Cops and Waters (and other natural wonders)

Angela writes:

Since leaving Panajachel we’ve put lots of KMs under our tires and we are now in the far north of the country.  We stopped in Antigua for 3 days where Daryll fell in love with the city and took about 200 photos in less than a day! Boy does he ever love his churches. Upon arrival in Antigua we were welcomed by an American tourist who had bicycled to Guatemala, a very helpful authority from the Tourism office and a man who owns the Honda & Yamaha dealerships in Antigua who recommended where we could buy some new back tires. “Ask and you shall receive”…see I pay attention to churches too;)


 

We again met up with our motorcycle travelling friends Naomi and Alberto and while we were checking out the free camp site they had scored, we noticed Volcano Fuego blow off some puffs of steam in the distance. Later on that day Daryll and I decided to take a tour to Volcano Pacaya to expand our volcano experience. After driving for a couple hours in a crazy collectivo van, we hiked up Volcano Pacaya to watch the sunset and toast some marshmallows on the heat of the glowing lava we could see deep in the earth.




 

During one of our days in Antigua we decided to have a typical Guatemalan lunch across the street from a busy, and chaotic market. We walked into the narrow opening of the restaurant and found a nice table in a deep and wide cement dining room. Now for the last 2 months I’ve become quite used to the sound of firecrackers. Children light them off all the time, any time of day, and the sounds of pop–pop-pop are easily recognizable in the distance, which often doesn’t even register as a sound in my consciousness anymore. On this particular day we ordered a delicious soup with squash, potatoes and big chunks of beef with rice and tortillas on the side. Muy buena!  Suddenly these huge cracking noises of eardrum damaging decibel, erupted on the street in front of the restaurant, echoing loud and terrifying. Immediately my brain decided there must have been a drive-by-shooting at the market across the street and so I dove off my chair, onto the cold cement floor of the restaurant.  Now I didn’t expect masked gunmen to come through the front door per say, but I figured under the table I would at least be safe from flying debris. I looked up at Daryll still sitting comfortably on his chair and was just about to pull him to the safety of the floor when it dawned on me that the cracking sounds out on the street was not in fact gun fire but most likely the sound of fire crackers up much more close and personal than what I’ve become accustomed to.  I immediately jumped back into my chair and hoped that nobody in the restaurant but Daryll, noticed my gross overreaction. Unfortunately that was not the case and the girl from the next table left her lunch to come over to make sure I was okay. Except for my terminal embarrassment, I laughed away the kind concern. Unknown to the other spectators, my hands continued to shake the rest of the way through lunch as Daryll glowingly admired my fierce survival skills.

After Antigua we had to drive through Guatemala City to get to our Northern destinations, so we decided that early Sunday morning would be the best way to avoid traffic and any dangers of city.  By 7:30 am we were meandering our way through the capital city and Daryll had stopped to ask for directions from a group of cops and army guys on motorcycles.  Instead of directing us, they all decided to lead us safely through the city on a little 5 motorcycle parade. By 8 am we were safely on the other side of the city, and on our way to our hardy breakfast destination. 
 

How to Navigate thru' Guatemala City from Daryll Naidu on Vimeo.

The next couple of nights we stayed in a beautiful hostel, in the middle of the mountains, in a town called Lanquin and we got there by riding a 20 km switch-backing, dirt road down into a valley.  Our purpose was to visit a beautiful natural water wonderland called Semuc Champey.   To visit the park we left the hostel with 4 other tourists and stood in the back of a pickup truck, hanging on to metal bars – not unlike Wayne Gretzky arrival to light the Winter Olympic cauldron. We drove another 15 km into deep, muddy valley and only felt like the truck was going to roll over the cliffs to our deaths a couple times;)  Semuc Champey in Maya language means “Hidden Deep in the Rocks”.  It’s a raging river, flowing down a valley that suddenly plunges into the earth, into a deep dark, treacherous cave.   Overtop of where the river disappears, there is a sold limestone roof that catches the trickling water that comes running down from the lush green jungle mountains surrounding the area. The water on top of the limestone creates collections of turquoise pools of water and is spread out over about 15 different cascading shelf layers.  It is like a natural infinity pool with waterfalls dropping from each pool into the pool below, and beside it.  Each pool is heated by the sun and are absolutely perfect for swimming in. Eventually the underground river connects to the last pool and all the water collects together again. We spent the day hiking up the mountain to get the perfect overview of all the pools and then for the rest of the afternoon we cooled down by swimming and lazing in the multiple pools.



 

Lago Atitlan

Daryll writes:

We hadn’t been on the bikes for just over 2 weeks and it was good to be back in the saddle.  The route between Xela and Panajachel on Lago Atitlan was on the Pan American Highway and was a fabulous smooth dual lane highway at the start of the day.  It progressively got worse and in many spots, the highway was diverted to the opposite side of the road and now turned into a single lane obstacle course.  Much of the Pan American was destroyed due to the massive landslides both Mexico and Guatemala suffered about a month ago.  If this is what the Pan American Highway looked like, I don’t even want to think what the other secondary or country roads look like.

