We made some friends off the internet (surprise, surprise) who offered up their place for us to crash in Guatemala City while we got some 4runner repairs done (by another friend from the internet!). We pushed into Guat City with no real idea where we were going. Guatemala City is a crazy town, traffic is horrible, the streets are a maze, and the signage slim. After driving around in circles for a while, making a few payphone calls, and being lost for about 2 hours we finally found our way to our friend Julio’s place. Probably the nicest home we have seen so far in Central America.
Julio and his wife Karina welcome us into their home. We busted out the bottles of booze and became fast friends. They asked us what we missed most from the states. Our answers were… #1 Chinese Food. #2 Movie theaters. (It doesn’t take much to please us…)
That night we went to get some Chinese food. Wantons and Brahva beer!
Our new friends, Julio and Karina.
After stuffing our face we went to the movies and watched Girl with Dragon Tattoo (subtitled in spanish). In one fell swoop Julio and Karina satisfied our American desires. (Tickets were $2.50 each for a state of the art movie theater, Julio couldn’t believe we paid $10-$15 to see a movie in the states)
Next morning we took the truck to our mechanic Adrian in Guatemala City. I had a laundry list of things I needed done/fixed on the truck. Adrian said he would treat the truck as his own and we placed our baby in his hands.
The repairs ended up taking a while and we spent the next few weeks partying it up with Julio and Karina. We met all their friends and family and got to see a side of Guatemala City most travelers never see. 
Guatemala Cities “Eiffel Tower”
The worlds biggest plate of Guatemalan typical snacks. Julio got very excited.
Capital building of Guatemala (The Green House)
Guachitos! Guatemalan Drunk food. Greasy delicious hamburgers served up till 4AM.
Old town Guatemala City
Most of our days waiting for the truck to be fixed were spent playing with Julio and Karina’s crazy ass dogs, Mozy and Tuto.
Karina loves to salsa dance, She took us to her friends school where we took some salsa lessons. I proceeded to make an ass of myself, trying to salsa in sandals.
It turned out to be tons of fun, even if I my feet don’t do what I tell them to. I’ll spare you the awkward videos Karina took… Lauren of course took to it like a duck to water and got all the steps instantly.
Lauren’s birthday came around while we were in Guatemala City. She was feeling pretty homesick while we were out taking care of more truck errands. We get home from our errands and find Julio and Karina waiting with a birthday cake and an entire house full of family and friends there to celebrate! 
.
Our new Guatemalan family!
We have never felt so welcomed, loved, and accepted by strangers. Karina and Julio’s family accepted us instantly as their own. We were invited to dinners, events, family outings, anything we needed they were there for us.
Family is an important part of Guatemalan life. Coming from the U.S.A where most kids move as far away from home as soon as they can, We thought it was odd, at first, how much time Guatemalans spent with their family. But after spending a few weeks together we understood. These people loved each other dearly, understood each other, supported each other, and most importantly of all. Partied together!
We told Julio and Karina that we planned to just cross into Honduras and skip El Salvador all together. We were kind of bummed about not being able to say we visited all the central American countries. 10 seconds later the laptops came out and we had booked a hotel in El Salvador, next day we were in Julio’s truck headed to El Salvador!
We stocked up on Roadtrip supplies!
Karina downing a Michelada
Julio, our fearless leader staying lubricated for the long drive.
The border crossing into El Salvador from Guatemala was the easiest border ever. Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua all share an agreement where residents can freely travel trans-country permit-free. Lauren and I got a quick free stamp into El Salvador and we were good to go. Damn, these border crossings are easy without our truck!
We headed down to Playa El Tunco, on the pacific coast of El Salvador.
TripAdvisor.com described the hotel we picked in El Salvador as “Paradise”. The price was insanely steep for central America and I am not sure how the dorm-style bunk bed rooms could be described as “Paradise”. Oh well, We had plenty of rum. We made due.
Karina hurt her ankle a few weeks before we showed up. She never let her busted leg slow her down, She hit the beaches full-force. Crutches and all! What a trooper.
We chowed down on the El Salvador staple. Pupusas. Kind of like a tortilla pancake stuffed with deliciousness.
Hangin’ at the Pupuseria (.40 cents for a freshly made Pupusa)
We headed back the next day, Our truck was done and we went to pick it up from Adrian from Krazy Kustoms in Guatemala City. He installed new overload springs, fixed the leaking gas tank, replaced my leaking power steering box seals, did our brakes, replaced our oil pan seal (turned out that we were missing a bolt from the timing cover, $2 and a new bolt later, the “oil pan leak” was fixed for good), and most importantly of all. Fixed our Air conditioning!!
We sadly said goodbye to Julio and Karina and hit the road headed for Honduras.
We spent 4 weeks in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala taking spanish school. It was a great learning experience and we really enjoyed slowing down our pace and getting to know one location intimately. However, after a month in one spot our brains were burned out on spanish and we were ready to move on.
