Semana Santa

Tuesday afternoon, Ryan and I departed Guatemala City for Puerto Barrios on Fuente Del Norte. This was an extremely long bus ride that took nearly 6 hours due to the bus driver’s love of the brake pedal. As soon as we exited the bus in Puerto Barrios, we were approached by a Guatemalan looking guy who said he was from Canada. He was looking for a place to stay the night as were we, and this guy had been here before so he directed us in the right direction. We found a hotel with rooms for Q50 per bed and then went to look for a restaurant. Using lonely planet, we found the cheapest restaurant with good food, and it was good!!! The Carribbean style rice was delicious with coriander, beans, coconut, and other spices. After dinner we walked around the city looking for something to do and ended up walking back to the hotel and calling it a night. The city was fairly humid and very quiet. The streets were all gravel and dimly lit with the only lights coming from the holding areas where the cargo containers were sitting. The next morning we went to the port thinking about taking a boat to Livingston for the day but decided against it and went to find a ride to Santa Elena in Petén.

We hopped on a mini bus to Rio Dulce for Q20, driving through what looked like semi rain forest surroundings and tons of pineapple stands on the side of the road. When we arrived in Rio Dulce it started to rain so we decided to have lunch by the river. After lunch we walked around the crowded main street for nearly an hour, waiting for another Fuente Del Norte bus heading to Santa Elena. We were forced to stand on the bus for an hour before two seats opened up and it was hot!!! This was a 5 hour bus ride through much drier land than the state of Izabal which held Rio Dulce. When we arrived in Santa Elena we found a mini bus heading to the island of Flores for a few Quetzals. The mini bus was filled with hippies and what seemed to be French nationals, on their way to Tikal, hahahha. The mini bus took us to a part of Flores that contained the economical hotels. We ended up staying in Alicia’s Guesthouse for a total of Q70 per night and it was very clean and the people were very helpful. We bought a ticket to Tikal at 6am the next morning in order to beat the crowds. We were referred to the Mirador restaurant on top of the hill on Flores for dinner. It was excellent and cheap which is what we needed. We ended up coming back here three more times over the next few days. That night we walked around the small island stopping periodically at the three night clubs to check out the night life.

The next morning we were on our way to Tikal with some Austrians that were staying in our hotel and some more French. When we arrived in Tikal Park it was nearly 9am and already hot as hell. Once we bought our tickets we decided to take the opposite route through the park than the one the crowd was taking. This route brought us to the most isolated pyramid in the park which took about 20 minutes to walk to. The path winded through dense forest before we approached our first Mayan site, which was amazing. The next four hours were hot but extremely intriguing as we contemplated the historical events that took place throughout Tikal. Ryan thought it would be a good idea to skip breakfast and leave Tikal by noon. This was not a good idea! Luckily we ran into some vendors after a few hours trekking through the park. We left the park around 12:30 and were on our way back to Flores Island for the next few days.

We spent Thursday and Friday lounging around the small island eating comida economica and taking an occasional dip in the lake. The pace of life on Flores Island was as laid back as it gets. Since no buses were running on Good Friday we waited until Saturday afternoon to catch a bus back to Guate. This bus driver was one of the most irritating people to ever walk the face of the earth. He enjoyed stopping as many times as possible and taking his time at each stop. We made it back to the city, none the less, although it took damn near 11 hours.

Volcan Agua

Sunday morning Ryan, Laura, Chati (Laura's friend), and I headed to Antigua to pick up our other Guatemalan friend, Henry and his cousin David. Once in Antigua, we found Henry and his cousin and started to Santa Maria de Jesus to find the trail head to Volcan Agua. The road up to the base of the volcano was not in suitable conditions for the little VW we were driving, so after a few close calls with rocks and loose dirt we decided to park the car on the side of the road and start our hike. While this was not the smartest thing to do, leaving the car unattended in the middle of a dirt road, we didnt have many choices. So we headed up the road to find the trail head .

Henry thought it would be best to make a b-line up the mountain. This was a bad idea, as you'll see later but it did help us find the trail after a while. So once on the trail we found out it was going to be a 5 hour hike up and another 2 or 3 down which was okay since it was only 10am. So we continued up the volcano and soon enough we were split up with Ryan and myself ahead of the group and Henry bushwhacking it straight up the mountain. The volcano has something like 14 crosses that mark the path to the crater, and at the first one we were one man down with Henry god knows where. His cousin called him on the phone and found he was a few clicks ahead of us. So I started up the path looking for Henry and eventually veered off the trail too and found myself in a large field in the middle of the forest. Walking through this field I spotted Henry and joined him while the others made their way up to where we were at. Henry and I then decided to continue and make our own path straight up the volcano. Now at first this seemed like a good idea but soon enough we were crawling in thick brush and getting tangled up in vines. Not to mention it was fairly steep. Bad idea Henry!! So after about 30 or 45 min of this we made our way out and back to the trail covered with dirt and vines.

