We are going for reform of the constitution!

Just one of the snappy election slogans in Guatemala. Ominously, it´s from the leader of a party who, as head of the prison service, dealt with their overcrowding problem by summarily executing the surplus. "Constitutional reform" in Guatemala probably isn´t a Good Thing.

[By contrast the head of our prison service, a very nice man called Martin Narey who I met once, went on to become chief executive of the children´s charity Barnardos.]

Here´s some of the runners and riders in the race to be boss of Narco- and coffee- and languagestudent-land (the first round of voting was on 9 September, with a run-off between the first two parties below in November):

• National Unity of Hope (UNE) Party "Your hope is my promise" - the leading party, mostly look like insurance salesmen
• Partido Patriota "Security and jobs" - the party of the military I think, they´ve dressed them up to look like Kwik-Fit mechanics
• Gran Alianza Nacional (GANA, or "win" in Spanish, very clever) - this is our friend the prison murderer
• UCN "Better times are coming" - their guy wears a sombrero
• Alianza Nueva Nacion "Something very dull about welfare and more money for public servants" - the local socialists
• Frente Republica Guatemala "You can trust us this time" - ruled for a few years post-democracy, until their leader disappeared with $1bn. Where did he find $1bn in the first place?
• DIA "A new day" - Slightly surrealist party, I´m not even sure they´re a party. Just lots of their logos painted on everything that doesn´t move
• PAN "The people´s party" - a popular band from the 1970s, now making a run for Pan-American control
• Encuentro por Guatemala "An encounter for Guatemala" - an indigenous Mayan party, headed by a nobel prize winner. Never stood a chance, unfortunately.
• BIEN "Welfare for the people" - too right
• URNG Maiz "Eat more corn for a strong Guatemala" - no idea what this was about
• Men and women of the sombrero "Trust the hat" - nor these people

OK I made some of the slogans up, but if you´re really interested there´s something on Wikipedia about it.

The elections show up some of the contradictions of Guatemala today. Proudly Mayan but run by "ladinos" (Spanish descent); progressive but totalitarian; optimistic but still haunted by the civil war; warm and friendly but a bit nuts. But the election passed off peacefully, and it seems like life goes on...

I wasn´t there for nearly long enough to do anything more than scratch the surface unfortunately, but a great place to spend a week. After the jungles of Tikal I got out to the mountains in the south - from Mayan ruins to Spanish colonial ones. Tikal, Quetzaltenango, Lago de Atitlán, Antigua. The tourist trail in Guatemala is a bit like visiting an antique zoo and this time I was unfortunately an unashamed tourist. Although I did take chicken buses between most of these places (so called cos they´re the local buses, usually former US school buses, that people ride with their chickens) rather than the air-con touristmobiles, and have continued to sleep in crummy hostels and eat street food.

I left the "Mundo Maya" via Copan, Honduras - maybe the best Mayan ruins of the lot, with crazy carved stone statues and huge temples looking over Honduran mountains. Spent even less time in that original banana republic though - I think I was in Honduras for 32 hours, 23 of those on different buses, three at the ruins and maybe six in bed.

Nicaragua now, where I´ll recharge for a week or so before heading further south.

Not sure how to do the next bit, so any answers on a postcard... what´s the cheapest way to get from Nicaragua or Costa Rica to Colombia (Cartagena ideally)? I´ve heard that you can fly to San Andres, a Colombian island in the Caribbean, and then get a local flight, but can´t find it online. Any top tips? A cheapo present from the republic of your choice to the winner...