Our last night at school they threw a big bash for all the students. We cooked up a traditional meal of Chuchitos and Jicacma tea. Laurens teacher loaned her a traditional mayan outfit for the event.
The school got together and started cranking out Chuchitos (basically a Tamale with a lot less work) You take a ball of maiz flour and some oil, mash it up into a tortilla shape and fill it with some chicken/vegetables, close it up and wrap it in a leaf from a ear of corn.
Chuchitos ready for cooking
Throw them in a pot on top of the fire with a bit of water, steam for 45 minutes.
Serve with salsa and EAT!
For a beverage, take a pot of water, add a boatload of Jicama (Hibiscus) flowers, and some sugar. Heat for a while, add sugar, and serve. Jicama tea.
We are going to miss our cabin in San Pedro, but all good things must come to an end and the trip must continue!
We said goodbye to our teachers at Corazon Maya spanish school in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala. We became very good friends with our teachers. You spend 4 hours a day for 3 weeks talking to someone and you form bonds. We often wonder what our guatemalan teachers are up to these days…
We said goodbye to our sweet ass cabin
And took in our last views of Lago Atitlan…
Were off to Guatemala City to get some much needed repairs done to the truck (reoccurring theme??) and meet up with some friends.
Carly spent the rest of the week hanging out with us and touring around San Pedro. One thing she wanted to do while in Guatemala was to visit some Mayan ruins. In a country where over 50% of the population is indigenous Mayan it would be sacrilege to not visit one of their ancient sites.
We got to googling and did tons of research searching for nearby ruins to check out but came up bupkis. During our search however, we did find the Iximché ruins just outside the town of Tecpan. I knew we passed Tecpan on the way to the airport in Guatemala City. We figured we could head out the night before Carly left, drive to Tecpan, wake up early, tour the ruins, and get Carly on a plane around noon. Sounds like a plan to me!
During our spanish class we told our teachers about our plans to drive to Tecpan that night.
“Oh, you picked a very special night to go to Iximche.”
“Por Que?”
“Tonight is the Mayan new year!, of course”
… Of course? Our teachers explained about the Mayan Haab calendar, the long count-calendar, Tzoltin, equinoxes etc etc. The Mayans expounded upon 5th century BC knowledge of time and came up with a system to track/predict important events long before they ever heard of a Roman/Julian/Gregorian calendar. It is actually a series of several different calendars combined into one all-encompassing date keeping system.Pretty cool and complicated stuff.
Apparently it was so complicated that there were only a few people in ancient times who could actually understand it. These calendar readers were important nobleman in the Mayan society and worked closely with the ruling class. Mayan rulers used the power of the calendar to assert dominance and power over their cities/countrymen. If the king can predict what day the sun will be blocked by the moon, he must be talking to the gods and we should do what he says.
While I was very confused with the whole explanation (It’s hard enough explaining concepts of time in english, now try it in a language you can barely understand!) I managed to glean that tonight, March 21st, was an important night. Our teachers said the ruins will be open all night with shamans and elders performing rituals, blessings, and celebrating the new Mayan year. We were in for something special. Excited with the news we ran back to Carly. We packed her stuff and hit the road around 5PM for Tecpan.
The drive to Tecpan was uneventful. I was kind of hoping to see droves of natively dressed Mayans making a pilgrimage to the ruins. We drove through the sleepy town around 9PM and headed towards the ruins to check them out.
We arrived at the Iximche ruins.. A construction crew was busy building a stage for some reason, but no signs of any ceremonies. We wandered past the construction workers and into the actual ruins. No one was out checking any tickets or anything at this time of night. We ambled down the pathway until we realized we were actually walking on-top of Mayan ruins. It was so dark we couldn’t tell until we noticed the mud/brick walls and carved steps. Cool stuff, out here on our own ambling around ruins in the middle of the night.
There was no moon that night, It was pitch-black outside. Not sure if that happens every Mayan New Year or just a coincidence… With the accuracy of the Mayan calendars I am leaning towards it not being an accident.
We kept seeing small groups of people walking off into the woods. We asked a group if they were headed to the “ceremonias”, They said yes so we followed them down the random path.
As we walked the path we heard soft chanting steadily growing louder and louder. We pushed through some trees to a clearing to find this scene awaiting us…
Mildly intimidated we slowly worked our way into the circle. We were the only non-Mayans there. It was pretty obvious we were tourists but we did our best to be respectful and remain out of the way. The Mayans did not seem to mind us and were friendly. We were discreetly snapping photos under our shirts, eventually realizing that the other Mayans there were taking pictures of the whole process. Clearly this was a rare occasion and an experience for some of them as well.
The shamans were building the ceremonial circle when we first arrived. On top of a giant round stone platform they laid out an intricate circle design on the ground with sugar. Then layer by layer they started filling and building up the circle with various offerings. Cinnamon, honey, sugar, rice, maiz, avocados, coins, incense, candles, Quetzelteca!, beer, you name it. All things they were thankful for in the previous year. The entire time the shamans are chanting various prayers. This is all taking place in Mayan dialects so we have no idea what they were saying. The building of the circle was a beautiful and meticulous process.
