KInd of a blur

The last few weeks of my trip were a bit complicated to say the least. In a way things slowed down and the last week was a streak of bad luck. I fell at the dock, was accused of an illicit entry into Costa Rica and denied entry and just to top things off had to spend an extra x amount of money to purchase a ticket from Managua to NYC which was cancelled because of a tropical storm off the coast of Florida.

So while I had an AMAZING trip it got a little blurred by the series of unfortunate events towards the end of the trip. No trip is perfect, but considering how well things went for the first month and a half, this was overdue.

It is hard to think retrospectively and appreciate the amazing things that happen because I am still in a bit of pain from that fall ja ja but it was actually one of the weird things that happen that makes you appreciate travel. I remember that even though I had just lost my glasses, had gotten my computer and camera wet and had just fallen on murky water the first thing I did was laugh.

From that point on I had to write my blog on paper and hope to eventually upload it here, along with a map of my full trip. Funny that I was able to save my camera's memory card! So I didn't lose my pictures.

Here is my facebook album which should be public

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101519666208617.3149984.8609834&type=3&l=630fdff158

Little Corn Island... The Little Paradise That Is

My stay at Managua was a bit rushed on my way to Corn Islands. I did managed to get some affordable paperback books including Azul by Ruben Dario and Bananos by Emilio Quintana. I had very little sleep as my taxi to the airport arrived at 4 a.m. sharp. So as I manage the strength to get up and drag myself to the taxi, I realize that this was going to be a rough morning. The taxi had not gone more than a couple of blocks when two cops on a motorcycle instruct him to pull over. People make a big deal about Managua being dangerous, but I can probably assure you that it is not as bad as the rest of the CA capitals. But the rush you get from getting your taxi pulled over by two guys on a motorcycle at 4 a.m. is enough to slap you awake. So they pull us over, instruct us to step out and begin taking out everything in our packets... literally digging their hands into our pockets. They also begin to check under the seats. My first thought was that they toughs we had a gun...Once the taxi driver had convinced them we were going to the airport and that we had just left a hotel, they let us go. The cop then said to me "subase chele" which is the word for gringos here ha ha! So, I have been called moreno, indio, and chele. Nicaraguan needs to make up its mind about what label they want to use on me. As we drove off into the pitch black night illuminated only by the silhouette of Sandino at Loma de Tiscapa, the taxi driver told me that they stopped us because they thought we had purchased some drugs. Appaerntly they were for sale near my hotel. And get this... the domestic flights terminal didn't even open until 5! and then they took their sweet sweet time checking people in.

The flight was so fast and convenient. Well I am not sure how long it was, I slept most of it. But it beats the hell out of having to travel by land and boat to the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. Although my budget did get dented by about $180. Loks lek we a gonna it kukunut brid for a wik... ok that was a bad simulation of Caribbean English which is spoken by the majority of native residents of the Corn Islands. After landing, I took a brief boat ride to Little Corn Is. Which was a good idea because it seems so much more charming. What can I say, Lonely Planet gets it right one out of three times.

So as I spend the next couple of days indulging on coconut bread, other meals I can't afford, Victoria beers, the temperad water of the caribbean sea, the sunshine of the tropics, and the poems of Ruben Dario, let me not forget... I forgot.

I Felt a Little Bit in Love with Leon

I crossed the border into Nicaragua from Honduras at Las Manos. Little did I know... It is also recognized as the point of crossing for the maras. Nicaragua is very protective of it's "safety" and I guess they fear violence spilling over from other Central American countries. Which is probably why I was interrogated and made to wait for what seemed and exaggerated amount of time. The immigration officer seemed to be particularly interested on my trip to El Salvador. After questions that only got short of asking the color of my underwear, the officer told me to wait outside and made as many calls as there are volcanoes around Leon (9, 4 inactivos y 5 activos). They finally told me to get copies of my passport id page, all the stamps on it and of my green card. An hour and $12 later I was free to go wait for my bus to Esteli. I meet a cool Nica named Haniel on the bus, who workes in a coffee processing center which made my bus trip after the interaction with immigration much more enjoyable.

