Mexico

A few weeks ago James and I realized that our Guatemala visas had expired. We were illegal aliens. Luckily, all we really needed to do was apply for an extension, which just means they give us another stamp and authorize us to stay in the country for another 90 days.

There are two way to do this...

1) We can go to Guatemala City, hand over our pass ports for a week, pay a fine, and go back to the city to retrieve the pass ports.

OR

2) We could leave the country for 72 hours. 

Taking a trip sounded like a lot more fun. We only live about 2 hours (if your driving in a car) from the Mexican border and the beach is only 30 to 45 mins past the border, so we decided to go the a beach for the weekend. 

Unfortunately, taking the chicken buses may have saved us $75 but extended that 2 1/2 hour trip to 6. We made it to the border but still had a long way to go.

HOWEVER - after 5 buses, 3 taxis, and a lot of walking we made it to the beach! We found a nice hotel for $20 a night and the next morning spent our time soaking up the sun on this pretty little number ...

The beach was VERY long and we had it all to ourselves, except for a fisherman. The water was a great temperature but was a little difficult to swim in because it was so strong. 

We decided that our time would be best spent building a sand castle. I must say, it turned out quite well.

After the beach we took off to see the city of Tapachula. In the afternoon we visited a small ruins site called Izapa. 

That night we ate a nice dinner, walked around the central park, and watched an outdoor movie about the life of Central American immigrants as they make their way through Mexico. The morning brought us to a church service in Tapachula and then the long journey back to Xela. Over all it was a pretty good trip. We are currently legal!