We got a little vid of the initial process, you can hear the live traditional music being played in the background.
After the circle was completed one of the elder shamans got up and gave a speech in Mayan and then translated it into spanish. I believe the jist was that it is important for the Mayan people to preserve their culture, teach it to the children, and educate others about it. He described things they were blessed with and things they had to look forward to in the coming year. He thanked everyone for coming to the ceremony and then got down from the platform.
The shaman headed back to the ceremonial circle and began to light the candles in the circle. Meticulously lighting each candle in a specific order North, South, East and West. Once all the ceremonial candles were lit he said another prayer and lit some small pieces of wood in the circle which set the entire thing ablaze in a huge fire.
Once the fire was going, he spoke with the other elders and said something in Mayan to the crowd. The entire crowd dropped to their knees all facing to the North and began chanting and praying. Not ones to be left standing around like a bunch of bozos we followed suit.
After praying and chanting for about 5 minutes in the North direction. Everyone leaned over and kissed the ground. And turned to the South. This process continued until we had prayed in all directions North, South, East, and West. Emotions were high, lots of people crying and whispering prayers. A very devout moment. We were privelged to be attending and witnessing such an event.
Eventually the prayers ended and the band struck up again, playing lively traditional music with flutes, drums, and marimbas. A few Guatemalan men and women danced what looked a helluva lot like an irish jig around the flames of the fire for a while. Everyone was pouring beer and quetzecal into the flames, as well as having a nip or two themselves. The men were smoking MASSIVE cigars. They were huge, as big around as a papertowel roll. The ladies were trying their best to light up cigarettes. (It was obvious none of them ever smoked as I watched them struggle with matches and trying to figure out how to light the cigarette, One lady set 1/2 the damn cigarette on fire in her hands and then started puffing on it!)
As the fire would die down someone would emerge with what I believe was sugar? and dump it all over the fire to bring the flames back. Eventually more wood was brought out to keep the party going.
So… Lauren, Carly, and I are standing around having a good ol’ time watching these Mayan’s party it up. Excitedly discussing our new once in a lifetime experience when all of the sudden we hear. SQWWAKK! The distinctive sound a chicken. Uh oh…. Looks like the parties just getting started!
A Mayan lady comes out of the shadows with a live flapping chicken with obviously broken legs. (why we heard the squawk) She begins rhythmically waving the chicken over the crowd and the fire while chanting prayers. I give Lauren and Carly the “oh shit!” look. Game time!
After waving the chicken around the fire and crowd for a while, she discreetly takes the chicken off into the corner. A few seconds later, she emerges with a headless chicken. Another man has the head and tosses it into the fire. Chicken lady proceeds to ritually drain the blood from the still squirming headless chicken while walking around the fire and chanting.
Yes, We got it all on video. Check it out if you would like. Watch for the man holding up the chicken head and tossing it in the fire around the mid-way point of the video.
Eventually the chicken is drained of its blood, cleaned of its entrails and the entire thing is flung into the fire. Quite the experience! The girls stood strong. I was proud of them for sticking it out. It’s not everyday you get to experience a Mayan animal sacrifice.
We hung around for a while after but it was now around 1AM and the party showed no signs of letting up so we called it a night and snuck away. Once away from the crowd we talked a mile a minute discussing the craziness we just witnessed. What an adventure!
We found a cheap dumpy motel in Tecpan for the night and drifted off to sleep.
Up early the next morning we headed back to the ruins so we could see them by day light. The construction crews were still there working away building something? We weren’t sure what they were building but in the confusion we were able to sneak by without buying tickets again. We proceeded to explore the ruins.
The ruins at Iximche were not that impressive in comparison with some of the major mayan sites we have visited such as Palenque or Tikal. However, they do have a very interesting history.
Iximche was a late Mayan capital city founded by the Cakchiquele mayans in 1463 A.D.. The Cackchiquele and Quiche tribes lived in close proximity to one another and were constantly battling over territory and resources. When the spanish conquistadors arrived in the 1500’s they learned about this feud. The conquistadors teamed up with the Cackchiquele promising to help defeat the Quiche tribe. Once Quiche was eliminated the conquistadors turned right around and slaughtered the Cakchiquele people, taking over their capital city in the process. In 1524, Iximche became simultaneously the last Mayan capital and the first spanish colonial city. It is recognized by many as the end of the great Mayan empire.
We returned to the site from the night before. We found the fire still smoldering and people leaving offerings and prayers.
They were also interviewing a Mayan elder for a TV news broadcast. The elder was explaining the new year and how important Mayan culture is to Guatemala. He also explained that the whole Dec 21, 2012 “Fin del Mundo” was a bunch of hype made up by media/outsiders/Hollywood. Mayan people do not believe the world will end on Dec 21. On the other hand he said he does believe the world will end soon if we continue to poison our rivers, air, land, and bodies with toxic chemicals and exploit mother nature. Amen brother.