After this is when I lost Henry and found that Ryan was quite a bit ahead. So i double timed it and about an hour later reached Ryan with his new found Guatemalan friends. I was dead tired by this time only to find that we still had 2.5 more hours to go and it was getting damn cold. The rest of the way up the volcano was very cloudy, freezing, and a bit painful I must say. Right as I reached the peak of the volcano my legs started cramping in both thighs and i collapsed. So I laid on the rocks for about 20 min and then started down since i didn't have a coat and I couldn't feel my hands from the cold. Oh, and we couldn't see jack from the summit because of the fog!!! We ran into Henry about 100 meters down from the summit and he looked like hell. So the three of us ran most of the way down the mountain and got a call from the rest of the group that the car had been broken into. Big surprise! Come to find out they didn't take anything and it was just a small window in the back that was punched out. We headed back to Antigua to eat some dinner and see the Semana Santa procession and then back to Guate.

Coban/Semuc Champay

Saturday morning, Ryan and I headed to Copan with our Guatemalan friend Laura on the nice air conditioned bus (which was freezing and the driver maniacal.) The 4 hour bus ride to Coban seemed to take longer due to my motion sickness, but we arrived without anyone throwing up. Once in Coban we proceeded to pick up our rental car equipped with our own personal chauffuer (Samuel), compliments of Laura. Thanks! After getting our ride, we went to eat some lunch at a nice restaurante that was playing one of the best compilations of music I have ever heard.

After lunch we went to buy some dulces tipicos downtown. Those coffee candies were out of this world!!! Our next stop was the main church in town located on top of a hill overlooking the entire city. We walked up the hill and looked around the church for a while and then headed to find a place to stay. We ended up going outside of Coban to some town i dont remember the name of and visiting one of Laura's friends (Rudy). We talked for the rest of the night en solo espanol which was quite difficult at times I must say, but it was a great time, none the less. We also became well informed about the cardamon seed which Rudy is very knowledgeable about. Did you know there are large amounts of cardamom in Guatemala? I didnt!! Anyway we saw Rudy's factory where they process the cardamom seeds and then ship them to companies. Rudy was kind enough to let us stay at his home for the night.

The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn and began the long, winding, bumpy journey to Semuc Champay with our driver Samuel. That guy loved speeding up and slowing down, I tell you what! I barely made it to Semuc with everything still in my stomach. Once there we stopped and had breakfast with what looked like a bunch of German gypsies and hippy gringos who hadn't showered in a week. After breakfast we entered Semuc Champay park and walked around taking pictures and gazing at the beautiful scenery. We also took a hike up to the mirador in the park for a birds eye view of the surrounding area, which was incredible. This concluded our time in Semuc and we headed back to Coban stopping at some caves where we tried to pass as Guatemalans (unsuccessfully), in order to save a few Q's. 30 quetzales, wth!!! I look like a Juan Aguilera!! We arrived back in Coban in time to catch the bus back to Guate.

Anti-Bush Protest

At about 130pm on Monday afternoon Ryan and myself decided to go down to the national palace in central Guatemala City and observe what we thought was going to be a peaceful protest. There were about 500 people gathered around the side of the street to the national palace. There was a line of 20-30 police in riot gear blocking the road. In the distance the presidential motorcade could be seen with secret service agents in front of the main entrance. Snipers were visible on surrounding buildings as well.

When we first arrived not much was going on, people just chanting anti-bush phrases and walking around, but that soon changed. Rocks and eggs were being thrown at the riot police with insecticide cans being used as torches. There was a pinata of president Bush depicted as a devil that was up on a stick being carried around. This pinata provided the fuel for an increase in activity soon enough. Music started, firecrackers started going off, and the beating of the pinata ensued. The pinata was eventually lit on fire and thrown at the police. It was at this point that a group of protesters decided to pick up a piece of a large metal fence and hurl it at the riot police. As soon as this happened, the first can of tear gas was dispersed. Thinking this was going to be the extent of the gas, I started walking away without much worry. Bad idea!!!!!!

As i was walking through the crowd, canisters of tear gas started going off left and right, hitting people and flying under my feet. At this point my eyes were tearing up and i was choking. So I sprinted down the street making my way through the gas and trying not to run into people, cars, and cans of gas. After a few blocks i thought i would be okay but this is when the effects of the gas really hit me, I couldn't breathe very well, my eyes and nose were watering and burning like crazy, and my throat was on fire. I stopped to catch my breathe but soon had to continue running another 5 or 6 blocks to get away from the smoke. By now i had lost Ryan and decided to walk a few blocks in the other direction and return to the crowd to find him. Luckily I found him back near the crowd. So we were reunited with swollen, watery eyes and ready the get the hell out of dodge. We decided to walk to the other side of the palace and try and get a view of the president as he left, which we did. It was then a long walk home with anti-bush remarks being yelled at us the whole way. hhahahah FUERA BUSH!!!!!!!!!!

mi estomago

My stomach is in bad shape!! This was the start of what seemed to be a nasty enterovirus that put me out of commission for damn near a week. I think I dropped 5-10 pounds and lost some muscle mass, hahah.

