Well, what an awesome week this has been! A week ago I picked up mom and Robin in San Pedro Sula (where we are now again), I randomly and luckily found this great B&B called Los Molinos where we are staying and the owner, Luis, took great care of us last weekend and again today, providing airport pick-up, dinner transportation, the whole nine yards. So, last week, Sunday morning we all three caught a local direct bus to Copán Ruinas where we checked into our home for the week--Casa de café. For me, the week has been drapped in luxury, starting with the accomodations. We had a wonderful view from the yard area of the B&B, were served a delicious breakfast every morning, had our own private room with maid service, all the agua pura we could drink (which was a lot), plus two very friendly and entertaining Inn keepers (the son and nephew of the couple that own the place, the couple themselves are on vacation right now in Ecuador...). Copan Ruinas is a very mellow, tranquile, (touristy), cute and clean place to be. It was the perfect choice. We went on Monday to a Macaw bird park a couple of kilometers out of town where we were given a wonderful tour, talked to birds (had them laugh at us acuatlly, the birds I mean), and then swam in the stream running through the park. (We also returned the next two afternoons to swim here, since it was so hot and our tickets were good for three days). Tuesday we went to the Ruinas of Copán, the ancient Mayan city driving most of the tourism in the area. We found them quite interesting but wished the US $15 we paid to get in would have let us come back the next day also, we think we would have appreciated them even more--the tour the first day, experiencing it ourselves the second...but you can´t have everything I guess. The best day of the week was Thursday when we took a trip with a tour company that included an hour ride in the back of a pick-up up into the mountains where we went to a large coffee finca, had coffee with the duena of the property, were given a tour of the production area of the finca, then went to another section of the finca where we took a little walk to a waterfall and then a horseback ride through the country (galloping half of the time!), we were then fed this delicious homecooked meal of comida typica, stopped at the hot springs on the way back to town and returned to town in the back of the truck under the moonlight...ironically enough, we forgot the camera...
I´m sorry to do this, but I´m a little pressed for time right now (and typing on a sticky keyboard, so it´s taking longer), other things we enjoyed were playing (hours) of cards in several different locations, eating at nearly every restaurant (it seemed) in town, one night of salsa dancing, a quick morning trip on a chicken bus to a nearby village much less polished by tourism, a butterfly/orchid park, gin & tonics while watching the sunset, dealing with the stifling heat and humidity common to these parts, walking around town, and just enjoying each others company!
For me, I have been most struck by the fact that Honduras seems more expensive than Guatemala-at least as a traveler, and could also see the direct affect of tourist money coming into Copán, most prices have gone up 50-60% in the last two years simply because of us foreigners...also, it´s been funny getting used to the higher number values things cost in lempira (100 lempira VS 50 quetzales or 5$), but I´m getting better. Overall, I´ve had a great time sharing a week of my reality (even though it was a week of high living for me) with my mother and am even more excited my sister will be stayin another 2 weeks. We are planning on going to the Bay Islands/beaches tomorrow (for my birthday...) and are also hoping to be able to take a tour of the wild, unpopulated jungle area of Honduras called La Moskitia, wish us luck. There are like a million other things I could say or write, but I have to go!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
Relaxation and a new country
Whoa, well the last one and a half weeks has been both the shortest and longest of my trip so far! I can hardly believe that it was only about 10 or 11 days ago that I finally left Xela for the last time with all of my possesions on my back. I headed to Lago Atitlan and found myself in a little village called Santa Cruz a la laguna at a hostel called La Iguana Perdida. There really isn´t much to do there except do nothing...I did luck out though, the night I arrived was the second night of the three day feria (sort of like a county fair...) of Santa Cruz so some of us from the hostel went up to the village that evening to watch some of the festivities and one of the coolest firework shows I have ever seen. I wish I had had my camera. There were normal fireworks (being set of mere feet from large crowds of people mind you) but the main show was this large tower decorated with writing (blessing the patron saint of the town) and some artistic renditions of goblets and crosses. The bottom level was lit on fire, lighting up the words that then went through a phase of color changing and different firework tricks and just when we thought it was about done, it lit the next level of fireworks, sort of like a mousetrap contraption. This went on for 20 minutes! Like a mousetrap show of standing fireworks, it was incredible and very hard to explain...I hope I´ve done it a bit of justice...
