Separation Anxiety

Laura and my next stop was to Guatemala's second largest city,  Quetzaltenango, know by locals as Xela. We added this to our itinerary because the girl who moved into my room in Buenos Aires recommended it.  She is Guatemalan and said ion her opinion it was the pretties part of the whole country.  Now, I definitely agree with her that it is absolutely gorgeous.... that being said would I recommend you go there??  No. It is really far out and while popular for Spanish immersion courses, there is very little happening in the town itself.   What attracts tourists to this region is.... wait for it... volcanoes.  Having seen our share of volcanoes on this trip, we opted for the more leisurely tour up to the hot springs.  The rest of our time in Xela was pretty much spent eating, reading in the main square, people watching, and watching TV in bed.  It was nice to have time to relax, especially since I was sick.

 As mentioned we parted ways with all 4 other girls (Lia, Ereni, Chloe, and Gail) in Lago de Atitlán.  Already it felt kind of strange traveling as just two. Then when we got to Xela our hotel offered a room with a double bed for 60 Q (about 7.50USD) total or our own room for 50 Q (6.25USD) each.  Since I was sick Laura decided we should opt for the second option.... as if spending 24/7 with each other up until this point wouldn't already have infected her (not she did end up getting sick on her second day in town).   I was fine with this as by this point I felt like shit and all I wanted to do was sleep.  Well despite the fact that we were only across the hall from each other I really started to miss Laura.  I would find myself having things to tell her all the time!  haha.  I decided it would be stupid to cross the hall for every small thing that popped into my mind so instead I would make a list.  Not only did she laugh at me for this, but also asked what was I going to do when we actually separated in Sept?!? GOOD QUESTION!!!!

Well I found out the next day when I said goodbye to Laura for 2 days.  I wanted to go to Managua for the weekend to hang out with my friend Bryan.  Unfortunately the tickets were rather expensive to Laura opted to take a flight on Sunday night.  I left her early Saturday morning to catch a bus to Guatemala City.  That in itself was an adventure... Is there ever such a thing as a smooth transport in this region!? Well long story short, my bus broke down.  After waiting for 2 hours on the side of the road I decided I wasn't going to make my flight unless I took a different form of transportation.  So with the help of one of the guys on the bus I hailed a local shuttle to take me to Guatemala City.  From the outside the shuttle looked like the same mini-buses we had been taking all throughout Guatemala..... inside was a different story.  It was jammed pack with about 25 Guatemalan men. And I was on a makeshift bench created at the front of the van facing all of them! it was so hilarious i just had to take a picture! In the end I made it with plenty of time.

It was definitely worth the money and trip!  I had such a great time going out with Bryan, his girlfriend Eliza and friend Joe.  The night I arrived we went to a concert that one of their friends was putting on and then out at night to a club that no joke looked like a pyramid in Tikal.   The next day the four of us went to Laguna de Apoyegue, a lake in the center of a volcano.  It was such a beautiful and fun place!  Sunday night the three ladies flew in and we all enjoyed a WONDERFUL night's sleep and glorious shower at Joe's luxurious apartment thanks to his job at the US Embassy.  The next morning we began the Nica portion of the trip!

Lago de Atitlán

 After Antigua we said farewell to Fred, Shaughnessy and Bryan we headed in to the highlands of Guatemala to stay in the town of San Pedro right on Lago de Atitlán. This area is a lake in a valley surrounded by 5 volcanoes. I do not know if the green was due to the fact that it is currently rainy season (and here we really started to feel it as it rained daily) or if it is always like this year round, but when we were there the area was absolutely beautiful!

Our first day, we spent walking around the lake from town to town with a Guatemalan guide. We hiked for about 7 hours through 4 towns and saw weaving tutorials, men farming coffee, corn, avocados, kids playing soccer, etc. It was really amazing to see the non-touristy side of Guatemala. It was also really cool walking around with a local because not only was he able to teach us about the towns we were visiting and show us all the different trades (weaving, farming, carpentry, etc) along the way, but he also gave us great insight into Guatemalan culture, politics, etc.... I spent a long time talking with him about the up coming elections as well as the infrastructure of the country as it stands. As none of the Ausie or South African ladies speaks a lick of Spanish I got to play translator most of day/weekend.

