Flashback

One of the things I meant to mention about Central America was the continual honking of horns. From the moment we arrived in Guatemala until we got to the (as far as honking goes) peace of BsAs, the sound of honking horns was a constant companion.

I personally observed horns being used for the following messages:

• Excuse me
  
• After you
  
• Oi
  
• No, you can't get in front of me
  
• Yes, just squeeze in here
  
• Um - I'm overtaking you and will have a head on crash with the bus that has just pulled out of a sidestreet about 100 yards ahead and would really appreciate it if you could slow down a bit - right now - so that there is a gap of more than six inches in front of you that I could get into - please?
  
• No
  
• OK - go on then
  
• You look like a pretty young lady
  
• Did you look in you mirror? (this is a rhetorical question of a honk)
  
• Did you indicate before turning left from the right lane? (rhet.)
  
• I am about to:
  
  
  
  • stop
    
  • move off
    
  • pull out
    
  • do a U turn
    
  • turn left
    
  • turn right
    
  • go straight ahead
    
  
  
• What did you do that for?
  
• Hello
  
• Oh, hi there
  
• How are you?
  
• Fine thanks - and you?
  
• Mustn't grumble (Actually - I just made that one up)
  
• You look like a tourist - do you need a taxi? (this is also in use here in BsAs)
  
• Would you like to get on this bus?
  
• I've just overtaken you ha-ha-ha (bus driving is a competitive sport in Guatemala)
  
• I'll get you back at the next stop
  
• There may even have been "I've safely arrived at my desination" - but I think I would always have been slightly too relieved to care and listen at that point
  

Indicators are _never_ used. Here in BsAs, hazard warning lights seem to mean pretty much any of the above. At least it's quieter.

... into the fire

It didn't start too well. Eric (our French captain's name) prepared some lovely smelling chicken with garlic and all sorts of things and placed them on the rail-mounted BBQ at the rear of the boat. After about 10 minutes of yummy smells wafting to our nostrils, we heard a bang, a sizzle and a very loud Merde!. The BBQ had deposited its contents into the Rio Dulce. Margot (Eric's travelling companion) whipped up a pleasant enough substitute.

A much less sweltering night saw us awaken to a pretty dawn and another sight of Livingston as we motored past.

Once we were out of the bay, sails were hoisted and we we on our way, driven by nothing but the wind.

T started getting a bit concerned about two things.

1. Eric's penchant for sleeping and letting the auto-pilot steer the boat.
   
2. The amount of heel (leeward leaning for you land-lubbers) that the Kir was doing.
   

I wasn't unduly bothered, as the heel was well within limits (it was quite mild, if truth be told) and the lack of Captain vigilance could be made up for with us setting up an informal watch.

Out of the frying pan ...

It's amazing what a good night's sleep in a safe, warm bed can do. On Friday morning, we decided to discover just how easy it would be to get to Honduras. T and I just wanted to get over the border to somewhere we could carry on our travels from - Keri was trying to get to Roatan - one of the Bay islands.

We discovered that the fast lanchas would only go if there were six or more people wanting to go, and we were just about to book a whole boat for the three of us - although we would have been happy to share the costs had others joined us, when we were introduced to a chap at a bar who was about to set off for Utila (another Bay Island) the very next day on a sailing boat. We couldn't believe our luck.

I was dispatched to look at the boat whilst the girls showered and did whatever it is that girls do.

When I returned, I gave a less than glowing report, however, spurred on by what can only be described as It can't be any worse than syndrome - we talked ourselves into it.

So, at six pm we found ourselves clambering over rusty oil tanks to reach a lancha to take us to the Kir

Just a quickie

Just a quick update before we drop off the net again.

After an interesting trip on Las Serenas we have stopped in Livingston.

Tonight we board another boat to sail to Honduras.

T´s friends babies are doing well - as are their mothers. Congratulations.

In Rio

Just before getting to Rio, the bus emptied of naives and a sorry bunch of about ten westerners were left. The girl who had sat almost next to us for the last six hours asked us about Rio Dulce. We told her that we hadn't booked anything - as we were expecting to have arrived four hours earlier. We mentioned that we were going sailing - and so was she - on the same trip!