On the way to Panajachel which is located on one of the 3 largest lakes in Guatemala and surrounded by 3 volcanoes (non-active), we dropped from an elevation of 2,999m/9,839ft to 1,589m/5,213ft in under 45 minutes.  The road leaving the Pan American down to Panajachel was a steep, twisty, pot-holed road and was slow going.  There were some freshly paved sections though, but this didn’t last for long.  We spent 2 days in Panajachel and wondered around visiting the lake several times during the course of the day and evening to try and get a cloud-free view of the volcanoes situated on the other side of the lake.  I also managed to get some bike maintenance in by checking and tightening all the bolts and cleaning and lubing the chains.  We were originally going to camp; however after inquiring about the cost of camping thought better of it and managed to get a hotel for the same price and only a block away from the lake.

Volcan San Pedro

Panajachel

Sunset over Lago Atitlan

Over the last few weeks, I have been corresponding with a couple from Salt Spring Island, BC, who are also doing a similar trip (Naomi & Alberto – Taking the Road South) and riding 2 BMW F800GS’s, so we planned to meet up. We missed each other earlier in the day, but finally got together for dinner and it was great talking to them about their experiences.  They are such a fun pair.  We hope to meet up with them again in Antigua and I’m sure our paths will cross several times over the next few months.

Naomi & Alberto

Since leaving Xela, I feel that we are on a whole new trip due to the amount of Spanish both Ang. and I have picked up.  We are better able to communicate and ask the questions that we need, whether it be directions or even reading a menu, and I’m sure that the more practice we get in, the better we will become.  I have even got to the point where I can joke around with either street vendors or waiters that are pestering us to either buy their merchandise or visit their restaurant and we all have a good laugh at the end.

Now being on the road in Guatemala for a few days now, I can swear that Guatemaltecos are the worst drivers that we have encountered thus far.  All drivers have a death wish especially the bus and taxi drivers.  They have no hesitation in cutting you off, passing on blind corners and accelerating when there are clearly warning signs indicating one to slow down. 

After Panajachel, we got back on the Pan American to head to Antigua.  As we had set out pretty early in the morning, it was foggy out and we could barely see 100m in front of us; so it was slow going.  We had to keep our visors open as they would constantly mist up, which meant that it was really cold.  On the way to Antigua, passing through one of the towns, I caught footage of this, it is not everyday that you see bus passengers climb out the back of a bus.

oneworld2explore - vid 3 from Daryll Naidu on Vimeo.


New photos added to the Guatemala photo album.

Día de los Muertos …

Daryll writes:

Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is celebrated in Guatemala, Mexico and most of Latin America on November 1st.  It is a holiday and focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.  Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, wreaths, flowers and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.  The Day of the Dead is a time of celebration, where partying is common and families gather around the grave site to socialize and dine.  Families go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed.  The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them. Celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed. 

On Sunday, Oct. 31st, we wondered around the square and happened to come upon these designs made up by different school and church groups to resemble a carpet.  It is actually saw dust that is spray painted into the patterns desired.  Once everyone got to admire their creations, a procession followed which went right over their wonderful work.  The procession was led by different church groups and many of the ladies were in traditional dress.

Carpet of saw dust

Rich in color

I wandered through the cemetery this morning and by 9:30am, things were already busy and were expected to get crazy later in the afternoon.  There were vendors everywhere; selling flowers to clothes, to toys and the staple tacos.  At times, I was shoulder to shoulder as I plodded along through the narrow alley of an entrance into the cemetery.  Once past the vendors and inside the grounds, it eased up as people dispersed to the different grave sites.  Families were washing and cleaning out their family grave sites and placing fresh flowers around the grave.  Some went to the extent of hiring bands to play for the dead; whilst others brought little stools, the family dog and relaxed on their day off.

Fiesta time

Everyone busy decorating

Itchy Feet!

Daryll writes:

We are still attending school and finish off on Monday and hope to leave early Tuesday morning to Lago Atitlan for 2 nights and then on to Antigua.  Even though the last few days have been tough studying Spanish, I know a lot more now than when I first arrived at the school.  I may not be able to hold a grammatically correct conversation, however I can string words together to get my point across and understand a lot more than I can speak.  With time, I hope to expand my vocabulary so that I can communicate better.  Going to school is intense as we have 1-on-1 instruction so there is no such thing as sitting at the back of the class and messing around, as I would have done when I was back in school.  My Maestra (teacher) tests me every morning on the vocabulario and verbos (vocabulary and verbs) that we studied the previous day.

