EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

The town of RÍO DULCE itself is little more than a truck stop, where traffic for Petén pauses before the long stretch to Flores. The town is actually formed out of older settlements, Fronteras to the north and El Rellano to the south, connected by a monstrous concrete road bridge. The road between them is lined with cheap comedores and stores, and you can pick up buses here in either direction.

A good, inexpensive place to stay is the Hotel Backpackers (tel 208 1779, fax 331 9408, casaguatemala@guate.net ), a budget set-up underneath the south side of the bridge, with dorm beds, hammock space and private doubles (US$10-15). The hotel is owned by the nearby Casa Guatemala children's home, and many of the young staff are former residents. It's also a good place to pick up information, and there's a noticeboard with information about yacht-crewing opportunities and sailing courses; they also rent canoes. The comfortable Hotel Río Dulce , on the north side of the bridge (tel 930 3179; US$10-15), has spotless doubles with fans and showers. Very close by, under the bridge, Bruno's (tel 930 5174, rio@guate.net ) has modern and comfortable but overpriced rooms (US$40-60) with terraces, along with some less attractive but cheaper accommodation (US$15-25); there's also a swimming pool and bar-restaurant. Hacienda Tijax (tel 902 0858, www.tijax.com ), two minutes by water-taxi from the bus stop on the north side of the bridge, is a working teak and rubber farm with a pleasant lakeside plot and tasty, slightly pricey food, hiking trails and horse riding. Accommodation is either in rooms (US$10-15), cabins (US$15-25) or bungalows (US$40-60), and you can also camp here (US$2 per person).

As for restaurants , Río Bravo , on the north side of the bridge, is the best place to meet other travellers (and yachties), eat pizza or pasta and drink the night away - you can also make radio contact with most places around the river and lake from here. Bruno's serves up international food and offers the chance to catch up with the latest news and North American sports events - it's very popular with the sailing fraternity - they have Internet facilities here too. For cheap grub, there's a strip of pretty undistinguished comedores on the main road close to the bus stop. There are three banks in Río Dulce that will change travellers' cheques.

Moving on from Río Dulce, there are buses every thirty minutes or so to Guatemala City, and to Flores via Poptún until around 6pm. If you're heading towards Puerto Barrios, take the first bus or minibus to La Ruidosa junction (every 30min) and pick up a connection there. Heading to El Estor, there are buses around the lakeshore every two hours (1hr 45min) between 6am and 4pm; they all pass the hot springs and Boquerón canyon en route, and some continue on up the Polochic valley towards Cobán and the Verapaces. If you're heading for Lívingston via the Río Dulce gorge, the lancha boat captains will ambush you as soon as you step off a bus; services do not run to fixed schedules, but there are several daily (US$10), mostly in the afternoon. There are also flights connecting Río Dulce with Guatemala City on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Telephone Taca (tel 334 7722) for details, but be warned that cancellations are frequent. Río Dulce is also the base for That , a remarkable nineteen-metre (62ft) trimaran operated by ATI Divers (tel & fax 762 2646, atidivers@yahoo.com ) of Santa Cruz, Lago de Atitlán. Wonderful seven-day sailing trips through the Río Dulce gorge to the Belize cayes cost US$390 for snorkellers and US$490 for divers, including all equipment rental, tanks and meals.

There's a useful Web site covering the Río Dulce region, www.mayaparadise.com , with good links and listings.