Pausing Here and There

We arrived in Todos–this beautiful foggy town of only 3,000 people. The fiesta is in full swing (the yearly celebration for All Saints Day, which will culminate in drunken horse races). We rode a ferris wheel for about an hour yesterday, met some lovely people, watched a movie about Todos Santos filmed in the early 80´s, and are about to venture off on a short hike to a village where they weave cloth. People here are very friendly and sweet. I´ll write more shortly…too unfocused to form sentences right now.

I can´t believe that this is only my third day. I have done so much already I feel kind of spin-y (is that even a word?)

So, yesterday I woke up early-ish with every intention of doing a morning hike up the active Volcan de Pacayan. I was feeling all full of energy and verve and clomped down the cobblestoned streets of Antigua in my hiking boots looking like I knew where I was going. Well, upon reaching the Cafe Sky (which, like many places is a cafe cum internet place cum travel agency cum spa cum…) I discovered that tours leave at 6:00 in the a.m. Well, boo to that I thought. So, having eaten breakfast at my hotel (yum! huevos y frijoles and cafe), I wandered to the central park where I had spent the previous day. I was a little down, I´m not going to lie. But, I soon met another traveller with the help of Carlos, a young shoeshine boy who I had bought icecream for the previous day and who was bugging me for the same. I told him no with the argument that 8:00 in the morning is not a good time to eat icecream. Anyhoo, the traveler told me that there are afternoon tours and that I should go see the big cross on top of the hill. Ok, I thought. A big cross. I saw one in Texas, why not one in Guatemala.

I wandered around that morning, climbed up the big hill, saw a nice view of a volcano and the big cross (it wasn´t as big as Texas´, which claims to be the biggest cross in the western hemisphere, so I guess Texas tells the truth about some things).

Lunch was an interesting affair at the VERY backpackery Black Cat cafe. They played Sublime and Primus loudly and it was too much a step away from Spring Break for me to ever go back. French fries with guacamole was good though!

That afternoon I went to Volcan Pacayan. Imagine climbing up a very steep hill and then getting to a stopping point where you see the smoke coming off of a lovely cone shaped volcano. You see red lava (yes lava) coming down and the guide makes jokes about how your shoes might get barbequed. Ah, funny you think. Well, it was a nice tour. Time to go down, eh? No. Not the case. You continue up said hill/volcano and now you are much closer to this hot lava. You start to notice that the ground has changed from fine black volcanic ash/sand, to volcanic rock. You start to smell gasses and see steam coming from beneath the land you are standing on. The next thing you know, you are a mere 10 feet from the lava and it´s moving at a remarkably rapid pace, churning and bumping along. It is bright orange and you cannot believe it is real. But it is, and it´s hot. The next thing you know the sun is down and it looks even redder than before. You marvel at it with your fellow tourists and soon, head back down the mountain overwhelmed by your experience.

Then there was today:
1) Try to find the bus station without my pack so that I can navigate more easily when I´m wearing it. Get totally lost in Antigua´s GIANT market full of so many fresh beautiful vegetables and fruit and anything else you might want to buy.

2) Got on the chicken bus to Chimiltenango that was playind such wonder hits as Ace of Base´s I saw the sign and other wonderful early 90´s disco. I want them to install colored lights and mirrorballs. Honestly, they would complement the plastic Jesus on a cross with a peacock feather behind him and the pegasus with neon orange wings that all decorated the dashboard.

3) Get off to change busses to Huehuetenango. “Para Huehue?” I ask and point. I´m directed on to a bus which is full and so I sit on a plastic tub in the aisle until the guy who hangs out the door and yells things comes to get my money and tells me that this bus doesn´t go to huehue. The same guy who nodded when I asked and pointed. He tells me many things in Spanish that I don´t understand and eventually ask passengers until I determine that I need to change busses again at some place called Cuatros Caminos (which I figure out by looking at the map is where four roads meet. Smart cookie).

4) Make the change with the assistance of another guy who grabs my bag and starts running across the street. I follow of course and then he rushes me on a New Jersey Transit bus that then proceeds to sit for 30 minutes before moving.

5) Arrive in Huehue. Use my awesome Spanish to find the local bus to el centro and actually make it to Huehue central! I´m set up now in a dank hotel and after writing this I´m going to eat a big big meal because I´m ravenous.

That´s it for now! Pictures soon I hope.

There’s something a bit surreal about flying for four hours, winding up somewhere totally different and then logging on to the same blog and checking the same email account. I know that that’s the internet, but it still is kind of a mind twist.