On Friday I went back over to Pana to go paragliding for the first time in my life. The guide I went with was this totally wacky, energetic German/El Salvadoranean rasied in Guatemala and Germany...he was a blast. The paragliding was amazing, although my stomach didn´t think it was the best thing ever, but it was totally worth a bit of nausea the rest of the day! The only unfortunate thing about the whole experience is that the views weren´t as spectacular as normal because the whole week that I was at the lake it was very hazy (which is very unusual) so the normal, crystal clear view of the volcanos surrounding the lake was non-existent. I guess we can´t always have everything though...
The next day I chose to move to another village on the lake called San Marcos that has this reputation for being a very laid-back, ex-pat, hippy, spiritual, relaxing place. It was gorgeous (and just a little larger than Santa Cruz, which I appreciated). All the hostels and restaurants are along the lake in this little pathway jungle and the whole place just speaks of peace. I mostly just hung out and did nothing there for 5 days. (Although, take it back, 4 days, I went to the market in Chichicastenango-2 1/2 hrs one way on bus- from Pana on Sunday. It is supposedly the largest market in Guatemala...I wasn´t actually too impressed, although I´m glad I went because I would have always wondered if I should have if I hadn´t...). I spent most of the week with a couple of girls from England that I met in Santa Cruz (they then left for a three day trek with the same trekking company I went with) and then they magically showed up in the same dorm room I was staying in in San Marcos. It´s amazing how often that happens, running into people you´ve already seen before somewhere else. They were a lot of fun though and we just took it easy, eating a leasurily breakfast everymoring, did a little yoga, got a massage, went swimming to this beautiful spot along the lake where there were rocks to jump off of (one about 30ft, the other 15ft...I only managed the lower one). The water in the lake was just beautiful to swim in; a very mild temperature, crystal clean, and extremely bouant. It reminded me of swimming in very salty ocean, how you float without needing to tred water, but without the aweful salt flavor! One evening I was lucky enough to meet a few people who had befriended a "local" (he ran/owned a restaurant but is a german/columbian who grew up in Germany, so many fun combinations!) and we all had a fabulous homecooked meal at his house that evening and just enjoyed the company we were with.
I finally dragged myself away from the lake on Thursday (along with the two gals from England) and headed for Antigua. I was there less than 12 hours (am planning to go back sometime in June or July before leaving, because it is supposedly a neat city to visit, although packed with gringos...) Ironically enough, although I had less than 12 hours, I ran into two of my more favorite people from ICA in Xela (that I had already said goodbye to mind you) which was fun, we caught up on travel adventure stories a bit over coffee last night before I went back to the hostel only to get myself up at 3:30 in the morning to take a shuttle bus to Copan, Honduras where I am now currently writing you all from. I´m staying here tonight and then going to San Pedro Sula tomorrow to collect my mom and sister from the airport so we can come back and hang out here for the next week. I´m beyond excited to see them. So, yeah, I guess that´s the "this is where I went and what I´ve done" marathon for the last little bit here. Can you see at all why it´s felt very short and long at the same time? It still feels a bit strange to know I won´t be seeing my regulars in Xela anymore, but it seems right. Like I said last night over dinner to my travel companions, I was starting to feel a little bored with Guatemala, so it will be good to do a little bit of Honduras and then go back to Guatemala where it´s familiar, a little break I guess. The one thing that I wish didn´t seem to be true is that it appears I will be speaking, listening to and overall being surrounded less frequently by spanish as I find myslef in more of a typical travel/backpacker role hoping around the country. Everyone just speaks English, even a lot of the hotel clerks, tour operaters, waiters...the irony of traveling in a Spanish speaking country I guess. The truth is, I´ll still be around it more than at home, but I´ve just gotten so used to getting to practice everyday, I miss it a little!