The three of us teamed up and found a nice place to stay on the river - called Tortugal. We have a cabin (with a few too much nature inside it for my liking). Kerry (who is Canadian) is staying in a very open-air loft/dorm thing. She is braver than I.

Thursday was spent getting money, eating, sleeping, reading books and - for me, swimming and diving.

Today we join the boat. There won't be any updates for a week. During that week, two of T's friends are having babies (on the same day - in the same hospital - how wierd is that!). We wish them luck and love.

And then to Rio

We woke up early (5:00 am) and showered, dressed and packed for the trip to Rio Dulce. We had been offered two leaving times. 6:00am would get us to Rio at 14:30; 9:30 am would get us there at 18:00 (getting dark). We wanted to arrive in the light, so we paid an extra 10% and got up an awful lot earlier to make sure we did (you can guess where this is going already, can't you?)

The hotel staff were magnificent and, as we were to leave before breakfast started, they gave us a couple of packed lunches instead of the breakfast. As it turned out, we could have had brekkie, as the bus to pick us up was late and didn't get to us until 6:30.

Rather than go straight to Guatemala City, the bus took a detour via Antigua to drop off a Norwegian schoolteaher. Outside Guate. the traffic was terrible and we felt a wave of relief as we pulled into the bus station.

The rather sheepish bus driver gave us our ticket for the noon bus. The one that would arrive at six pm. We were not happy. At least we had reserved seats on a first-class, air-conditioned, luxury bus for the six hour trip.

The bus didn't have a name, but it could easily have been called 'Titanic'. The seats were broken, the A/C, oops, no A/C. And it was packed. Guatemalan people are smaller than Europeans. We will draw a veil over the trip, driving, heat, dust etc. Suffice it to say that First Class has a long way to go in Guatemala.

Back to Pana

So, we booked a private launch to take us back to Pana (the thought of trying to put our stuff into the public ones and then trying to keep them dry was too much to bear). Our launch was due at 12:30 and was to be called 'Fatima'. After waiting for about 20 mins, spurning the near empty lanchas going our way for 1/5 of the price we were due to pay, an empty lancha approached. How we chuckled at its name 'Titanic.' "Which poor fools would get on that death trap?" We wondered.

Us, apparently. by the dint of our new found Spanish, we realised that Fatima was not coming and they'd sent the Titanic as a replacement (personally, I think that there is no Fatima - but they've worked out that no-one in their right mind would book a boat called Titanic).

As it happened, the lack of icebergs on the lake assisted us in not sinking and getting quite comfortably to Pana.

T cocked up a bit, so we only managed to stay in the second most expensive hotel in Pana, which had a pool with a water slide. I had fun on the water slide. Here is the obligatory sunset photo from the balcony of the hotel. We needed an early night for our 6:00 am bus to Rio Dulce.

Last evening in San Marcos

After my swimming and diving (and jumping in), we retired to the local bar 'Moon Fish'. We chatted with some people and Trudi had the biggest bottle of beer in the world.

A mi me gusta Nadar y Saltar

Nadar	Saltar

Our room

Was very high up - built into a cliff face.

Last day in San Marcos

So, today is our last day in San Marcos. It was also our last Spanish lesson. I'm afraid that the in-depth metaphysical discussions will be firmly in English for the forseeable future.

As we are going to do more 'proper' travelling soon, we may be dropping off the grid for a bit. We are planning a night in Pana tomorrow, then a long trip to Rio Dulce (changing buses in the big city!). We will be there for two nights, then we get on the catamaran for six nights. We have been promised that there will be no Internet once we get on the boat.

A little bird has told me that my friends Gary and MC have got engaged. We are waiting to be told all the details. Congratulations to you both.

Trudi is currently having a(nother) treatment. She hadn't decide what she was going to have - but I bet it's a head massage. I'll be going swimming soon.

Feliz CumpleañosTrudi

OK, a quick catch up appears to be in order. The last few days have been pretty quiet, Wed, Thu and Fri mornings have been taken up with our Spanish lessons and the afternoons have been spent recovering from our Spanish lessons. In the evenings we have been eating in the restaurant at the hotel, partially because of the excellent food and partially because of the fact that it means we don't have to walk around the dark paths at night.

