Guats up

Took a couple of weeks off from dying in the heat to travel in the highlands of Guatemala. We started out with a collectivo(minivan) to the highway turnoff for Ciudad Hidalgo. We caught another collectivo and went 40 km. in about an hour and a half to the border. When we tried to get our passport stamped, we were told that we would need to pay the visa fee again as our reciept for the last one was more than 90 days old. By the time we muddled through the payment process, it was pouring down rain. One more visit to the passport office, got stamped and tried to find the way to the bridge over the river which separates Mexico from Guatemala. We found a lovely ramp with turnstiles to the bridge, but they were zip tied shut and we were redirected back through the border area to the old entrance. No hints for newbies, no signs or directions. We walk accross the bridge and see only a tiny office with immigration marked above the door. The Guatemalan immigrations consisted of 1 guy behind a window who collected about $3 each in illegal fees and stamped us on our merry way. We took a bicab ( a three wheeled taxi bicycle) with us sitting in front and a guy peddalling us over to the bus station. The bus station was chaos with no timetables or schedules or fees posted anywhere. You just get approached  by guys trying to get a bus load for where ever they go. We got on the first class bus to Xela which is the local name for Quetzaltenango. About two hours later they tell us to get on a chicken bus for Xela, as they lied about actually taking us there. A local who witnesses this gives them hell for treating us poorly, but we still end up changing to a chicken bus in a driving rain to head up to the promised destination. We arrive in Xela at the public market next to the chicken bus station and grabbed  a cab to the centro or main plaza to seek out a hotel. A long rainy day, but it is much cooler and we have some new scenery to enjoy.
 We stayed in Xela a couple of days, and then headed for Panajachel on the banks of Lago Atitlan, a nice big crater lake. We got a hotel on the main drag which had window bench seats allowing you to sit in your second floor room and watch the world scurry by. Next day we got on the ferry to San Pedro la Laguna to check out of the lakeside life and get a little tour of the other side of the lake.

 

 A tuk tuk( 3 wheeled enclosed motorscooter with seat for two in the back) guy at the ferry dock offered us a tour for 200 Quetzales, we laugh and walk away and we settle on 50. He's a pretty nice guy with no english, who wants us to be happy with our tour, but also offers us several options for expanding the tour as we go. We settle for a ride to El Mirador, the lookout, and a tour of the local church.

The church is pretty much of a hoot, as it has a lifesize Mary on a donkey dressed as a Guatemala indian. and also glass casket with Jesus in it which has a slot in the top for donations. So Jesus is laying there with the usual pained suffering expression, and a bunch of bills and coins on his feet.

 

We decided to take a tourist shuttle to Coban, as it had been recommended as a good jump off for some local attractions. The shuttle left at 9:30, with a couple of hours off in Antigua, arriving at Coban at about 8. There was an earlier version which leaves at 6, but hey, we are on vacation. As it worked out, the connecting bus was about an hour late, and our first stop was to pick up all the people who took the early bus, but missed the connection to Coban, giving them a 6 hour lay over in Antigua. We had a nice long drive up the country, with a rest stop at a greasy spoon truck stop and another stop in Coban for 6 gallons of fuel. We went right on past Coban, without a stop at our hotel, but the next stop was Lanquin, so we assumed it was just outside town and we would circle back. We finally asked if anyone thought they were going to Coban, and found out they were all part of a hostel group going to Lanquin, about 2 hours past Coban. We are kind of concerned about what will hapen there, as the hostel group said their destination was all full. We pulled into Lanquin after a 30 minute ride down a dirt road about 12 km. long. There was chaos as the bags were unloaded off the top of the shuttle, but a local gave us a ride to a hotel in the back of his pickup truck. The hotel had a loud bar and simple accomadations, but it was hot and sweaty with construction and rooster noise before first light in the morning. We moved to the hotel accross the street which had fans in the rooms, thinking we might not be so hot there, and set off on a tour of the caves andh lagoons of Semuc Champey.