Esteli is pretty much cowboy central located in north central Nicaragua. The town is not huge... shaped like a very long rectangle and gained it's place in history as it was bombed during the 1979 Revolution. I stayed at  a hostel and across from it was a charming restaurant where a guy was playing and singing with a guitar. As I went sight seeing before heading to Leon; I got to visit the local museum which has some indigenous artifacts and information on the role of the city during the Sandinista Revolution. People are hard core Sandinista here, they fly the Sandinista flag proudly and have a very intense feeling of their role in history.

I love how this horse was the only vehicle parked outside the university

Nacatamal

León

I probably spent more time in Leon than any other place I visited so far. While here, I got to appreciate a part of Central America, that I haven't seen before. People are charming and nice. I felt like I finally got to connect to some people and learn about the local social aspect of a place. Leon has massive monumental colonial churches and very well preserved houses. It also has awesome wireless internet, and one of the safest night-lives I seen. As it gets dark "guardias" patrol the blocks on their bikes and whistle when they see people.

However, heat in Leon is not just heat, it is calor del infierno.I remember a couple of times when I went outside and came back to my hostel three hours later smelling of sweat with my t-shirt soaked in it. I felt like I could only do so much and found ways to escape the heat as much as I could. You also get this sensation that you are going to be eternally thirsty. I drank so much that it ruined my appetite. 

Museums are awesome here. Ruben Dario's house has been converted into one and it has many of his belongings including the bed where he died and a crucifix given to him by a Mexican poet that he carried his entire life. people are proud of Ruben Dario as well. His tomb is located in the right side of the Gran Catedral and is next to el leon triste (sad lion). The cathedral itself was pretty impressive. Well it needs to be renovated on the outside but the inside is majestic and grandeus. I was a little bit perplexed by seeing a man with a bicycle inside and a dog trying to stay in the shade. I was also pretty impressed by the roof tour. From there one can see all the volcanoes around the city, that are pretty much off sight from the ground. My guide Adan was pretty cool and later also took me on a tour of less seen parts of the city. 

I will miss Leon, we will have to see if Granada (its rival city) can keep up...

Notice the black papel picado to commemorate

Hmmm 

This was from the roof of the cathedral

Volcano Sliding  

And Then I Saw a Quetzal...

I remember listening to someone say that whenever you told a story that sounded fantastic to you, but for some reason didn't turn out to be funny or exiting when you told it, you just needed to say: :"And then I found five dollars!" This will make the story exiting once again. I am not going to lie and say that I had high expectations for Honduras. But then I found a quetzal!

Playa de arena blanca ~ West Bay Beach, Roatan

Roatan was great! I got in pretty late on my first day because I was coming from Gracias (3 buses, 2 taxis, 1 boat) My second day was entirely spent at the beach. I took this 45 minute walk along the shore. Not all of which is sandy and beachy. Then I just sat at a beach bar and relaxed drinking Honduran beer. Why is it that whenever you are drinking beer in the beach, everything is gonna be alright? The sunset was awesome, but the way back to West End was kind of rough. It got dark pretty fast and I had to hurry. By the time I got into West End (the town where I was staying) it was peach black. I only got to stay in Roatan for one day. My t-shirt tan-line definitely went away though. Getting there was not easy or cheap and almost makes me feel like I should have stayed there longer. But I really wanted to see other places too. 
Because of time, I had to change some of my plans. Bus travel itself eats away a lot of time. You may think that one day is enough to get to a town and look around, but by the time you get there it is way too late and you end up having to make your stay longer. And while town hopping is not the best way to go about it, if you want the opportunity to see enough of a whole country, you have to manage this way. 