Friday was, of course, a special day; Trudi had her twenty-eleventh birthday (again) and we celebrated by moving into a new room with an even more spectacular view.

View of the 'infinity bed'	View of the outside shower

The bathroom (which has a bath!) is outside and is amazing to relax in the tub, reading a book and looking at the astounding view.

On the down side, Trudi took a while to get used to the concept of the 'infinity bed' and spent the first night worried that she was about to fall out. Having a bathroom (and toilet) outside also takes some getting used to.

T had loads of birthday wishes via email (thanks all) and had a lovely card and present from her Mum. She hasn't yet seen anything expensive enough that she wants as a her present from me ... watch this space.

On Saturday we decided to go and visit San Pedro (across the lake from us) and we took the lancha (boat) over there. San Pedro was dirty and T was most pleased that we were not staying there!

Saturday night was a quiet night in, watching 'Peep Show' series 3 episodes. Nice and relaxing.

Our next task is to work out how to get to the boat for Friday lunch-time. Oh, the pressure.

Spanish day one

Awoke to a magnificent view from our bed

After last night, the floor was covered with dead ants. Even worse, there was no water! We had to go to our Spanish lesson dirty (sucio)!

Four hours of Spanish later, with the amusing Maydeni, we know a bit more. But the important thing is that we were forced to speak Spanish for (most of) the four hours. Four more days to go, then, I'm sure, we'll be having in-depth metaphysical discussions in Spanish.

After a light lunch, T went off to her therapy session, which was great by all accounts and then we wandered down to 'the beach'. Which resembled a small, sandy garbage dump. P came back to type this blog up and, just now, a hummingbird came to look at the plants about 5 feet away - awesome.

We dined in the most popular restaurant in Guatemala by our observation, anyway. It was OK, but nothing to write home about. Luckily, when we returned to the room, there were only three or four ants - easily dealt with. Trudi has decided that the mosquito net feels like a four poster - so we have it up now.

Ant-gate

We got the boat back from Pana to San Marcos, the driver seemed to not care that it was overcrowded and most of his passengers were getting wet, especially me.

On the way back to the hotel, we booked Spanish lessons - start 8am tomorrow and Trudi booked an EFT therapy

We went back to the room, settled down to observe sunset and then left for dinner.

Lovely vegetarian dinner, accompanied by more church noise and barking dogs. The businesses (about 80% of San Marcos' business) don't like the church, it's illegal but the mayor does nothing about it. I forsee some kind of hippy-led confrontation in the none too distant future.

Returned to room to find it crawling with large ants. Worked out that the 'knock-down' spray for mosquitoes is just as effective at knocking down ants that are crawling around quite happily outside on the roof and then come tumling through the gaps in the ceiling. After a while of trying to work out what to do, decided to erect the mossie net over the bed. T was very good and didn't freak out at all. Had an ant-free, but poor, night's sleep. Won't make that mistake again!

The Cash run

We were up early, packed and on the boat to Panajachel. (Trudi got a little wet). Lago de Atitlan is quite spectacular!

Task one was to try to get cash out (you won't believe how hard this can be!) . There are all sorts of rumours about why cash is hard to come by in Guatemala. The most common one seems to be that they ordered new cash but burned the old money before realising that the new money was rubbish (bad ink, easily forged,...). Bottom line is that there is only about a 50% chance that an ATM will actually have cash.

We had to get some books, as we passed a shop that had over 4,000! I bought a new hat, Trudi haggled.

We decided to have lunch in Pana (yep, that's what us locals call it, none of your Panajachel rubbish that marks out those tourists), we had a very nice lunch with a view.

San Marcos on Sunday

We had a lovely breakfast at Aaculaax, lovely. The rooms look amazing and have fantastic views - we move on Monday.

All day, there was continuous noise, mainly from the band in the square, practising for their fiesta. It wasn't all that pleasing to the ear and there was no escaping it.

Another lousy night as all night long the local dogs were getting their revenge on the village band by barking, all night. Really, all bloody night.

