Posted by Lan Sluder/Belize First Magazine on February 16, 1998 at 11:08:15:
In Reply to: Avoid Belize City? Help! ... posted by Hal on February 15, 1998 at 16:14:01:
Hal,
First off, don't believe everything you hear about Belize City! It does have a crime problem, but it also has about 60,000 very nice, hard-working people. Hotels in Belize District have the highest occupancy rate in all of Belize, and lots of people visit here with no problems.
If you stay in a good place like Colton House and don't wander around alone at night, and use normal urban common sense, you'll have no problems.
But if you want to go north when you arrive (you're on the north side of Belize City, in Ladyville)you can catch a bus and stay at, say, New River Park south of Orangewalk Town (jumping off point for Lamanai river trips). In Orange Walk Town there's not much to recommend -- D'Victoria is okay for a night. Note that several of the hotels in Orange Walk Town are in fact brothels.
I would just add that Altun Ha, while worth seeing if you have time, wouldn't be near the top of my list of Maya sites. Lamanai definitely is, and of course Caracol, but of small, easily accessible sites, Xunantunich and Cahal Pech, both in Cayo, are in my view more interesting.
--Lan Sluder