Angela and her Maestra Dora

We have now been in Xela for 12 days and it is the longest that we have been in one place for and are rearing to get going again.  The time we have spent here though has given us the opportunity to see some of the sights, the cementario being the highlight.  The original cemetery was almost at the centre of town and was moved around a 100 years ago.  It’s site now is about a 20 minute walk from the centre of town and located with Volcan Santa Maria as it’s backdrop.  There is a distinct class system here.  If a family has money, they can pay for a site closer to the entrance of the cemetery and many of these plots are purchased by families to hold the entire family once they die.  The poor on the other hand get the very back of the cemetery and in my opinion, have the best sites as these are located on a hill overlooking the city; not that they are looking for a view.  Something that I found very interesting is that the family of the deceased has to take care of the site on an ongoing basis i.e. weed and cut the grass around the grave.  If there isn’t a family member to do this and if the grave site becomes over-run, the city will step in, remove the body, dispose of the remains in a mass grave and re-use the site.

Volcan Santa Maria in the distance

Another interesting point about Guatemala I thought I would share are the shower heads.  Not everyone has hot water or water in that case and those that do, have an electrical shower head that heats the water before it comes out.  You really don't want to be touching anything whilst taking a shower as I'm not sure how safe these are.

Hotel Andina, Xela

When we originally purchased our travel maps and planned out a route, we had just placed dots on the places we wanted to visit on our maps and left the exact route planning to when we arrived in the country as things change here so quickly that one day a major highway could be open and the next day, it be blocked by a landslide.  So with our free time over the last weekend, we mapped out the next week and a bit that we will spend in Guatemala.  On Tuesday, we are off to Panajachel on Lago Atitlan for 2 nights and then off to Antigua for at least 3 nights where we hope to hike up Volcan Pacaya, one of the active volcanoes in the area.  Then it is off to the northern part of Guatemala to Tikal and one of the largest Mayan ruins in the area before we cross into Honduras.

New pictures uploaded to the Guatemala photo album.

Back to School!

Daryll writes:

Over the last few weeks, we have received several supportive emails and comments on the blog from people that we have never met, but who have found our blog through friends, neighbors or work colleagues.  Thank you for all the support and I hope that our updates do justice to our experiences.  Glad to have you along with us.

Apart from Brazil where Portuguese is the official language, Spanish is the official language in the rest of Central and South America.  A few people do speak English and we have been getting by thus far.  Angela did a Spanish course whilst in Vancouver and I still remember a few basic words/phrases from our trip to Peru in 2006 and have been relying on Ang. for anything more than the basics.  So we wanted to take a Spanish immersion course for 2 weeks to get a better feel of the places we visit and be able to communicate with the locals as we travel south.  We chose Xela, in Guatemala for our 2 weeks of school and let me tell you, it is hard work and I admire all those that go back to University or study later on in life. 

The 2 week school fee includes accommodation with a family and 3 meals a day, so we not only get to learn Spanish, but we also get the opportunity to live with a local family.  We were fortunate and lucked out with our family as we were able to get a family that would be able to accommodate the both of us and have secure bike parking for the 2 week period.  Lilly, our host mother does not speak any English, which forces us to communicate in Spanish, guess that is part of the experience.  She has a huge house and as a form of income, has international students stay with her and rents out rooms to other locals that need a place to stay.  The home is lovely and has a warm shower and bathroom a few steps away.  It helped as I got sick from something I ate yesterday and needed to take several trips to the bathroom during the night.  At the moment, Lilly has her son, who speaks fluent English, his wife, their 7 week old son and daughter (not sure of her age) live with her together with another granddaughter.   Lilly’s daughter now lives in the US and there is a long story about that and how she crossed the border through the desert.  Yup, this is real life drama here.  Makes our US border crossing pale in comparison to her story. 

Daryll trying to study

We are up around 6:45 am, have breakfast at 7:15am and it is whatever Lilly makes for the rest of the family.  The food is good and is all traditional food.  We walk about 15 minutes to school and are in school from 8am-1pm and by the end of those 5 hours, we are beat and need a siesta.  We get back home and have lunch and then nap in the afternoon. Well deserved siesta time.  We normally have dinner around 7:30pm with Mario, one of the borders that live at Lilly’s place as well and then try to study for the rest of the evening before going to bed.  The last week hasn’t been very interesting.

I needed some work done on my bike and had got a recommendation from another traveler that recommended a bike shop in Xela and met Horacio, the owner of the bike shop and Alex, his mechanic.  To those that are on their way south, if you need some work done, visit Commercial Aguilar.  Amazing folks with amazing service.  Horacio also races sports bikes and Alex is his pit mechanic and finished 5th in Central America this last season.  Horacio also offered to have his leather guy that repairs his racing suits fix the holes in our gloves as well as my boot.

Horacio, Daryll, Alex

There is a fiesta in town this evening, so we plan on getting out and experiencing some of the local sounds, smell and vibe.

New Guatemala pictures uploaded to the album.