Hawaii

After Australia Honolulu was a dissapointment:
Japanese and old American tourists, both of
which I have little to discuss with. Additionally,
it was hideously expensive: A Whopper (with
cheese) meal and a Whopper (with cheese)
cost a staggering $12. 

However, I was so cool then and wanted it to 
show so I went scuba diving ($95/2 dives) and 
rented a HD($90) and rode around Oahu. Diving
was OK, super viz and lots of turtles. The 
operator staff (Aloha Dive) was quite unprofessional
(didn't check certification, continuous swimming
back and forth in current, short 3mm suits in
cold water). Cruising the HD was cool for the first
15 minutes after that I started to realize how shitty
HDs really are: shit brakes, shit handling, shit
comfort in 80km/h+, shit clutch, shit gearbox,
shit power. HD owners: I really feel sorry for you,
try a post-WWII-motorcycle and you won't go back.

After these activities there was nothing left to do
but to go boozing heavily. Luckily in the same
hostel there was an American guy called Michael,
who is the ont-to-one lookalike of Paul Stanley
of Kiss. The second night Michael's sidekick,
whose name I don't remember, joined in; this
guy called me an android. Anyway, I showed 
them how to drink Tequila. We ended up in a
Honolulu night club called Wave, never go there:
first the bartender rips you off (by giving change
back from a ten while you pay with a twenty),
then when you're trying to have a good time the
asshole bouncer starts complaining loudly that
you stand in a somehow magical area next to 
the bar where no-one is supposed to stand, when
you issue your protest the bouncer starts to
shout: "Go stand over there" (while pointing at
the dance floor), after having stood there for
a minute when you go and try to reason with
the asshole and he still acts like one and the
bartender declines to serve you a drink, you 
have no option but to give them the finger and
walk out. This happened to me. Two months of
bars with nice people, cheap drinks and good
ambiance obviously made me unsuitable to
go to an American nightclub. No wonder Wave
nightclub entrance was filled with HDs, there
is a connection! 

Guatemala

After Hawaii I had an airline connection from Hell:
Honolulu-Dallas-Miami-Guatemala, 22h. I
arrived to Guatemala on Sunday evening and 
luckily Satu had booked a visit to Tikal Maya
ruins starting at 5am the next morning. So,
I met Satu and Tanya at the airport 8 hours
after my arrival and we flew to Tikal. The ruins
were cool, kind of; I was tired and jet-lagged.

After Tikal we went via Antigua to Lago de Atitlan
that is a lake surrounded by volcanoes at 1500m.
Lake Atitlan and its surroundings were most
impressive. We met a crazy Norwegian 
dive-instructor Lars on the way; the guy has his 
dive shop in the northmost point of Norway, of all 
the places. If you want a different dive experience,
check out www.arctic-dive.no

We stayed three nights at Panajachel at Atitlan.
We did some boozing, visited other lakeside
villages etc. and we went diving with Lars. Diving
was kind of nice, but the actual experience came 
from leaking regulator: while inhaling some water
leaked into my mouth, the amount increasing 
throughout the dive. Drinking from a Central American
lake totally messed up my stomach: on Sat night
after mediocre boozing I threw up 3 times in an
extremely violent fashion, after which I had the shits.
On Sunday I stayed in the bed and ate a small
sandwich as my combined breakfast/luch/dinner.

Costa Rica 

On Monday I luckily felt reasonably OK, except I 
had no appetite, as I flew to Costa Rica via Miami 
(Why the hell do I have to immigrate to the damned 
US, pick up my bag and go through customs when 
I'm in an international transfer?); that day I only had 
some breakfast. On Tuesday I travelled by bus to 
Volcan Arenal to meet Alba and Marcos, my Spanish 
friends, also on that day I only had some breakfast. 
Still no appetite.

The bus was stopped 15km before La Fortuna, a town
near Volcan Arenal, because of an anti-government
demonstration including a roadblock. I picked up my bag 
from the bus and started walking, mentally prepared to 
walk all the way. However, after 200m of walking I 
passed the blockade and took a bus for the rest of 
the way. The Spaniards were more scared of the 
blockades and did not arrive as planned. I stayed the 
night there alone, still not feeling healthy and not 
eating. 

Alba and Marcos arrived on Wednesday morning.
Both of them were a bit surprised ("What have they
done to you?") and claimed that I looked bad and
had lost weight. Jesus, if people can tell that I look
even more skinny I'm in real trouble: Must eat!
Suddenly, the appetite was back! I ate.

Volcan Arenal is an active volcano. Unluckily it
was mostly cloudy during the two days I was there.
Feeling optimistic, we went to a sightseeing platform
in the evening when it was dark even though the 
tip was in the clouds. It could, of course, have been
better, but this was the first time I ever saw lava
in real life and heard the sounds that an erupting 
volcano does. Cool.

I am in Monteverde, Costa Rica now and heading 
for Cuba day after tomorrow for the final leg of 
Olli-Around-the-World-Tour-Part-1.