We booked it from the ruins and dropped Carly off at the airport right on time. The next day we went to class and told our teachers about our experience. They said we were very lucky and blessed to have experienced such a thing. It is rare for outsiders to get such a close look into the Mayan ceremonies. They also explained why there was so much activity and construction at the Iximiche site… Apparently the President of Guatemala was at the ruins to give a big speech on the New Year. He showed up about 20 minutes after we left. Doh!
Our alarm started ringing at 4:30AM… I felt my body panic in confusion. WORK!?
Nope. Just hiking a volcano today… whew.. that was close. I realized it was the first time I have woken up to an alarm in almost 5 months (Not that I am trying to rub it in or anything…)
I stumble around in the pitch-black cabin fumbling for the light-switch. I find it and listen to the groans from the sisters. “5 more minutes?” Lauren asks. Nope! Not today, We gots to go.
Our destination for the day. The top of Volcan San Pedro on Lago Atitlan. It is the large volcano on the right-side of this pic. You can see the town of San Pedro down below it.
We load up the backpack with snacks/water, put on our hiking shoes and head up the road. The early morning darkness is chilly and foggy. There is Toyota pickup waiting for us, We load our gear inside and jump in the back. We get a good-grip onto the black steel coping lining the bed and hold on.
VAMOS!
Lauren and fellow overlander Jill from Anywhere that’s Wild.
We wind our way through the silent streets of San Pedro picking up a few more hikers then start heading up the mountain to the trail head.
Eventually arriving at the the still pitch-black trailhead we crank up our headlamps/flashlights and hit the trail.
I read it was advised to use a guide on this trail due to some robberies/attacks on tourists a few years ago. Nowadays they have improved security and there is nothing much to worry about. However, the entry-price to the park included a tour guide so we took one. Our guide was named Pedro, I would put Pedro around 75 years old or so. He had 1-tooth and a big ass machete. My kinda guy.
Were hiking along in the dark single-file up a tight trail. It looks like we are hiking through some sort of coffee farm but it is too dark to tell. I am thinking to myself, damn it is kinda spooky out here… good place for robbers…
I hear someone from the back of the line scream “OH SHIT!” then I hear the distinct sound of metal on metal machete/machete clanging together. ITS HAPPENING!?
I turn around to witness the carnage and see my fellow hikers looking down the side of a steep rocky hillside at a very confused Pedro splayed out on the bottom. Looks like our guide misstepped and fell down the hill. What I originally heard was not the Pedro battling evil banditos but actually the sound of his machete clanging against the rocks as he rolled head over heels down the hill.
We check over Pedro and find him surprisingly intact for a 75-year old man falling down a cliff. He quickly tires of our medical attention gains his composure and yells “VAMOS!”
Up we go.
As dawn breaks we make it to a small shelter with a nice look-out over the Lagoon and San Pedro lights below.
Sun coming up a bit, we can actually see the trail now.
The first 45-minutes were fairly easy going, we were crossing primarily sideways across the mountain. However once we started heading straight up the volcano I realized… I am outta shape. It has been a while since we had been on a real challenging hike and I was feeling it. Also, Carly, who just shipped in from sea-level Florida the day before, was not exactly prepared for this much climbing at 6000FT either. Pedro on the other-hand was a never-tiring billygoat and nipped our heels the entire time to climb faster. Not bad for a 75-year old man who just fell off a cliff…
At first he had patient words of encouragement to speed us up…
“Es bueno por tu corazon!” (It’s good for your heart!)“
La Vista is muy bonito” (The view is very nice)
Eventually degrading into…
“Listo?” (Ready?)
And finally a flat-out
“VAMOS!” (Let’s go!)
“OK Pedro… OK Pedro…” Carly exclaims between winded breaths as we climb further up the mountain.
Lauren, of course, climbs straight up the mountain like she’s on a leisurely stroll through the park.
We climb through lots of forest, coffee farms, corn plantations…
Higher and higher, we eventually enter the clouds and the lush green “cloud forest”
After around 2.5 hours or so of climbing we make it to the top of the San Pedro volcano. We scramble up the rocks for our first glimpse of the amazing vista we worked so hard to achieve!
Waaaa.waaa. Curse you clouds!
We semi-expected this would happen so were weren’t tooo disappointed. Our friend Susie did the hike a few days later on a clear day, I look forward to stealing her pictures.
Luckily the clouds did part a little bit and we were able to some of the volcanoes on the opposite side peaking through the clouds. Very cool.
Tired but happy, we snapped some pics at the top of the volcano. We lounge around for a bit resting our legs and having some snacks. Preparing ourselves for the climb back down. Pictured here are Home on the Highway, Anywhere that’s Wild, and Carly. Hiding in the background is Joe from ApollosJourney. We met Joe and Eric at Corazon Maya, they are also traveling the PanAm in a 4Runner. You can check out their blog at http://apollosjourney.com. They just spent the last 3 months studying and traveling in Guatemala, they are headed up to Mexico for a bit and then eventually back south on the PanAm. Great guys and great blog.
