An Interview with Uncornered Market

In this interview, Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll of Uncornered Market tell us about the Latin America leg of their trip around the world.

The couple started out in Guatemala and made their way through Central and South America via bus and public transport.

Along the way they picked up some Spanish, street smarts, and good food.

It says on your blog that you left jobs in Prague, Czech Republic in Dec. 2006 to begin traveling the world. Where are you from originally?

We are both originally from the United States. We were living in San Francisco, but decided to move to Prague in December 2001 to experience living and working abroad together. We each found jobs within a few months and ended up staying for five years.

Families gather at the hot springs waterfall at Finca El Paraiso near Rio Dulce, Guatemala. Hot, sulfuric water comes from above with cool water in the pools below - a perfect combination.

When did you start the Central/South America leg of your trip?

We began traveling in Central/South America in March 2009. Our first stop was Guatemala. We spent four months in Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua) and then began traveling through South America (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina) in July 2009. We’re currently taking a break from constant movement in Buenos Aires for a couple of months.

What are some of the main differences between traveling in Central or South America and other places in the world such as Asia?

In Asia, we took night buses and public transport all the time. We also went on many hikes on our own and walked around cities at night. You had to be aware of pickpockets, but we were never warned by people about bandits or kidnappers or armed robbery.

However, when we arrived in Guatemala, almost every conversation we had about our travel plans included safety warnings and the latest busjackings by locals, expats or other travelers. We still took buses and public transport, but we never took night buses in Guatemala and didn’t wander around much at night.

We continued this more cautious approach to travel throughout the rest of our journey in Central/South America. Although we’ve had a couple of problems with pickpockets, we have been fortunate and have not had any run-ins with armed robbers.

Language is another big difference. In many countries in Asia, it’s impossible to get conversant in a local during a visit of several weeks or a month. In this region, you can essentially use one language (Spanish) for most of the countries. This makes it easier to converse with locals.

Did you know how to speak Spanish before your trip? (I read the comment you made on the NY Times Frugal Traveler blog about the language school in Xela, Guatemala–I’m seriously considering following your advice)

No, we learned Spanish along the way. We took two weeks of Spanish classes in Xela, Guatemala and then picked up the rest on the road. We joke with locals we meet that we have attended “Street Spanish School” for the last ten months. When you’re forced to speak Spanish to figure out buses, accommodation, food, and negotiate every transaction you start to learn quickly. We’re not completely fluent now and have trouble with grammar at times, but we still manage pretty well.

I’m thinking of going to Xela in May. Can you suggest a good itinerary for a one week trip in Guatemala? (Would you recommend a language school experience in Xela over one in Antigua?—-I noticed that Xela seems more like a university town for one thing.)

While we really enjoyed the time we spent in Antigua, we’d recommend Xela for language school. Although Xela is full of foreigners learning Spanish, you have more opportunities to speak Spanish than in Antigua. It’s a more indigenously diverse city, which makes it really interesting visually and culturally. Most of the schools are set up with home stays which will force you to speak with your family. Additionally, the Spanish courses in Xela are usually cheaper than the ones in Antigua.

For a one-week trip in Guatemala, consider starting in Antigua for a couple of days followed by Lake Atitlan. If you like hiking, we highly recommend the organization Quetzal Trekkers in Xela. They have a great, but strenuous. three-day trek from Xela to Lake Atitlan.

The colors of the vendor's clothes seem to match or compliment the vegetables she's trying to sell. Taken near the cemetery and Flores Market in Xela (Quetzaltenango), Guatemala.

Have you visited any places in Central/ South America that are off-the-beaten path that you think more people should know about?

Livingston, Guatemala is certainly not off-the-beaten path, but most people come for a day trip. It’s very pleasant to stay a few days and get into the laid back pace.

In Ecuador, we really enjoyed going to the villages and weekly markets along the Quilatoa Loop. Our favorite weekly market is in Zumbahua. In Peru, we really enjoyed spending time in Chachapoyas and Cajamarca in the north. Tarija in Bolivia’s wine region in the south is a relaxing place to spend a few days. There are no major tourist sights here, but the reward is the friendliness of the people. In Paraguay, there is an interesting tourism farm run by a German guy outside of Concepcion.

It seems like from your blog and tweets that at times you live very frugally–buying fruit from an outdoor market in Guatemala. But other times, you seem to splurge. You were tweeting about how great the steak was in Argentina not too long ago. How do you find the right mix?

Anyone who follows our website or our tweets knows that food is very important for us. Our goal is not to find the cheapest food possible nor the most expensive food possible, but rather to find the best value (quality for price) food. It’s all about balancing your priorities with choices.

Follow Audrey and Daniel on Twitter at @umarket