Guatemala Welcomes Us!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

By this point in the trip, Niki and I know our alarms by heart, and know that with their annoying ring, comes another day of something eventful.

Today, our alarm was waking us up for travel to Guatemala. We caught a 6:30/7:00 bus for the border and soaked up our last minutes of Honduras as our bus curved and rolled down the road for about an hour. Niki and I had the front seats with the driver, so we had a great view ahead.

The border was pretty empty when we arrived because it was fairly early, which made immigration and all the official work go by in a flash. I collected a few more stamps for my passport collection, and headed toward Guatemala. After immigration, we hopped onto a bus for Cobàn. When we first asked a guy if it was going there, he looked at us like we were crazy and figured out that it was because he thought we said Copán, the city we had just come from.

The bus ride to Cobàn took a couple hours and we got off in a small city to change buses first called Chiquimula. It was basically just a market town where we had time to grab some Doritos and a juice and get right on another bus. This bus was a nicer kind of tour bus here we were able to be comfy for a little while. Boarding the bus, the driver asked to take a pic with us girls like we were celebrities...kinda funny. As we walked up the isle to find a seat toward the back of the bus, some young guys in the very back were testing their English and their romance by saying things to us. Unfortunately, the only seats together were right by them, so Niki told them off in Spanish, so they stopped. We slept until Rancho, another town where we made, yet another bus change. This time though, was more interesting than all of the other bus rides we had taken on this trip. We've been in the bed of a pickup, on the floor of a bus, and sitting on each others laps, but never, have I had to hang out a bus door like this.

When the guy told us what bus to get on, I took one look at the bus that was already filled to capacity, I literally said, "Oh hell no! There's no way were getting on that bus!" and Niki replies with, "We're getting on that bus." The local lady standing behind us told us that they are all like this, so we decided to go for it.

This bus that we were getting on was basically a mini bus like what a caterer, florist or cable guy drives. It had a bus door on the side and a tall ceiling. Niki led the way and climbed in the bus, leaving me as the last one to get in. I was able to get onto the first step and onto the bus and that was it. The doorman climbed on behind me, and we held on for dear life as we began our fast and curvy trek thru the mountains.

Needless to say, I was pissed! Public transportation here is crazy in the sense that they pack you in like cattle. I kept a death grip on the bar above my head with my right hand and on the bar by the door with my left hand. Basically, imagine taking the first step of the school bus and the driver taking off with you literally hanging out the door still. It wasn't really that horrible until we started hitting the curves. The worst part was also the fact that this was a two hour bus ride and I knew I wasn't going to be able to do this for even an hour. At one point, I had Niki ask the guy if we could sit on top of the bus with the luggage! Anything but this!

After a little while, the doorman had me squish in even farther, after picking up ANOTHER person, so that he could close the door and we wouldn't have to hang out.

At one point Niki looked over at me and told me that there are a few times during traveling where you just have to laugh about it and know it will be a hilarious story when we get home. I told her that the only thing I could do was smile so I didn't cry! Haha.

They were right when they said two hour bus ride. As the ride progressed, we were able to make our ways to the back of the van and get a seat for the last half hour of the ride. I was able to sit down and Niki sat on my lap until we arrived in Cobán.

Cobán was a pretty big city with a lot to offer food wise. We were starving by this point, needed an ATM and thankful for some personal space now that we were off that bus. We set our sights onto the McDonalds on the corner and headed that way. The whole way there, with backpacks on our backs, we laughed at how ridiculous we were for wanting that kind of food on a trip like this. Neither Niki or I are huge fans of fast food at home, and especially not McDonalds, but there was something so tempting about it now. Walking into the air conditioned McDonalds, was JUST like being at home. Same look, same staff uniforms, same smell, prices, everything! Everything except for their menu which differed a little bit and was written in Spanish. I ordered a cheeseburger, small fry and a coke light and it was amazing! Disappointed in myself as I ate the food, I was also kind of glad I did it, because it was cool to experience something so "American" so far from home...and in Spanish at that!

After lunch, we hit up the ATM, and got a cab to our next bus which would take us to our last town, Lanquín, Guatemala.

This bus was such a nice change because we were able to have our own seat. This bus was so chill and relaxed compared to the first one that I was able to jam to music, look out the window, and put my bare feet up on the seat next to me without having to worry about someone being right on top of me.

The last hour of our bus ride, we left the paved and windy mountain road to head down a bumpy and dirt road to Lanquín. The bus stopped in front of an arbor-like gateway which was the entrance of our hostel, El Retiro. We walked down the stairway towards riverside property covered with thatch roof cabins and pavilions. Plants with red flowered tips surrounded us as we admired our home for the next few days. A hillside on the other side of the fast flowing and turquoise river was sprinkled with white cows grazing as the sunset. It seriously looked like something from a movie and we were checking into it for a cheap eight bucks a night.

We set our bags down in the circular shaped dorm room and hit the bar for a drink. A chalkboard advertised that nights dinner as a barbecued chicken buffet for eight bucks a person. Even though it was a little expensive, we decided to sign up anyway, because there was no kitchen and town didn't look like it'd have too many options. Before long, the large grill just outside the bar pavilion fired up and the smell of a yummy charcoal barbecue filled the air. Old liter beer bottles with homemade candle sticks crammed in the necks were spread across the tables for light and an awesome ambient look!

By about seven thirty or eight, the staff had covered the counter of the bar with an amazing spread of food and we stood in line to have them scoop food onto our plates. My plate was loaded with salad, some kind of cloves flavored coleslaw, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, breaded eggplant, grilled chicken and garlic bread. It was a HEAP of food and it tasted even more amazing than it looked! This was the first loaded and multi-course meal I had had in a while and it hit the spot! A belly full of food was exactly what our bodies needed to tire us out and make us sleepy. We socialized with some people from the States about the excursion we had signed up for the next day in Semuc Champey and headed to the bunks not long after. We made sure to put in our order for our sack lunch for the next day and then called it a night.

Walking into the dorms was dark, chilly and damp like camping. As I laid out my sleep sack and got ready for bed by the light of my flashlight, I was super freaked out to look down and see a cockroach on the ground! Ugh!!! As grossed out as I was by its appearance, I knew it was inevitable in this type of nature setting. Regardless of whether it was expected or not though, I still tried to squish it and missed! Yuck!!! Niki assured me that it would not want to be in our warm and dry beds because they like cool and damp, so I tried to remove the thought from my mind and fall asleep. Took a few, but after a long day of travel, I did alright in the sleep department ;)

Photos:
1) Guatemalan border
2) Niki in the immigration line
3) A whole lotta onions at a market
4) Guatemalan Mickey D's
5) Spanish wrappers
6) Forest
7) Our riverside hostel