Did I say we like to linger??? Because we whether we like it or not, it seems to be a habit, and maybe not necessarily a bad one. After all Lao Tzu said that good travelers have no fixed plan and are not intent on arriving. Well we hit that one right on the head. Part of the reason we´ve been here so long is the people we´ve become accostumed to calling friends, especially or WWOOFing buddy from Belize, the Aussie, John (juanito we call him). One night in San Pedro we rented a Solar hottub that isw almost scalding, natural hot tub in a lush garden that you can enjoy until shriveled to prune status. That was relaxing and a bit of a treat although it only cost $5. Another day we took an adventure up Volcan San Pedro, where we were feeling sick, and only made it half the way. Around San Pedro the vibe is really young with a focus on the party, but this hasn´t brought all good vibes with it. I find some of the backpackers to be alot harder to get along with, and the ex-pats are much more agreablr to get along with. We discovered a quite jolly group of these retirees at the weekly Boccie ball tournament that they hold at this Quebecian owned bar called La Piscina due to its small swimming pool (which is silly since the lake is but 30 meters away). However, we had a blast playing Boccie, and although we didn´t win, we each got to play a few games and enjoyed the company. However, John, on his first time playing, made it to the semi-finals and was justifiably defeated by the soon to be champion. Not to mention that John, just this last Saturday was in the 3-way final in which he gave up a five point lead to succumb to a two point defeat.... regardsless we are proud of our Johnny boy, contending for the title on his 2nd time ever!!! (well he is a cricket bowler so I guess that gives him a bit of advantage.
After a week or so in San Pedro, we headed across the small bay on this end of the lake to San Marcos, where the setting is much more based in nature with walking trail looping through corn, avocado, banana and coffee trees. The only downfall is the prices are steeper, but compared to San Pedro, anything will seem pricier. We got by, staying for $10 a night on top of this hill in a third story open air loft taking in the view every morning and sunrise. We did yoga once on top of this lovely viewpoint of a property, and spent most days jumping off clifs on the town little point of a peninsula. Most people are here for some meditation or spiritual healing course, always talking about some sort of energy... in other words alot of Yippies.
After calming our nerves and relaxing to the point of exhaustion, we headed for Santa Cruz La Laguna, where we understand was pretty and tranquil, similar to San Marcos. We stayed at the cheapest of the only 4 hotels in the town, but soon found out why it is a family vacation/ retired folk kind of place. The hotels are seperated by a 200 meter climb up into the town, completely segregating the indegenous life with the tourists. It is said too, because they have a monopoly on business in town, bullying out any local businesses that want to sell their typical food for cheap (or in guatemalan standards: standard) prices. After talking to a couple of business owners about this tragedy (there is litterally not a single food stand in town... you have to eat at the overpriced hotels with only 1 or 2 choices.. or get cup of noodles like we did) we decided we wern´t going to support these Nazi foreign businesses (half of them were from the states and as die hard capitalists should know what a little healthy competition cando for an economy). One night and we´re out, coming back here to San Pedro just in time for another Boccie tourney and some financial relief.
We will stay one more night here, until we book it for Honduras, staying in Antigua with our good couchsurfing friend, Andrea, for one last Guatemalan night. Im gonna drink a cup of locally grown, freshly roasted coffee, and then make a cup of noods for dinner.
Hasta proxima.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Now Thats CHEAP!!
OOoOhhhh Guatemala, how good it feels to be in your arms again!!! Guatemala is really growing on us and we are lingering, maybe for too long. After Rio Dulce we took a bus to Guatemala City, then straight to Antigua, a beautiful colonial town surronded by volcanoes, one that towers over the town and you could imagine just walking straight up it.
We stayed in a room there for 37 quetzales (like five bucks) and it even had a shared kitchen!! We met up with a bunch of couchsurfers.. an italian guy, one mexicano, some french italians, and an aussie. An eclectic group, we spent alot of time chillin in cafes and goin to ladies night where there is a constantly loud salsa band. Antigua is full of tourists, and catholic indegenous people and has a feel very similar to San Cristobal, not far. Altogether it is very Mexican in general, with the colonial feel, with colorful houses, and most importantly, the plaza and cathedrals. There is one giant yellow opne that has beautiful white details that have been mosaice-ed with egg shells!!! It is a beautiful church with gorgeous purple trees surronding that are all around the city. On top of the functioning churches, there are a ton of places in ruins from the earthquake that toppled Antigua, one of which we went to see. These are a beatuiful remmeberance of the architecture and add alot of appeal to the town already decked out in colonial digs.
