เบลีซ 2022 - สตอกโฮล์ม - กาฐมา ณ ฑุ

Short review, I have no idea why I didn't write anything last November, even though Belize was much more interesting and adventurous than Mexico. But let's start from the beginning. After rescheduling my flight in March to get a visa for the USA, I finally got to set foot on the holy ground of the promised land, thank God only to change planes. After a short night in Cancun, we continued by bus to the border of Belize. Nothing was happening in the last town before the border, no buses, no people, no taxis, nothing, just the way I like it. So I somehow organized a taxi and went to the border, of course paying the full tourist price, but it got better on the other side. In a 40-year-old Hyundai van, where the floor mat only prevented a view of the road and duct tape held the last pieces together, we went to the bus station. No tourists and no other passengers in sight, the bus comes when it comes, finally a certain adventure again, Mexico was too easy. After two hours, we continued in one of the so-called Chicken Buses. These are old converted American school buses that now serve long-distance transport in Belize. After another 4 hours and now almost 48 hours, I reached my first destination, Orange Walk Town.

I was totally disoriented looking for my hostel, when a nice lady approached me and offered help. As always, I was skeptical, but I had no choice but to follow her, as there were no restaurants with WiFi and I didn't have a local SIM card either. We quickly went into a bridal shop and I thought I would get married to a pretty Central American woman without any complications. But no, I was supposed to log into the WiFi there and check the name and address of my hostel, so the lady accompanied me for two more streets before asking me if I could take one of her children to Germany. After I had to decline that, she was satisfied with a two-euro tip. The next day we continued with a one-hour boat ride to the Lamanai Temple, passing various Mennonite villages and plenty of jungle. I didn't see any tourists in my hostel or here at the temple, so I did everything right. The Mennonites, who came to Belize over 100 years ago through Canada and the USA and still speak Low German, now provide 80% of Belize's total annual food needs. They still completely reject technological progress and live in seclusion in their small villages according to the Bible.

The next day, I continued by bus to San Ignacio on the border with Guatemala. I chose this place because here you can sit in a tire and swim through a huge cave over a river. The tour lasted about 2 hours and wasn't cheap (like nothing in Belize), but since it was the low season, there were hardly any people around and we were almost alone in the huge cave. In the high season, hundreds, if not thousands, of tourists swim downstream here every day with their tires, which the huge parking lot and the mass of equipment being rented out here revealed. Since we were almost alone, we also went to areas of the cave that you wouldn't normally see. The next day, I visited a remarkable temple with a fantastic view before taking another 6-hour bus ride towards the sea, specifically to Caye Caulker Island.

When I arrived there, I booked a diving trip. Not cheap either, at 350€ for three dives, but when do you have the chance to dive in the second largest reef in the world or in a blue hole with sharks? After another 3 nights on this nice, quiet island, it's time to move on. Unfortunately, there's no real beach here, but the stingray feeding is nice to watch and the lobster is also delicious.

Before heading back after 12 days, I made a stop in Playa del Carmen for more diving. You can safely avoid the city unless you're into spring break parties. Diving in the cenotes, on the other hand, is absolutely worth seeing. It's still unusual and a little claustrophobic to dive through dark narrow caves, but the rock formations and the colors of the sunlight trickling in quickly make this feeling disappear.

Now, half a year later, I'm writing the first lines in Stockholm before heading to Nepal towards Kathmandu and from there to the Mount Everest Base Camp. I'm as excited as a little child. P.S. Stockholm is absolutely worth seeing and if you don't mind the smell, lots of people in a small space, and train delays, you can also take the night train from Hamburg to Stockholm.