Insane Central American Bus Rides - from Dave

Well, I survived another shuttle-bus ride.  In hindsight, I guess it wasn't that bad, but for the 7 hours of being squashed into a micro-van designed for 8 people, with 15 other backpackers, it did seem less than ideal. Our driver was a Madman, driving through packed Guatemalan City streets, missing dogs and kids by inches, squealing the bald tires descending the mountain passes at high speed, and passing transport trucks and chicken buses like he was competing in a computer game.  All the time, he played bad Salsa music at ear-splitting volume.  I had to laugh when Justin Beber came on the air, and our Spanish speaking driver started singing along to "Baby, Baby, Baby….".   

I had one of the better seats with a window that opened, but this only allowed black diesel smoke to be blown in my face, and gave me an earache from all the honking and road noise.  With my legs pressed tight into the seat ahead, and my hips and shoulders squashed into the person next to me, my ass and legs went numb after 2 hours into the 7 hour trip.  Luckily the others on the bus were a pretty good group.  The 15 of us got to know each other to pass the boredom, and ease the physical discomfort of being squashed like sardines into the ancient micro-van designed for 8 people.  Did I already say that there were 15 of us in an 8 passenger van?  I don't want to repeat myself.

I had to close my eyes when we passed 3 transport trucks in a row on a blind corner.  Then it got worse.....   As night fell, all the drivers on the road went insane.  Watching headlights coming at you at high speed on a mountain road in Guatemala is not a pretty sight.  I felt better when I just closed my eyes, and turned my iPod volume to maximum to drown out the road noise and blaring radio. To keep their sanity, I noticed some of the young backpackers were imbibing in bad wine and cheap prescription drugs (which apparently are dirt cheap and don't require a prescription here). The rest of us just suffered. 

I was a relief when we all just fell out of the van at the border, and stumbled into the line to pay the bride to get our Passports stamped at the Guatemalan-Honduras border.  

Survived yet another bus ride in Central America,

Dave

Studied Spanish for a week, climbed a volcano, and kayaked on Lake Atitlan

Yikes, I think I need a day off.

I spent a week studying Spanish in Quetzeltenango(Xela).  It was pretty intense, with 5 hours a day of one-on-one immersion.  I had a really patient teacher, but I'm not sure how much got through my thick skull.  I really need to practice more.  It might help if I spent more time studying rather than climbing volcanoes.

     The volcano hike up Santa Maria was pretty easy, but the 5am start was hard.  There were a couple teenage girls from the US in our group who struggled.  It was 3500 feet elevation gain on a steep, slippery trail, and most of those in our group had no experience.  I had to laugh at a young Aussie, who had never hiked before, but was a good surfer.  To descend the steep muddy trail, he tried surfing down.  It was really hilarious and the wipe-outs spectacular.  Amazingly enough he didn't hurt himself.  The views from the top where stunning, which made the early start worth it.  There were even some tough old Mayan women in sandals climbing to the summit for a Mayan religious ceremony.

     In Xela, I stayed in a Cultural Center that had lots of plays and live music every night.  This was fun and really interesting, but didn't do much for my Spanish study habits.

    I'm now in San Pedro on Lake Atitlan, and last night I experienced a bizarre procession of the Virgin Mary on a Parade Float.  It's like the Semana Santa parade that they have at Easter, but this one is held before Christmas.  This is a small town of only a couple thousand people, but they had live bands playing on 5 street corners, and after the Catholic-Mayan church service on the steps of the Church, they paraded a huge wooden statue of the Virgin Mary along the cobblestone streets.  She was covered in Christmas lights, and flowers.  They have an old Honda Generator that they wheel behind the procession to power all the lights on the Float.  The procession had to stop every block, to clear the evil spirits away.  They did this by throwing tons of firecrackers on the cobblestone street in front of the procession.  I think it worked.  It also cleared the kids away who were running around and having a great time.  There were lots of fireworks too, during the parade.  There are Fireworks almost every night in Guatemala, as we approach Christmas.

Photos

Cheers,

Dave

Nervous in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

Hi,

Last night I was sleeping up in the loft of a funky little guesthouse in the heart of downtown Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.  The town is in an area of Central America that gets hurricanes, earthquakes, mudslides, and volcanic eruptions.  The most active volcano in the western hemisphere is steaming away above the town.  Well, it got a bit interesting last night.

