September 12, 2005
Leaving La Ruta Maya
Tomorrow we are off to El Salvador. The time in Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala has flown by. We’ve visited indigenous Mayan villages outside of San Cristóbal, explored Lake Atitlán, checked out the local wares at the market at Chichicastenango, and much more.
We’ve updated our photo site with new images from Oaxaca south to Guatemala. Check out the Blessing of the Animals in Oaxaca.
We will check in soon.
Posted by Peter Mork at 7:59 PM | Comments | TrackBack
September 11, 2005
Exploring Antigua
During breakfast, reading a local newspaper, I found a sad story that fortunately has a happy ending. The article chronicled the last three years of the life of a young boy from Guatemala. He and his two sisters were orphaned by their mother years ago. Three years ago, his sisters were adopted by a family from the United States, but he had run away from the orphanage at this point and when he returned he found out that his sisters had left the country. At the age of 9 he decided to set out on foot to find them. During his first attempt, not knowing much about the geography of the world, he headed in the wrong direction and didn't realize that the United States was in the other direction until he was in Honduras. Subsequently, he had to travel back to Guatemala. Over the past 3 years he has been apprehended in Mexico six times and quickly returned to Guatemala. This last week, now 12 years old, he was finally put in touch with his 14-year-old and 9-year-old sisters in the United States after a astute Mexican official decided to give the child some help. It turns out that the family in the U.S., unbeknownst to this young boy, had planned to adopt him with his sisters three years ago, and now will be able to finalize the process which will reunite him with the only family members he knows. I'll try to see if I can find a copy online for people back home to read as it really is inspiring.
After a quick breakfast, and finishing some more of the newspaper, we walked to theParque Central where we were hearing some pounding drums. To our surprise we found the main square filled with young Guatemalans in marching band uniforms. Representing different local schools, the marching bands were performing as part of the Guatemalan Independence celebrations. Hundreds of kids, decked out in different uniforms, playing instruments all at the same time as they marched by the government building was quite a sight to see. We remembered hearing several different school bands practicing (for this event, I guess) when we were in Lake Atitlan.
Next, we headed over to some ruins on the edge of town. The ruins were of a giant colonial cathedral that was built between 1701 and 1707 but was completely destroyed in a huge earthquake in the 1750's. While most of the walls are still intact, the grounds are covered with huge portions of the ceiling. As we took photos of the ruins, a modeling photo-shoot was taking place right next to us.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped to watch part of a soccer match that was being played in a dirt field, with the impressive volcano, Volcan Agua, looming in the background.
After reviewing our last few bank statements we are really trying to cut back on our expenditures. So today we had a cheap lunch, explored around town a bit, and then just caught up on some reading in an internet café. For dinner we splurged and had 6 tacos, instead of three, but it was well worth it. We are in the process of figuring out the best way to make it through El Salvador, where we will be headed in the next few days. It's fast-paced traveling, but we are loving it.
Posted by Peter Mork at 7:48 PM | Comments | TrackBack
September 10, 2005
Mental Note: Don’t Swing from Hanging Vines
This morning we woke up early to visit a nature reserve right outside of town before we had to catch the shuttle to Antigua. The reserve was great; we were the only ones there. We hiked around the place for a few hours, during which we were able to cross suspension bridges and see waterfalls, spider monkeys, and a butterfly farm that was also home to an injured hawk. The only bad part about the hike was when I decided to swing from a vine hanging from a tree crossing the pathway. Needless to say it broke, I slipped on a rock, and landed directly in a pool of muddy stagnant water. To remember the moment properly, we’ve got a photo of the stagnant pool.
We caught a little open-aired cab back to our hotel, got a quick bite to eat at a restaurant right next door, said goodbye to our buddy Miguel, and then soon were off to Antigua in the shuttle.
Once in town we found a decent hotel and set off to explore the city. It reminds us of San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico (in the highlands, terracotta tile roofs, indigenous Mayan influence, cobblestone streets) but has its own feel. Definitely a lot of tourists here; it is more of an established tourist destination than San Cristobal, however you can sense the same dangerous undercurrent as is around Lake Atitlan. Everyone is advised to be accompanied by a tourist policeman when visiting the nearby volcano, the town’s overlook, or the cemetary. Yet all of these things are advertised as popular tourist excursions. We’re probably just going to wander around town for a few days. We had a good dinner and then headed back to the hotel to make plans for the next few days.
Posted by Peter Mork at 7:44 PM | Comments | TrackBack
September 9, 2005
Lago de Atitlán
Today, after breakfast chatting with our favorite Guatemalan so far (our fourteen-year-old waiter Miguel), we caught a boat to San Pedro, a town directly across the lake. On the boat we met an adventurous brother and sister from Japan that were traveling through the area. They had just made their way from Cancun through the Yucatan into the north of Guatemala. With limited English and practically no Spanish they had crossed the Mexican-Guatemalan border at a remote and daring location. The sister explained to me how they were both scared to death as they were the only foreigners, and a boat full of guns was being unloaded into Mexico where they were crossing the river border. Being from Japan they said they were not used to seeing guns, which made it all the more terrifying for them. They are basically headed in the same direction as us and will be leaving from Panama City in a month.
San Pedro was a funky little town. A mix of bohemian type foreigners who lived there and locals gave it an interesting feel. I initially wanted to climb the volcano near the town but when I inquired about a guide they said it was too late in the day. Instead we decided to have drinks at a lakeside restaurant and watched a middle-aged German lady in a tiedied shirt lead her horse and five dogs to the lake for a drink. While our waiter was a local, the cook behind the counter was a dread-locked Europpean.
