San Pedro La Laguna – A home away from home

This San Pedro La Laguna – A home away from home is written on Let's be Nomads.

So far our Central American adventure can easily be divided into two parts: The first part was all about discovering Mexico/Belize and Guatemala moving rapidly from one place to the next. Rapidly is still relative though, we stayed for example for two weeks in Tulum and even for three weeks on the island of Caye Caulker. However, this is the way we travel; if a place feels right we tend to stay a tad bit longer than the average traveller. Even in the very beginning of our world travels (more than over a year ago), we stayed for three weeks in Balen, only 60km away from our hometown Antwerp just because of the positive vibes the people of the town gave us.

The second part of our adventure started the moment we entered a beautiful room on the top floor of Hotel Colibri in San Pedro La Laguna. We rarely felt such a good energy in an apartment and almost instantly decided to rent the place for a month. The price was 1700Q and fitted nicely into our budget.

The mix of Guatemalans and Western people creates a very nice atmosphere in this town. Every day there is a big local market to get fresh food, there are a million of Spanish schools, where locals can teach you to speak Spanish at very affordable prices (even for our budget) and at night you can chill/party in a variety of nice Western or local bars. Take this all into account and it might be easy to understand why one month quickly turned into two months and a half.

Now, our visa for the CA-4 (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) has ran out, so it is time to say goodbye. We are sure going to miss this place and at a certain point we were even considering extending our visa for another three months, but it is time to move on (also because our next project is more up North, but more on that later this month).

I want to end this post by giving you our top 10 of things to do on a small budget in San Pedro.

10. Fresh juice at the basketball court in the mornings at the market: 5Q (=0.70$)

9. Street food all over town: average of 10Q (=1.40$)

8. Chilling at Zoolas’ lounge and pool area: free

7. Walking the Finca road, after 30 min you are in the nature overlooking the beauty of the lake: free.

6. Jakuu: bar run by locals, they serve very nice coffee and Cuba Libres for 5Q

5. Staying a night in a hammock at the happy hippie hostel: 15Q

4. Fresh food at the local market: for example basil, mint, coriander: 1Q (0.14$), black corn tortillas: 1Q for four (=0.14$), fruits, veggies, meat…

3. Friendly quiz on Wednesday night in El Barrio: free, you can even win 800Q.

They serve excellent mojitos and fresh orange juices: both 10Q (=1.40$)

2. Private Spanish lessons at Mayab: 10 hours and two activities (Salsa, handy crafts): 300Q (42$)

1. All-you-can-eat brunch on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm in El Barrio: delicious omelettes, thee, coffee, fresh fruit, bacon, potatoes…: 40Q (=5.40$)

I sincerely hope you get the chance to visit this beautiful little part of our planet.

Mechico! Here we come!!

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J

San Pedro La Laguna – A home away from home

This San Pedro La Laguna – A home away from home is written on Let's be Nomads.

So far our Central American adventure can easily be divided into two parts: The first part was all about discovering Mexico/Belize and Guatemala moving rapidly from one place to the next. Rapidly is still relative though, we stayed for example for two weeks in Tulum and even for three weeks on the island of Caye Caulker. However, this is the way we travel; if a place feels right we tend to stay a tad bit longer than the average traveller. Even in the very beginning of our world travels (more than over a year ago), we stayed for three weeks in Balen, only 60km away from our hometown Antwerp just because of the positive vibes the people of the town gave us.

The second part of our adventure started the moment we entered a beautiful room on the top floor of Hotel Colibri in San Pedro La Laguna. We rarely felt such a good energy in an apartment and almost instantly decided to rent the place for a month. The price was 1700Q and fitted nicely into our budget.

The mix of Guatemalans and Western people creates a very nice atmosphere in this town. Every day there is a big local market to get fresh food, there are a million of Spanish schools, where locals can teach you to speak Spanish at very affordable prices (even for our budget) and at night you can chill/party in a variety of nice Western or local bars. Take this all into account and it might be easy to understand why one month quickly turned into two months and a half.

Now, our visa for the CA-4 (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) has ran out, so it is time to say goodbye. We are sure going to miss this place and at a certain point we were even considering extending our visa for another three months, but it is time to move on (also because our next project is more up North, but more on that later this month).

I want to end this post by giving you our top 10 of things to do on a small budget in San Pedro.

10. Fresh juice at the basketball court in the mornings at the market: 5Q (=0.70$)

9. Street food all over town: average of 10Q (=1.40$)

8. Chilling at Zoolas’ lounge and pool area: free

7. Walking the Finca road, after 30 min you are in the nature overlooking the beauty of the lake: free.

6. Jakuu: bar run by locals, they serve very nice coffee and Cuba Libres for 5Q

5. Staying a night in a hammock at the happy hippie hostel: 15Q

4. Fresh food at the local market: for example basil, mint, coriander: 1Q (0.14$), black corn tortillas: 1Q for four (=0.14$), fruits, veggies, meat…

3. Friendly quiz on Wednesday night in El Barrio: free, you can even win 800Q.

They serve excellent mojitos and fresh orange juices: both 10Q (=1.40$)

2. Private Spanish lessons at Mayab: 10 hours and two activities (Salsa, handy crafts): 300Q (42$)

1. All-you-can-eat brunch on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm in El Barrio: delicious omelettes, thee, coffee, fresh fruit, bacon, potatoes…: 40Q (=5.40$)

I sincerely hope you get the chance to visit this beautiful little part of our planet.

