Steamed artichoke
Wild rice
Miso Ginger Sauted vege
Sauce:
3 T fresh almond butter
2 T miso
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 T toasted sesame oil
Heat 1 T toasted sesame oil in a skillet. Add broccoli and green beans move veges around quickly in hot skillet to evenly coat and let brown a tiny bit- 2 min. Add carrots mix. Add 2 T water and cover immediately. Steam 90 seconds. Mix veges with sauce.
Serve artichoke with melted butter or aioli. RIce and vege side by side or vege on top.
Sprinkle cilantro on veges.
Prep time 30 minutes. Total cooking time 45-60 minutes.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Guatemala Otro Vez
Tuesday March 15th
This is a sick sick landscape. We are on a big bus driving south to Guatemala City from Flores via Santa Elena. We stopped over in Flores only because we couldn't make it to Antigua by nightime. We stayed in a funny little room where the door was a window and the room was a kitchen. Handy though. I enjoyed the ample counter space and the sink! We got to Guatemala city around 7pm after an 8 hour bus ride. From there we caught another bus to Antigua.
Friday the 25th
We spent 2 days, 3 nights in Antigua. Taking care of business and resting from 2 days of travel. Antigua is a beautiful city. Massive walls seclude the businesses and private residences from the sidewalks and roads. Many buildings look ancient, hence the town name. We walked up to Cerro de la Cruz our first day. Great view of surrounding Antigua. Lots of federales up the hill. All the trees on the Antigua side of the hill are cut down for viewing purposes. It looks strange from ground level, a big square cleared in the middle of alargely forested area.
22nd
I'm living in my tent not sure where I will be in 2 days. I gotta be somewhere else, but where? I'd like to go to yoga teacher training. I am open to different schools, although the ones I've heard of so far haven't come with raving reviews. A farm would be awesome too. Go to Nicaragua to volunteer again? Then again I could just go back to California. And get a job... And pay rent... Or go to peninsula de osos in costa rica with intentions for an internship/ volunteer position working with cats. That one seems pretty far fetched. I could also wwoof in California or Canada, which sounds equally interesting. I miss NPR. I don't know what is happening in California, the world. I do know that what happened in japan is devasting and makes me feel sad, scared, and homeless. I want to be in California, my home. To be near my family, my friends. Be near the environment I love and I am passionate about. I don't want to go back because life in California is filled with work and go go go. If I found a place to live where I could relax and enjoy that isn't going up in smoke or falling into the ocean, or being extracted of all it's natural resources. I feel helpless to the state of California. Things aren't going well and that's not fair. They are stealing the land and taking away promises. Really? More talk of drilling and nuking? Are we blind?!?! These acts are destroying the landbase. Not only for your generation, but mine, your grandchildren and their children. These generations will not see this beautifil world. Their world will be absent of large virgin forest, free flowing clean water, playing outside wihout constant protection. If that isn't enough of a reason to change than we are in even worse shape. Where does one try to start a life with these prospects? Perhaps New Zealand. If my family thinks that's a good idea I would move in a heartbeat. For now I wil stay in Guatemala. Look for a yoga/ farm/ volunteer situation.
30 minutes later...
Settled into my tent again after the water explosion. The huge thousand kilo water vat just burst and started rushing down the hill toward my tent. I grabbed my pants and all my things and ran out of the tent. After a bit of water dispersing my tent was in the clear. I did such an awesome bed setup tonight. I built a pillow with my dirty clothes that haven't been washed prperly for months, covered it with the never wash hoodie, and the sarong. I lay on my yoga mat in a fleece sleep sack covered with a bright Mexican blanket. Since I'm giving gross detail I'll explain my delicious dinner. Coconut quinoa with minced fresh ginger and chopped fresh mint leaved accompanied by sauted carrots, peas, spinach with garlic and green onion.
Time for the bad news ... Last night while I was editing my blog some wierd cut/paste thing happened on my iPod touch and I lost my entire entry about my trip in belize when my mom visited. Hopefully I'll get that retyped soon as daunting it seems. Lately I've been typing all this on the touch and just tranfering it when I get to a wifi spot or Internet cafe. Way less money and it does get easier typing with practice.
Joey began a course at a meditation center yesterday in San Marcos. We've eaten meals together and gone to the bigger, surrounding towns of lake atitlan to stalk up on food stuffs, there are great resources for healthful eating. Other than that he is at the meditation center, sleeping and doing what they do. I am on the other side of town at the same campspot we found our first night in San Marcos.