I woke up at 4 am to what sounded like an avalanche of rubble rolling down the fiberglass sheet roofing only 2 meters above my bed.  I saw shadows of huge rats in the moonlight, chasing each other and racing and scratching around the roof. I could see the shadows of at least 4 or 5 of the largest rats I've ever seem.  They were at least 12 inches long and were extremely fast. I thought I was going to be attacked and eaten by a horde of huge rodents. 

It turns out that there are hundreds of cats in this city….. cats, not rats.  Thank god.  I learned afterwards from Julia, my amazing Spanish teacher, that all the city's cats live on the roofs of the buildings.  There are absolutely no cats who live on the ground.  The wild, hungry dogs would get them, of course. The cats run around at night, making the most incredible noise – scratching across the clear fiberglass roofing.   Thank god they were not rats.  I was a little nervous.  

Hmmm… 'Cats on a hot tin roof' ?

Not eaten by rats yet,

David

Dave is in Xela, Guatemala taking a 1-week Spanish Immersion course

Hi,

I can't believe I'm doing this.  I'm back at school for a week.  The bell rang at 8:00am, and I started my total immersion in Latin American Spanish.  It's pretty cool actually, with one-on-one instruction in a really nice garden courtyard. I have a great instructor named Julia, who is a blast.  She has a great sense of humor, and is keeping it light so far.  There is an espresso bar to keep me caffeinated, and some really friendly people running the school.  Everyone talks to each other in Spanish of course, but will translate if you look totally confused.  By 1pm my brain was full.  I had the afternoon off.... BUT I had friggin homework to do.  Can you believe that?  Me doing homework.  Well, I just finished it, and am heading out for a couple cervezas(beers) to ease the pain.  

Hasta Luego (see you later),

Daveed

Dave arrived in the mountain region of Chiapas

Hi,

I arrived in San Cristobal Las Casa today. What fantastic scenery as we rose from the plains of the Yucatan with jungle palm trees, and into the Mountains of Chiapas with pine trees forests. Yucatan is as flat as a tortilla as the locals say, and hot and humid. It's now much cooler in the mountains. I even put on long pants and light fleece. It's probably about 20c in the daytime and 12c at night.

I hope you aren't freezing your butts off. Hee-hee

Cheer,

Dave

Dave is in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico

Hola

Well the 9 hour bus trip from Merida was not as bad as I feared. The AC was too cold, but other that that, it was uneventful. There was some stunning coastal scenery around Campeche, as we drove through a number of fishing villages. I watched pelicans and herons fishing. I'm now in Chiapas, which is the start of the 'mountainous' region of southern Mexico. Actually, they are more like jungle covered hills.

I toured the famous Mayan Ruins at Palenque today. Wow, they are pretty amazing. I'm not surprised that these were your favourite Ruins Dad. Ancient ruins in a jungle setting. Pretty amazing.

I met the leader of a Gap Tour group today. His group was off on their own for awhile, so he had some time to kill. We talked for ½ hour before I found out he is from Golden, BC, and an avid backcountry skier when he's not travelling. Interesting guy. He's been all over the world leading Gap tours.

It's off season now, so there are not too many tourists. Last night I sat in the Central Plaza in Palenque with live music, and there were only a couple other tourists. Apparently it will get much touristier near Christmas.

Heading out to dinner now… can't decide on Burritos or Tacos. All I know for sure is there will be a cold cerveza involved. Actually, I've not been very impressed with Mexican cuisine so far. Compared with Asian cuisine, it's not nearly as tasty. At least its not Rice+Beans yet. That may be coming as I head south.

Cheers,

Daveed

Dave is in Merida and hasn't gotten lost too many times so far

Hi,

I've heard it's a bit chilly in Calgary these days.  We'll that's too bad.  Hee-hee-heee  Just a slight giggle.

