livingston, guatemala and so much more

well here i am in livingston, guatemala, the only place that i said i wouldn't go.  and how did i end up here?  why am i not out of guatemala yet?  let's journey back a few days in time and i'll catch you up.

september 14, 2012.  i was trying to get out of antigua to beat the guatemalan independence day craziness.  i'd been in antigua for far too long and really had no desire to stay for some kids in parades and fireworks and all that.  seen it before so let's get to semuc champey for some relaxation.

also want to get away from the people flocking in to see the erupting volcano.  nice but not scary.

the trip in a van was supposed to be 5 hours but due to the parades already starting the day before the traffic was insane.  half of the 2 lane freeway was taken up by groups of children jogging through the mountains with torches.  or more likely, coffee cans roped to sticks with something on fire in them.  that set us back about an hour.

starting the basic chitchat when i'm stuck in a van with new people i discover that my seat mate is a fellow ohio state grad.  i didn't mention that i was about 10 years ahead of him (generous figure), but he was a nice guy so we reminisced about ohio.  he still lives there.  we made plans to make one of those o-h-i-o pictures that people send in to get in ohio state's picture album.

after being so far behind schedule so early our driver was determined to make up time any way he could.  speeding, passing multiple cars on blind curves, wrong side of the road, whatever.  we had to stop when a construction truck was backing off the highway and since there was no way around he just laid on the horn and yelled curses out the window.  its not like we're a pizza that has to be there in 30 minutes or less so i don't know what his problem was.  and when he can finally sneak around into the other lane to pass he's still yelling at the truck driver and hits the guy coming the other way.  the first thing i noticed was the 'for sale' sign on the other guys car and figured that we'd be here haggling forever over damages but our guy just yells at him and drives away.

now we're back on the road again doing twice the speed limit and we get pulled over by armed guards for a random stop.  our driver who is in so much of a hurry doesn't have the proper paperwork, so we all pile out of the van to wait.  can't we just pay them to let us be on our way?  but no, many phone calls must be made.  to kill time a few of us run across the highway to pee in the bushes with a chicken bus full of young boys half out the windows trying to get a peek.  

this is where bobby and i wanted to do our ohio state script (sorta like spelling the letters in ymca), with me and bobby being the o's and 2 guards being the h and the i, but using his rifle as the i.  neither of us had the courage to ask.

back on the road again.  all seems to be going well.  until we're run off the road by a bus.  

and finally getting to our hostel, 2 hours late and way too many dirt roads later, i head straight to the bar and get hammered.  kimberley from the bar had to navigate my way back to my bed.

september 15, 2012.  woke up with a pretty vicious hangover, and i'm proud to say that i haven't had a hangover but once since i've been gone.  should stick to the tequila.  i had made arrangements to do a full day tour of semuc champey, leaving at 9am.  at 9:15 we started walking through town because its independence day and our van can't get through.  the parades have already started and we are threading our way between throngs of children in traditional dress, bands, schools, basically everyone in this tiny town.  its close to 10 before we make our way to the van and the road.  head really hurts.

the trip to semuc champey is about half an hour of rocky dirt roads, and again, being behind schedule, our driver is making better time than my aching head wanted him to.  the group was 3 israeli couples and me.  super nice people.  tomorrow is israeli new year and everyone is on holiday.

our first stop is the cave las marias k'an-ba.  its a wet cave and most of it requires some degree of swimming.  with candles over our heads.  the first bit of cold water over my head pretty much wiped out my hangover so that was a plus.  we were climbing rocks, swimming, climbing rickety ladders, going over waterfalls, it was a super fun cave.  our guide singled me out to do the 'advanced' tour, when everyone else got to climb a ladder, i got to climb up by rope.  when everyone else jumped off a rock i got to climb 8 feet higher and jump from there.  i'm not sure why he felt i needed the extra adventure.

no one died so our next task was tubing the river.  nice and easy.  

at the end of that there was a rope swing to play on, and a bridge to jump off.  scary but fun.  again, you really can do anything here that would be illegal in the states.

next stop is lunch.  we had all brought sandwiches from the hostel but i wanted to try the local cooking and got a plate.  not fantastic.  so i tried my sandwich.  not fantastic.  i was going to throw everything away and a local girl walks up and asks if she can have my leftovers.  poor girl.  i give her my plate and all the fruit i had in my backpack.