We came to San Marcos on lake atitlan because we heard of the festival of consiouness for lectures in yoga, natural building, meditation, healing, etc. All weekend Joey and I were attending lectures with topics including; sound healing, yin yoga, geodesic dome buidling, and lucid dreaming. Now that Joey joined the course from this past fullmoon until the next full moon, April 17th I need to find something to do. I'm open to any thoughts, ideas, and support :)
This is a sick sick landscape. We are on a big bus driving south to Guatemala City from Flores via Santa Elena. We stopped over in Flores only because we couldn't make it to Antigua by nightime. We stayed in a funny little room where the door was a window and the room was a kitchen. Handy though. I enjoyed the ample counter space and the sink! We got to Guatemala city around 7pm after an 8 hour bus ride. From there we caught another bus to Antigua.
Friday the 25th
We spent 2 days, 3 nights in Antigua. Taking care of business and resting from 2 days of travel. Antigua is a beautiful city. Massive walls seclude the businesses and private residences from the sidewalks and roads. Many buildings look ancient, hence the town name. We walked up to Cerro de la Cruz our first day. Great view of surrounding Antigua. Lots of federales up the hill. All the trees on the Antigua side of the hill are cut down for viewing purposes. It looks strange from ground level, a big square cleared in the middle of alargely forested area.
22nd
I'm living in my tent not sure where I will be in 2 days. I gotta be somewhere else, but where? I'd like to go to yoga teacher training. I am open to different schools, although the ones I've heard of so far haven't come with raving reviews. A farm would be awesome too. Go to Nicaragua to volunteer again? Then again I could just go back to California. And get a job... And pay rent... Or go to peninsula de osos in costa rica with intentions for an internship/ volunteer position working with cats. That one seems pretty far fetched. I could also wwoof in California or Canada, which sounds equally interesting. I miss NPR. I don't know what is happening in California, the world. I do know that what happened in japan is devasting and makes me feel sad, scared, and homeless. I want to be in California, my home. To be near my family, my friends. Be near the environment I love and I am passionate about. I don't want to go back because life in California is filled with work and go go go. If I found a place to live where I could relax and enjoy that isn't going up in smoke or falling into the ocean, or being extracted of all it's natural resources. I feel helpless to the state of California. Things aren't going well and that's not fair. They are stealing the land and taking away promises. Really? More talk of drilling and nuking? Are we blind?!?! These acts are destroying the landbase. Not only for your generation, but mine, your grandchildren and their children. These generations will not see this beautifil world. Their world will be absent of large virgin forest, free flowing clean water, playing outside wihout constant protection. If that isn't enough of a reason to change than we are in even worse shape. Where does one try to start a life with these prospects? Perhaps New Zealand. If my family thinks that's a good idea I would move in a heartbeat. For now I wil stay in Guatemala. Look for a yoga/ farm/ volunteer situation.
30 minutes later...
Settled into my tent again after the water explosion. The huge thousand kilo water vat just burst and started rushing down the hill toward my tent. I grabbed my pants and all my things and ran out of the tent. After a bit of water dispersing my tent was in the clear. I did such an awesome bed setup tonight. I built a pillow with my dirty clothes that haven't been washed prperly for months, covered it with the never wash hoodie, and the sarong. I lay on my yoga mat in a fleece sleep sack covered with a bright Mexican blanket. Since I'm giving gross detail I'll explain my delicious dinner. Coconut quinoa with minced fresh ginger and chopped fresh mint leaved accompanied by sauted carrots, peas, spinach with garlic and green onion.
Time for the bad news ... Last night while I was editing my blog some wierd cut/paste thing happened on my iPod touch and I lost my entire entry about my trip in belize when my mom visited. Hopefully I'll get that retyped soon as daunting it seems. Lately I've been typing all this on the touch and just tranfering it when I get to a wifi spot or Internet cafe. Way less money and it does get easier typing with practice.
Joey began a course at a meditation center yesterday in San Marcos. We've eaten meals together and gone to the bigger, surrounding towns of lake atitlan to stalk up on food stuffs, there are great resources for healthful eating. Other than that he is at the meditation center, sleeping and doing what they do. I am on the other side of town at the same campspot we found our first night in San Marcos.