Our outdated Lonely Planet suggested several hikes to neighboring towns, which sounded like a good backup plan. But when we inquired about the trail to Santiago Atitlan we were informed that it was probably too dangerous for us to walk. A kid that sold us some peanuts and cashews told us that he didn’t walk over to Santiago to sell his goods anymore after he himself had been robbed by Santiaganos.
Instead we headed in the other direction to a town called San Juan. It was a pleasant walk where we were greeted by several friendly locals walking in the opposite direction or farming along the side of the road. However, once we reached San Juan, hoping to continue walking on the road to the town of San Marcos to catch the boat home, we were again informed, this time by policemen on a motorcycle, that it was far too dangerous to walk along the road connecting the towns. This violent undercurrent was surprising to us. These are sleepy little towns that are inhabited by quite a few foreigners and have seen tourism for a long time. That even locals selling nuts get mugged is unsettling. It taught us not to trust our lonely planet guide and to get second opinions from locals and other travelers. In fact, maybe we should ween ourselves off of the ubiquitous Lonely Planet.
So to get to San Marcos, we jumped in one van and changed to the bed of a pickup truck to make our way safely into the town. It actually would have been a few-hours walk and was just as interesting riding in the back of the truck with several Mayan women who were making the same journey. I helped them lift the large packages that they carried on their heads into the back of the truck. One of the ladies, who appeared to be over 70 years old, was carrying a very heavy, steaming hot cauldron full of something on her head in this manner. Don’t know how they do it. Once there we explored little San Marcos a bit, listened to the local school’s marching band practice, got chased by some dogs, skirted past the foreign-owned meditation retreats and then caught a boat back to Panajachel.
Back in town we had some dinner, checked the internet, and then called it a night.
Posted by Peter Mork at 7:36 PM | Comments | TrackBack
September 8, 2005
The Market at Chichicastenango
We were up early and caught a bus to Chichicastenango to see the big market that is held every Thursday and Sunday. Marcelo and Rosi had described it to us back in Sonora, Mexico. It was about an hour’s drive on windy roads through unbelievable Guatemalan countryside.
The market was quite a social event. Block after block of market stalls sold everything from carefully embroidered traditional Mayan clothing to baby chickens. Near the town plaza was the Iglesia de Santo Tomas which had similarities to the one we saw in San Juan Chamula with lots of candles along the ground, pine needles carpeting the floor and incense.
One of Em’s favorite aspects of the market was that everyone was so busy buying and selling stuff that no one seemed to mind her taking pictures. Head over to the photo site to check them out.
We also made our way up to a small Shrine of Pascual Abaj atop a hill that was about a 20 minute walk from the market. A tourguide trying to get us to pay him to lead the way said it was too dangerous to go alone. Our guide book also warned of robberies. But when we walked to the base of the hill a young Mayan girl laughed when we asked if it was dangerous. She then pointed out an elderly British man who was making his way down the hillside. He also confirmed the walk was fine. We found the shrine without any problems.
Back in Panajachel we had dinner outside our hotel in a restaurant that overlooked the lake. Tomorrow we plan on exploring a few of the other small villages around the lake.
Posted by Peter Mork at 7:33 PM | Comments | TrackBack
September 7, 2005
¡Vamos Guate!
The morning started with a bang today. I shut off the alarm when I thought that I had just hit the snooze button and I finally opened my eyes 10 minutes before we were supposed to be at the plaza for the bus to Guatemala.
We miraculously packed all our stuff up, checked out of the hotel, and made it to the plaza in about 15 minutes. When we arrived we were informed that there was a problem. Protesters had blocked the road to Antigua, our final destination, so we had to make a choice. We could either get a full refund and wait it out a day or two until there was news that the road was cleared, or we could instead go to Panajachel, a city 2 hours from Antigua.
It was a no brainer as the night before Bob had told us that Panajachel, located next to lake Atitlan, was a must see and we were planning on backtracking there anyways. Again I thought we might be the only ones on the trip but again to my surprise after a few stops at various hostels the bus was absolutely full, even a third person rode in the middle between the driver and the person in the passenger seat. Eleven backpacks were strapped to the top of the van.
The road was windy so it was tough to read but the views traveling through Southern Mexico and Western Guatemala were unbelievable. Crossing the border was easy enough, we switched vans and had a new driver but it was obvious from the fast crossing that immigration officials were used to backpackers heading through.
After driving all day we finally arrived in Panajachel. Descending towards Lake Atitlan during the last 15 minutes of the journey I knew we had made the right choice. It’s similar to Lake Tahoe except that three volcanoes with 12,000 feet peaks line the rim of the lake.
We found a cheap place near the water. There was a great hotel right across the way, complete with parrots and an 8 week old puppy, that was tough to turn down but we really need to be saving our money. The place we found is just fine and about half the price.
For dinner we headed over to a restaurant up the street. They had a TV and after doing a few errands we came back watch the US play Guatemala in a World Cup qualifying match. It was a tough game to watch over the cries “Vamos Guate!!!” from the other patrons. Guatemala needed a least a tie to keep their World Cup dreams alive, a tournament the country has never qualified for, so both Em and I were pulling for them as the U.S. qualified last week with the win over Mexico. It ended up as a 0-0 tie to the satisfaction of many in the bar. We headed out for one more drink with two guys we met in the restaurant and then called it a night.