I'm currently in the old colonial town of Merida.  It's about 5 hours from Cancun, and is apparently one of the most "authentic" Mexican cities.  It really is pretty amazing. Interesting old colonial streets and squares.  Last Sunday night it seemed like the whole town was out in the Main Plaza singing and dancing.  They had live bands, street performers, lots of street food, and a dance area.  They have this family event every Sunday night.  The locals really know how to have fun.  Not many tourists here.

Went to the City market today.  It was like a Mexican version of the crowded Asian markets.  Very crowded and fun.  I didn't see any other tourists.  Pretty safe here except if you step off the curb, you're fair game for the buses roaring by.  Even the locals stick to the narrow sidewalks.  In Asia, people crowd into the street.  Not here.

I haven't had to take a real "chicken bus" yet, but I have taken a couple collectivos (a mini-van that fills with 10 or 12 people.  Lots of fun

I missed my connecting local bus from some Mayan ruins yesterday, but was really lucky to get a ride in a tour bus from Mexico City.  Everyone was Mexican, and only one person spoke a little English.  I sat in the driver's helpers chair at the front of the bus for 2 hrs.  Everyone was really friendly and curious as to who this huge white man was, and why was he on the bus.  We had lot of laughs.

Photos
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Vem2S88uh1kHgmWU7

Got to run.

Cheers,

Daveed (my new Spanish name)

Dave arrived in Playa Del Carmen

Hi,

Just a quick note to say I arrived in Playa, and am staying at a nice little hotel in the town. It's got an open courtyard with lots of tropical plants and trees, and right now the rain in pouring down. There has been a couple tropical downpours today, following by sunshine an hour later. The beach here is stunning, but the town walking street is pretty touristy. The beer is cold, the food good.... so far, so good. Not speaking much Spanish might be more of an issue that I'd hoped.

Off to Tulum tomorrow, and then to less touristy areas.

Love,

Dave

Central America - Pre-trip planning

Well, it's been almost 18 months since I got back from my SE Asia trip, and I've been getting that travel urge again. This time I'm planning to backpack around the Yucatan and Chiapas in Mexico, and then the 7 countries in Central America(Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama). To keep my options open, I've only booked a 1-way flight, and will just come home when I feel like it(or more likely, when I can't force myself onto another Chicken Bus). I'm guessing that this will be a 3 to 4 month trip, but who knows really. I'm going to play it by ear. I'm flying to Cancun on Nov. 17/2010, and will beach it in Playa-del-Carmen for a couple days before escaping to less touristy areas. My Itinerary is pretty vague, but right now it kind of looks like this:

Yucatan(Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Merida) > Chiapas (Palenque, San Crisdobal) > Guatemala(Highlands, Atitlan region, Tikal, Livingston, Coban) > Belize(Caye Caulker, Sailing trip to Plancencia, Hopkins) > Honduras (Copan, Bay Islands) > El Salvador? > Nicaragua (Granada, Isla de Ometepe, Rio San Juan boat trip) > Costa Rica (Corcovado National Park), Panama (Canal, Bocas del Toro).

I plan to fly back from Panama, but who knows. I may end up finding some place I can't leave, and just hang out for awhile. I'm not really committed to getting to every country in Central America, but right now that's the plan.
I've had lots of time for trip planning this time around, but haven't stressed out too much about it. I could be wrong, but I'm expecting this trip to be a little less exotic than my SE Asia trip, and maybe a bit more dangerous(thefts, bandits, etc). I will be a bit more challenged with communications, as my Spanish is not great. I dropped out of the Spanish Class I started in January, since I am basically a lazy bum. But, I do plan on taking a 1-week Spanish Course and Home-Stay in Guatemala. Hopefully that will get me by. I do have a Phrase Book, and have been practicing with Spanish CDs in the car.
As for gear.... I bought a top of the line Travel Pack for this trip (Deuter 70L), as I wasn't really happy with the MEC pack I took to SE Asia. I've also tweaked my gear a bit, and will be taking a little Asus Netbook this time around. After traveling with a woman in Indonesia who was on a 2-years trip around the world, with only a 10 kg pack, my target was to get down to that weight. Well.... it's not going to happen. Right now my Pack will weigh at least 16 kg. Oh well. Hopefully the new backpack is more comfortable.

I've posted the country maps, but not much else there yet.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/K9DRfQDpnFjQAj3y7