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2004 / Guatemala

Ruins in the jungle

Saturday, March 20 2004

Hi all, sorry I've been a bit lax but I've been distracted... here's two journals in quick succession, the end of my time in Guatemala and the start in Mexico... For those that like following lines on maps - from San Pedro I went to Antigua to hook up with some friends and then we all went to a town called Lanquin,...  read more

Chocolate cake

Tuesday, March 9 2004

The Guatemalan chapter of the international chocolate cake testing laboratories is pleased to present its report on the many fine cocoa based delights available in San Pedro. The 'Pan de Chocolat' Straight from the street vendor to you, this chockie cake is the cheapest of the bunch and offers great value. While...  read more

Sitting on the dock

Tuesday, March 9 2004

The dock is made out of uncut tree trunks rammed into the lake, with old slabs of wood lain across haphazardly - everywhere you can look straight down to the lake below. The lake is tranquil in the mornings, there is just a hint of a sound from the small waves lapping at the rocks on the shore. It is a crisp...  read more

 

On top of my first volcano for the trip, just outside Antigua, Guatemala. About half an hour previously I had lost my glasses, ripped off my face by the fiercest wind I've ever been in and flung to the Caribbean. I tried to retrieve them but was literally crawling on my stomach away from the path, and eventually the 'you know, this just isn't worth dying for' flag was raised in my head. I bought some new ones in Panajachel, wearing them now.
Where did my glasses go
 
I like this picture. To me it seems to sum up travelling. The guidebook, sandals, the colourful walls, other books - travel, walking, seeing different things, learning something new.
Backpacking
 
The unsung hero of the first few weeks of my trip. After meeting up in San Pedro with a 'so what's your story then?', we travelled together until Merida, Mexico. Despite some poor news from home at the time she kept everything light and we had a great time. <br/><br> <br/><br>She is an artist and photographer extraordinaire - if you want to see a much better personal website than this one try <a href="http://www.christinekesler.com">hers</a>.
Christine
 
The beautiful Rebecca demonstrating the standard form of transport at Finca Tatin. Want be back there now.
Just going down to the shops
 
The part of Semuc Champey where an entire river disappears under the ground, leaving only the beautiful pools above. I was thinking about the likelihood of surviving trying to run the tunnel in a kayak, and seeing as it looks to be about 200m of raging torrent in pitch black with a very low roof, I'd say not very.
Semuc Champey entrance
 
Semuc Champey. One of the most incredible natural formations anywhere. Underneath this beautiful, picturesque scene, only a few metres down, an entire river is flowing. The water in this picture joins it in a waterfall about fifty metres behind me. <br/><br/> <br/><br/>It was too hard for a crap shot like me to take a decent picture of this place, but trust me, it's incredible.
Semuc Champey panorama
 
I have about a million great shots of this place but this country has enough photos as it is. Tikal is amazing, I spent three days here wandering around the place, not even nearly seeing everything. This is one of the main temples.
Tikal
 
I guess it looks a bit like a manger... if Jesus was born to a tribe in the Amazon. This is Finca Tatin, where I spent Easter. More accurately is 'hid', because the crowds pouring out of Guatemala City all through Guatemala and Belize have to be seen to be believed. But this place was muy tranquilo. We spent a fantastic four or so days here hiking, paddling, and just generally hanging out. A lukewarm river for a bath every morning.
Easter Accomodation
 
I did my best to get to know everyone in the house I was staying at but it was a huge family - at least 14 people in the place. Here are a few of us in the kitchen. I thought they were great and they thought I was 'amable y guapo' according to the next student in the house. (I moved out after a couple weeks after myself and the little kid got sick with the same symptons - I didn't want to make him ill). <br/><br> <br/><br>Anyway I knew enough that I would have to get a damn big chocolate cake for them when I left - that's it there on the table.
Family in Guatemala
 
On top of Volcan San Pedro, above the spectacular Lago Atitlan. About seven hours in total, but the thing is your standard volcano has an extremely unhelpful profile, where the closer you get to the top (and the more tired you are) - the steeper it gets. <br/><br/> <br/><br/>By the end we were travelling very very slowly, but we made it and it made the spa by the jungle later that evening with a few beers and bikini clad lasses that much more satisfying.
First hard hike
 
Now I do know what these are for. All those footbags (Hacky sacks) that you see in new-age shops are made in Guatemala. Much cheaper than in Australia of course - I stupidly only brought one with me and lost it, so I bought three more here. That got me home.
Footbag heaven
 
I have no idea what these are for. If it was my culture, I'd say for scaring small children. But it's not. Maybe they use them to cover their genitalia during special ceremonies. Maybe as part of the coming of age of a young man has to find and catch a wild bear, and make it wear one. <br/><br/> <br/><br/>I don't know is what I'm saying. But it's a nice background.
Masks
 
This is the town that I stayed for three weeks in, learning Spanish. At first I didn't like it much, you'd think that coffee drying in the sun would smell good but I'm here to tell you that it doesn't, and the separation between the locals and the long term hippie residents was acute. <br/><br/> <br/><br/>But after a while, when I saw how the students and the locals interact (despite having worse Spanish than the hippies), and I'd had a few hikes around and generally gotten to know the place, I came to like it. Good chocolate cake too.
San Pedro Atitlan
 
Flores was an island city fortress, built in the middle of a lake. The Spanish found it, beat the crap out of it and turned it into your standard colonial town, with the twist that it's in the middle of a lake. Here, my travelling companion is making the landscape look even more beautiful.
This is travelling
 
This shot gives you an idea of the surroundings of Tikal. Smack in the middle of the jungle. How do you build a massive city in here? Actually that's an unfair question, because the answer of course is that you cut down all the trees. All of this jungle is relatively 'new' - grown in the last 600 years or so since Tikal's downfall. (Probably caused, paradoxically, by a lack of natural resources including water and wood). <br/><br/> <br/><br/>This photo was taken from the top of one of the other temples scattered about the place.
Tikal surrounds
 
This kid was very photogenic - two of the family members living in the house I stayed at during my first couple of weeks, studying Spanish. Very kind and generous people, and very happy too.
Veronica and bebe
 
I went up there.
Volcan San Pedro
 

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