We came to San Marcos on lake atitlan because we heard of the festival of consiouness for lectures in yoga, natural building, meditation, healing, etc. All weekend Joey and I were attending lectures with topics including; sound healing, yin yoga, geodesic dome buidling, and lucid dreaming. Now that Joey joined the course from this past fullmoon until the next full moon, April 17th I need to find something to do. I'm open to any thoughts, ideas, and support :)
Farm Thoughts
Joey and I spent a month and a half at the Spanish Creek farm. I wasn't physically there that while time though. Ten days with Casey ans another ten days with my mom. I felt so peaceful and content at the farm, as though it was a home I never knew before. The every day is so fulfilling and exciting. Waking up to white crowned parrots cackling up a cacophony as soon as the sun has made it's presence well known. Starting the day by feeding the chickens, watering the gardens, coffee and a hearty breakfast- now that's the life. Most days on the Spanish Creek farm began that way- unless someone beat me to feeding the chickens. After breakfast, 7am, we start our am projects. The farm manager and the crew of locals show up and we get organized for the day. I preferred the food garden or organizational tasks as well as cooking. I can make whole wheat tortillas!! (A local woman, Idolly, taught a couple of us.) Lunch was usually around noon and afterward the rest of the day was fair game. Finish your morning project or just sit in a hammock and read. Feed the horses and sheep. Kayak in Spanish creek, walk in the jungle, yoga, trips to the store for snacks that weren't provided by the farm aka snickers. Those were the most common activities when not working. All the volunteers ate dinner together each night. The solar power didn't last long so we were usually without light come 8 o'clock. Most went to bed, although, during some periods with a younger crew music was on and the more common beer/pot session occurred. Joey and I always star gazed on the walk to our private thatched roof round cabana. The stars were incredible. You could see perfectly any time of the month, if the moon was away the stars guide your path in their luminescence.
Staying on farms definitely helps to fine tune what I will do and will not do when I have my own land. Many differences were frustrating and in my opinion not okay. For instance the garden was watered with meter tall sprinklers. The sprinklers are so incredibly inefficient! Most the water would be collecting on plastic ground tarps or pathways or on the outside of the garden boundary. I really would have liked to see a drip system to grow the roots but it's not my farm and my opinion only counts so much. Similar situations arose constantly, especially since there was a wide variety of volunteers. Joey and I were asked to construct a compost toilet but then never got the go ahead with materials from the owner... who lives in Florida. Strange and such a let down. I was super excited to build my own idea but it's okay because I can do it on my own land. The longer on the farm the more attaches I became so I had to just let go of all my priorities, clearly the manager and I have very different ideas of what living off the grid means. The final straw that basically turned into Joey and I leaving was when the crew took a tractor and chainsaws to rip a fell tree from the river. Again, in my opinion they had no right to do that in he first place. The tree looked beautiful, was providing food and shelter to countless organisms, and was part of the landscape. A hurricane ripped it from it's roots and another tropical storm will change the river scene again this year. The use of gasoline and loud machinery was upsetting. I lost it when the crew was ripping the tree without cutting branches. This led to the tree damaging and destroying all kinds of innocent plants that were in it's path. I yelled at the man driving the tractor to stop, he pouted he rest of the day. I knew I should have explained to Niri why that I felt it was so necessary to be so worked up by a tree being removed, but I just couldn't. Next time I will explain and not let my emotions speak so loudly.
Despite all said we left on good terms with great memories. We met some incredible people, had the opportunity to care for animals, and I learned so much in the garden.
Staying on farms definitely helps to fine tune what I will do and will not do when I have my own land. Many differences were frustrating and in my opinion not okay. For instance the garden was watered with meter tall sprinklers. The sprinklers are so incredibly inefficient! Most the water would be collecting on plastic ground tarps or pathways or on the outside of the garden boundary. I really would have liked to see a drip system to grow the roots but it's not my farm and my opinion only counts so much. Similar situations arose constantly, especially since there was a wide variety of volunteers. Joey and I were asked to construct a compost toilet but then never got the go ahead with materials from the owner... who lives in Florida. Strange and such a let down. I was super excited to build my own idea but it's okay because I can do it on my own land. The longer on the farm the more attaches I became so I had to just let go of all my priorities, clearly the manager and I have very different ideas of what living off the grid means. The final straw that basically turned into Joey and I leaving was when the crew took a tractor and chainsaws to rip a fell tree from the river. Again, in my opinion they had no right to do that in he first place. The tree looked beautiful, was providing food and shelter to countless organisms, and was part of the landscape. A hurricane ripped it from it's roots and another tropical storm will change the river scene again this year. The use of gasoline and loud machinery was upsetting. I lost it when the crew was ripping the tree without cutting branches. This led to the tree damaging and destroying all kinds of innocent plants that were in it's path. I yelled at the man driving the tractor to stop, he pouted he rest of the day. I knew I should have explained to Niri why that I felt it was so necessary to be so worked up by a tree being removed, but I just couldn't. Next time I will explain and not let my emotions speak so loudly.