OK, as scattered as that is, I think that´s it for now. I feel like I´ve been on the computer for 2 hours or something with all the e-mails and blogs and stuff I´d been putting off...guess that´s not too bad though. Oh! one more thing that makes me angry is that I don´t get a stamp for Honduras! I mean, I´m here, but you´d never know it by looking at my passport...the reason is, that my Guatemala stamp includes Honduras and Nicaragua under the same 3 months (why I had to go to Mexico for the passport renewal), so whatever country you enter in is the stamp you get even if you go to all three. Man, what a hit to passport stamp collecting! (and a bit of an annoyance too for the long term traveler I suppose...especially if you are in Honduras because both Costa Rica and Mexico are far away...)
On Friday I went back over to Pana to go paragliding for the first time in my life. The guide I went with was this totally wacky, energetic German/El Salvadoranean rasied in Guatemala and Germany...he was a blast. The paragliding was amazing, although my stomach didn´t think it was the best thing ever, but it was totally worth a bit of nausea the rest of the day! The only unfortunate thing about the whole experience is that the views weren´t as spectacular as normal because the whole week that I was at the lake it was very hazy (which is very unusual) so the normal, crystal clear view of the volcanos surrounding the lake was non-existent. I guess we can´t always have everything though...
The next day I chose to move to another village on the lake called San Marcos that has this reputation for being a very laid-back, ex-pat, hippy, spiritual, relaxing place. It was gorgeous (and just a little larger than Santa Cruz, which I appreciated). All the hostels and restaurants are along the lake in this little pathway jungle and the whole place just speaks of peace. I mostly just hung out and did nothing there for 5 days. (Although, take it back, 4 days, I went to the market in Chichicastenango-2 1/2 hrs one way on bus- from Pana on Sunday. It is supposedly the largest market in Guatemala...I wasn´t actually too impressed, although I´m glad I went because I would have always wondered if I should have if I hadn´t...). I spent most of the week with a couple of girls from England that I met in Santa Cruz (they then left for a three day trek with the same trekking company I went with) and then they magically showed up in the same dorm room I was staying in in San Marcos. It´s amazing how often that happens, running into people you´ve already seen before somewhere else. They were a lot of fun though and we just took it easy, eating a leasurily breakfast everymoring, did a little yoga, got a massage, went swimming to this beautiful spot along the lake where there were rocks to jump off of (one about 30ft, the other 15ft...I only managed the lower one). The water in the lake was just beautiful to swim in; a very mild temperature, crystal clean, and extremely bouant. It reminded me of swimming in very salty ocean, how you float without needing to tred water, but without the aweful salt flavor! One evening I was lucky enough to meet a few people who had befriended a "local" (he ran/owned a restaurant but is a german/columbian who grew up in Germany, so many fun combinations!) and we all had a fabulous homecooked meal at his house that evening and just enjoyed the company we were with.
I finally dragged myself away from the lake on Thursday (along with the two gals from England) and headed for Antigua. I was there less than 12 hours (am planning to go back sometime in June or July before leaving, because it is supposedly a neat city to visit, although packed with gringos...) Ironically enough, although I had less than 12 hours, I ran into two of my more favorite people from ICA in Xela (that I had already said goodbye to mind you) which was fun, we caught up on travel adventure stories a bit over coffee last night before I went back to the hostel only to get myself up at 3:30 in the morning to take a shuttle bus to Copan, Honduras where I am now currently writing you all from. I´m staying here tonight and then going to San Pedro Sula tomorrow to collect my mom and sister from the airport so we can come back and hang out here for the next week. I´m beyond excited to see them. So, yeah, I guess that´s the "this is where I went and what I´ve done" marathon for the last little bit here. Can you see at all why it´s felt very short and long at the same time? It still feels a bit strange to know I won´t be seeing my regulars in Xela anymore, but it seems right. Like I said last night over dinner to my travel companions, I was starting to feel a little bored with Guatemala, so it will be good to do a little bit of Honduras and then go back to Guatemala where it´s familiar, a little break I guess. The one thing that I wish didn´t seem to be true is that it appears I will be speaking, listening to and overall being surrounded less frequently by spanish as I find myslef in more of a typical travel/backpacker role hoping around the country. Everyone just speaks English, even a lot of the hotel clerks, tour operaters, waiters...the irony of traveling in a Spanish speaking country I guess. The truth is, I´ll still be around it more than at home, but I´ve just gotten so used to getting to practice everyday, I miss it a little!
