Guatemala Part 4

Guatemala Part 4 And the journey continues

My original plan had been to visit Coban, in the interior of Guatemala, but after Honduras and Tikal, I just could not face another 8 hour shuttle ride. I also wanted to see the Holy Week Procession in Antigua which had not been in my original plans. So I have decided to spend more time in the Lake Atitlan area; the pace will be slower.

I now have a nice morning routine; up at about 6, off for a cappuccino and a pastry. After coffee I say morning prayers to my patron saints, Saint Lucie of the shoelaces, and Saint Denise of the zipper.

So far they have not failed me, I have not tripped once, and my fly is always up, in public anyway. That is until today. St Denise let me down; I travelled all the way to Pana with my fly undone. I must light another candle for St. Denise, or maybe a beer in her honour will do.

The road to Pana was fine. The last half hour or so must have been a shortcut, because we only saw about 6 cars. The road was very narrow and wound down into a valley and back up again. No chicken buses. They could not possible negotiate some of these turns. We were stopped at one turn. A small construction truck was trying to get around the turn. The entire crew was in the front and the back, directing traffic, while the truck inched forward, then back and so on, until he finally made it. They all jumped on and away they went. I hope Tim and Jerry did not come this way. After you climb out of the valley you are suddenly hit with this overwhelmingly beautiful view of the lake. It does not come into view gradually, all of a sudden it is there. Hits you like a hammer. It is not as large as I expected, but the blue water and the towering volcanoes take your breath away.

Pana is basically a half  km street, with nothing but shops, stalls, restaurants and hotels.

I checked into my room in a hotel that Frank and Deborah had recommended. Nice room, private bath. 17 dollars.

I emailed part 3. Nothing is simple in Guatemala. In Antigua the keyboard was the same as home. Here they use the Guatemalan version. To type @ you must press on the ALT key and type 64. Not very intuitive. I remember the same problem in Croatia. I have not found the keys for the apostrophe, dash, or question mark. So "I’m"  becomes "I am".

 Eureka I have found it. BONUS.

One of the keyboards also had most of the letters scratched out, and I´m not a typist. I need another patron saint.

Saint .... of the keyboard. Any volunteers. Question mark.? Thank you Saint..

Another eureka moment. I will be interested in how these symbols appear to you.

I had another one of those wonderful coincidents. While I was typing yesterday I heard someone call my name. I look up and it is Ramon and Maia. It turns out that they are visiting friends in Solola, nearby, and Ramon recognized me. We exchanged hugs and kisses, and agreed to meet for dinner at 8. They were accompanied by another young lady, Paz.

After I finished typing I went to the lake shore. It is quite pretty, with a lot more flowers than Antigua. The view across the lake is wonderful, and the water is very clear. But there is garbage floating on the water. Pop bottles Styrofoam containers. The Guatemalan Touch.

Towards the evening the water gets choppy, and the clouds move in.

I met my Spanish friends along the street and Ramon told me that they would prefer to eat earlier. They have to take a local bus, which is basically a pickup where you sit in the open back, to Solola.  Apparently there have been several kidnappings of locals in the last month, and they did not want to wait too late into the evening before going home. We had a nice couple of drinks, and they invited me to join them on a volcano walk up San Pedro volcano. Now this is 6 hours straight up the mountain, and it is not active. I asked Ramon to email me any photos he will take, but I was not even tempted.

By this time it had started to thunder, lightning followed and there was a real downpour. I did not envy them the ride home.

The pace has certainly slowed. No 4 am shuttles, no terror rides on the roads. More time to reflect. I even had to buy a little book to keep my diary. I have run out of paper. The urge to purge has abated, thankfully.

Over the years people have told me I was full of shit, but, until last week I did not believe them. I do now. The only good news-- my eyes are not brown anymore, they are blue.

I have heard rumours that in this place you call Canada it is cold. There is snow. What is this thing you call SNOW? I am told you throw it, you build with it, you slide on it. Oh, you gringos you tell such stories.

I am really enjoying writing this journal. It makes me clarify what I am feeling and thinking. I hope that those of you reading it are also enjoying it. I love the feedbacks. Keep it up.

Til tomorrow

Hasta la vista ( I think that’s Spanish for see you later)

Ralf