The next day Lia (who note is a personal trainer and insane about fitness), Chloe (who is also super-athlete), Ereni and I (who are both about the same level of active but not fanatic) decided to hike the Indian Nose - which is a 7 hour hike to the top of a mount where you can see views of many different volcanoes and the lake. Well the night before I started feeling a bit sick. I guess after a while your body does start to catch up with your partying/lack of sleep? I think I jinxed myself in the last blog when I said "You can always make up the sleep, but you can't make up the fun" because all of a sudden at dinner I hit a massive wall. I left the ladies to go to bed (at 8pm) and did not wake up until 11am the next day! Ereni joined Laura and Gail kayaking around the lake while I slept. When Lia and Chloe came back they both said it was one of the hardest things they had ever done! Ereni and I decided my cold was a blessing in disguise. :)

Feeling a little better I joined the girls for our last lunch as 6-some. Chloe and Gail left that afternoon for a brief stop in Roatan. The remaining four of us had the most amazing hour and a half hot stone massages and then had one last dinner together. The next day Laura and I bid the Ausie ladies goodbye as they headed home and we were off to Xela.

I would like to send a HUGE thank you to Lia and Ereni actually coming through with their promise from Croatia and changing their plans to meet up with us in Guatemala. I had SUCH an incredible time with the two of you amazing ladies. Miss your faces!!!!

Very Little Internet = No Blogging Time

So it has been almost a month since my last blog and in this time we have done SOOOO much! The reason for my lack of blogging is twofold. 1) In the majority of towns we have been in there has been either NO internet at all or only WiFi meaning I was able to check email and Facebook on iPods but could not blog. 2) In the towns that did have internet cafes, we seemed to be having too much fun doing crazy activities and/or cocktailing to stop and blog. We finally have a day to just relax and chill so I am planting myself at the internet cafe to upload photos to Facebook and blog. We have some great stories to tell, so I will try to be as brief and descriptive as possible. In case I do not fully catch-up today here is a quick summary of what you´ve missed (blogs links to come):

 

Where we´ve been:

• Lago de Atitlán, Guatemala with our fab Ausie ladies
• Quetzaltenango, Guatemala (known as Xela)
• A weekend with my friend Bryan in Managua, Nicaragua
• Volcano boarding in León, Nicaragua
• Sightseeing and an accidental night out in Granada, Nicaragua
• Weekend at the beach in Gigante, Nicaragua
• Motorbike disaster in Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua
• 16 hour travel day crossing into Costa Rica
• Relaxing and partying at Playa Santa Teresa , Costa Rica
• Zip-Line Canopy tour in Monteverde, Costa Rica

 

Where we´re going:

• White water rafting outside of La Fortuna, Costa Rica
• Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
• Bocas del Toro, Panama
• Panama City, Panama
• Home Sept 1st

Then there was 9...

Our next stop was Antigua. A visit to this colonial town is a MUST for any traveler in Guatemala. Desgnated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Antigua is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish Mudéjar-influenced Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches.


In addition to getting great advice from fellow travelers and changing plans at the last minute the thing I love most about backpacking is meeting new people. As Laura and I are very outgoing people, with lots of traveling experience between the two of us, I feel it is really easy for us to make new friends in the traveler's circuit. Due to our persuasive and positive attitudes we have convinced many a person to not only change their original itinerary but also their entire flight plans! By time it we were ready to make our plans for Antigua, Guatemala our group had grown to 9 people: Chloe and Gail, our South African friends from the sailing trip; Shaughnessy and Fred, our friends who from our tours in San Ignacio, Belize; Lia and Ereni, our Ausie friends from Croatia whom we convinced to forgo their return to Australia and instead meet up with us in Guatemala; and Bryan my friend from high school who is currently living in Nicaragua and had to be in Guatemala City the week before for work.

our 9-some: Top: Chloe, Gail, Fed, Laura, Ereni, me and Bryan; Bottom: Lia and Shaughnessy

Together we formed an incredibly fun group! 7 of us stayed in one dorm at The Black Cat Hostel, while the Ausie ladies stayed in another. The hostel had amazing food, cheap beers and a great vibe. The staff on the other hand left A LOT to be desired. They were all quite rude and incompetent, but I guess I am just spoiled after spending so much time at Bait in Buenos Aires.