Mechico! Here we come!!

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J

San Pedro La Laguna – A home away from home

This San Pedro La Laguna – A home away from home is written on Let's be Nomads.

So far our Central American adventure can easily be divided into two parts: The first part was all about discovering Mexico/Belize and Guatemala moving rapidly from one place to the next. Rapidly is still relative though, we stayed for example for two weeks in Tulum and even for three weeks on the island of Caye Caulker. However, this is the way we travel; if a place feels right we tend to stay a tad bit longer than the average traveller. Even in the very beginning of our world travels (more than over a year ago), we stayed for three weeks in Balen, only 60km away from our hometown Antwerp just because of the positive vibes the people of the town gave us.

The second part of our adventure started the moment we entered a beautiful room on the top floor of Hotel Colibri in San Pedro La Laguna. We rarely felt such a good energy in an apartment and almost instantly decided to rent the place for a month. The price was 1700Q and fitted nicely into our budget.

The mix of Guatemalans and Western people creates a very nice atmosphere in this town. Every day there is a big local market to get fresh food, there are a million of Spanish schools, where locals can teach you to speak Spanish at very affordable prices (even for our budget) and at night you can chill/party in a variety of nice Western or local bars. Take this all into account and it might be easy to understand why one month quickly turned into two months and a half.

Now, our visa for the CA-4 (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) has ran out, so it is time to say goodbye. We are sure going to miss this place and at a certain point we were even considering extending our visa for another three months, but it is time to move on (also because our next project is more up North, but more on that later this month).

I want to end this post by giving you our top 10 of things to do on a small budget in San Pedro.

10. Fresh juice at the basketball court in the mornings at the market: 5Q (=0.70$)

9. Street food all over town: average of 10Q (=1.40$)

8. Chilling at Zoolas’ lounge and pool area: free

7. Walking the Finca road, after 30 min you are in the nature overlooking the beauty of the lake: free.

6. Jakuu: bar run by locals, they serve very nice coffee and Cuba Libres for 5Q

5. Staying a night in a hammock at the happy hippie hostel: 15Q

4. Fresh food at the local market: for example basil, mint, coriander: 1Q (0.14$), black corn tortillas: 1Q for four (=0.14$), fruits, veggies, meat…

3. Friendly quiz on Wednesday night in El Barrio: free, you can even win 800Q.

They serve excellent mojitos and fresh orange juices: both 10Q (=1.40$)

2. Private Spanish lessons at Mayab: 10 hours and two activities (Salsa, handy crafts): 300Q (42$)

1. All-you-can-eat brunch on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm in El Barrio: delicious omelettes, thee, coffee, fresh fruit, bacon, potatoes…: 40Q (=5.40$)

I sincerely hope you get the chance to visit this beautiful little part of our planet.

Mechico! Here we come!!

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How cheap can you walk the Camino? Eight tips to save money on the Camino de Santiago.

This How cheap can you walk the Camino? Eight tips to save money on the Camino de Santiago. is written on Let's be Nomads.

In our last post we talked about the amazing journey that is called: the Camino de Santiago (or the Way of Saint-James). In this post we want to share some valuable tips with you on keeping your costs as low as possible and how cheap you can actually walk the Camino. Earlier this year we managed to walk the 32 day Camino and stay within our budget of 9 euro per person per day and this is how we did it:

1. First of all, buy or borrow a tent, a good sleeping bag and a sleeping pad. If you are going to walk in the summer, you can skip all of the above and even sleep outside. If on the other hand you like some comfort, some good camping gear is highly recommended. The number one reason for sleeping in a tent is that in general, a night in an Albergue will cost around 5 euro pp, except for the Donativo Albergues where you can donate an amount of your liking. This means that in our case more than half of our budget would go to Albergues (hostels) and would leave us with only 4 euro per day to eat, which is possible, but hard and probably not the healthiest.


2. Use the Couchsurfing network, not only can you save money on sleeping costs, but a lot of the times the hosts will provide you with a dinner or show you around town to the best places to eat tapas. This won’t work in every village along the Way, but it is a very handy network, especially in the bigger cities like Burgos, Leon, Oviedo… The downside is that it drags you away from the “real” Camino experience: sleeping with other snoring pilgrims in old bunk beds. No, seriously, eating, sleeping and walking together with other Pilgrims is a very important part of the way.


3. Buy your food for the next stage at the supermarket the night before. A lot of the times you only pass by small villages without a supermarket and the only other option to get food is a bocadillo (sandwich) at 3 euro or more.


4. Buy local fresh fruit and vegetables, they are cheap and very tasty. We also bought some canned fish and local bread.


5. Knock on the door of the locals and ask if you can buy some food from them, most of the time they’ll give it to you for free or even invite you in their house for some coffee and cake in return for a nice chat.


6. Try to wash your clothes together with some other pilgrims. A washing costs about 4 euro, drying 2 euro. It is always nice to split the costs.


7. Don’t buy a pilgrims-direction-book; the way is overly documented with yellow arrows and shells. And if you want to read about the wonderful things you need to see, you can always borrow one from another pilgrim, everyone has one (except if every pilgrim would read this post of course).


8. The same goes for medicines and second skin, most of the pilgrims carry them around and are very happy to help out if you are in urgent need.

Buen Camino!

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