Boat Trip and Mayan Ruins
A group of us left Belize
together and headed to Guatemala.
Renee and Andrew: hilarious Canadians who remember every funny line from
every funny film ever written
Alexis: fashion designer who should be a comedian, made me laugh constantly
Paul: has the best job working on a boat for a Stringfellow kind of guy, has
brilliant stories
Benny: smooth with the ladies Hungarian who I think had a different girl in
every town we stayed!
Martin: brilliant Swedish guy, seems quiet but comes out with the best one-liners
ever...
So anyway we stayed in Flores for a couple of
nights. The first day we took a boat to the 'beach'. We swam in the lake for a
couple of hours and then were picked up again. The only problem was that the
guy broke his engine. We ended up in the middle of this huge lake with a broken
engine, no oars and no radio system. Shit. We were f?*!ed... we floated around
for a bit wondering what to do, and why he wouldn't have any emergency oars and
then he managed to get the engine running a tiny bit, turned the boat backwards
and the 15 minute ride back took over an hour. But we got back, that's the most
important thing.
The next day we went to the Mayan ruins of Tikal. We didn't want to take the tour guide
from out bus, consequently he hated us for the rest of the day. I don't know
what the big problem was, we wanted to see the ruins in our own time...anyway
they were my favourite ruins...surrounded by jungle with lots of interesting
animals wandering around. We saw some brilliant monkeys close by and other
animals whose names I have forgotten...the park rangers became our guides for a
bit too, so we didn't need the annoying guide with his weird American accent
and huge attitude problem!
We spent 8 hours walking around, chatting, seeing the sites and listening to
the sounds of the jungle, then crawled back to the bus.
Beautiful Guatemala
After Flores we headed off to Lanquin in a
very 'cosy' minibus. We shared this with a couple of other guys, one being Tom
from Sweden.
He seemed OK for most of the ride but when we stopped in a town to get some
food we ended up alone (the only vegetarians) and then I realised he's actually
a bit strange. I quickly found the others and we continued on our journey. On
arriving at the hostel we were all pleasantly surprised. The dorms were cabanas
surrounded by green grass with a river running by... beautiful and tranquil.
They also had a cow which made it for me.
While there we visited Semuc Champey - a stunning group of blue-green fresh
water pools. Heaven. We had a brilliant day here swimming with the boys being
boys and jumping off every rock they saw. After we went to the bridge and while
they all jumped off it I realised I should represent the girls and I jumped off
too - very exhilarating, like the bungy but with no rope... AGGH! :) We took
our truck back through the mountains and returned for the all you can eat
buffet - could life get better than this?
Another great place there was the Lanquin cave. In the evening we explored the
cave and then waited in the entrance for the bats to exit at sunset. Millions
of bats flew past us in a constant stream...I could feel the air from their
flapping wings as they whizzed past my head! This was an amazing experience I
will never forget. I don't think I'll ever see so many bats all at once in my
life ever again.
Cross - dressing and a disgusting boy.
One night at Lanquin was designated 'Ladies' Night' were all the girls get
an extra 2 for 1 Happy Hour. The other condition for this was that any man
dressed as a girl also received the same. The boys seemed reluctant at first
but once the fancy dress box came out there was no stopping them - Benny in a
sexy dress, Martin in a lacy green corset and skirt...they looked brilliant. We
all had a fantastic night but the boys seemed to enjoy being girls too much
hmmm...
The next night was a quiet one for me. We had the buffet again and went to
bed. When I woke up the next day the people in the dorm next to us told me what
happened in the night. If you're eating it might be wise to read this after.
At around 3 a.m one guy woke up to see a guy roaming around the room naked. He
didn't really want to see anymore and so turned the other way and fell back
asleep. Someone else woke up to hear the guy being sick but for some strange
reason didn't do anything about it. When everyone started to stir in the
morning they began to smell something horrific. The guy had been sick all over
one of the girl's bags and ALL her clothes too (yuk) and had somehow mistaken
the dorm for a toilet. Yes. For number 2. He 'took a dump' right in the middle
of the room. To add insult to injury he stole 250 pounds from a girl's purse
and wiped his bum with one of her receipts! When I asked if they knew who it
was they said that all they knew was his name: Tom and that he was from Sweden. By the
time they woke up he had gone. Noooooooooo Tom from Sweden! I had even spoken to him
that morning before he left! If only I knew. We arrived on the bus with him
only a few days before and he was going to stay in our dorm. The only reason he
didn't was that the receptionist realised there was already one person in the
room and therefore no space for all of us, so he slept next door. I was so
grateful that he didn't stay with us but felt very bad for the bunch of people
who had to deal with that. What a big loser. Who would do all of that? I'm
still confused today but will never forget Tom from Sweden.
Midnight Volcano Hike
We arrived in San Pedro which was a chilled out village by the beautiful
lake (Lago Atitlan). Unfortunately we all got bed bug bites from our first
night there and Paul got them in the new hostel on the second night. We left
for Xela the next day by tuk tuk and chicken bus. The chicken buses are old
American school buses, decorated elaborately by each owner and generally named
after the owner's wife, like'' Lulita''. They are EVERYWHERE in Guatemala.
They're cheap but also many thefts occur on them with armed men often shooting
the driver before stealing from the passengers. We saw a few gunshot holes
through the windows which didn't really fill us with confidence - but that's Guatemala.
Anyway (I'm not there now mum so don't panic). We arrived in Xela and
decided to climb the volcano Santa
Maria that evening. We rushed around the markets and
bought cool 80s style jackets from a second hand market stool. The looked
awesome and ready to climb!
I've never been so cold in my life!
We were picked up at midnight and started climbing around 1 a.m. It was one
of the toughest hikes I've done (including Everest Base Camp and Macchu
Pitchu). The climb was so steep and the air seemed to disappear. I'm not sure
where it went. Renee was like Mr. Motivator up at the front whereas Lex and I
struggled to find this elusive ''air'' substance. It seemed to last forever,
almost everyone in the group fell over at least once in the slippery mud but
eventually we reached the top. What a FANTASTIC feeling :) Then we had to wait
for over an hour in the freezing cold for the sunrise NOOOOOOOOOOO! Paul said
he was suicidal. We sat huddled together under the ONE sleeping bag we had
cleverly decided to bring?! Why not 4 damn it! After an hour the guide decides
to tell us that he can make a fire - after an hour, really???? Great. It turns
out he's actually shit and Paul ended up making the fire. This was a bit of a
comfort but actually it was more smoke going in our eyes than anything... well
we tried.
Finally the sun rose over the volcanoes and we realised that our blue lips
were worth it. What a stunning sight. There were pinks and purples in the sky
and a smoking volcano in the distance...then we watched the one next to us
erupt!
Fantastic! It was all worth it. We started the hike back down slowly
regaining the feeling in our toes and fingers :)
Hottest Bath in Guatemala!
The next day we went to the huge market San Francisco. This was very local with the
usual hustle and bustle of a market, new smells and sites, new food to try. A
very interesting morning apart form the cows heads. I was not impressed by this
but am trying to erase it from my memory - only a few Mojitos to go and it will
be gone. Later we visited the hot
springs. This was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! After the numerous
freezing showers in in cold climate to actually feel HOT water is indescribable. At first it felt too hot even; my legs started to sting... but
as I submerged my whole body a felt a blanket of cosy warmth. We stayed for a
few hours enjoying the heat then dragged ourselves out of the water,
re-emerging as human prunes. What a great day.
The next day we took the chicken bus back to San Pedro.
