Lesson learned - when in doubt, hold it

The annual Belize Archaeology Symposium was held a couple of weeks ago in Belize City. Since I'm new to the country and its archaeology I decided to take the bus up there to see what's been going on in Belizean archaeology over the past year. Anna had just arrived to begin work on her project in San Ignacio, so I got to stay with her at the Princess. I need to back up though, and tell you about my very eventful trip up to Belize City.

So there is only one express bus to Belize City per day from PG, and it is well worth the 6 am departure time. The other buses, besides being unable to reach 50 mph anyways, stop at every town, house, barn, and crossroads between PG and Belize, stretching the 4-5 hour trip into a boring and hot 6-7 hour slog. So I got up early and caught my bus, despite some terrible stomach cramps that had developed over night. Now, I'm a big believer in using a bathroom whenever it is available, so I always get off the bus for several minutes to use the bathroom at Mango Creek and Dangriga (the express bus makes three stops, actually), which is never a problem and was quite necessary since I was feeling bad. The bus also stops in Belmopan for a five minute break, but the bathroom at that bus station is so hard to find - it's like outside around the corner, down a hallway that is hidden behind a barbershop. Well, it took me about 5 minutes to find it and of course I had to wait in line, and since it was so early my mind was just not working. When I came back to get on the bus.......it was gone. Do you want to know what I had brought with me for my trip? My passport, my new laptop, some traveler's checks, my wallet with my driver's license, credit and debit card (I had packed for two weeks that included a journey to Honduras!).

The bus guys kind of laughed at me and said that I'd better catch the slow bus leaving for Belize right then. I had to run to catch it; thank god I had some spare money in my pocket for the bathroom toll. You can imagine how tortuous that bus ride was - I was trying to keep calm, trying to plan how I would replace my stuff, which was surely by this time either long gone or sitting on the ground outside the bus station in Belize. Belmopan is only an hour from Belize, so that was good. The minute we hit the outskirts I got off and caught a cab to take me to the bus station, and then to the random location where they park the buses before the afternoon return to PG. You will never believe what happened.

I finally found the bus, climbed on, and saw all my stuff - computer, backpack, purse, wallet - sitting on the front seat. The driver was very apologetic, saying that he'd noticed I was gone five minutes after they left Belmopan. I told him it was no one's fault but my own, and that I should have been paying closer attention. It was incredible. I took a cab to my air conditioned hotel and immediately had a rum and coke to relax. Since then my bus rides have been liquid-free affairs with nothing but some cookies or plantain chips to eat; I haven't gotten off a single one until I've reached my final stop!