Official Kickoff or Karma Guides This Trip

It's only been two days, and already my karma is going from good to bad and back again. Seems like this is going to be an interesting trip.

The Muchilla - Bad Karma Says Hello

We stayed the night at guatemala city (yechhhh) yesterday. I used a metal cable and a lock to lock my muchilla to the hotel room's sink (the only immovable fixture - I swear). I then went to tour the city and was so tired I slept on a bench in one of the parks. The key apparently decided it likes the place and left me for good.

So there we were - one muchila, one bathroom sink and a cable and lock holding them both together. I was pretty sure they won't let me take the sink on the bus. After using a plier I got from the hotel manager to try and cut the tiny lock away without success, I figured I might as well try cutting the cable. It's shameful how quickly it came apart...

Travel - Good Karma Raises Its Head

Now that the trip has finally started, let me give you some background.

Guatemala is a country of roughtly 8 million people, many of them pure Maya or of Mayan decent. The country itself looks something like this: take a profile of an old greek statue's neck and face. Make the base of the neck wide, narrowing towards the chin. Make it grow a long beard. Keep the nose long and pointy. Now turn it over on its head.
What you get is Guatemala - Guatemala city is somewhere below the upside-down ear.

I am travelling with Idit (she's doing the 'she said' version of the trip). Our goal is to climb up from Guatemala city through the back of the head to the neck, then decend and go explore the areas leading to the nose. Clear, right?

We started our trip officially early this morning on a bus going towards our first stop - Quirigua. Transport was supposed to be a problem since there's no direct bus there, but surprisingly enough we rarely waited. We had rides or local 'taxis' waiting just for us in most places where we had to change.

The local taxi is a minivan that despite what commercials say about being able to carry 7 or maybe even 9 people - can actually carry closer to 20. Really. These taxis travel between towns and stop wherever someone flags them on the main road in the middle of nowhere. The driver ALWAYS stop. The going philosophy is that there's always room for one more if you're part of a bigger group waiting, well, they'll just break you into manageable groups of 1 person. People scrunch up 6 to a sit, sideways, standing up, etc. The operator (not the driver) will even keep the sliding door open and hang on outside so long as he can fit one more person. There's always room, right?

Quirigua itself is an archeological site in the middle of a huge banana plantation. It's the site of a minor city about 1400 years old, and has a number of stallae (see picture for definition) up to 10.5 meter high sprinkled all over the park. Just like guatemala, the king shown on the stallae has a beard which is uncommon in Mayan culture. 

 

Going back to the main road, we got a ride from one of the local cars. I got to stand up in the back of the open van so I count it a great day :) 

 

The Waitress as a Representative of Chaos - Karma Down the Drain Again

We're now in Rio Dulce - a town on a river that widens into a lake then spills into the pacific. Our aim was to get to Livingston on the pacific - an enclave of locals of carrebean ancestry (i.e. Jamaica, mun). We decided that before taking the long ride, we'll grab some lunch. The time was 2p. We got into the lonely-planet's "best restaurant in Rio Dulce" and sat for 20 minutes before we figured the waitress was not going to come. So we got the menu, then went up to order at the counter. Then we waited and waited and waited. Twice, we went to ask that our drinks at least come soooooon since we were both parched. After 30 hour, the drinks finally made it. No food.

20 minutes later, the waitress finally figured out something was wrong (probably the evil eye I was throwing her way, or maybe just the hungry puppy looks) and came by to ask if we're waiting for food. She only needed a slight reminder before realizing she forgot our order.

And so, full up and happy(ier) we got up at 4pm and left to find a boat to Livingston. But lo and behold - all rides were gone for the day. We are forced to wait until tomorrow morning to continue.

So far bad karma is in the lead, but we found a bungalow in a hotel on the river - the only way to and from the hotel is via a boat ride. The heat is oppresive but the jungle all around is really gorgeous.

Mañana - Livingston and the carrebeans.

And remember - you can post comments using the links at the bottom - no need for a blogger account - you can select 'anonymous'. Make my day and post!

Bye,

Eran