West Bay Beach, Roatan

Life is good

The hostel that Makes its own beer ~ D&D Brewery, Lago de Yojoa
After Roatan I made my way to D&D Brewery. It is a hostel/brewery near Lago de Yojoa. It has its own brewery and purifies its own water. Its is pretty cool and they also organize tours to the lake and the national parks around the area. There are some really nice people that stayed there and dorm beds are only about $6. 
While there, I went to this nice archaeological park and sleep over a bird watching tour to the lake. Well I can't say that I was too exited about the guy who was taking us. He was British, but kept b%#&$ about Americans. And said something to the effect that my accent wasn't right. Anyways, I ended up going to this awesome waterfall called Pulhapanzak. There was all this cool activities you could do, but most of the people zip-lining and going under the water fall were tourist, so I kinda decided to do the more local thing and just hang around lol. 
The lady that sat next to me on the way to the waterfall was also on the same bus back and again we sat in the same seat. She was the one who told me where to get off and then on the way back she told me about her experience trying to get to the US by way of Mexico. She mentioned that she tried twice with her brother, but was caught on the Mexican side in Tamaulipas and Piedras Negras, which are right next to the border. It took her almost 2 months to get there once and she told me about how the Mexican immigration was bribed and how corrupt they are. She once was caught by the same guys and then the coyote gave them a number and they just called their boss and he gave the ok to let them go so long as they gave them a bribe. If I am ever president (of the World) I am going to get read of all restrictions to travel. Free movement should be a human right. Panamericanism all the way! 
Lago the Yojoa turned out to be amazingly fun. I was about to leave, when they told me there would be a group of people going to climb Mountain Santa Barbara. So I convinced myself that this would be worth staying a bit longer. The guide gave us coffee from his finca and maduros on the way up and when we came down his wife had some home made donuts and coffee again for us. And although that was amazing, the most amazing part was sighting a quetzal! I had heard that there would be a good probability of this and it was an amazing experience. It was only for a couple of minutes, but I managed to take a picture to prove it. Just this one thing would have made this trip worthwhile.  I got the muddiest I have ever been. My shoes were twice as heavy from the mud on them and we all kept falling on our butt. Jimmy, one of the climbers, later mention that the hike would have been more enjoyable had he spent more time looking up rather than down. 
Once we got back to the hostel, the water wasn't running so we had to shower in rain water. I just went under the gutter and stood there. The mud didn't entirely wash away though. My fellow companion where an American, an English, a Norwegian and a Dane. I had to serve as the translator because the guide only spoke Spanish. I had to translate for a lot of people at the D&D. I guess I never imagined that one day I also will be going to a country where I don't speak the language. 

Pulhapanzak Waterfall

I am sure if someone had film of us asking "How high are we now?" and how many times we fell...there wouldn't be enough film 

View of Lake Yojoa from Mountain Santa Barabara

This proves it... the elusive quetzal

One last stop ~ Comayagua
On my last night in Honduras, I stopped in Comayagua. (On my way out of the city I saw a sign that broke it down for me coma y agua!) It is a pretty charming city. Well at least the center area. I went out pretty late and ended up going to the church and having an awesome vegetarian meal in a restaurant next to the cathedral in the central plaza and as I sat there I felt pretty good about myself and  glad that I took this trip. I like to think that this trip allows me to grow and find myself. It is silly but we all have something that inspires us and that allows us to grow and learn and be productive members of our society. 

Had some awesome Vegetarian dish at this place.. chair hurt though lol 

Catedral de Comayagua

I just realized that I have been to four of the top six countries with the top murder rates. In fact Honduras had the highest murder rate, which was in 2011 87 per 100,000. I found it funny that a taxi driver in Honduras tried to argue with me about the murder rate in Mexico! 

Change of Plans... Stay in Gracias for one more day.

Today I stayed for an extra day in Gracias. This is such a charming little town. Tourism hasn't spoiled it yet.

After sleeping really well for what seemed ages, I went to a fort. El Fuerte de San Cristobal is pretty interesting and it has some really creative sculptures. It also holds the tomb of former president Juan Lindo. After walking around the fort for a bit, I headed to a museum called Casa Galeano. I got lost on the way, asked for directions, got lost again and ended up taking a tuk tuk. The Museum was interesting too; it told the history of Gracias from the perspective of the Lenca indigenous people. The town is making a strong effort to recuperate its indigenous identity. People here are very proud of Lempira, the indigenous leader who resisted Spanish conquest.There is monuments to him, he is in t-shirts and the national currency is named after him.

