Laundromat: This isn't photojournalism, is it?

I'm not making any serious attempt to enter photo journalism and I doubt that I would be able to sell any of these pictures but it was quite a good challenge while I was doing my laundry yesterday to try my hand at capturing what it was like to do laundry in Belize on a Saturday afternoon. As laundromats go, the semi-deco style does have at least some appeal as a building but the overall deccay is probably what would strike most people when looking through the 'Laundromat' images on FLIKR, if you use the link in the top right of the screen.

The sight of the pensioner walking down the road crossed with images of the vice closing in was meant to signify what life is like here for the elderly. Not too many have pensions so most really can't be described as pensioners. There are a lot of elderly men working on the Island of Caye Caulker and they seem to be relatively content here but I guess I'm just passing through.

I didn't set up the shots of the Lizard with the lump of chicken breast that he somehow can't manage to chew - it did seem quite unusual watching him attempt to eat it. In England I guess you may pay a trip to a park and feed the ducks in Belize I guess it's easier to feed a lizard while you're doing your laundry.

Some nice shots but really, this just isn't photo journalism, is it?

San Cristobal - The museum of Mayan culture.

I don´t think I have been to a museum before that makes you feel like joining the tribe of indians in the rainforest quite so much as the Na Bolom Museum of Mayan culture in San Cristobal. It is an ideal small stop off for an hour or so and does give you the feeling that you´re wandering around in the home of Indiana Jones or in this case Franz Blom (archaeologist) and his wife Gertrude Blom (photographer and environmentalist). I´ll aim at getting some of the shots from there online in the next few days - it really was quite special.

There are some cracking shots of the mayan people on the walls of the museum that I had to assume were taken by Gertrude Blom - it appears that if you want to see them you would probably need to visit the museum as there doesn´t look like there is much in the way of books that cover the work of the Bloms available online. Another issue which struck me as being very unusual was that several of the Mayans had haircuts that appeared very mullett-like, the photographs of these tended to be from the 1950´s. I did wonder if the inspiration behind the McCartney mullet of the 1970´s was actually Mayan or perhaps from elsewhere - who know´s he doesn´t read my blog.

San Cristobal remains cool. It does feel very laid back here and I must get around to doing something other than lying in the hammock in the courtyard of the hostal that I am staying in. If you´re passing this way it´s called Los Palomas and is on Guadalupe Victoria of the Zocalo. At 85 Pesos a night, about 4.50 sterling, it´s not a bad deal though all of the hostals in Mexico have been fine.