There is starting to be a pattern in our travels where the trip there is treacherous, due to either hangover, bad road conditions, cramped vans/buses, etc.... This trip was no exception. I think the 8 hour drive from Lanquin to Antigua def ranks up there in my low point for Central America! That is until we arrived... and the situation that occurred became one of the highs.

here I am acting as translator between Chloe and Rual

After making it to our destination, we were ready to be rid of the car driver, as he didn't seem to be too fond of our group of 6. After all the luggage was taken off the roof Chloe turned to us all and said, "Guys, where's my bag?" We all immediately asked what she meant, and then burst out laughing once we realized that her backpack was not amongst our other luggage. Raul, the shuttle driver, looked quite annoyed as he called our hostel in Lanquin, El Retiro, to inquire if it was still there... Sure enough Chloe had left it at reception. The funniest part was when Raul said in Spanish, "¿Puedes creer que la gringa loca dejó su mochila alla!?" (Which I then translated to our whole group: Can you believe the crazy gringo left her backpack there?!" Raul told us he would bring the back when he came back to Antigua on Sunday (it was currently Friday).

the only pants Chloe could find to buy for our hike

Well come Sunday there was too much rain and he was not able to make the trip.... but he would be coming tomorrow. The only problem was that we would be leaving for Lago de Atitlán. Luckily Chloe and Gail would be returning to Antigua one night before they headed off to Honduras. What's another 3 days without clothes? Well when we called on Monday to confirm the drop off had been made at The Black Cat, Raul said that the people working there refused to accept the responsibility of the bad. This is after we spoke to several different employees multiple times explaining the situation (like I said incompetent). I think all has been resolved as Raul left the bag at his travel agency before returning to Lanquin. We are awaiting updates from the girls tonight when they arrive back in Antigua.

Once this whole debacle was sorted out (or so we thought) we headed to our hostel to meet up with Lia and Ereni.

Lia and I sharing a beer after we met up with the Ausies

Ereni, Lia, me, Gail and Laura ontop of the bar

Several beers and burritos later we headed out for the night and went to a local Irish Pub across the street called Riley's. Honestly I think I have been to ore Irish Pubs abroad now than in the States. The night was an absolute blast! We danced the night away, spending the majority of our time on the bar. Normally I find girls who do this a little slutty (sorry if I offend any readers), but the bar was so packed that when someone offered me their hand to pull me out of the crowd I gladly accepted it. It was great being above the hot steam of the crowd.... Additionally we had prime location to order cocktails as all we had to do was lean down. I had a mega crush on an Irish bartender so I offered to do a lot of the ordering. After a necessary late-night snack we headed to bed around 2am.

lovely ladies hiking a volcano!

Only to wake up at 5am the next morning for a hike up the active Pacaya Volcano. We've decided we can always makeup the sleep, but you can't make up the fun - YOLO (You only Live Once!) That is until we drop dead from exhaustion, hehe. Anyways in addition to the 6 girls who had been out the night before, my friend Bryan was pretty exhausted himself as her had to leave Guatemala City at 4:30 am to make it to us before the hike. All worth it. The hike was very nice and not too difficult (though I can def tell I am so out of shape!). After about 1.5-2 hours hiking on loose volcano pebbles/rocks, we reached the highest point that we were allowed to traverse (tours cannot go to the top as the volcano erupted last year and there is still gas and lava at the top). In addition to the great views we also got to check out some hot holes where the steam of the volcano seeped out. I got in one and boy was it hot! In fact it was so hot that we were able to roast marshmallows in one hot hole! They were quite possibly some of the best any of us had ever had! On our way down the girls were all drawn to a table with jewelery. The man at the table told us that all of the pieces were hand crafted with lava from the eruption last year. 15% of the profits went to building new homes for the people whose homes were destroyed. After hearing the amazing story we all decided we needed to buy a few pieces!

me and Bryan, a friend from high school

the warmth of the whole was so nice at the windy top!

roasting marshmallows

new awesome game we learned called "woop, woop, woo"

After a full morning of hiking it was time to return to the hostel, eat, shower, relax, explore the town and then begin drinking again :). We decided to check out a few other bars with some people from our hostel. Antigua has a lot to offer at night....The one thing that sucks is that every place closes down at 1am. After living 9 months in a country where 1am in the start time, it is hard to adjust to such an early night. We tried to take the party back to our hostel to play some drinking game of in the common room. This was quickly thwarted by the security man..