For dinner I went to this charming little place called El Rinconcito Graciano. They had Lenca food and everything was served on traditional Lenca pottery and or made from recycled materials. The owner was university educated and had a vision of expanding her restaurant to include a hostel that would be eco-friendly. She was talking about recycling water which I think is kind of gross, but I agreed with everything else.

I kinda wish I could tell you everything I have learned, but you probably don't have the time to read it all ja ja

Legend goes that when the Spanish captain in charge of finding a suitable place for the the colonial capital found the are where Gracias was built he said "Gracias a Dios"

Fuerte de San Cristobal 

This was an inscription in the tomb of Juan Lindo; former President of Honduras and El Salvador. He institutionalized free education. It reads: One may be a hated ruler of ones time: but if you want to favor the vote of future generations open schools. 

Iglesia Las Mercedes was in pretty rough shape. The side door was crack open and I went inside for a look. It was so awesome to be in there by myself

Rinconsito Graciano. I tried to go there twice and it was closed. This last time I shook the doors before leaving and as I walked away the owner came out and opened the door... Some Spaniards joined later. 

Honduras

It is funny how people are so different from one place to another, but also very similar. I feel that attitudes change but as I rode the bus in Easter Guatemala and Honduras I realized that the cowboy culture of Mexico and Central America is just about the same. I also recently read La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic Race) by José Vasconcelos who touches among other subjects on Pan-americanism and  the superiority of people of mix race. Anyways the one topic that really became relevant as I traveled in CA is that although there is a huge degree of diversity, the political boundaries in existence today are completely irrelevant.There is one common cultural aspect uniting most people here which is the colonial legacy, but ethnic groups and indigenous communities are often divided by political boundaries at many different levels. Such is the case of the Garifuna and the many Mayan linguistic communities. 
On another note, today I visited Copan in the early morning and again got to have the place almost entirely to myself. The place is pretty incredible and in many ways very similar to the stelaes in Quirigua. I think I am significantly over budget, but I tend to splurge on dam taxi cabs and hotels now and then. But last night I stayed in a pretty confy bed... no hot water though. I am now is a small town called Gracias a Dios... well now day is just Gracias. I really like it. I like small towns; less people, get lost less often, and people tend to be nicer. 

Copan

Copan 

The Macaw is the national bird of Honduras and they roam Copan  

Two Weeks of Guatemala... I realize this is a long overdue post   

Friday, July 13, 2012
Santiago Atitlan has been nothing short of an emotional experience. Most tourist visit the lake-shore town on a day trip from one of the other towns, especially "Pana". But commerce in most of the other towns is controlled by Ladinos and Gringos. Santiago is so amazing in many different levels. It is predominantly indigenous and desperately and vigorously attempts to retain its cultural identity. Most people here are bilingual and wear traditional clothing (specially women).  
For me personally, this town is amazing because I didn't believe something like it existed. Indigenous people here are empowered. I love how little children speak in their native language and even though most people speak Spanish or some level of Spanish, among them they communicate in their own language. About five years ago, schools also began teaching in Tz'utujil, Spanish and English. 
I took a tour of the town by a guide named Nicolas, who took me around town in his Tuk Tuk. We went to the the Peace Park, which commemorated the massacre of townspeople by the army. This event eventually led to Santiago becoming one of the first towns to expel the army during the civil war. The other exiting stop was Moximon! I happened to arrive there when they were having a ceremony which was really cool. I didn't know what it was about, but it was interesting to see and to see Moximon's cigarette lit. 
On my first day here, I walked around town and ended up seating in the town square. Two little 9 year old boys came up to me as I was using my netbook (The main plaza has free wifi btw!~password: yosoyatitlan) and asked if I was Spanish or English. Once they realized I was on facebook they began to compare my pictures to me by grabbing my beard and glasses. They tend took over my netbook to play games.  
The next morning I woke up at 5 am to get ready to hike Volcan San Pedro. My guide Nicolas (a different one) took a boat to the other side of the lake and began climbing when it was still cool. We came back around 2 pm and I was beat, but got the opportunity to take some amazing pictures. For pictures it is best either in the really early morning or at sun set. But because it's the rainy season it gets cloudy in the evening so there is no sun sets. But early mornings are amazing, no tourist walking around, very few people around, and the clouds if there is any, are fog. 
My guides gave me some really awesome insight into the culture here. Like the stories associated with Moximon and also how magic and faith play a very big role in this community. They call Santiago un pueblo sano. basically people look out for each other and make sure everyone is a decent person. If they are not, the punishment goes as far as getting lynched. Cheating is also not appreciated. If you did that, in the past, the shaman would use hypnotism while you were sleeping and made you walk naked to the front of the church and lay there for everyone to see. Today apparently they simply change your thoughts so that you go about your business brain dead. 
This town has faced a lot of challenges. Beginning with the civil war, during which the government and military targeted mainly indigenous communities, to more recent environmental disasters like the mud slide that killed several people and buried a nearby town. Nonetheless they are resilient and proud. This is the first town where I felt that indigenous people were "some what"empowered. I think my close friends know that I can get emotional... and I obviously was going to find something to tip me off here: As I was listening to the mass the priest all of a sudden began speaking Tz'utujil and then the chorus began singing in Spanish overlapping at the same time. I don't know why put this got me teary. 