Pedro poses majestically for the camera. He was a really great guy, even if he did force up that mountain with a quickness.
After lolly-gagging for about an hour at the top we made our way back down.
Carly doing her best to satisfy Pedro’s pace demands. Rule #1 Don’t piss off the guy with the machete.
We had to stop for a mandatory swing-break.
An hour later with some freshly acquired knee problems we were back at the bottom. Pedro asked if we would rather walk the extra 1 mile back to town or pay a few Queztals extra for a truck-ride back… TRUCK PLEASE!
San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala is an interesting and beautiful place. The town sits on the volcano ringed Lago Atitlan (Lake Atitlan) at the base of the (now dormant) San Pedro volcano. It is populated bythe indeginous Tz’utuhil Mayan people who still work the land growing mainly onions and coffee beans for export.
The town is made up of an odd mix of ancient Mayan culture, westernized Guatemala, and flat-out takeover by gringos. You can wake up in the morning and watch an 85-year old Mayan lady haul a 40LB load of onions on her head from her hand-planted farm near the lagoon, spend your afternoon sipping freshly grown/processed San Pedro coffee beans, and waste away the evening getting S-Faced with a 19-year backpacker from Idaho. All within 1/4 mile strip of lagoon-front land. We loved it for all of its faces but most importantly for the little piece of isolated paradise we found at the Corozan Maya Spanish school.
We originally came into town actually searching for different spanish school altogether. We drove up and down the 1-way streets searching and searching for this other school. It was in our guide book, they said it was good! Where is it!?
During our frustrating search, time and time again we would pass this same little school sign. Eventually we said screw it, let check this place out. We were glad we did. What we discovered was a great spanish school that had everything an overlander could want. Secure parking, internet, and hot showers. Throw in a $25/week cabin with in-room propane stove and we were heaven. Classes were $75/week for 1-1 spanish school, the cheapest I have found in my research and our teachers were all amazing.
From the second we sat down to talk with Marta, the schools owner/operator, she made us feel welcome and at home. She spoke strictly in slow simple spanish terms that even we could understand with our horrible spanish. What the hell!? Are we talking in spanish already? This place is good! We signed up for 1 week of class straight away. We ended up staying for 4.
We relocated our clothes and essentials to our basic but comfy cabin. Complete with hammock out front.
Eventually bringing the mattress from our truck into the cabin to supplement the school provided bed. (We sleep like kings in our truck, Why not bring it inside our new home?
The accommodations were basic. A bed, a 2-burner propane stove, a few outlets, and a bare lightbulb. But what more do you really need? That’s all we have in our truck and we love it. We quickly settled in to our new cabin and started calling it home.
We made dinner from some leftovers we had in the truck and started preparing for our first day of spanish school. We were excited and intimidated. We spent the rest of night listening to our Pimsleur Audio books and running through Rosetta Stone lessons knowing we were woefully unprepared.
Next day we started classes. Marta assigned us each our own native San Pedro Mayan teacher.
We walked down the path to our individual tranquil huts out by the lagoon and started our lessons.
First thing was a pop-quiz. Oh great! I didn’t study for this! They wanted to gauge our skill level in spanish to get an idea of where to start the lessons. Needless to say I didn’t make it past NOMBRE/FECHA (Name and Date) (I guessed at FECHA…)
Lauren did a bit better, she made it to the second page before getting the glassy eyed stare of confusion.
Our teachers made no scene or judgements, just evaluated our positions and started right into the lessons. Our teachers spoke very slow, very clear spanish. We started with learning basic verbs and eventually moved onto to tenses, pronouns,conjugations, etc etc. All kinds of stuff. For 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. We would practice in the huts.
Some days class would fly by, other days we would beg for mercy “Por favor maestra, Mi cabeza esta lleno!” Please teacher, My head is full!
It was a calm relaxing atmosphere. Even though learning a new language is a challenge, it was hard to be stressed out in this environment.
In the mornings before class we would lounge around studying, reading books, going on hikes, whatever we wanted to do. One of our favorite activities was exploring “El Mercado” The Market.
Here you can find pretty much anything the heart desires. All native, fresh, organically grown fruits and vegetables are available for a fraction (literally less than 1/4 the cost in the U.S.) of the price. Lauren and I would load up our bags with fruits and veggies. Never spending more than $3-5 for more than we could possibly eat in a week.
No GMOs here. Just naturally crazy huge carrots.
We hiked around the lagoon a lot, checking out different views of the lake and volcano’s.
Lauren’s sister, Carly, came down to visit so we took a trip out to Guatemala City to pick her up. We passed through some great country-side. Have I mentioned Guatemala has tons of volcanoes?
