Playa del Carmen to Panama
 

Tuesday , April 1st, the next stage of our trip begins. We have 2 months to get to Panama. Any help on places to go and things to see will be greatly appreciated. We want to camp as much as possible. If anyone can put us up on the way that would be great. So please either post here or PM me.

HU Communities
 

Hi Garry,

I've had a couple of great experiences with contacting HU communities and also tried couch-surfing once, which was excellent. You're not tempted to join us in Cuba for May??

PN

Thanks for the advice.
Not realy interested in Cuba and as we live in Mexico it is easy for us to go there in the future.
Are you going South?
we are headed to Argentina.

I am heading to Argentina but not as soon as you I don't think. May in Cuba then June in Guatemala, hoping to hit Panama at the beginning of September for the Stahlratte to Colombia.

PN

I'm currently on this route but I haven't camped at all. Here is a smattering of information.

Guatemala -
The south side of lake atitlan is notorious for noon-time hold-ups on the rough side of the road. Most folks take the long way north to get to the west side.

Research the roads, as your map or google maps doesn't really tell you much about the quality - and it varies. I've heard stories of marked gravel highways with rivers running through them large enough to wash away a Suzuki DR650 (somewhere southeast of Antigua)

Antigua has a great bike shop - look for Taz at Motomundo. He knows just about every road, too.

Take the full day tour at Semuc Champey, don't be scared to jump off the bridge. The roads around there are phenomenal (in scenery, not quality).

Don't stay in the hostel under the bridge at Rio Dulce unless you want to party with Guatemaltecos til 3.

Honduras-

I took the northernmost border crossing (forget the name) into Honduras because it was easy and I haven't been that way. Honduras has some nice views on the main highway but I didn't spend much time there. The cities feel pretty sketchy. I left at El Paraiso, easy as pie.

I spent too a bit too much time in Mexico, and I'm saving it for SA, so I haven't spent too much time around Nicaragua and Honduras. It's a shame but it was worth it. Heading for Costa Rica tomorrow.

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with the Atitlan road tale, we came across all the horror stories back in 2010, especially on USA web sites. Yet could not find anyone who had a real tale to tell.

Further research showed that the north road was shut for rebuild, so all traffic was sent down the south which had been roughly repaved. The road was patrolled by the police. They are aware of the slight issues with bandits, and the enlarged scare stories and are doing their best to ease things for tourists.

The lake is a fantastic place and well worth visiting.

I read this one from two years ago.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntr...edro-la-laguna

I decided to check with some friends living in Antigua and was told that it's better to use the north side.

Great, 1 story about 1 incident. Did you know that recently the UK was placed on the USA Gov "don't go list" ?

There are many robberies in many places in many countries. And of course the Antiguans will say don't use the south road, they don't live there.

By the way, the south road offers stunning views :-)

This thread on Thorn Tree is about the road from the InterAmerican
down to San Pedro, not the road around the south side of the lake. The tourist police regularly patrol this road, from the highway to San Pedro, I have taken it probably 20 times on several trips dating from 2003, and never had a problem.

I spent Oct/Nov 2012 in Guatemala, 4 weeks in San Pedro taking spanish lessons. In that time, I met two people who had been robbed on the road on the south side of the lake, between San Pedro and Santiago, one on a motorcycle, the other in a micro bus. This trouble spot is well known enough that the police will provide an escort through there, if you ask for it.

As with anyplace where there are wealthy tourists, there are robbers, but the danger level isn't high enough to stop me from going back. That said, it is foolish to pretend there are no issues.

Garry ,is your email address working ok