People here continue to do things like washing clothes on rocks and using firewood more because it's a tradition than because it is more convenient. 

Most women wear traditional clothing and most people here speak Tz'utujil

Moximon is a Mayan god that was transitioned into Catholicism as San Simon, but not really.

Nicolas, my guide up Volcan San Pedro. After I had made arrangements and given an advance on my 400Q fee, I found out its much easier, safe and cheap to climb the other side.

  

Sunday July 15, 2012
It's easy to lose track of what day of the week it is when you are not working. But It was good that I realized that today is Sunday. I been pretty exited about the places I been so far. Last night I stayed in this small town on the other side of Lake Atitlan called San Marcos La Laguna. The town only has about 3,000 people but there is a lot, and I mean a lot of hippies.  Apparently they believe that the place has a spiritual energy... but I think they just come to get high. The restaurants are a disgrace, they all serve US food like hamburgers, pizza, pasta, etc. The only thing I had here that I enjoyed was Gallo Cerveza and this weird icy with lime and pepper. But the town is small and cute and there is an amazing view of the lake and all three volcanoes. 
Today, I arrived in Chichicastenango or "Chichi" as the locals call it. In case you didnt get it, chichi is also the word for boob in Spanish. This town is really cool. I got off a bus ride a little dizzy as this is the highlands and things get curvy here. I saw this really nice hotel and decided to ask how much it was to which I got a "$75" response and then made her calculate into Quetzales as I stepped away. I then found a 40Q hotel which is about $5, which was a good thing because...  
Since today is Sunday they have the market in the central plaza. I went there and walked around for hours and did get some cool stuff that I had been looking for. I also came across some really cool murals and Churches. The main church was closed the whole time, but there were people performing interesting rituals in front of it. It is said that people's religion here is more Mayan than Christian, as it is very strongly influenced by Mayan religious rituals. As I walked into a smaller church I almost got drunk from the smell of alcohol. lol People basically spill drinks on the doorway as an offering. Also flowers, petals, and occasionally the blood of a chicken. There is also incense burning the whole time. Note that pictures are not allowed to be taken inside the church.
I also ate this awesome lunch in one of the market stalls. It consisted of rice, black beans, salad and a pupusa made with black corn. Num Num! for about 10Q. I love the local food. It feeds my soul. 
I also climbed this hill called Cerro Pascual Abaj which is of religious importance to the locals. When I got up there, I noticed that there was tons of garbage and also found a sac. I started collecting some of garbage and then as I was doing this the pigeons came down and ate some of the offerings in the altar :o) I think Abaj was saying thanks 

Vista desde San Marcos La Laguna 

On my way out of San Marcos La Laguna, I saw this dog sleeping 

Iglesia de Santo Tomas, Chichicastenango

The Murals of the municipal palace in Chichicastenango show murals dedicated to the victims of the Civil War 

 Cerro de Pascual Abaj 

Conversacion de regatear
Yo: Cuanto cuestan estas bolsas?
Vendedor: 60
Yo: Dejemela en 50?
Vendedor: 55
Yo: Tenngo 50 
Vendedor: Esta bien