Eventually arriving in the insane Ciudad de Guatemala. The capital of Guatemala and home to over 3 million people.
Chicken buses everywhere, belching thick diesel smoke. Hauling ass jockeying for position and passengers.
Guatemala is Toyota heaven! If you ever wondered where that old Toyota you wish you never sold ended up… Its probably in Guatemala.
Scooped up Carly and headed back to the cabin. Lauren whipped up some dinner, Carly made some mojitos and we passed out. It was a crazy day.
Fresh mint/limes
Next morning we took Carly out to explore the town.
Saint Pedro and his chicken in the town square.
We met up with some friends and decided to catch a lancha (boat) to the next check out the next town over. Santiago.
Lago Atitlan has been steadily rising for the last 5 years. The water has no way to get out of the lake aside from evaporation so when the summer rains/hurricane dump boat loads of water into the lake, the shoreline floods. A lot. Many houses, farms, and businesses are now underwater (literally).
Approaching Santiago.
We explored the markets of Santiago for a bit, wheelin and dealin with the Mayan ladies.
I found a SWEET party satchel (beer purse) that holds AND insulates a 40oz of beer. $3. sold!
Boat operators don’t seem to mind the rising waters. They build up a new dock and keep on trucking. Parking their boats where sidewalks/park benches sit a few feet underwater.
We hopped a ferry and headed back home. We had to rest up to prepare for our hike up “Volcan San Pedro” the next morning..
From Tikal we hit the road to San Pedro where we planned to take some spanish classes. Our friend Zach had given us some info on the highways down there. There appeared to be two roads that took you from Peten down deeper into Guatemala. One was supposedly a much more rough and tumble route while the other was a decently paved road. Zach in the AstroVan opted for the easy route. We of course choose the rough and tumble path.
Our road actually turned out to be pretty decently paved (We heard from Zach that he accidently chose the road of death and sent us on the good road, HAHA!). We drove through lots of little lakeside villages and saw some beautiful Guatemalan countryside.
Our first introduction to Tuk-Tuks (The official in-town transportation of Guatemala)
Eventually we arrived at a small town by the name of Sayaxche. Here the road dead-ended into a deep river. We queued up for the ferry crossing with a few other sleepy travelers.
The ferry (which our friend Karina’s dad later informed us is installed/ran by the Guatemalan oil company) is an odd design. It has 2 outboard boat motors both on the same side of the boat. They work in perfect harmony to fight the rivers current and bring the ferry to its proper mooring point on the opposite bank of the river.
We got a cursory check by the military while on the ferry. I think they just wanted to check out the truck. Eventually arriving safely to the other side. We pushed through the town and wound through towns of small highway-side villages.
Coming up over the top of a blind hill at 60MPH to find dogs, people, babies, fruit stands… It’s a good test of the brakes.
The road was long and winding through the mountains. We were planning to stop in Coban, Guatemala for the night. Unfortunately the drive took much longer than we had planned. We were stuck driving at night through crazy mountain roads, in the rain, in the fog, with crappy headlights, and millions of people milling about on the sides of the road. Not a good situation. We made it to Coban and found the first motel we could.
We warmed up from the cold rain in the sketchy hot water shower. If you are sleepy in the morning just give the shower-head a tap. I guarantee a 110V shock will snap you out of your stupor!
Hit the road the next morning. There was an easy looking highway that led down to San Pedro La Laguna and there was a much more exciting route that took us up into the Guatemalan highlands. We of course, took the more exciting route.
The asphalt quickly gave way to dirt road as we found ourselves climbing higher and higher into the mountains.
We passed this statue of a Quetzal bird midway up the mountain. The Quetzal is the official bird of Guatemala and also the name of their currency. It is an extremely rare and prized bird. It has magnificent long green/blue tail feathers. It is very rare and seldom seen in Guatemala. It lives in the cloud forests high in the mountains. Which just so happened to be where we were unexpectedly headed…
We pushed further and further up the dirt road. The clouds and fog grew thicker and thicker. Eventually we were driving through an actual cloud forest. Pretty amazing weather compared to the 85F and humid temps we experienced the same day at lower elevations.
So we are driving through this forest… all of the sudden I see a green/blue bird fly across the road in front of us with a long forked-looking tail. I yell, “QUETZAL!” but it was too late. Lauren missed it. Apparently seeing a quetzal is akin to seeing the LochNess monster. I’ve told this story countless time to other travelers and Guatemalans who have humored me but I could tell secretly thought I was full of crap. But I saw it dammit!
View from the top of the pass down towards the village below.
Crazy ass Chicken Bus tearing it up 50+MPH on mountain roads, Even crazier passengers holding on for dear life.
We eventually catch back up with the headway on cruise down a horribly rutted road to Lago Atitlan.
Our first glimpse of the lake.
San Pedro Laguna, Our home for the next month!
We hit the cobble-stone confusing 1-way streets of San Pedro La Laguna. One wrong turn after another we eventually give up on our original Spanish school choice and pick the one we have passed on the street 10 times in a row. It turns out to be a great choice.
