We left for a trip around the world in the middle of August 2016. From Canada, where we lived, we flew to Mexico to start the trip.

In these monthly recaps, we will write about all the highlights and low points, best places we’ve visited and places that made us say β€œwhy did we come here?”

In 1,5 months we traveled from Mexico CityΒ  through Mexico, Guatemala and to El Salvador.

Month 1 & 2 recap of our RTW trip - Mexico

Our stats:

Travelled: 2776 km

Spent: 22 days in Mexico, 28 days in Guatemala

Average spent per day per person: 25 USD (23 EUR) in Mexico, 37 USD (34 EUR) in Guatemala

Slept in: 5 beds in Mexico, 9 beds in Guatemala

Transport used:

  • 1 plane (from Mexico City to Puerto Escondido),
  • 10 buses + chicken buses,
  • 1 pickup truck,
  • 4 boats (border crossing from Mexico to Guatemala and across the Lake Atitlan),
  • tuk-tuk (countless rides in Guatemala)
  • 3 bike rides (Mexico City and Chiapas mountains)

Mayan ruins visited: 3 (Mexico & Guatemala)

Volcanoes hiked: 2 (Guatemala)

HIGHLIGHTS:

Learning to surf in Puerto Escondido, Mexico

Since Michal was recovering from twisted ankle, I couldn’t help myself watching people learn to surf and had to learn it myself. It was a huge success. I had the best teacher (and masseur) I could have asked for. How the experience went? You can read the post: Learning to surf in Puerto Escondido, Mexico

Month 1 & 2 recap of our RTW trip - Mexico

Playa Carrizalillo where I learnt to surf

A little note: I don’t have any pictures of myself surfing. Michal thought it was a good idea to take pictures from a stand-up paddle board he rented but had some balancing issues with the waves.

Mountain biking trip in Chiapas, Mexico

Month 1 & 2 recap of our RTW trip - Mexico

Chiapas mountains

After visiting beaches and ruins, we were excited to visit mountains of Chiapas state. It wasn’t easy but we found a guide in San Cristobal de las Casas and went mountain biking. It was a full day trip, we saw many goats, waterfalls and a lot of children waving at us as we passed.

Visiting Mayan ruins in the jungle in Tikal, Guatemala

It was a real jungle trek. After seeing many Mayan ruins in Mexico which were basically built on a flat ground, Tikal ruins are quite hilly. I had no idea and I was wearing a skirt – whoops.

Month 1 & 2 recap of our RTW trip - Guatemala

Caving and cliff diving in Semuc Champey, Guatemala

Month 1 & 2 recap of our RTW trip - Guatemala

who wouldn’t want to swim here?

The day we visited the turquoise pools in the jungle in Semuc Champey was adrenaline packed! It started with the drive on the back of a pickup truck, walking in the cave with just a candle in hand and jumping from the rock into a dark pool, swinging from the shore to the river, jumping off a bridge into river, hiking to the viewpoint of the pools and then swimming in every pool publicly accessible.

Learning Spanish and staying with local Mayan family at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Month 1 & 2 recap of our RTW trip - Guatemala

Manuela and her family helped us learn Spanish

My dream to learn Spanish finally came true. We went to school for 2 weeks while staying with local family and communicating in Spanish. Studies still continue on our own but now we can talk to people with the very little use of English.

Hiking the highest mountain in Central America – Tajumulco volcano in Guatemala

This trip was my birthday present. Guatemala (and Central America in general) is a land of volcanoes. So I came up with an idea to hike the highest volcano. It was challenging and rewarding.

Month 1 & 2 recap of our RTW trip - Guatemala

shadow of Tajumulco volcano after sunrise

Want to see more pictures and how the hike went? Read the post Hiking Tajumulco volcano, the highest mountain in Central America

LOW POINTS:

Being robbed on a chicken bus in Guatemala

I’ve read many stories about robberies on chicken buses. How they happened and what to do to prevent them. We did it all – hid the money in different places, had all the important things on the lap in a theft-proof bag. But some fuckers still cut through it and stole the wallet. At least it was the least important wallet we had. I hope the person who did it will lose his hands while spending our money.

Month 1 & 2 recap of our RTW trip - Guatemala

Chicken buses, the craziest form of transportation in Central America

Had to skip Oaxaca in Mexico and Belize

There was a teacher’s strike in Oaxaca and all the major roads were blocked. So we had to skip this city and flew straight to the Pacific coast, to Puerto Escondido

And after a lot of research, we decided to skip visiting Belize. It doesn’t have anything else that other countries don’t have and it is ridiculously expensive.

Month 1 & 2 recap of our RTW trip - El Salvador

At the end of the 2nd month, we were in El Salvador. The country that has been skipped by many travelers because of the safety issues. Don’t miss out on our recap of month 3 to tell you how we traveled through El Salvador.

Read our recap of Month 3

About Maya Steiningerova

Heyo, I’m Maya! An adventure athlete currently living near the Canadian Rockies with my partner in crime Michal. I love running in the mountains, jumping in the ice cold lakes, mountain biking and trying not so common activities, such as mountaineering. By showing that an ordinary person can live an extraordinary life, my hope is to inspire you to live an adventurous life and provide you with tips and tools for your own adventure.

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