Around the town there are two of guatemala's four active volcanoes. After a couple of nights, I went up to Pacaya, an active, lava spewing peak that you can watch an incredible sunset from. Sonya didnt come because she wasnt feeling well, and its a good thing because we both had food poisoning, and luckily mine didnt come until I made it back to our hotel. But two days before my birthday and we are both puking our guts out.. YUK!!! But when my birthday came around, we went to the only Irish pub in Guatemala and spent time with our CS friends. The next morning,we went out for all you can eat pancakes. I had blueberry, my fave.
Since we needed to stay in Antigua longer to get sonya's cavity filled, our local CouchSurfer hosted us for 3 more nights, spending a total of about 8 days in Antigua.. PHEW!!! Like i said we, kind of linger alot. After finally getting out of Antigua, we were excited for Lago Atitlan, even higher in the mountains, a lake with many mountains coming out of every corner. It is phenominally gorgeous, and each town around the lake has its own vibe, right now we are in the cheapest town, San Pedro. Our room costs $3US. Cheap!!! On our way oput of antigua, Sonya twisted her ankle prety bad, something we are working on figuring out right now, although i dont expect it to bother her for more than a week. On top of a bum ankle, our shuttle to the lake had a burro of a driver, who didnt know how to drive a stick, screaching the clutch almost every shift. At one point we had to push the car to get up a steep hill, and these old tourists abandoned the shuttle for a taxi!! But we eventually made it to Panajachel, then took a boat to the lovelky San Pedro where most of the foot travel is down a foot path, barely big enough for the motorbikes that you have to dive out of the way to not get hit by.
!!Viva Guatemala!!
We stayed in a room there for 37 quetzales (like five bucks) and it even had a shared kitchen!! We met up with a bunch of couchsurfers.. an italian guy, one mexicano, some french italians, and an aussie. An eclectic group, we spent alot of time chillin in cafes and goin to ladies night where there is a constantly loud salsa band. Antigua is full of tourists, and catholic indegenous people and has a feel very similar to San Cristobal, not far. Altogether it is very Mexican in general, with the colonial feel, with colorful houses, and most importantly, the plaza and cathedrals. There is one giant yellow opne that has beautiful white details that have been mosaice-ed with egg shells!!! It is a beautiful church with gorgeous purple trees surronding that are all around the city. On top of the functioning churches, there are a ton of places in ruins from the earthquake that toppled Antigua, one of which we went to see. These are a beatuiful remmeberance of the architecture and add alot of appeal to the town already decked out in colonial digs.
Around the town there are two of guatemala's four active volcanoes. After a couple of nights, I went up to Pacaya, an active, lava spewing peak that you can watch an incredible sunset from. Sonya didnt come because she wasnt feeling well, and its a good thing because we both had food poisoning, and luckily mine didnt come until I made it back to our hotel. But two days before my birthday and we are both puking our guts out.. YUK!!! But when my birthday came around, we went to the only Irish pub in Guatemala and spent time with our CS friends. The next morning,we went out for all you can eat pancakes. I had blueberry, my fave.
Since we needed to stay in Antigua longer to get sonya's cavity filled, our local CouchSurfer hosted us for 3 more nights, spending a total of about 8 days in Antigua.. PHEW!!! Like i said we, kind of linger alot. After finally getting out of Antigua, we were excited for Lago Atitlan, even higher in the mountains, a lake with many mountains coming out of every corner. It is phenominally gorgeous, and each town around the lake has its own vibe, right now we are in the cheapest town, San Pedro. Our room costs $3US. Cheap!!! On our way oput of antigua, Sonya twisted her ankle prety bad, something we are working on figuring out right now, although i dont expect it to bother her for more than a week. On top of a bum ankle, our shuttle to the lake had a burro of a driver, who didnt know how to drive a stick, screaching the clutch almost every shift. At one point we had to push the car to get up a steep hill, and these old tourists abandoned the shuttle for a taxi!! But we eventually made it to Panajachel, then took a boat to the lovelky San Pedro where most of the foot travel is down a foot path, barely big enough for the motorbikes that you have to dive out of the way to not get hit by.
!!Viva Guatemala!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)