¡QUE MANGO!

So now you all know a little bit of Guatemalan slang, ¡que mango! its what a guy says to their mates when they see a nice looking girl walking past, some of the bolder fellas might yell it out loud in a lame pick up attempt (which fails 99.9% of the time, i am told), but usually its just said under their breath about a girl way out of their league... and the term orginates from an actual mango (fruit) and means "sweet"...more or less...

So weve been traveling for about 3 weeks or so, and have seen a bit...so il briefly run through a few of the places weve been and things weve seen and il even rate them, so you can decide if you want to visit them on your next adventure...

Hollywood: 2/10

Hollywood is lame, like most of the movies it produces. There is the chinese and kodak theatre, stars with famous people on the sidewalk, handprints of famous people in concrete and the Hollywood sign in the distance. That is it. 50m either side of kodak theatre (main area) is ghetto. actual ghetto. Only the quality burrito shop across the road road saved Hollywood from a zero.

Venice Beach/ Santa Monica Pier: 5/10.

The pier is interesting for about 7 minutes, where you can get someone to write your name on a grain of rice. or pay $11 to go on a rollercoaster that doesnt even go upside down...very touristy. The walk down to Venice Beach is pretty cool. Heaps of outdoor gym equipment to muck around on, like a giant swing set and heaps of monkey swinging rings...good fun. Theres also heaps of markets along the path, with interesting hippy people along the way, such as a guy in a robe playing electric guitar while skating along on some futuristic roller blades. There is also a freak show where you can see "a two headed turtle and pretzel boy for free, with heaps more inside!" or where you can get your marijuana prescription filled (or get diagnosed as needing marijuana for medicinal purposes). Also, an outdoor gym where all the "big boys" go to work out in their american flag speedos...

Mexico City: 5/10.

Its a city with 23 million people living there. im not a huge fan of citys...but what we saw of Mexico city was pretty cool. A lot of history, a lot of churches a lot of stuff going on all the time. Pretty safe in the centre region. Good anthropology muesum (so i heard). Awesome taco joint. 30c tacos with unlimited guacamole and jalepeño carrots. we ate here often. We didnt see much, but what we saw was pretty cool...even cramming onto the subway with thousands of other people(it moves 6 million people a day)was a funnish experience...worth it, even just for the tacos...

The amount of moustaches in Mexico 10/10.

Everyone (male, usually) over the age of 35 has one. So thats about 130 million people. I also have one (6/10).

Teotihucan 7/10.

Old Aztec ruins, has the 3rd largest pyramid in the world (the 2 biggest are in Egypt) really big site to walk around, heaps of smaller ruins and ancient paintings to look at. fun times. I also bought this little clay cougar head whistle thing, which sounds like a cougar snarling when you blow through it. I have not seen or heard a live cougar, but it sounds real...

Cañon de sumidero: 9/10

(Worth a google) Awesome canyon in southern Mexico. You get to cruise down the river for a bout 2 hours with walls 1km high either side + the added attraction of seeing the hydroelectric power station at the end of the river. We also saw 26 crocodiles. google it.

Palenque:

Google it. We were going to go there, but a landslide in the mountains blocked the road for 4 days and we didnt make it. will fill in the details on our way back...

San pedro lago Atitlan 7/10

Really nice setting. A lake surrounded by heaps of mountains, small villages and 3 volcanos. We climbed one of the volcanos and go the SWEETEST view ever. Il put photos up on here in about 4 months when im home and have my film developed. cool chill out place...more gringos the guatemantecos though...rach and I will be heading back here in a few days to do another 2 weeks of spanish school...

Quetzaltenango, Guatemala 5/10

We have been here for 2 weeks studying in a spanish school. The school is great, but 5 hours of intense 1 v 1 spanish classes really does your head in. But you learn fast. Think i have learnt more in the past two weeks than in the last 2 years at uni. Theres no sleeping in the back of the classes here, the teachers is about 35cm away and grilling you for 5 hours + homework. haha. Ive got a sweet teacher, a wise old owl who knows everything about the history of guatemala. So if i even need a brain breather, i just ask him a political question and it usually buys me about 45 minutes...haha... the weather here is crazy, between 5pm - 8am it can get down too -4 degrees, but from 8am to 5pm its about 30 degrees...so were keen to move on to somewhere a little warmer...

Carros locos (crazy cars) 10/10

The way dodgem cars should be. No seatbelts. No specific direction (head on contact permitted, usually encouraged). 10 minute time limit. Pretty much no rules. We had 7 gringos going mad on the dodgems (with heaps of locals watching the carnage)...no better way to bring out the inner kid...(not that i needed any help with that) best 60c ive ever spent...

Anyway, my internet is almost up - going to make the most of the remaining sun and play bit of futbol with some mates from the spanish school. Having heaps of fun, meeting heaps of cool people, and have had a lot of cool little experiences along the way...i guess ive just written the boring stuff in here...sorry. Just believe me, were having a GREAT time over here. Hope you are well wherever you are!

take it easy :) andy