Antigua to San Marcos

Just to set the reord straight, I forgot to mention the pretty real fire that was burning in our room as we returned from dinner. It was very pretty and was actually neededto keep us warm, it's nice to be not baking hot all the time.

After getting cash in Antigua, we caught our pre-booked minibus from Antigua to Panajachel, there were only four passengers (which must seem an incredible waste of space to a Guatemalan (mini)bus driver, who seem to take it as some kind of personal pride in driving around with horrendously full vehicles. Panajachel was busy, but it was Saturday afternoon.

We were dropped off at the Tourist info in Panajachel, which booked a room for us at the Posada Bosque Encantado.

We marched the length of Panajachel to get to our boat (lancha) to San Marcos and then a march to the hotel with three local lads carrying our baggage. Bargaining with them for their services was an interesting experience, I got the feeling that they were better at it than we were:-)

We went out for food and had a beer at the Blind Lemon, where there was live music, then back to our room for a (not very good) sleep.

Pretty

Last night, we had the 'tasting menu' at the hotel restaurant which was lovely. The piece de resistance was the dessert, where the chef came out with the plates and poured the sauce into a small pot that, he told us, contained dry ice. Very pretty.

It's a pretty place, Antigua.

Off to the lake now.

Things I forgot to mention at the time (i)

During all the excitement of the trip etc... there are a few reasonably interesting things that happened that I forgot to mention. Here is my chance to catch up.

• On our 45 minute march through the blackness of the jungle of Tikal to the temple for sunrise, we saw a huge spider. It was the size of a small dog. (O.K. about 8 inches across including legs). One of the girls in our group screamed very loudly. The spider ran away, very fightened.
  
• As we wandered over the border from Belize into Guatemala, there were a large number (about 30) of low-loader trucks lining the streets with US style (i.e. Jeeps and not Land-Rovers) army vehicles on board. None of them seemed to be tanks or cannons or anything - just people movers. The also had no military identification on them at all except the word 'Belize' written in white paint on the front of each. There were no army people in sight - it was all a bit strange really.
  
• Rather than bore you all with the current state of our insect bites, suffice it to say that the little bastards are pretty much everywhere - it is quite comforting to take Malaria pills each morning. A little less comforting is reading about the other things you can catch from such bites in the Death Book as we have come to call it. Trudi is forbidden from reading unvetted pages, lest she starts worrying too much.
  
• It appears that Trudi's best friend (I am only her best, straight, male friend - apparently) David; has been moonlighting in San Ignacio - taking all that confidential Sainsbury's knowledge and putting it to use in his own Superstore.
  
  

Luxury

Another early start to get to the airport to fly down to Guatemala City (either a 30 min flight or a 10 hour bus ride - we chose the former). As we arrived at the airport we were told that the flight would be late as it was misty. That pleased Trudi, who seems to believe that Central American Airlines are just happy-go-lucky scared-of-nothing death traps. So, demonstrating some restraint by not taking off in thick mist reassured her (a bit) that they might care about their (and our) lives.

Upon arrival in Guat. (see, we are going native) we took a ten dollar shuttle to Antigua (no, not that Antigua, Antigua Guatemala).

Trudi had her beady little eyes on the most posh hotel in the guide book (a 5 star converted monastary), I suggested that there might be nice places to stay other than there. So we trundled off to the INGUAT Tourist Information centre. (Who were only marginally useful - I must say.)

As it turned out, the only place left that had a double room for two nights (that was acceptable to her ladyship) was, you guessed it, Casa Santa Domingo. I bet you are all shocked about that revalation. You can tell that it is nice because it has rose petals in water everywhere - apparently.

After a beautiful night's sleep (although interrupted by lorry/bus horn honking at five thirty am) and a wonderful evening meal, we are fully refreshed. Trudi has her sense of humour back in full effect - which is, I must confess, a mixed blessing.

The place is stunning, and very relaxing as you can see

Also, at 5,000 feet it is pleasantly cool and there are no nasty insects to spoil our days. Very nice.

Tomorrow we head off to Lago de Atitlan fow a few days. Apparently it's cold there.