The next day we explored the town a little bit more and then checked out the local markets. As expected I spent an obscene amount of money on presents as well as tapestries for myself. What can I say, I love markets! That night we went out to dinner to celebrate our last night together as a 9-some.

Semuc Champey

After talking to people on our sailing adventure we decided to change our original plans to fly from Belize City to Guatemala City and instead enter by boat/land in the south. It sure is a good thing Laura and I a) made the spontaneous (read drunk) decision to visit Tikal when we were up in the north and b) did not book our flights to Guatemala before taking off for the sailing trip. That is why it is a good idea to not plan trips too strictly. Half the fun happens when you are not planning! Well as always it was quite an adventure getting to our next destination: Semuc Champey (just outside of the city Lanquin). The trip 15 min water taxi boat > 3 hr bus > 45 boat to cross into Livingston at the Guatemalan border > 2 hr gorgeous boat tour down the Rio Dulce river > 5 hr bumpy shuttle up a dirt mountain road (crazy yet SO beautiful that it was worth it!). After 2 days from leaving Placencia, we made it to our destination city of Lanquin.... and boy was it worth it!

Semuc Champey is located11 km south of Lanquin along a rough, bumpy SLOOOOOOOOOW road. Before heading here Laura's friend Kiss, who had done the Peach Corps in Guatemala, said that this road was quite possibly her favorite back of the pickup trip she has even done.... ummm ok. We had no clue what that mean, nor how many back of the pick-up trips she had gone on, but we were excited none the less. Well I soon discovered why this trip was so beautiful after driving through the beautiful scenery. The ride itself, on the other hand, left little to be desired. The books do not lie when they say the trip is long and bumpy. It took us about 20-25 min to travel the 11km (6.5 miles) and the day after my arms were SO sore from holding onto the side for dear life afraid I would fly out the bar less back.

The day started with a visit to the Grutas K'anaba caves (if I had a dollar for the number of caves and volcanoes I have visited on this I would be rich!). The tour books deemed this activity "Best for adrenaline junkies." And again they were not kidding. Unlike our entrance into the ATM Caves in Belize, in this cave we were not provided hard hats nor head torches (flash lights). Instead we were given candles which we needed to hold above our heads as we swum in waters too deep to walk. To add to this difficult one-handed swimming experience, were the hard rocks below that we would every once in a while hit whilst treading the water. The trip was an absolute blast - despite a few minor bumps and bruises.

Laura and I swimming in the water with the candels above our heads!

pre-fall

At one point we were offered a chance to either climb a ladder or a rope up a waterfall. At first I opted for the ladder. I figured I was too uncoordinated (slash did not have the arm muscles) to climb the rope. But after watching several people climb with success I decided to go for it. BAD IDEA. With all the water hitting my face at full speed, making it hard to see I was literally one foot position away from the top. In the clear.... that is until I lost my footing and went falling down the 10ft cliff. The girls watching me said their hearts nearly stopped. Thank GOD the tour guide at the bottom caught me or I would be a goner for sure. I was in such shock that I didn't really know what was going on and walked away scotch free (besides a pounding heart). Luckily I had no residual injuries the next day! After that we got to cliff jump in the cave…one would think after my waterfall experience I would decide to forgo this activity. But that's no fun! Despite the fact that I was having a minor anxiety attack as I looked down into the small dark hole I was about to enter, I jumped with success! After all this excitement of the day I was definitely so happy to emerge into the light of day!

After spending 2 hours in the cave we hiked for about 30 minutes to get to the rapids at the top of the river. We were so excited get in the inner tubes as well as enjoy the thrill of the rapids (which lasted for about 10-20 seconds max!) followed by 10 minutes of relaxation down the calm river.

After that we went to the actual main attraction: Parque Nacional de Semuc Champey. A Mayan name that means "where the river runs under the earth", Semuc Champey consists of a natural 300m limestone bridge, under which passes the Cahabòn River.

