Memories of Central America, 2009

The wonderful girlfriend with the $1 dollar photo-copied map we bought on the bus and which came with a free guide to local poets and a lot of dodgy jokes.

The shady, dog-strewn corners of Antigua.

The main Plaza of Antigua is a bizarre mixture of the old and the new, where among the leafy trees, shady columns and bubbling fountain Mayan women in traditional clothes mix with sweaty western tourists, maimed beggars, sullen shoeshine boys, cunning pickpockets, suave locals, armed bank guards and backpackers.

A beach restaurant in El Salvador, positioned on stilts far above the ground in case of hurricanes/ rabid dogs etc...

Wendell, from Wisconsin. Working in a small El Salvadoran town for a year means you don't often see tourists, and when you do they don't often give you Poptarts. In this instance, Wendell got lucky.

Britt waiting by a Chicken Bus (notice roof-rack and the death trap of a ladder). There were several times where I managed to get stuck on said roof-rack and had to cling onto the ladder for dear life.

The inside of a chicken bus, strangely empty by local standards...

Washing Windows, El Salvadoran Style

An Old Central American marketing ploy as signs like this popping up on run down cantinas such as this. My favorite was the "Mr. T" welding shop in Costa Rica.

“Guate… Guate…Guate…Guate…” scream the conductors clinging to the side of the gaudiest busses in the world, blending the words together. These so called Chicken Busses are old American school busses shipped down to Central America for another several decades of service. Sometimes they have shrines glued to the dashboard, just to make one feel comfortable.

Cross and Church, Antigua

The clock tower and Irish bar in Antigua, one of the most photographed spots in the continent.

Antigua was once the capital of Guatemala and one of Central America’s most prosperous cities till a series of earthquakes rose up and battered the city to destruction. Though brightly painted stucco and more modern concrete has began to replace regal colonial stone a few ruined cathedrals sit forgotten down shady avenues.

One of many old people in Central America, who always dress straight from the 30's.

Cobbled Street, Antigua

Virgin-M in a window, one of millions in Guatemala which is the least catholic country in the area at %65.

Stray dogs litter the streets of every Central American city and town, mongrels and half-breeds of every kind. Though some have collars and seem far from skinny they never appear to belong to anyone and are regarded mainly with indifference by the local population.

Almost a Lonely-Planet worthy shot (annoyingly, the person in the background moved their head a second before.)