back on budget

So since Ive last updated, weve come back into Guatemala, but not before spending a few more days on the Caribean, partially celebrating Sonya´s birthday. On our way from San Ignacio, to Hopkins, on the bus, we had to get off in these crossroads that had a feel of middle America rural are with a tropical feel, maybe somewhere in Georgia or Florida... there were thousands of orange trees. We hitchhiked into Hopkins and found it to be a quaint little beACH town. We stayed in this hotel crossed with a drumming center, where at night many people came and tranced us to sleep with their intricateGarifuna drumming.
After a night in Hopkins, we headed for Placencia where we rented a gorgeousbeach front cabin, splurging a little for sonya´s birthday. We found the town very relaxing, a nice beach to swim on, but there were many tourists, the kind that have Placencia as their only destination, a few resorts lingered on each end of the beach. We hopped around town to a few bars on sonyas b day and hung out with some locals when they all closed (her b day was on a tuesday golly gee).
A few nights later, we woke up to head on the bus for punta gorda, where we would then boat back to Livingston GuatemaLa, en route to discover more of the country. We stayed in a new, cheap, and not that nice hotel, named Hotel Viajeros, and just hung around, planning our trip to Rio Dulce where we are now. When we arrived, a boat took us to our hotel, which is not accesible by road, off a lagoon in the jungle. Everyday they can shuttle you into town, where we are now. Rio Dulce is right on the highway and today (probably everyday) it has a huge market going on. Coming from Belize, not to mention the jungle, the high paced atmosphere with heavy traffic and no sidewalks is a bit of a culture shock. It is alot like urban mexican markets, but somehow multiplied in comotion and everywhere. Soon we will be in Antigua (we wont want to linger there) and then Atitlan, hopefully for MY birthday.
Its my birthday!!!
it is a huge relief to be in guatemala where we can afford everything, Belize was impossible to budget in, and we regret lingering so long.