The flooding danger seems to have gone away for now in the two stops I decided to skip. So, I’m going to attempt them now, starting in Chiang Saen. Chiang Saen never did flood, but it is one of the villages that they were most worried about since it’s located right on the bank of the Mekong River. And just as a precaution I decided not to sleep there and instead stay in Chiang Rai about an hour away. It’s…
Well, I was supposed to head north from Chiang Mai, but it turns out there’s a giant typhoon wreaking havoc and causing devastating floods from Vietnam, across Laos, northern Thailand, and into Myanmar. The whole region has gotten about three times the average amount of rain so far this year. That’s a lot of water! Anyway, two of my next three planned stops are either dealing with floods or are in danger of flooding soon and unfortunately for me, my…
Greetings and welcome to Thailand! After having my visa rejected over a typo about six months ago, I finally got everything straightened out and NOW, I can enjoy another Holy Crap Adventure in this beautiful part of the world. Thankfully, my journey here went super smooth. But I also arrived super late, so I just stumbled into my hotel and crashed for the night. After a good night’s sleep I’m ready to start exploring my first stop, Chiang Mai, in…
My flight from San Salvador to Managua, the capitol of Nicaragua, was quick and easy. And the driver of the shuttle I booked was waiting for me to whisk me away to my next official stop in Granada. The first thing I notice about Granada is how insanely hot and humid it is. This has to be in the top three hottest and most humid places I’ve ever been on earth. I don’t know if I can do this. I…
I left El Salvadors Ruta de las Flores via a chicken bus to the bustling town of Sonsonate where I grabbed a quick snack and then hopped on another bus to the nations capitol, San Salvador. I’m only spending one full day here, so this will be a quick post, but I thought the capitol was worth exploring a bit. I started at the National Museum of Anthropology, right around the corner from my hotel. They had a pretty impressive…
I’m learning that getting around Central America is pretty darn easy. There are lots of cheap shuttle options that usually pick you up right at your hotel, and when there’s not, there’s an easy bus going right where you want. Just two blocks from my hotel in Guatemala city was where the bus left for my next destination, Santa Ana in El Salvador, and the next country on my list. The border crossing was easy and quick, and in just…
I left Copán early on a shuttle all the way back to Antigua, the only place the shuttles seem to go, and this is now my third time there. Not that I mind so much because Antigua is a pretty nice place to get “stuck” for a night. The next morning I was on another short shuttle ride to the capitol, Guatemala City. I dropped my trusty backpack off at the hotel and commenced with an epic museum day. The…
Wow, these early mornings are killing me! My bus from Antigua picked me up at 3:30am. WHY?! I don’t know. Needless to say, I slept like the dead for the first few hours. Anyway, my trip took me far northeast to the Honduran border where I crossed into the next country on my list, Honduras. The officials at this border crossing have the routine down to a science, both immigration offices are in the same building. The whole process only…
My flight from Flores was so quick, it felt like it was over before it began. Less than an hour after take off I was on the ground in Guatemala City. After a quick lunch at the airport I was in a car on my way to my next stop, Antigua. Despite Guatemala City being the capitol and the most populous city in Guatemala, Antigua is the epicenter of the country, at least as far as tourism goes. With it’s…
Another bus full of tourists, another border crossing, without the corrupt officials this time though, and it’s welcome to Guatemala. My base for this part of the trip is the tourist saturated Flores, a tiny little island in Lago Petén Itzá connected to Santa Elena on the mainland by a quarter mile long causeway. Flores is a cool place to stroll around, but as far as I can tell its just hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops. I’m staying in Santa…