From 10am to 3pm January 26th

          When we travel I would prefer to plan as little as possible, leaving as many choices as possible until we are in our destination location. I make airline and rental car reservations and secure hotels for the first night in a city, to be sure we have somewhere to stay. But January is 'high season' in Central America, arguably the time when our choices might be limited and some places sold out. So for this trip I booked most of the hotels before we left home.

          After Belize I wanted to travel north, into the Mexican Yucatan. I had never seen the famous ruins at Chichen Itza, and wanted to include them. In addition there were good cheap flights out of Cancun that would allow me to fly back to Vermont and Jane to continue on the Pacific. So I had booked the air travel, and booked two nights near Chichen Itza and one near the Cancun airport, leaving two nights open. Also unclear was how we would travel north.

          Belize City has good air connections with several cities in the US. You can get from there to Mexico City, Honduras, and to countries farther south. But I could find no flights to Chetumal or Cancun. The enmity between Belize and Guatemala I understood. Scheduled air traffic between Flores (near Tikal) and Belize had been on-again off-again, and most recently discontinued in November of 2007. All I could be certain of while making plans in December was that there was good, frequent, safe bus service from Belize City north in to Mexico. As our departure approached I asked travel agents and airline personnel and was reassured that, yes, there were no flights from Belize City into Yucatan.

          So we left Placencia on Saturday, January 26th, flying back up the coast in an overloaded Cessna turboprop. The road from town to the airport (and up the peninsula to the rest of the world) goes right around the end of the runway. When the planes are fully loaded flagmen are sent to stand on the road where the planes come over because they are still so low to the ground that their wheels might strike a passing car. And in Belize there is no excess of caution. The planes DO use every inch of the runway to get airborne. Exciting.

          Because the plane was full we did not stop in Dangregia to pick up passengers, so arrived early in Belize City. Jane and I took a taxi and headed for the bus terminal. I asked the driver what he knew about the buses to Corozal and Chetumal (on the Belize and Mexican sides of the northern border, respectively). He confirmed that there were frequent, safe buses, but that since the recent strike they tended to leave when they were full rather than according to any particular schedule. He thought that we had missed the express bus north, which left in the morning, but there would be several others. He reassured me that if I would just head into the bus terminal I would be directed to the correct bus.

          What this meant was that since the strike, the ticket counters are not manned, there are no schedules posted, and no information kiosks. There was, in fact, someone right there to direct me to the correct bus, which would be leaving in just a few minutes. Because of our early arrival - and a large measure of luck - we had arrived just in time to catch the express. I left Jane in her seat for a few minutes and bought some emergency rations, not knowing when we might have a chance to eat. Some Pringles and a candy bar would have to do.

          The bus filled about 60% before we left, then added more passengers at several stops along the roadside as we left the city. We still had not paid, but in a while one of the other passengers turned onto a conductor, coming around, taking fares, making change. After about an hour and a quarter we stopped in Orange Walk for ten minutes, long enough for a bathroom break and for me to gram a quick chicken, rice, and beans for us to share. Another hour later, after a brief stop in Corozal, we arrived at the Mexican border. Everybody off the bus for immigration formalities, then back on. Then again a minute later, this time with baggage, to clear customs. Less then three hours after leaving Belize city we arrived in Chetumal.

          We were surprised how 'first world' Mexico felt after Belize. Lots of cars, people, and stores. Big box stores, shopping malls, brand names. We were at once relieved by the familiarity and dismayed by how much of USA's worst has been transplanted. We checked into a very elegant city hotel, a reservation I had made not knowing how difficult our getting there might be. All right, it was a Holiday Inn, although quite a bit nicer than those in the states (more European?) and lots cheaper, too.

          I had hoped to finish my chronicle of this adventure with this episode, but alas. Another chapter will be forthcoming, gentle reader, if you will be patient with me!