OK, as scattered as that is, I think that´s it for now. I feel like I´ve been on the computer for 2 hours or something with all the e-mails and blogs and stuff I´d been putting off...guess that´s not too bad though. Oh! one more thing that makes me angry is that I don´t get a stamp for Honduras! I mean, I´m here, but you´d never know it by looking at my passport...the reason is, that my Guatemala stamp includes Honduras and Nicaragua under the same 3 months (why I had to go to Mexico for the passport renewal), so whatever country you enter in is the stamp you get even if you go to all three. Man, what a hit to passport stamp collecting! (and a bit of an annoyance too for the long term traveler I suppose...especially if you are in Honduras because both Costa Rica and Mexico are far away...)
Monday, May 7, 2007
Crossing the Mexican border...
So, after my hurried afternoon of a week ago, I set of early last Tuesday morning with a friend from ICA (Alicia) toward San Cristóbal, Mexico. The original impetus for this trip was the fact that I needed to renew my passport before the 13 of May and wasn´t going to be out of the country until the 18th-plus, thanks to the CAFTA agreement, it no longer "counts" as leaving the country if I go to Nicaragua, Honduras, or El Salvador from Guatemala...only Mexico, Belize, or Costa Rica. Anyway, I´m so glad I had an excuse that made me go check the place out! The day of travel there was long, 10 hours overall, about 8 1/2 or 9 on a bus (4 different buses and one taxi), but overall, uneventfull. It was incredible to me how different this city was than Guatemala (or Mexico in general). The difference could be felt crossing the border. The streets and roads were a million times cleaner in Mexico, the buses smaller, more economical, comfortable and efficient. Even the terrain was different. Driving back to the border from San Cristóbal on Sunday, it struck me how I could see Guatemala approaching as the mountainous volcanos drew nearer.
Alicia and I took it pretty easy and just enjoyed the city for most of the time. I´ve been told that it is similar to Antigua in terms of being an old colonial type town and I really liked the feel of the place. Compared to anywhere I´ve been in Guatemala, it felt down right mellow, clean, and uneventful. There are 5 or 6 churches in town, several parks and open public spaces and it was very pleasant to just walk around or sit and people watch (although, we were disppointed at the lack of good ice cream in town, I guess I´m being spoiled by Sarita´s here in Guate). One day we had lunch at this place called Los Amigos (recommended to us by one of the workers in our hostel) whose entrance we almost missed because there were no signs and just a small door. Behind this however there was a very large room bustling with activity, 5 or 6 TVs playing music videos and many locals drinking and eating. I think it is really the first time that I´ve been somewhere (or eaten somewhere) where I felt like the only gringo around, like I was in a local hangout. The popularity I believe is due to the 2 for 1 deal on beers every day plus all the food you can eat for 30 pesos-and they really mean all the food you can eat. They just kept bringing us more and more stuff! At first, some chips, then peanuts, then a little meal, then fajitas, then guacamole...we weren´t sure how to make it stop!! It was definitely probably one of my favorite eating experiences on the trip so far though.