It has been a while since we have done an update, We ended up spending the past 2 months in Guatemala soaking up the culture, slowing down our pace, and doing some much needed repairs to the truck. Life had been a bit hectic and I couldn’t muster up the energy to write a decent blog. We are now in Honduras, tucked somewhere up in the Pico Bonito National Park hiding from the craziness of Semana Santa (Holy Week). For the first time in a long time we find ourselves with nothing to do but listen to the crickets and frogs sing lullabies outside our truck. Perfect time to do some writing.
The border crossing from Belize into Guatemala was fairly uneventful. We went through the process of checking ourselves and the truck out of Belize. Got the truck fumigated, paid for new visas and a vehicle permit. All completed in our crappy spanish without the use of a tramidor (Tramidor: Dude who hangs around frontier borders helping/scamming confused gringos getting into the next country) thanks to our friends at
We spent all our money at the border and had nothing left. Our tank was on fumes. (We waited to fill up till Guatemala, Belize gas was at $6/gal)
We assumed (stupidly) that there would be a gas station and ATM somewhere near the border on the Guatemalan side. Well there was an ATM but it was empty. No cash. We tried to ask if there was another “cajero” nearby but our spanish is so bad we received nothing but confused stares. Oh well… hopefully there will be one further up the road. We placed our faith in the 4Runners crappy gas gauge being off and headed further down the highway. We have our 5-gallon reserve tank in case we ran out.
The section of Guatemala we entered is named Peten. Unknown to us at the time, It is a very sparsely populated section of Northern Guatemala. We drove past miles and miles of clearcut farmland, rolling green hills, and a few small pueblos with no services. Our destination for the first day was the Mayan ruins of Tikal.
Eventually we arrived at Tikal, We never did pass an ATM or gas station for almost 60 miles. We tried to enter the park but they charge a ridiculously high price for entry ($~25US per person). We didn’t have enough dinero so we had no choice but to head out from Tikal to the next large town of Flores for some cash and gas.
Rolled into Flores sputtering, perfect timing, we found a nice gas station equipped with an ATM. Topped off our cash and our fuel tank. Headed back to Tikal.
We ran into our friends Paul/Susie again in Flores, they were also headed to Tikal. When we were both driving back to Tikal we passed our other friends Zack/Jill. Looks look we were all headed to the same place. We hit the entrance at the same time, just in time for Paul’s Trooper to start acting up. Not one to leave a man behind, we all set to diagnosing the problem in front of the Tikal park entrance.
Eventually we tracked down the problem to fuel. Figuring it was bad gas, we drained the tank and used my jerry can of U.S gas to refill it. While not running completely right it seemed to be doing better. By this point it was around 6PM and the park had closed. Having no place to go (We were planning to camp inside the park) We asked the guards if we could just camp in the parking lot in front of the park. No problem they said. So we did. Howler and spider monkeys crawling through the trees above, Us stinking like gas below. Luckily we had booze, all was well in the world.
Next morning we woke up early, Paul/Susie headed to town to further diagnose their issue. The rest of us headed into Tikal.
First sign we saw warned us of a “Coati Crossing”.. I guess we are in the jungle after all.
Tikal was like no other ruin we have visited thus far. The ruins are dispersed among deep jungle. You walk through 30 minutes of thick jungle canopy with monkeys howling overhead and then pop into a clearing with amazing ruins. It really gives you the feeling of discovering an ancient lost world.
Tikal is one of the largest sites of ancient pre-columbian Mayan civilizations. It was a hub for all surrounding Mayans civilizations, sort of a “capital” of the if you will. Estimations of population range from 10,000 to 90,000 inhabitants. Imagining a huge city of 90,000 milling around this place 2000 years ago is a surreal feeling.
Excavation of the ruins are still in progress, Check out this motorcycle powered cart they use to ferry equipment to the top of the temple.
We spent most of the morning wandering through the jungle, climbing up ruins and taking in the sights.
Eventually we said goodbye to Zach/Jill and hit the road again. Next destination: San Pedro La Laguna, Lago Atitlan for spanish school.
100% Guate? 100% Guatemalan! We knew nothing of the country before we arrived to its border but now having spent over a month here we feel that we have gone through a “Guatemorphosis” of sorts. Though we certainly stand out with our milk faces and our western clothes, we have been accepted into the population as voluntarily Guatemalans. We eat, work, and play like the Guats.
No more grocery stores for us, We prefer now to get down and dirty in the mercados. Why pay $20 for a bag of groceries when we can get fresher, healthier items at the mercado for less than 1/4 of the price? Just close your eyes and think happy thoughts when your passing the “carniceria” (think 3rd world butcher shop, lots of meat parts hanging from hooks with plenty of flies)
Who needs Pizza and hamburgers when you can pick up a delicious “Chuchito” for 1.50Q? (Less than a dime). Who needs a shrimp cocktail when we can have a bowl of “Ceviche Testiculos de Vaca” (Yes folks, cow testicle ceviche, and it is delicious!).
