Wrap up
A number of Belizeans have complained to us about high
taxation (especially import taxes) and the government but it’s clear that it’s
OK to do so. The printed briefing from
Raggamuffin Sailing spoke about “an exceptionally corrupt government” and we
got one restaurant bill that didn’t have “tax” printed just before the total
but “tax extorted”. Even so, their
sales tax is 12.5% compared to the UK 20% VAT.
One odd thing about the economy is that with the Belize Dollar tied at
two to one, prices are just quoted in $, so you have to check whether the price
is Belize or U.S. and the two currencies exist almost side by side in some
places.
People here in San
Ignacio are even friendlier than everywhere else and they all say hello or good
morning which naturally causes me a lot of trouble. Do note that I always say hello or good
morning too, more often than not first and with a smile. I wouldn’t want you to think that I’m really
Mr Grouch. We come into town for the
Saturday market where lots of the local smallholders come to sell their
produce. There are also a few
Mennonites with their dairy products and the usual U.S. or Europeans who’ve
settled. One broadly accented Devon man selling his
local wine. A distinctive taste, let’s
just say it really, really doesn’t travel very well at all. Another was an alternative therapy woman
running some sort of retreat and selling her health drink. Apparently based on tea and sugar, it
contains “all the B vitamins, enzymes which are good for you and all the
benefits of apple cider vinegar”. Which
are ? I ask, innocently. “Well, it’s very good for you”, followed by a
list of things it is good for, but not apparently bullshit. I wish I’d thought at the time of asking
“enzymes, aren’t they the things in biological washing powder ?” I heard a loudly spoken American extolling
the virtues of the new technology he’s involved with which is “medicines from
plants, not pharmaceuticals and of course there are no side effects”. It makes you want to weep sometimes.
Our last hotel for two nights of relaxing and we have a
booking. No Bunce listed but that’s
happened before because hotels often seem to pick up Heather as the name, so
another look and yes we’re down as Heather Leslie. We thought we had a cabana in the grounds but
instead we’re given a room with a view over the valley. Then, the following morning we discover that
we should have had a cabana and that we have the room for someone who booked in
after us who just happens to be called Heather Leslie.
Just by our hotel was another Maya site which had only been
discovered in 1950. I imagine as the
town expanded up the hills and the forest was felled this place was just sitting
there under 1000 years of dead leaves.
It was Sunday lunchtime when we went and as we walked in a couple were leaving “you
got it all to yourselves” one of them said and we had, almost.
There was a manned gift shop and a couple of archaeology students but
apart from that we really did have the place to ourselves for a while. It was about 400 yards by perhaps 300 yards
so not quite Tikal but fantastic to be there virtually alone. Once half a dozen people had turned up and
made it crowded we walked back to the hotel for a beer.
Would you believe it, on our last morning just before we
left for the airport, guess who were also in the restaurant having breakfast. It was
the Germans again. We ignored them.
That’s all folks !
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