One morning we took a (guided) horseback ride to a nearby pueblo (San Juan Chamula) where the locals practice a very interesting combination of Catholic, Mayan and other beliefs. The church floor was covered in pine needles and idols of saints lined the walls, with candles lit everywhere. Here they believe that Saint John is more important than Christ and his idol held the upermost position in the church. People make chicken sacrifices all the time to cure diseases among other things. Also, we couldn´t take any pictures because the locals believe that if a picture is taken of them, they have been robbed of their soul...all in all an interesting experience. Plus, the horseback ride was probably the best ride I´ve ever been on (and yes, the number is limited) and the best part is that I was hardly even sore afterwards!
We were a little disappointed on Saturday (Cinco de Mayo) to discover that the town could of seemed to care less. I had been given this impression before-that in some ways Cinco de Mayo is a bigger celebration in the states than in Mexico, and everyone we asked confirmed that. I think it is maybe celebrated a bit more up north, and San Cristóbal is in the center of Chiapas that has a love hate relationship with Mexico anyway...but, alas, we came up with no crazy Cinco de Mayo stories, although we were in Mexico for the event.
After all that, I am now back in Xela for truly the last time, although I´m not sure that is really hitting home. I´m ready though and am getting more and more excited to see my mom and sister in Honduras. Sometimes the realization hits me that I´ve been down here for almost 3 months, living in a completely foreign country that now feels a bit like home. I realize that I speak a different language at least 50% of my day, find it normal to buy things like soap, shampoo, and food at an open air market, look forward to having beans and eggs for dinner (because that´s what it always is), and am no longer phased by the watered down, unexciting flavor of the instant coffee everyone drinks here. I own 2 pairs of shoes, do my own laundry by hand and hang dry it (50% of the time I guess, when all 10-20 items I own-counting socks and underwear etc, are dirty, I pay a Lavendaria to was everything). I pay to use a public computer and sometimes go days without checking my e-mail. I have no cell phone, walk everywhere, and when it´s too far to walk, I takce a chicken bus. i think in Quetzales when I spend money (rather than converting to US $) and even found myself a bit taken aback at the "high" prices in Mexico (While others we met raved about how cheap San Cristóbal/Chiapas is in comparison to the rest of the country). There is even a part of me that almost likes ranchera music nowdays and I don´t remember when I ever heard anything other than reagaton, salsa or merengue in a discoteca...Cobblestone streets, women selling handmade goos on the street, shoeshinners in the park, fireworks early in the morning to celebrate birthdays, street dogs, bus fumes...all of it seems so normal and natural and am often shocked to realize that I feel this way. There are of course things about here that still strike a dischordant string somewhere internally like everytime I see someone carelessly toss a plastic bottle out a bus window or drop a wrapper on the ground as if the nature has a maid or the catcalls on the streets when I walk around ("Hola gringa, tsst-tsst-" "Esatás hermosa" "ch-ch-ch" etc), but even these things I´m used to, even if I don´t like them much. Aren´t we human beings amazingly adaptable creatures? Honestly, I sometimes worry about readjusting to America when I go home...they often say culture shock is worse coming back than going...
Anyway, I have to run, I´m late for dinner (eggs and beans anyone?) but, in Guatemalan fashion, I´m guesssing it is being served late also...
Completely unrelated to anything here, I just finished reading a book called Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides that I thought was fabulous is anyone out there is looking for a good read.
Alicia and I took it pretty easy and just enjoyed the city for most of the time. I´ve been told that it is similar to Antigua in terms of being an old colonial type town and I really liked the feel of the place. Compared to anywhere I´ve been in Guatemala, it felt down right mellow, clean, and uneventful. There are 5 or 6 churches in town, several parks and open public spaces and it was very pleasant to just walk around or sit and people watch (although, we were disppointed at the lack of good ice cream in town, I guess I´m being spoiled by Sarita´s here in Guate). One day we had lunch at this place called Los Amigos (recommended to us by one of the workers in our hostel) whose entrance we almost missed because there were no signs and just a small door. Behind this however there was a very large room bustling with activity, 5 or 6 TVs playing music videos and many locals drinking and eating. I think it is really the first time that I´ve been somewhere (or eaten somewhere) where I felt like the only gringo around, like I was in a local hangout. The popularity I believe is due to the 2 for 1 deal on beers every day plus all the food you can eat for 30 pesos-and they really mean all the food you can eat. They just kept bringing us more and more stuff! At first, some chips, then peanuts, then a little meal, then fajitas, then guacamole...we weren´t sure how to make it stop!! It was definitely probably one of my favorite eating experiences on the trip so far though.