We’ve traded our fancy Vodka/Gin and tonics for good ol’ fashion Guatemalan Quetzelteca (It’ll get ya drunk!)
Need to haul a load of laundry or transport a busload of tamales? Balance all that junk up on your head like a real Guatemalan!
No more taxis for us, Grab a Tuk-Tuk. The official in-town transportation of Guatemala.
We’ve chosen our political parties, I’ve sided with “Lider” while Lauren’s stickin’ with SOY PATRIOTA.
No more treadmills and stationary bikes for us. You need exercise? Speed-climb that 5000ft volcano! Instead of physical trainers we have machete wielding Guatemalan grandpas, trust me.. much more motivational than some bozo in spandex bicycle shorts.
Pedro says “VAMOS!”. No mercy for these gringos.
View from the top
Ask Carly if Pedro was any less intimidating on the way down the Volcano.
Since we didn’t get enough exercise on the volcano we figured we would throw in some ancient Mayan exercise clamoring around on thousand year old ruins in Tikal.
We attended an ancient Mayan ceremony. Bored with church? Bet you’ll be begging for hymns and a 1-hour sermon. We left after 4 hours, 50 prayers, and 1 chicken. They were just getting the party started!
This is just a small preview of things we have experienced in Guatemala. Tune in for a full-report of San Pedro La Laguna, Lago Atitlan, Spanish school, Tecpan Ruins, Tikal ruins, Coffee farms, Laurens sister visiting and much much more!
Hello again ladies and gents! Yet another month has come and gone south of the border and it is time once more to take a look at the expenses for the month and see what the damage is.
I have to admit that tallying up the expenses at the end of the month is one of my least favorite things to do. Doing the dishes, no problem. Packing and repacking the car, you got it. Doing the expenses…No gracias!
When I first sat down with my little notebook and calculator I was undoubtedly filled with dread. However, to my surprise, as I started to scan the countless entries the numbers seemingly jumped off the page and memories began flooding back to me. Each entry retold every detail, from the mundane to the amazing, of the past 30 days. I realized that this notebook of numbers, tally marks and conversion rates was more then I had ever expected it to be.
It was a journal of sorts. There it all was. Daily accounts of those seemingly unimportant details that now help to weave together every wonderful moment of every wonderful day. Whether it be hiking up the side of a volcano with a machete wielding guide at our heels yelling “VAMOS!” or a lazy day of sitting in a hammock sharing a few cervezas. It was all in there. As nerdy as it may sound, I actually enjoyed putting together this month’s expense sheet. I hope you all enjoy it too.
GAS-$381.03
We have not been driving much for the past few weeks while at school, however we did drive to Guatemala City twice in the past month to pick up and drop off my sister from the airport. We are so happy that she could come spend a week with us!
We are currently getting about 18 miles to the gallon
GROCERIES-$221.02
We have been fortunate enough to be staying in San Pedro La Laguna, a town that has an amazing market. We have been eating like kings for a few dollars a day. Not only do they have ridiculously cheap produce, but also a delicious array of prepared foods to choose from. Me gusta.
CAMPGROUNDS-$31.37
This includes storing our car for 3 days in Sarteneja,BZ when we visited the island of Caye Caulker
HOTELS/HOSTELS-$154.70
$50 of this is for the 2 weeks we have spent at school. We are paying $25/wk for a private cabin.
DINING OUT-$387.20
Pretty high for the month. While visiting Caye Caulker, we did not have much of a choice of buying groceries since markets were slim to none. Even street food was a tad pricey.
ENTERTAINMENT-$195.35
This includes all of the entrance fees to the ruins, museums, parks etc.
Also included are such things as: a soccer game in Mexico, kayaks and snorkling gear in Belize, a tour of a coffee plantation , tickets to chicken drop (my new favorite game), and much much more. It was worth every cent for all of the fun things that we have done this past month.
LIQUOR AND CERVEZAS-$116.54
We enjoy a nip or two from time to time.
CAR RELATED EXPENSES-$31.82
Includes oil, carwashes, etc.
OTHER TRAVEL EXPENSES-$175.11
This is mainly for ferries, but also includes parking fees, and tolls
BORDER CROSSING INTO BELIZE-$33.00
BORDER CROSSING INTO GUATEMALA-$33.25
SPANISH CLASSES-$300 ($75 a week per person)
We felt this was a necessary expense for us. I cannot tell you how much my crazy little Mayan professor has taught me in the past two weeks. I love her.
MISC EXPENSES- $63.29
Includes Maps, bathroom fees, sunscreen, laundry, etc. Oh yeah, and James’ beer holder aka “the man purse”. (Editors Note: I prefer the term “Party Satchel”)
Take a look and decide for yourself…
GRAND TOTAL- $2123.68
~$70/day
A certain improvement over Mexico, would be nice to get it down a bit lower still…