Guatemala

Wow, Guatemala is amazing. The trip there from El Salvador was not though, took 10 plus hours and by the time we arrived in Antigua we were hot, sweaty and tired. The next day was spent wandering around the town, taking the obligatory pictures of architecture and scenery and getting the lay of the land. Antigua definitely lives up to its reputation as a Gringo town and with the party scene, proximity to the capital, and tons of language schools, English seems about as commonly overheard on the streets as Spanish. One thing, in my defense, that seems a bit different about Guatemala is that people get even more so pissy than in other country's if you try and take their picture without permission. Permission inevitably costs money. Guess I´ll just have to try and be more sneaky.

An enjoyable side-effect of all the tourism is the profusion of delicious food that does not include as a main portion either rice or beans. Forgot what that was like I think. So, can easily go out and get a great falafel sandwich or some Thai inspired curry dishes. Lovely. I met up again with the girl, Ashley, whom I´d been traveling with in Nicaragua and El Salvador. Her equally cool friend, Jessica, is living in an amazing apartment in Antigua and was kind enough to let Ashley and I stay there a few nights with her and her Australian boyfriend Jaime. She also cooked me an awesome dinner with wine included. There´s a lot going on in Antigua, plenty of bars (an Irish one even!) and nightlife. Had a couple good nights out on the town and I generally enjoyed myself hanging out with a good group of cool people. So sad, Ashley had to leave, said our goodbyes and planned a last day trip to the nearby Volcano of Pacaya for some lava watching.

Lava is easily in the top three for cool things I´ve seen this trip. The movies don´t do it justice. The closest you can get is about a walking stick distance away, which is good because human nature demands we try and poke things like that with a stick. Even from that distance the heat is intense and the wind can blow the full force of it at you, seeming to suck the oxygen from your lungs and singe your leg hair. We went on the sunset tour and watching the lava just kept getting better. It was a bit scary up their though, the wind was pretty intense and the thought of being blown into the lava, though unlikely, was at the back of my mind as a horrific way to go. Marshmallows were roasted and pictures snapped and as it got darker our increasingly anxious guides began to herd us out of there and lead the pretty steep and dangerous descent down slippery volcanic shale with lots of big, extremely sharp volcanic rocks on all sides.

It´s been fun and gratifying that, as my Spanish improves, I feel at times like a bit more of an insider. For instance, while our big lava tour group struggled up the mountain, stopping often to let the slower among us catch up, I got to listen in as the guides proceeded to laugh and tell jokes about fat and slow gringos and speculate on which one of the people at the back would be first to give up and hire a horse from one of the nearby locals who followed the group up the mountain waiting for just that scenario. I´m also generally able to understand and chat with them, so often get the benefit of them pointing out cool local plants, like one that doubles as a sweat rag or T.P. The local kids who meet the buses selling walking sticks are funny too, with their dire warnings of how necessary it is to have a stick and the catastrophic results of not buying one. I didn´t, but wish I had for the way down alone. Those rocks are sharp and every time you had to catch yourself with a hand led to at least minor cuts or scratches. Surprisingly, the entire trip was casualty free, god knows such a hike in the U.S. would involve watching the lava from a half mile away behind glass screens and only after signing away your right to lawsuits. It´s kind of nice not to have the sterilizing influences that the constant threat of lawsuit leads to in the States.

After that perfect last day in Antigua, it was time to head for a more peaceful setting. We, Chris, Mike, Nicole, a group of Aussies, and I headed out to Lake Atitlan in the west. Guatemala just keeps getting better. The lake is dramatic and breathtaking. This is the kind of place I can readily understand wanting to come live, or retire at. Ringed with volcanoes, crystal clear and clean, the place was sacred to the Maya and is now worshiped with similar fervor by hippies, modern pagans, Transcendental Meditators, and various other incarnations of that general movement of New Ageism. I´m sure the locals are rather fond of it also, many are descended from the Maya and still speak indigenous languages. Guatemala has 22 official languages. Mayan is a very pretty and interesting language to listen to, but dammit I´ve been learning Spanish this whole time and now I can´t understand people again! Love the colorful local clothes, though I must say they look better on the locals than they do on ageing hippies.

There are various little villages and towns dotting the shores of the lake and we took a boat across to the popular town of San Marcos. Really cool and laid back atmosphere in this town, but it apparently has quite the reputation as a backpacker party and recreation town. Consequently I couldn´t help but wonder what the locals think of a tourist industry that leads to so many inexplicably giggling, stumbling, incoherent, or dazed people wandering around their town high on acid, mushrooms, ¨space¨cookies or any of the other various drugs that seemed to be on constant offer. I suppose there are worse things to build tourism on...I of course was quite content with the wonderful natural high of traveling in such a stunning environment.

Had a fun night in San Pedro partying and the next day ferried over to some nearby cliffs for some swimming and jumping. Really is a beautiful setting, and happily spent the day playing in the water and hanging out. We returned to San Pedro in the evening and made arrangements to hot tub at a little compound, seemingly deep in the jungle, with multiple stone pools that are apparently solar heated somehow. Pretty good way to end the day, soaking in some hot pools, drinking a beer, and occasionally taking a quick dip in the cold one.

Liked the town of San Marcos, from which you walk to the area for cliff jumping, so much that we decided to move their for a few nights. Was a nice change of pace, instead of young backpackers wandering around high there were older people wandering around contemplating their inner zen, aligning chakras and polishing their auras. It´s interesting how similar the dazed and slightly lost expressions of the two groups can be... Really is like paradise here, excepting the periodic earthquakes, mudslides and devastating hurricanes. Can think of worse places to grow up or retire at though. I like too the small town feel, the town drunk (whose day job seems to be flute salesman extrordanaire) feels like an old friend after a day, and there´s only him instead of the multiple ones in the bigger cities. He got in some good dancing with the girls we were with and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely until he dropped his bottle, which is apparently the signal for the bar staff to forcibly eject him. Things you don´t see in Seattle: two dogs stuck together in the street, ass to ass, and unable to separate despite their best efforts...The local reaction to our reaction, especially the giggling and squealing of the girls with us, was extreme merriment and general catcalling. No picture, sorry.

Did some more cliff-jumping (we even went up there at midnight) and the ever important general relaxing that the atmosphere of San Marcos promoted. As an added bonus, who else but a French girl decided the swimming hole was top optional. It was funny, of the middle-aged couples that came to the cliff and hemmed and hawed about whether they were brave enough to jump or if those days were over, it was the women who seemed to muster the courage while their husbands bowed out with some excuse or another. Really a cool little town, with shaded and narrow winding paths that cut through the jungle and connected the various houses, hostels and retreats.

Batteries are all recharged and I´m ready to see more of Guatemala, though it was kind of sad to leave such a beautiful place. The big group we were in is broken up now too, which has its upsides, as 9 people makes getting accomadations, splitting food tabs, and generally making any decision extremely difficult. Back in Antigua for the night and leaving for Semuc Champey tomorrow morning. It´s supposed to be great, with swimming, innertubing down the river and cave exploration galore. Can´t wait. Talk to everyone soon enough, miss you all! Azi