Atop the bridge is a series of stepped, turquoise pools good. This reminded us a lot of both Krka National Park and Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, except this time we were able to swim in the gorgeous pools!! After some swimming and additional cliff jumping, we decided to go and explore the area for a bit. We accidentally made it onto a 1hr+ hike up the mountain to the view point. Totally unprepared (i.e. wearing a swimsuit and flip flops) by the time we discovered we were on this path, we decided we had come too long to stop now. Well I am glad we ended up on that path because was absolutely worth it!!  The aerial view of the pools was so gorgeous!

our group: Fred, Shaughnessy, me, Chloe, Gail and Laura

After an adventure-filled 8 hour day we were absolutely pooped! On the way home, Laura mentioned that we had been touring from 9 to 5 which in our previous lives would have been a full days work! OMG how are we ever going to adjust!!!

Maya Walk Adventures

When getting advice on things to do in Belize, my friend Ryan told me I HAD to do the ATM Cave. He told me it was one of the coolest things he had ever done. So from the start the bar was set high. And after the debacle of getting to San Ignacio (where said tour would be departing) we were really hoping it was going to be worth it. Well it was. Would I say it was one of the best things I have ever done? No. But it was really cool and we ended up having a really cool group - which after all really makes the experience. We booked the tour with Mayawalk Tours and were so pleased by their service that we ended up booking a second tour with them the following day. Well.. that is kind of how it happened. Read to to get the full story.

ATM Cave

Actun Tunichil Muknal (commonly called ATM bc lets be serious who can pronounce that?!) is a cave in Belize, near San Ignacio, Cayo District, notable as a Maya archaeological site that includes skeletons, ceramic pots (or as our tour guide referred to them: vessels), and stoneware. Upon signing up for the tour we received an email with all the information for the following day. At the bottom in bold it read:


Note: Must be in good physical condition to enjoy this tour. No weight limit, but must have sufficient mobility and strength to climb a 15 foot ladder, swim, scramble over rocks & do a 45 minute jungle hike.

The hike that they mention turned out to be an easy walk. The actual cave part... not so easy. We got there we strapped on our helmets and headlights and took off! Right off the bat we had to do a swim through cold water at the entrance of the cave. It wasn't hard per say but it is very awkward swimming in running shoes.

Following that we waded our way through water whilst climbing though r rocks formations. During much of our walk into the cave we were in VERY tight, dark spaces. One of the guys on our tour was extremely claustrophobic - I am not sure how he didn't run right out! Once inside the dry chamber our guide gave us a history lesson about Maya rituals and ceremonies as we looked at remnants they left behind. We saw a lot of "vessels" before getting to the good stuff- i.e. skeletons. The most famous of the human remains is known as "The Crystal Maiden", the skeleton of a teenage girl, probably a sacrifice victim, whose bones have been completely calcified by the natural processes of the cave, giving it a sparkling, crystallized appearance.

There are several areas of skeletal remains in the main chamber here are some pictures:

After we returned to San Ignacio we went out with our group for some beers at the bar across the street from our hotel. Well one beer turned into 5, which turned into dinner, which turned into more beers, then dance party at the local casino. Random - yes but fun all the same. Well during dinner (which remember was about 5-7 beets in) one group member Aaron convinced Fred and Shaughnessy to join him on the following day on the Tikal Tour. Well it wasn't too hard to change Laura and my plans either. Note- we had planned to do Tikal upon our entrance to Guatemala in 10 days, but we were so close and had such a good group that we decided to switch up our itinerary. I mean it may have been the beers making the spontaneous decision - but we maintain that it really did make logistical sense and being with our crew was well worth it! Now staying out till 2am drinking beer and vodka sodas may not have been the best idea when we had a 6am tour the next day. But we were all surprisingly quite bright and cheery the next day.

our group at the Casino nightclub (1am)

Tikal Ruins
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I had no idea what it would be like. In fact the only thing I had to go by was Chichen Itza, another Mayan civilization outside of Cancun, Mexico. Well let me tell you NOTHING alike. Tikal is MUCH bigger than Chichen Itza and it is in the middle of a jungle. Here are some pics from the day: