Hi,

Some friends and I are looking to travel through central America ending up in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico starting in mid-july probably for 3 weeks. We would probably like to start the trip in Panama, but possibly even Peru, because my friend will be at a program in Peru through mid-july. I am practically fluent in Spanish. I am looking on advice as to where to travel, cheap transportation,etc. The budget will be pretty tight. Please leave advice or give me any guidebooks to buy/sites to go to or people to contact. Thank you!

If your point is to see an endless number of buses and bus stations, along with enjoying bus station neighborhood cuisine, this would be a great trip, especially from Peru, but in either case, you should not take cheap buses. They waste time that you would not have and they generally only go in the daytime.

To me, this sounds like a dreadful trip. I bet any companions with you would agree early on and ditch you. Sorry.

With three weeks, you would do well to fly into somewhere like Tegicigalpa and out of Cancun or into Cancun and out of Puerto Vallarta. You would have time to see things along the way.