What we learned from this trip

Before we left for our trip. We quickly realized, it's not the kind of trip most people take. The reaction from friends and others was "Your going where"" and doing WHAT"? Your not going to stay in Cancun and drink margarita's on the beach? You know it's dangerous and people are getting killed down there. The drug cartel is everywhere. The people are dirty and nasty. You'll get car jacked. and robbed. Oh we heard it all.
We had been there before and loved everything about it. But, never rented a car before. We always stayed in budget hotels run by the locals. We weren't worried.
This time round it was a bit different. That part of the country was always poor, it was worse. We were the only travelers for days. We ran into more nice and genuinely happy people. They make do with what they have. They might live in a primitive way. That doesn't mean they aren't clean. The only ones we didn't trust wore police uniforms. They were scary.
The other difference was the markets. Last time was full of strange and unusual things from art to animals hanging (chickens, pigs) food and clothing. This time it was blocks and blocks of stuff made in china. I was breaking out in hives from the unnatural materials. It was so sad. CHINA , it's everywhere.
There were no tourists so they made no money. So if you can GO! It's a fascinating experience, the people are wonderful and it's beautiful.
The kindest thing that someone said to us was "You two are NOT tourists, you are travelers" You go out and want to learn about my people and our cultures. That was the nicest thing he could have said to us.
People are the same everywhere.