 It was fun swimming in dark caves trying to keep the candles lit, the guide was pretty entertaining, and there was a giant trapeze like swing on the river bank when we got done. The swing drops you about 10 to 12 yards up into the river. One memeber of our party was nearly killed when she froze and didn't let go over the water. Not killed, but some black and blue and a little bloody from landing on the ramp. She tried again and almost repeated the feat dropping aobut 6 feet from the rocky shore, giving us all heart attacks, thinking about helicopter evacuations, or bouncing for hours in a pickup truck to a hospital. The pools were as lovely as advertised, and all in all it was a good trip. the hangup being there was no way to get money in the tiny town of Lanquin, so we would have to walk back to Coban or go hungry. We found a pharmacy which would change dollars for Quetzales at a bad rate, so all was not lost. Of course that night there was a power outage for most of the night and the fan served only as a decoration. viewed by the candle provided by the hotel.
We headed back to Coban the next morning, Lanquin was down in a valley, but Coban is up the high country and much more comfortable. We went to a parrillada for dinner which was the best restaurant experience of the trip. Quiet, lovely place, excellent service, and yummy food with no surprises. The only funny part was the taxi driver who took us there didn't really know where it was and had to ask several people on the street even though we gave him the street number. Turns out it was only 2 blocks from the hotel, so we just walked back.
We decided to head to Chichicastenango the next day and had an easy trip, and settled into a nice  hotel. They have a nice big market, good mountain views, and the hotel owner whipped up a monster breakfast in the morning. The second morning he made hash browns which were delicious. He also roasted and ground his own coffee and had fresh eggs and fruit from the garden. It was fathers day with a church event, so a little more culture to soak up along the way.

Next we headed to Nebaj, a mayan town up in the cloudy mountains, the highest spot we have visited so far. They get few tourists up there and several people just stopped to stare at us as we walked by. Some just laughed out loud and pointed. The main attraction for us here is the scenery and the dramatic drive up into the mountains. Not much to do there, so we headed Huehuetenango to start back to Mexico. A bigger town, but the same reaction to me walking down the street. Pretty strange feeling, going to see the sights and being the main attraction. Just wanted to spend another night in the cool mountains, and then off to the frontier. We crossed aere there t the mexican city of Cuautemoc, where the entry was very casual. We didn't see a Guatemalan exit point for immigration, and when I asked the mexican official, he said we should go to town a few miles down the road and check in. When we got there, they couldn't find the exit stamp from Guatemala(surprise), so we have to wait for some other guy to look at our passports before we get the visa. We cross the street to  the bus station to find that a bus for Tapachula is scheduled to leave in 10 minutes. After some debate and half an hour waiting, we get on the collectivo to Comalapa, the next city on our route. Never saw the big bus, but that's not so strange. Spent the night there and decided that it was getting too hot to hang out, so off to Tapachula by collectivo. It is not as comfortable on the small busses, but you can leave in 10 minutes no matter what time it is. A litlle shopping in Tapachula, and off we go to the boat in Puerto Madera.
Bob is nowhere to be seen when we arrive, but we hear that he is a good swimmer after he boarded the neighbors boat and was startled into sliding off our boat into the water when accosted for his trespassing. They rescued him immediately, and he got a free swimming lesson. Joan saw him on another boat a little while later and we were reunited. He has been very affectionate lately, and just doesn't want to be left at home alone. All seems normal again.
The parts showed up the next day, but we had to wait a day for them to decide how much import taxes we must pay. Worked out to zero, just another day in the process. The mechanic picked up the parts and the pump and took them to the laboratorio for another go. The last we heard, he was to pick it up Saturday at 6 pm, and come install it on Sunday. Went for a little fishing trip with one of the marina jefes Saturday afternoon, caught 9 fish, good to get out on the water. Mid day Sunday, and we wait. We don't know what kind of provisioning, checking out or weather routing we are in for until the engine is running. Sunday rolls on by without anything new on that front. Went to town by collectivo to get some money and a little shopping and got caught in a torrential downpour. I made it out to the bus stop in front of the store without drowning and decided to wait for the rain to let up before crossing the 4 lane blvd. Saw a collectivo from the right neighborhood comind down the other side of the street, made a help me gesture by raising my hands above my head, and surprise, surprise, he stops in the middle of the road and waves me over. I splash accross the street and become the 23rd occupant of a 14 passenger van. When we get to the marina, he drives me down to the dock gate and asks which boat is mine. This saves me a quarter mile of walking and gets a big smile from everyone on the bus for showing them the boat at the dock.
Like I said things are back to normal.