So I’ve made it safely. The flight was uneventful until we landed. Our descent afforded views of the volcanic landscape…dormant dragons some of whom let out little puffs every once and a while to let us know they’re still there. The clouds were pretty, all around the volcanoes, letting them poke their noses through.

Good things happened when I arrived:
1) I was waved through customs even though I have a one way ticket.
2) My bag was there.

I wasn’t able to find the tourist shuttle to Antigua, so I ended up splurging on a taxi…hopefully the last splurge of the trip! Miguel, the taxi driver, and I fumbled along in a semblance of a conversation…my choppy broken random non-existent Spanish, and his better English. I found a nice hotel and promptly went to sleep as soon as the kind propertier showed me to the room. I have not one, but three beds for some reason, although he assured me I’d be sleeping alone. Another highlight was the “swan” towel lying on the bed. It was too cute I took a picture.

I’ve spent the rest of my day walking around aimlessly looking completely the tourist I am, reading a novel in the beautiful central park, eating chille reyellenos and really delicious tortillas alone, and now, this. I’m psyched that I’ll be seeing Sarah and Megan earlier than expected (Saturday in Huehuetenango), because already I’m a bit lonely. I can’t wait to start Spanish in Xela…perhaps then I’ll feel more confident.

All my love to all of you out there.

I’m down to the last 13 hours! After packing and repacking my bag 80,000 times today, I think I am done. I’ve probably brought way too much, but c’est la vie. I will donate and dispose and trade as I go. In the final cut, the yoga mat was ditched. But, due to some last minute internet reading, I am very pleased with my decision to bring a sleeping bag. Apparently temps in Xela in the winter months (elevation 7,500 ft) can get down to freezing and houses have no heating system…so, warmth (my best friend) is coming in the form of mama’s 1970’s down sleeping bag. And it’s orange, so you can’t go wrong there. Also ditched were a few more of those pesky t-shirts.

I can’t quite tell if I’m nervous, excited, terrified, or what. I was delighted to find out though through more internet research today that there is a little community called yogahouse in Xela where there are 10 bedrooms for rent, a communal kitchen, and free daily yoga classes for residents. I think this may be a solution to living with a host family, which I wasn’t looking forward to. I’m eager to check it out.

First on the itinerary however is Antigua, and from there Todos Santos, a small mountain village famous for its celebration of All Saint’s Day. I’ll meet Megan and Sarah there and hopefullly study at a language school (though about half of the town’s population only speaks Mam, a Mayan language). After a week there it’s off to Xela, and then…

Wish me luck later tonight/tomorrow morning!

I think I have finally accumulated all the little odds and ends neccessary (I hope!) for my travels, or should I say travails: the wind proof fleece on sale at REI and a borrowed down sleeping bag (to defend against my fear of the cold), deet laden bug spray (to defend against my fear of bugs), and a stack of cheap paperbacks (to defend against my fear of boredom). I’ve decided to also bring a yoga mat so that I can practice while travelling, though I might end up regretting this decision, who knows.

Today’s task was to somehow fit all of these items, plus clothes, toiletries, etc… into one backpack and a daypack. Though I have enjoyed rolling my t-shirts into tight little coils, shoving them in gallon baggies, and compressing all the air out vacuum-seal style, I’m reluctant to actually put everything in the bag. It seems horribly overwhelming and scary. What if I am never able to fit it all in there again? I keep telling myself that there are disposables. The 5 New Yorkers and 8 paperbacks–brought to fend off solitary boredom and useful for trade, the Luna and Cliff protein bars Lynni recommended, and the 18 raggedy t-shirts (all the t-shirts I own that were probably another 3 months from goodwill) are probably all overkill. Still, I can’t seem to give them up! It feels like a bad reality tv show.

What will make the final cut and win a 7 month tour of Central America? Stay tuned to find out!

I arrived in Las Rageous on Wednesday night after a pleasant and non descript flight. I was greeted by warm weather and the warm smile of my darling friend Lynnaeous. The next morning, after pausing for coffee and food (apples, a slimfast that was never drunk, whiskey, and almonds) we set off for a Utahian/Utopian adventure. It was certainly the pleasuredome we expected it to be (and I think that’s why it was…we had no real plans for how it was to turn out…it just did.)

The adventure began in Zion National Park. Before we even began hiking, Lynni’s enthusiasm for the steep hike requiring the use of chains to pull one’s self up made me nervous. However, Angel’s Landing proved to be delicious. I overcame my fear of heights and of hiking in general and with the help of a few puffs of albuterol I was wheezing up the mountain with great ease. At the top we met a couple from Florida who warned us not to sleep in Bryce as it was 27 degrees out at night.