One morning we took a (guided) horseback ride to a nearby pueblo (San Juan Chamula) where the locals practice a very interesting combination of Catholic, Mayan and other beliefs. The church floor was covered in pine needles and idols of saints lined the walls, with candles lit everywhere. Here they believe that Saint John is more important than Christ and his idol held the upermost position in the church. People make chicken sacrifices all the time to cure diseases among other things. Also, we couldn´t take any pictures because the locals believe that if a picture is taken of them, they have been robbed of their soul...all in all an interesting experience. Plus, the horseback ride was probably the best ride I´ve ever been on (and yes, the number is limited) and the best part is that I was hardly even sore afterwards!
We were a little disappointed on Saturday (Cinco de Mayo) to discover that the town could of seemed to care less. I had been given this impression before-that in some ways Cinco de Mayo is a bigger celebration in the states than in Mexico, and everyone we asked confirmed that. I think it is maybe celebrated a bit more up north, and San Cristóbal is in the center of Chiapas that has a love hate relationship with Mexico anyway...but, alas, we came up with no crazy Cinco de Mayo stories, although we were in Mexico for the event.
After all that, I am now back in Xela for truly the last time, although I´m not sure that is really hitting home. I´m ready though and am getting more and more excited to see my mom and sister in Honduras. Sometimes the realization hits me that I´ve been down here for almost 3 months, living in a completely foreign country that now feels a bit like home. I realize that I speak a different language at least 50% of my day, find it normal to buy things like soap, shampoo, and food at an open air market, look forward to having beans and eggs for dinner (because that´s what it always is), and am no longer phased by the watered down, unexciting flavor of the instant coffee everyone drinks here. I own 2 pairs of shoes, do my own laundry by hand and hang dry it (50% of the time I guess, when all 10-20 items I own-counting socks and underwear etc, are dirty, I pay a Lavendaria to was everything). I pay to use a public computer and sometimes go days without checking my e-mail. I have no cell phone, walk everywhere, and when it´s too far to walk, I takce a chicken bus. i think in Quetzales when I spend money (rather than converting to US $) and even found myself a bit taken aback at the "high" prices in Mexico (While others we met raved about how cheap San Cristóbal/Chiapas is in comparison to the rest of the country). There is even a part of me that almost likes ranchera music nowdays and I don´t remember when I ever heard anything other than reagaton, salsa or merengue in a discoteca...Cobblestone streets, women selling handmade goos on the street, shoeshinners in the park, fireworks early in the morning to celebrate birthdays, street dogs, bus fumes...all of it seems so normal and natural and am often shocked to realize that I feel this way. There are of course things about here that still strike a dischordant string somewhere internally like everytime I see someone carelessly toss a plastic bottle out a bus window or drop a wrapper on the ground as if the nature has a maid or the catcalls on the streets when I walk around ("Hola gringa, tsst-tsst-" "Esatás hermosa" "ch-ch-ch" etc), but even these things I´m used to, even if I don´t like them much. Aren´t we human beings amazingly adaptable creatures? Honestly, I sometimes worry about readjusting to America when I go home...they often say culture shock is worse coming back than going...
Anyway, I have to run, I´m late for dinner (eggs and beans anyone?) but, in Guatemalan fashion, I´m guesssing it is being served late also...
Completely unrelated to anything here, I just finished reading a book called Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides that I thought was fabulous is anyone out there is looking for a good read.
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