Guatemala
Having made it over the border from Belize and changed up our Belizean dollars into Guatemalan quetzales we headed for Flores. An amazing 1.5 hour journey in a collectivo (16 people shoe-horned into a minibus) through very rural and poor areas of Guatemala. People would hop off the bus every now and again to be greated by 5 or 6 little kids dressed in rags. These people live in huts with a few turkeys and perhaps a horse. This is the first real poverty I´ve seen on this trip and it feels horribly voyeristic to be driving past staring at it. Flores is a beautiful island in the middle of a lake. It´s all cobbled streets and pretty buildings with loads of restaurants which back on to the water. The main reason for stopping here is to visit Tikal, something which we plan to do tomorrow when my elephant ankle will hopefully be small enough to be squeezed into my trainers. We´ve been travelling pretty hard for the past few days so it´s good to chill and this is a fantastic place to do it. The feel of Guatemala is quite similar to Mexico and totally different to Belize. I´m hating the language barrier again and really need to get some lessons. Last night we ended up drinking a lot and chatted to a local guy who was playing guitar in the restaurant we went to. He was a real character, he had the bushiest moustache I´ve ever seen and I couldn´t help but stare at it. The rivalry between Belize and Guatemala is worse than the English and the French. His take on the creole spoken by Belizeans is that they´re incompetent in two languages - English and Spanish! On the way back we bought some beers and Petal used her fluent Spanish to enquire as to whether the security guards gun was loaded! Our hotel has a roof terrace overlooking the town and the surrounding lake, absolutely beautiful. This afternoon we plan to take a 1 hour boat trip around the lake and probably take it easy this evening. I need to keep my foot aloft otherwise it blows up again, last night I had to get a piggy back from the bar to the hotel!
Tomorrow will be a big day in Tikal, we may take the guided tour which heads off at 3.30am to get there in time for sunrise, there should be some fantastic photos out of this.
As for the hurricane, we´re getting tropical rain down here and quite a bit of cloud but we´re well out of the danger zone now so there´s no need to worry about that.
Probably the next time I write will be from Antigua or Chichicastenango, further South.
Take care all
Tags: Guatemala
October 24th, 2005 at 1:44 pm
Hi Sharleen
Really enjoyed reading your update - wow you have seriously got around in the last few days, really relieved to hear that you were well out of the way of the storms - it’s hitting florida as I write this.
Belize sounds amazing, hope that you get to return there.
Glad that your mates are cool, especially one that speaks spanish fluently - lucky.
The new photos are great -
Weather here - wet, windy (obviously not really windy!!) and cold, it’s half term week so I have to amuse Olivia full time - so not used to that.
Best sign off
Take care
Love Jo
x
October 26th, 2005 at 10:00 am
Hey Baby
You take care of that foot now, I know what you’re like. You won’t ever go to see a doctor unless your head falls off but I’m glad you went this time, wobbly chin n’ all.
Can’t wait to see more photos, especially of this sunset guided tour your doing. And you’ll be glad to know that the badge you gave me with your face on it is slowly moving it’s way down the map I’ve got on my wall. It’s not as good as the real thing but it’s good to see your face when I’m opening my door in the morning, even if you are stuck on with bluetac!
Take it easy Chicken, I know you will.
All my love
James xxxxxxxxxx
October 26th, 2005 at 1:15 pm
Hey you,
I’m sitting here in my office reading the latest installments and it sounds so amazing, it’s making me feel a little wistful. I guess there’s no comparison between grey skies and work and blue skies, white sand, green jungle and doing something that you’ve always wanted to do. Pleased to note there was no mention of large spiders through Belize, or are you saving those for the return journey?
I’ve just finished checking out the new phots too, seriously cool pics I have to say; they’re making me look stuff up on the interweb thingy. Looks like there are loads of places in Antigua for learning Spanish so you’ll be fluent before you know it.
Anyway, some of us have work to do, so you take care and I hope your foot’s feeling better.
Love Hayley
x
October 30th, 2005 at 10:50 pm
Hey Baby
Just thought I’d drop you a quick message to say that our flat has been dragged kicking and screaming by it’s matted hair into the 21st century as I’m currently sending this message in my hall using our spanking new broadband connection! Yeeee-HA! So I’m not just going to be bothering you at work now as I can keep tabs on you 24/7 from the comfort of my own pad and keep a continual stream of questions about money, safety, the weather and of course the local Casanovas hitting on the cute English girl!
Kidding of course (mostly) but I’m way happier now that I have to means to contact you or for you to contact me much quicker and easier and as soon as we get our phone fixed tomorrow, I’ll let you know the landline number.
Not a great deal going on here really. I’ll probably be heading off to Brussels for a couple of days on the 11th so let me know if you want me to bring you back some pralines or sprouts. But I’ll let you get back to soaking up the Central American culture as I’m off to do some soaking of my own in a small province known as Radox City!!
Speak to you soon Chicken, love you very much.
J xxx
October 31st, 2005 at 8:59 pm
Hey Snoogleplum,
Miss you every day a little bit more… especially after seeing your Oscar acceptance back in ‘84. I have no idea what to write so you’ll have to put up with baddely spetl garbled nonsense - like, ‘me and James go to strip joints and shoot goofballs and cruise the strip looking for gayers to pimp and hump’.
So anyway, James has cut his hair and put on loads of weight - you wouldn’t recognise him, he looks like John Malkovich from Mice and Men, meanwhile I have got super thin and lithe and have grown my hair to my shoulders. It’s like that Placebo song about role reversal… only we haven’t broken down.
so anyroadup - glad you’re having a lovely time in France,
take care of yer sen
Gill x