Into Guatemala

I guess last time I left off as we got into Belize.

As we neared the Guat border we randomly pulled off the highway and booked a room in a nice hotel. It was the first room that had that proper hotel room smell of just-been-cleaned. It also had cable, so we made the most of it by watching He-Man in Spanish.

We seemed to be pretty much the only guests at the hotel, but as we were eating supper in the restaurant/bar a tour group walked in to the hotel, and by chance we had met one of the girls in San Cristobal a couple days earlier. Their guide was nice and not only invited us to go out drinking with the group, but wrangle us a couple free drink coupons for the bar. After the bar we offered everyone rum partially out of kindness and partially because it was Campari (Belizean rum) and we wanted to get rid of it. Campari is one of the few drinks that tastes worse going in than it does coming out, and coke is powerless to cover up its flavour. At the same time I just couldn't bring myself to waste it.

The next morning we drove into Guatemala, having a bit of trouble at the border because we didn't have enough currency on us. Luckily it was Guatemala, so a cab driver drove me across the border to an atm and then back to Belize.

After the border we drove straight to Tikal and set up camp. The first night it poured and we ended up wandering in the rain at night looking for some place to eat. Luckily the closest restaurant was nice enough to open up for us. The next day we lounged around, saw the ruins, a crocodile, and I wandered off on what I thought was a short hike. I must have gotten off the short loop at some point and ended up wandering the jungle by myself convinced that a Jaguar was stalking me.

Flores was nice and we ended up staying at a great hostel called "Los Amigos". Amazing vegetarian cuisine. Some of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten, and they didn't even have meat in them. We stayed a couple of days in the hostel and were able to get our first passenger. We originally planed to drive down to Rio Dulce, but the when we tried to leave in the morning the sliding door would not close (different problem than before) and we needed to drive into town to find a mechanic.

I stopped at the first place I saw, and was waiting in line when one of the other customers started talking to me. It turns out that he was from Las Vegas and back in Guatemala opening up a new business. He found us a good mechanic, translated for us and let us hang out at his new business which consists of a soccer field, a children's play area complete with trampolines, a restaurant/discotheque and the only limo in Peten. He also gave us advice about Guatemala. Here is an exact quote from him when I went with him to pick up his truck we were driving back, "If you ever kill someone in Guatemala just drive because the police will send you to church for life." You can imagine that I looked a little confused half thinking to myself (That's what happens?) before he corrected himself, "I mean jail." It was a curious mental association. He then told me how he one a drag race a week ago with this truck and proceeded to burn out and fish tail down the street laughing that the other drivers were scared of his wildly fishtailing driving. At that point I wanted to buckle up, but didn't want to offend him since he had been so helpful, so I just prayed that we wouldn't hit someone and be sent to church for life. I know I'm making him sound unstable, but he really was a nice guy.

All the help that I have been getting on this trip has set me way back on the Karma meter. I might need to nurse a leper back to health after this trip just to get back to normal.

Anyways the van was fixed (welding involved)for less than $50 Canadian, but it was too late to leave that day and we had decided to go to Coban, so we wouldn't have to drive through Guatemala City. We wandered back to the hostel to stay another night. The next day we left for Coban and Ofri still decided to come with us even if we weren't quite as reliable as a bus, considering the date of departure and destination changed.

We spent a day in Coban I saw some orchids, and we left in the morning for Xela. Unfortunately we heard reports that part of the highway to Xela had been destroyed by rock slides. Some said it was impassable while others thought we could make it. And whenever they asked why we didn't take the other highway, all we would have to say is that we did not want to go through Guatemala city and they would understand. It was normal to choose rock slides over the capital.

The road was a little rough to say the least, but we made it to Xela alive.