With that in mind, we decided to skip Bryce the next day and head to Moab instead to go to Arches National Park. Before we departed, however, we did a hike to Hidden Canyon. We were all alone on the trail as it was early in the morning. The trail eventually takes you to a gorgeous hidden canyon where there are pools of water and the rock has been washed smooth by years of weather erosion. We continued on on the “not” trail, climbing over rocks and enjoying the trees before turning around and hopping in Lynni’s car, Nikki.

We zoomed on 15, to 70. It was gorgeous. We passed towns with funny names: Browse, Sulfurdale, Beaver. Lynni fell asleep at one point. At another there were many signs telling us that there were no services for 100 miles. Luckily we had enough gas. Unluckily, I drank too much water and as I’m renowned to do, had to pee really really bad. Luckily, there was a scenic overlook. I meandered off the beaten path and went while enjoying the most beautiful view ever. Someday I’m going to get that picture blown up and I’ll hang it in my bathroom…the next time I have a bathroom.

At Moab we cursed ourselves for not being able to find a campsite and we drove around for ages looking for one. The park rangers at Moab had given us a sheet recommending campsites and one that was listed was called “Negro Bill’s Canyon.” We were interested in learning more but it was very hidden and so we drove up and down the Colorado River looking for it for about an hour. When we finally did, it would have been perfect, except it was all full. So, we settled at this generic RV site on the highway. At least it had amenities (showers, hot tubs), which we made full use of.

That evening we went for a lovely stroll to Windows Arches, saw the sun set, and tried to avoid the other tourists. Dinner was unremarkable except for the speed at which we ate: 17 minutes all in all (the beginning of our speedy meals).

The next day we did our first really long hike: Devil’s Garden. It was a 10 mile loop that took us to 8 different arches. We kept running into a nice fellow who we later learned was named Aaron. We climbed up tree stumps like a ladder, visited “the dark angel,” which we christened “the lone phallus” because it was all alone off to the side and because…

That night we hiked to Delicate Arch which is prominent on the Utah license plate. We enjoyed the light and the La Sal mountain range gleaming behind it.

Park 3 was Canyonlands, not too far off from Arches. On an isolated hike, just past the prairie-esque miles of the start of the hike, an infamous conversation occurred at a resting point. Zil: “I think I hear someone on the trail.” Lynni: “Who?” Zil, standing up,: “It’s not someone, it’s rams.” Indeed, there were 3 rams (male big horned sheep) standing there, watching us in the Star Wars-esque landscape (you know the part where they’re in the desert and it’s all white and wind swept). We ran, the rams stayed and all we could talk about for the rest of the hike, despite the gorgeous canyon views below, were the rams.

Onwards, we drove to Capitol Reef. What is most startling about Utah’s national parks is their diversity. Capitol Reef is part of a water pocket fold (I don’t know exactly what this means) but basically it is full of holes scooped out by water freezing and expanding and has striated colors (red purple white green orange). It is incredible. We hiked up to Cassidy’s Arch (after that unsavory character Butch Cassidy perhaps?). The views were insane. There was a rock formation called “Fern’s Nipple.” We were happy that finally someone in the Utah National Park’s Service was being honest. We were again alone on the trail and again, on the way back down we had another ram encounter, making the ram total of the day 6. Lynni also saw three snakes. She shrieked at every one.

We slept that night in Capitol Reef, had dinner at a cute little patio restaurant in Torrey (the town 11 miles away) and enjoyed a deep sleep. The next morning we did a short little hike that included shimmying through a canyon so narrow you had to go sideways.
Machines, we went onward to Bryce. Highway 12 is gorgeous. Everyone told us so. They were right. It was filled with pine trees and amongst the pines, thousands of birch trees–those tall, straight white-barked creatures whose leaves turn gold in the fall. They were beautiful, shining, flapping their leaves like children waving pennies.

Bryce Canyon was crowded, the ranger was not very pleasant, but she gave us excellent advice: go counter clockwise. We did an 8 mile loop called the Fairyland loop and if we had gone clockwise it would have been uphill for much more. We still dropped and gained a fair amount of elevation, had amazing views of the hoodoos (more earth pillars) and were threatened with rain. Around mile 41 of our five day extravanganza we were starting to get tired. We spent some time looking upside down and that gave us energy to go on. We finished in a spectacular 3.5 hours. As the Montessori teacher I work for always says, and as Lynni and I said throughout the entire trip, “Good job!”

From there it was home. I drove us back to lost wages and we encountered Hatch, Utah as well as two rainbows, one on top of the other.

If Central America is 1/10 as beautiful, I will be thrilled.

See my pictures: http://www1.snapfish.com/photolibrary/t_=7988811