in antigua i learned that the children start getting coffee in their bottles at 8 months.  they call it baby coffee.  after that kids mostly drink pepsi (huge monopoly here).  and even if the kids are on the street selling fruit they aren't allowed to eat it, they mainly get corn tortillas.  eating tortillas and drinking coffee and over half the children here have malnutrition.  and are really short.

there were a group of girls selling stuff so some people got together and bought them each a lunch plate and i've never seen happier children in my life.

after lunch its on to the mirador above the pools to get a view of everything.  it was a half hour walk up the mountain, mostly steps carved into the sides.  the top was amazing (see facebook pics).  the river is quite strong at the start of the valley and in the middle it goes mostly underground, leaving these clear blue pools to swim and relax in.  its a thin valley covered with jungle and mountains rising up on both sides.  quite breathtaking.

when i first approached the mirador i heard something strange, and who is it but bobby trying to organize an o-h-i-o with the amazing view.  he wasn't at my hostel so it was pretty coincidental to run into him on the top of the mountain.  we took our pictures and headed to the pools.

clear cold blue water with islands of tropical plants and waterfalls.  just what was needed after a day of caving and climbing.  we floated for a while then got loaded into a pickup truck for the bumpy ride home.

september 16, 2012.  i avoided a hangover this morning by going to bed at 9pm after the pools.  the shuttle for rio dulce left at 8.  i picked rio dulce because that was the only shuttle going in the general direction of roatan, and i'm seriously craving ocean by now.  i've been in guatemala way too long.  

the group this time is 2 different israeli couples, not nearly as pleasant as the ones yesterday (and yay, they're checking into my hostel as i write this).  we pile into the van and get started down the bumpy rock roads.  

our driver doesn't seem to realize that he's driving a shuttle so he keeps stopping for people on the side of the road to make a few extra bucks.  every time he stops one of the israeli's gets angry and yells at him.  we take a little detour and pull off next to what looks like a jail, the driver gets out and he unloads a couple crates of bananas at the gate.  while he's waiting there the big israeli (6'2" maybe 275) gets out to yell at him some more.  they are obviously on a tight schedule.  although how you could travel through guatemala and think that 'schedule' means anything, i don't know.  

from what i understand he's waiting for some food in return for the bananas and now 2 more israelis get out of the van to yell at him.  like that's gonna do anything.  15 minutes later, food delivered, we're driving again.

after another hour we get to a road block, there's construction and we aren't allowed to go through.  i take this time to find a place to pee on the side of the road, the israelis take this time to yell at the man with the orange vest.  

there's an old road and a new road.  the new road is half blocked but the old road looks clear.  i'm not understanding what the problem is.  but for no apparent reason we get cleared to take the old road after a half hour wait.  there's no construction on it, nothing blocking it, not sure what that was about.

and finally, 7 hours of no paved roads later, we get to rio dulce.  i'm very thankful to say goodbye to my van mates (although they are now sitting 20 feet from me arguing with the cleaning woman).

i make a reservation for the morning boat to livingston, where i think i can get a direct ride to the dock in honduras, then get a taxi to my hotel.  i booked this particular hotel because it has a marina and i was half hoping to find a private boat to take me to roatan for a few (many) extra dollars.  and they advertised a weight room which would be a nice change of pace from running.

none of the machines in the weight room work, and the marina is more of a dry dock.  total fail.

september 17, 2012.  so now we're mostly caught up to today.  i woke up and my body is in total agony.  almost 15 hours of driving on dirt roads in the past 3 days.  i got on the 9am boat to livingston because i saw an advertisement for a ride straight through to roatan with one company.  no thinking about boats and buses or going the wrong way or missing connections, one boat then a guy finds me, drives me to the dock in honduras, that's it.  

i get to livingston and go straight to the travel agency and they tell me that they aren't going to take me.  they need 6 people to make the trip pay and i'm the only one signed up.  but they do finally map me out a route of boats and buses and if i'm lucky i can make it.  2 boats and 3 buses.  there's no way i'm going to get there on my own in a day.  fail.

i ate lunch and had a couple beers and went to a couple other travel agencies and found one that does the same trip but only requires 4 people.  i think i'm going to go back and pay for all 4 tickets just so i can get out of this hell i feel like i'm in today.  less hassle than a cheap trip finding the right chicken bus, but cheaper than finding an airport.  whatever.

guatemela has been great, i really like it here, but its well past time to go.  ocean.  its calling me.  

angry israelis