As I mentioned, there were 2 inch cockroaches in the Capital. I was actually pretty okay with this. Maybe because I was expecting the capital to suck and was frankly pleasantly surprised that it didn´t suck more. But I was really upset by the roaches in Coban. I think was because the roaches in the capital stayed on floor, whereas the 2 inch roaches in Coban seemed to be making their home inside our mattress.
After a nausiating 5 hr bus ride, we arrived at a seemingly very clean and pleasent hotel in Coban where we had planned to stay several days enjoying the lagunas and caves in the area. When Gwyn first sat down on the bed, I thought I saw something move across the bed out of the corner of my eye. We lay on the bed watching TV, our first TV of the trip, went out to dinner and came back ready to sleep. Needless to say, that did not happen. What do you do when you are faced with a hotel room full of bugs? You keep your clothes and the lights on all night. Therefore you don't sleep.
To add to our disappointment, we found out the next day that the water based attractions around Coban are not very exciting at the end of the dry season. Pity no one told us this earlier. Oh well. We skipped the next couple days and arrived in Flores 2 days early where we decided to spring for a fancy $40 hotel with air conditioning and a view of the lake and NO BUGS!
Our first night in this hotel was like a deliverance to the gates of heaven. We slept wonderfully last night and had planned to laze in bed all day. This became an unrealizable dream due to workmen hammering on the roof above our heads at 9 am this morning. We have changed hotels now and hope that this will also change the luck that we have been sufferenig lately. Plus the new one has a pool.
Oh, and did I mention that I got my money back for the roach motel in Coban? I was proud of myself.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Night in the Capital.
After leaving Xela, we traveled to the capital, Guatemala City. Now, everyone had told us that Guatemala City is scary, confusing, dangerous and over all not worth the time, but we needed to drop off the duffel bag of souveniours we´d bought at the lake, and we needed to go through the capital get to the rest of the country anyway.
We ended up spending a pleasent Sunday evening in "Guate´s" historic Zone 1. We stayed in an overpriced hotel with 2 inch roaches, ate an over priced dinner that tasted like frozen food from Trader Joe´s, and made sure to get back to our hotel before 8 pm.
In the morning everything looked a bit nicer with everyone headed off to work. We took a stroll through the central plaza and got on the bus to Coban. I wouldn´t recomend staying in the capital if you´re on a limited time schedule, but it was nice to see it for a night.
We ended up spending a pleasent Sunday evening in "Guate´s" historic Zone 1. We stayed in an overpriced hotel with 2 inch roaches, ate an over priced dinner that tasted like frozen food from Trader Joe´s, and made sure to get back to our hotel before 8 pm.
In the morning everything looked a bit nicer with everyone headed off to work. We took a stroll through the central plaza and got on the bus to Coban. I wouldn´t recomend staying in the capital if you´re on a limited time schedule, but it was nice to see it for a night.
No more photos...
Sad news, bloggers, I lost my camera cable which means that although I can continue taking photos, I wont be able to share them with you until my return to the USA. It´ll have to be text only entries from now on...
Dinner with Linda
Before leaving Xela for the last time, Gwyn and I had lunch with my host family and dinner with Linda, my Spanish teacher.
We ate chilles rellenos and chicken empanadas aand kept talking until long after the restaurant had closed. It was sad to say goodbye to Linda.
After dinner we ran into Bryon, another teacher.
We ate chilles rellenos and chicken empanadas aand kept talking until long after the restaurant had closed. It was sad to say goodbye to Linda.
After dinner we ran into Bryon, another teacher.
Xocomil - Water Park
Day trip to the Water Park! Yay!
Now some of you may be asking, why did you go to the water park in Guatemala? You should be doing things that Guatemalans do. Well, guess what. Guatemalans DO go to the water park. (Well, at least the rich ones do.) In fact, they´ve built one of the best ones in the world. We went on a Thursday and there were no lines. Just walk up the stairs and slide down. The whole place has a Mayan theme that walks the line between homage and blaspheme. We contemplated this while floating on inner tubes through the "Mayan Canyon" lazy river while statues of the Mayan gods shot water at us from their ears, nose and mouth.
Now some of you may be asking, why did you go to the water park in Guatemala? You should be doing things that Guatemalans do. Well, guess what. Guatemalans DO go to the water park. (Well, at least the rich ones do.) In fact, they´ve built one of the best ones in the world. We went on a Thursday and there were no lines. Just walk up the stairs and slide down. The whole place has a Mayan theme that walks the line between homage and blaspheme. We contemplated this while floating on inner tubes through the "Mayan Canyon" lazy river while statues of the Mayan gods shot water at us from their ears, nose and mouth.
Hotel on the Lake
On the morning of the 3rd day we found a hotel we could have stayed in forever. It was not fancy, and the owner must have thought spiders were good luck, because only intentional oversight could have allowed their webs to accumulate in such quantity, but it was right on the water on a quiet edge of town. We even considered staying an extra day, but in the end decided to move on...
Sunrise
One morning I got up early to watch the sunrise on the lake. I was surprised to find that I was not the only one awake. One by one the fishermen slipped out into the water in boats built for one and by the time I returned to the hotel there was a whole group of women doing their laundry along the shore.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)