Today I left Xela. So long to seeing Santa Maria from anywhere, anytime. So long to volunteering with Nuevos Horizontes. Im going to miss those rowdy little kids! Im gonna miss the awesome traveler scene (kinda.) Xela is a great place to meet people from all over the world (like the brits who gave me a free underwater camera!), great place to go out dancing. On the other hand, im not going to miss the climate. Xela is about as cold as it gets down here in Central America.
I got up at 6:30 and ran out the door. I had to get up early to go meet Brad. I was running a bit late, but it ended up being OK because I got to the park and waited for about 20 minutes for my travel buddy. He didnt show up so I went and got a breakfast at mcdonalds. (im sticking by my word, its somehow better down here...)
I munched my breakfast in about 30 seconds. I dont know how some mornings i cant stand the thought of eating anything but yogurt, and others I can scarf down a grease biscuit and fried potatoes. Not to mention the coffee. Ive been drinking loads of coffee here. We got to the bus station and got thrown right on a bus. The ayudantes (Bus helpers) are like vultures. You can hardly set foot within a block of Terminal Minerva without one of them grabbing your bag and yelling GUATE GUATE GUATE! We boarded the bus and we were off! Finally out of Xela... i was getting a bit antsy.
Uneventful ride, except for the fact we saw a burnt out car on the side of the road. Nothing but charred metal. Otherwise, same old chicken bus driving way too fast on scary mountain roads. The ride was really quick today, too. Sometimes its nice when you get a really ballsy driver. We made it from Xela to Capital in 4 hours flat. We were expecting 5&1/2. When we got out in the capital, we were once again swarmed by taxi drivers. The first one we followed lead us to a grey mitsubishi with no kind of markings on it. He was offering a cheap ride, but it seemed like a bad idea. He just had his car, it didnt even say taxi. And judging by the car he didnt need to be doing taxi work.
Brad and I took another taxi to our hotel, and just relaxed a bit. The busses here are nerve wracking, they can really wear you out. Plus I had the McTummy and needed to take a nap. Once we were tired of being lazy, we decided to take a taxi to the bus company to get our tickets to La Ceiba (port for utila.) What we didnt think of was the fact we were going to need our passports. a q40 taxi ride to get shut down. So we went out for lunch in a pretty typical comedor, and decided it would be best to walk back. It was a distance, but Guatemala City seems a lot less sketchy today than it did a month and a half ago. Plus it was the middle of a beautiful day, and it just seemed like a good idea. It was enjoyable to get a more personal look at this city. I may have judged it wrong at first. But im not going to go walking around tonight, thats for sure. Ramen Noodles for dinner.
Tomorrow morning; Wake up at 4am and get on a bus to LA CEIBA! im gonna learn to breathe under water! and we even got a nice bus, with a bathroom and AC and snacks! welcome back to the lap of luxury!
im quite excited.