Copan, Honduras

Getting out of Guatemala this weekend was quite the hassle. It took about 2 hours just to leave the city limits. Once on the road this bus was possibly the slowest in Guatemala, and after another 3 hours we arrived in Chiquimula. Since it was around 530pm we were planning on staying the night here, but after talking to a guy in a mini shuttle, we decided we could make it to the border to catch another bus to Copan before the buses stoped running at 630. So we piled into this toyota minibus and headed to El Florido (the honduran border) for Q10. About half way to the border the guy says you can get on this other bus and it will be faster. What he didn't tell us is that they would try charging us Q50 to go 20km. After seeing Ryan get upset, the driver said, "don't worry, it will be fine. We'll take you to Copan." We got to the border just as the sun was setting thinking the guy was going to take us to Copan for another 10 or 20 quetzales because it was only 10km, but we were wrong. He said oh we'll take you for Q75 because we are tired and want to go to bed. WTH. I dont think so.

We walked up to the actual border which was a bar across the road and waited for someone to give us a ride. By this time it was dark. After 10 or 15 minutes, a guy gave us a ride in the back of his pickup for 50 lempiras or about Q20. So we arrived in Copan Ruinas and went to find hotel Gemaco. We werent inside the hotel for more than 5 minutes and the lights went out. So the rest of the night, the entire town had no electricity. After stumbling to our room we went to look for a restaurante in the dark. We ate at a steakhouse that had some mariachis playing (i dont know what they call them in honduras but it was good.)

The next morning i went to have some breakfast at the central park and then we headed to the ruins. It was about a 15 minute walk outside of town to the ruins. $15 later we were walking around the ruins of Copan, which was amazing. I highly recommend it. Getting there at 8 in the morning we missed alot of tourists while there were a fair amount of French roaming about, hahaha. After about an hour inside the ruins i decided to lose Ryan and wander around. I found you can get a fair amount of historical information without buying a guide and just nonchalantly following a group around. hahahah. After another a hour we headed back to town in a rickshaw. We then proceeded to take a number of minibuses to get to Chiquimula and finally back to Guatemala. The buses were hot and miserable, but it was worth it.

Playa Tunco

El Salvador

I left Guatemala City Friday morning only to forget my passport and remember an hour outside of town. I had to return to the city and meet Ryan three hours later in Jutiapa. In Jutiapa we got on another bus to the border where we switched again to get to Santa Ana, El Salvador. And finally a bus in Santa Ana took us to San Salvador where we stayed the night at Ximena's hostel on boulevard de los heroes in the north of the city.

Luckily we found out that the Central American cup was in the city and El Salvador and Costa Rica were playing that night. We hitched a ride with a Belgian and a Dutch girl from the hostel to the stadium. Ryan had to fight his way to the ticket counter by trampling Salvadorians to get us tickets. Once in the stadium, on our way to find seats the entire crowd around us starting yelling and cheering for us. More than likely because they thought Ryan was someone important, hahahah. Little do they know!!!! The game was exciting even though Costa Rica dominated. The crowd made it interesting with their antics and flying objects. After the game we went to a salsa bar near our hostel to have a few cocktails.

The next day Ryan and I walked around San Salvador looking like tourists. We went to the monument of the revolution and most of the parks to get some pictures. We went to the central market and ate some hamburgers after we were harassed by ladies running the stands. They all wanted our money i guess. I was pulled into a number of places where I was told to eat their hamburgers. hahahahha. Next we hopped on a bus to the coast. We stayed at Playa Tunco in the hotel tortuga, which was very nice and cheap. Went for a swim and ate supper on the beach. That night we went to a reggae/techno concert on the beach with a bunch of tourists and local surfers. Left to San Salvador again in the morning and ate some pupusas downtown and headed back to Guate.

Volcan Pacaya

Now that's hot!!!!

Chichicastenango

Pacaul abaj

El Quiche

Friday,February 9, 2007

After waiting for at least 30 min, I was able to get on a bus to the terminal. Upon reaching the bus terminal I found that i had to take another bus to get to the bus that would actually take me to Santa Cruz del Quiche. So about an hour and a half later i was on my way to Quiche. After another 3 hours, al ot of near fatal accidents, a whole lot of motion sickness, and plenty of dust in my face, I arrived in El Quiche.

I checked in to a hotel in the center of the city and went to find a place to eat. I found a small restaurante around the corner where i had a steak diner for Q18. The next day I woke up with the venders setting up there tables and goods at 430 in the morning. I went to the bus terminal and had a sweet roll and coffee at about 630 and then started on my walk to find the ruins of K'umarcaaj. It took me around 1.5 hours to find the ruins through the morning fog. They were located about 6km from my hotel. The ruins were basically a bunch of grass covered hills surrounding a slab of rock. On the outside of the hills there was a trail leading to a cave covered in black smoke. I walked into the cave but soon found it was extremely deep so i returned to the light before the spirits reached me, hahahah. After coming back into town i ate some breakfast for Q15, cheaaaaaap. I hopped on a bus to Chichi and walked around the market. After i walked up to the site of pascual abaj, the mayan king that turned to stone when the people went against him. I then walked back to town ate lunch and bought some brightly colored things. And back to Guatel.