would meet him on the other side, the Belize side.  Well, of course, the guy disappeared and we never saw him again. The Guatemalans will tell you whatever you want to hear to make a buck.

So another taxi driver on the Belize side promised to take us all the way for $150 US.  Jesus H . Christ!  So tired of getting ripped off by taxi drivers!  Now, today, we found out that we could have paid a taxi to take us just to San Ignacio, which was only 10 miles away, then we could have taken a bus to Placencia for about $20 US per person.  Ok, enough complaining.  My advice: stay out of Guatemala.

We arrived in Placencia and checked into Cozy Corner.  Nice rooms with a/c and TV for $70 per night.  And downstairs in the restaurant there is WiFi, where I was even able to download Wake Me Up by Avicii.  At this moment we four are sitting in our swim suits on the beach with our afternoon cocktails, with a cool breeze blowing and the gentle waves trying to put us to sleep.


We will be here til Saturday morning, then it's off to Crooked Tree.

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