We set our alarm for 4 am to catch the 5 am bus yesterday to Belize City. We mainly wanted to check out a couple of little towns in southern Belize called Placencia and Hopkins. Three buses (with happily no wait time) and 7 hours later we were in Hopkins. About ten minutes after that Jim and I both came to the same conclusion – it was RIGHT ON THE BEACH, laid back and cheap – but very dirty, no high school and too many ganga smokin’ unemployed hustlers. Not good for Max. We saw a couple of places anyway. Seven buses and seventeen hours after we walked the six blocks from our hotel to the bus terminal in Corozol we arrived back at our our hotel tired but having learned more about the user friendly bus system, seen the mountainous rainforest jungles (beautiful even from the bum-sore seat of a bus) of Belize and none the worse for wear. We will see Placencia another day. Funny story – the old buses can get VERY crowded, often a seat will hold two women and four small children with the aisles packed as well. I offered to hold a little three year old behind me, two minutes later his twin brother wanted my lap as well and they were happy to stay there. The very ample woman sitting beside me had a big tray of nuts for sale.  It was a bumpy ride and a long leg of the journey.