Monday, July 16, 2012 -Worlds Apart
Today I started my day before 7 am in order to  traveled to a more remote part of northern Guatemala. On my way I made a quick stop in a city called Santa Cruz de Quiche. The city is located in the highlands and resisted spanish conquest for some time aided by the geography. Nearby there are some ruins that I wanted to visit. Quiche is only about an hour north of Chichi... but it is worlds apart. Quiche still has an indigenous presence but there are plenty much more Ladinos (meztisos). As I sat in the front steps of the cathedral waiting for my shuttle for the ruins, which I missed and ended up taking a tuk tuk, a kid came up and started grabbing my beard again. He then asked me for a quetzal to buy some sweets. I decided I am going to make them sing or something... I been giving out too many free quetzales. 
I then traveled to Sacapulas, realized I had to travel to Uspatan in order to get a connection to my final destination which was Coban, and had to hump back  in an extremely crowded mini van (25 people or so). I lost track of time at some point in between realizing how crazy the highlands roads are and having a huge sweaty man with a huge box over me and his child in front of me. It's a good thing I was tired because at some point I passed out and avoided some of the discomfort.  By the time I got to my hotel it was about 4:30.
Tomorrow I will be traveling to a location called Semuc Champey which is supposed to be awesome. Anyways I hope it's worth the extremely long and uncomfortable ride here... some of it through unpaved roads. The mosquitoes are already eating me alive... I will take the repellent with the 15% DEET over the 5% thanks you. 

Santa Cruz de Quiche

Ruinas de Q'umarkaj

Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Samuc Champey was pretty cool. 

Thursday, July 19, 2020 ~ Livingston 
Livingston is a Garifuna town in the Caribbean coast of Guatemala. It is not connected by roads to the rest of Guatemala but it is an amazing little place. This morning I took a boat from Rio Dulce a town near Lake Izabal. The trip in itself is a majestic one. First, the boat takes you to see a colonial fort and then it moves on trough this beautiful river canyon surrounded by forest. I didn't take many pictures of some of the best places because I think it's something to experience and even the image wouldn't capture how beautiful it is and felt. 
Today I went around town and as I already related to my friend Lucas in NJ this girl tried to pimp her cousin and stole 50Q from me with promises of a tour. The hotel owner warned me so all I tried to do after leaving the hotel was to get read of her. Anyways, you live and you learn... the lonely planet guide also mention something like this might happen. I went back into town and had a good time walking around and eating more ice cream than my belly can handle. I talked to my mom on gmail phone and as I got ready to go to my room, there was a blackout. LOL There is a gringo cursing the garifuna out of Livingston... more so when he found out there is no water. Of course I also found out this midway along brushing my teeth. The one positive thing is that the town is quiet... No more loud reggae music outside.  

Castillo de San Felipe, Lago Izabal

I am not sure what these girls were doing;

but I took this pic when the boat slowed down to let us look at the water lilies 

As I walked along the coast in Livingston I run into a family of dogs.

I love this pic, because the kids to the left were watching a Mexican soap opera, 

while the ones in the back played soccer

Friday, July 20, 2010 ~ Immigration I don't like you 
The good thing about things being way down is that they can only go up. Today was a pretty bad day. Probably the only really bad day since I started traveling this summer. At some point I decided that going to Belize to re-program my phone was a good idea. Well kinda; the reality is that I debated it over and over again. I basically have no service, but my droid does have stand alone GPS. This works out because I can connect to the internet, zoom in on a particular city or town and then use the GPS to direct myself. It so happens that the only Central American country that has Verizon roaming is Belize. So I took a day trip to Punta Gorda.
Punta Gorda is a Garifuna town about an hour from Livingston, Guatemala. Since it was raining, I decided to wait until later to take a boat to Puerto Barrios, then to Punta Gorda. I got my stamp from immigration which was about 80Q because is an exit by sea. My ticket was 200Q. On the way things got crazy. The boat was kinda fast and I was almost in the front so it was rough. Then it began raining. And just when you think things are over, a bucket of paint spilled and got all over my pants, shoes, jacket and bag. So we land and I am pretty upset that my $100 jacket got ruined and I let the captain know this. I ask that they give me a trip back to which they agree. I go through immigration and then to a restaurant and order a Coke. I gave them $20US and it took no short of 20 minutes for them to figure out where to get my change. She wouldn't take a dollar coin!
At 2pm my boat is about to set back so I go through immigration and give them my $15US for being in the country two hours and then continue to get my stamp and the officer gets upset that I was there for such a brief period of time. He goes "You are using us, you just want to go back and spend more time over there. Next time you don't do this." Over a couple of hours in Belize I pretty much got over it, people are rude and they are always looking for ways to rip you off. Needless to say I won't be going back there.   
So I finally get back too Guatemala and go to immigration and they give me the same bs. They said that I am supposed to stay out of the country for at last 72 hours or some bs. The officer tells me that there is a $100US for doing this. I am pretty much about to crying. He says he will give me a 200Q fine. I then just tell him that I am having bad luck and I tell him that I told the officer when I left that I was only going there for the day. He then threatens to call the officer from the morning, to which I say "O.K.". Anyways, he lets me go off with a warning. Which I think is bs, they probably just want to make money or go on power trips. I feel that they are probably underpaid and need to do things like this, which is pretty lame. 
Anyways, the good thing about today was that as I waited for the bus, this women with a basket on her head, all apple green clothes, and a shopping basket on her hand came into the bus station. She was selling this amazing pastries. I got the best banana bread I had in my life. I also tried some coconut bread in Livingston, which is pretty good. 
I am now in a town called Los Amates. Apparently this area has first class buses so I had a pretty comfortable ride here. It's raining and my tin roof is leaking, but I think I am just glad the day is over.  


No pictures for this day ;ob

Saturday, July 7, 2010 ~ "Para poder apreciar los momentos felizes de la vida, tines que haber pasado por momentos dificiles"
I crashed last night and was able to sleep through the weird noises around me. This morning I went to an archaeological park called Quirigua. I am soooo glad I made the stop here. The land around the ruins was owned by the United Fruit Company so on the way there you pass 3k of banana trees which is kinda gross and cool at the same time. The ruins were pretty amazing. And since I was the first visitor I had the place all to myself for about an hour! I also walked through a lot of puddles that were not visible through the grass and there was tons of mosquitoes. I also saw some avocado trees. Most of the site apparently is still not excavated, but the stelae are I think the best part.
I am spending the night in a town called Chiquimulas. For just 5Q more I got to have my neat little room with bathroom and wifi. I seriously don't get how the hotels work here. You can go to the craziest place and get over charged for a hut and then go somewhere else and get nice reception, cheap cheap prices and cozy rooms.  
I also went on what I thought was a a couple of hours trip to Esquipulas.  The town has an important shrine to the "Black Christ." Basically a miraculous statue of Christ crucified made of balck wood. There were a lot of pilgrims as it was the weekend. I decided to get in line to get near the image... this ended up taking a bit over an hour. By the time I was done it was late and no buses were running back to Chiquimulas. I went to a bunch of hotels downtown but all were full. Then as a was walking to another one, I found a taxi and told him to take me to a further out of town hotel. On the way there the taxi driver mentioned that it would be 300Q to take me to Chiquimulas. I was was like great! take me there instead. I already have a hotel there. I definitely went over budhget. 
I am glad I went to Esquipulas. It was a very nice experience and as I got near the crucifix, this women in the church started singing one of my favorite hymns. "Bendito, bendito, bendito sea Dios. Los angeles cantal y alaban a Dios." The mass was also interesting. There was a wedding and a couple Quinceaneras. The priest lambasted cheaters and stingy people. lol it was awesome.   

Having the place all to yourself has an upset; no one to take your pic

Aguacate

Republica Banana ~ On the way back to town I was delayed by the banana carrier

Esquipulas

A lot of maps show Belize or Belice. The British agreed to build a road from the Caribbean to Guatemala City in exchange for the territory. 

The road however was never built and so Guatemala claims Belize as its own