Despite all said we left on good terms with great memories. We met some incredible people, had the opportunity to care for animals, and I learned so much in the garden.
Casey and Suzanne, together in Belize!
 |
| Casey´s Arrival at the Belize City Aiport |
Got to the Caribbean island just after sunset and walked the beach a few times before settling on Vega Inn. We set up my tent on Vega's front lawn, just steps from the Sea. Dinner was local food on a high swinging picnic table on top the water. Rum punch included in the meal with no rum :)
 | |
| sunken golf cart, Caye Caulker |
 | |
| our camp-spot at Vega´s, Caye Caulker |
We woke up sunday all prepared to go snorkling but when we got to the office it was canceled because of the rain. Decided to just leave the island all
 |
| the sunburn |
 |
| beach houses, Caye Caulker |
 |
| Hopkins, lunchtime |
 | |
| with the bakery girls |
 |
| Tiger Fern Waterfall |
 | |
| The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, the 1st Jaguar Reserve in the world |
 | |
| Tiger Fern Campsite |
 | |
| Self-Portrait |
 |
| swinging on a creeping fig vine |
 | ||
| Boat-billed heron |
 |
| creeping fig taking over the palm |
We left the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary about 10am on Thursday after taking ourselves on the self guided nature walk around the visitors center. Really nice information from the panphlet that explained much of the plants we saw throughout our trip in the CBWS. We got a ride back to the highway junction where I sat on the road waiting for a bus while Casey shopped in the Mayan womens group artesian market. I hollarded for Casey when I saw the placencia bus rumbling down the road. We jumped on after the doorman took our bags and hurled them in the back of the bus. ofcourse my new hat from caye caulker is a complete nuisance and gets smashed everytime I get on a bus. A couple hours later we were in placencia looking for a campspot. That same helpful doorman suggested Omar's Guesthouse so we inquired and were offered a lovely spot in the small artesian site. The local couple who sell wooden art and jewelry, were welcoming and helpful. Audry made a typical meal once a day and sold it to passerbys; we bought the lunch once. After we set up our spot we went for a swim and walked around the peninsula. Ate dinner and inquired about snorkling.
 |
| beaching in Placencia |
 |
| organizing our tent, Placencia |
 |
| kayaking in Placenia |
 | |
| Magnificent Frigget |
Sunday, February 6, 2011
And....finally WWOOFing
So, Lago de Yojoa in the center of Honduras, the largest lake in the country and a natural lake! We stayed at Agua Azul 7 nights. We hitchhiked into the town Pena Blanca for food stuffs and internet, even found a brewery after the second day of looking (they had homemade root beer!). Went to some caves where we could explore on our own because we had head lamps that were running very low on battery so didn't get too far. Saw beautiful waterfalls a short bus ride outside of Pena Blanco in Buenaventura. I thought Lago de Yojoa was much more pleasent than Lake Atitlan , the lake in Guatemala most travelers rave about. Pristene, but small, cloud rainforest on the east and west sides of the lake, easy to hitchhike, and there are very few tourists. Only bad side(s); expensive, they aren't the friendliest, and they don't give reliable bus or directional information.
Onward to San Pedro Sula. To get anywhere in Honduras you need to go through San Pedro Sula. They have a huge bus terminal with a massive food court. Got a bus to Tela. Tela was pointless to go to. We thought we'd get a boat to Guatemala from a town very close by but that wasn't right. Ended up paying lots for accommodation with a broken toilet, spent 3 nights because we overstayed checkout time and decided another night was cheaper than the fee. In Tela we rented bikes; rode through the town, past several rural homes, over an old railroad, past a golf course and at least 2 km on a muddy muddy dirt road to a Botanical Garden. Its the world's second largest or best (I can't remember) botanical garden. It was quite impressive, set amongst the jungle, a clean swimmable river running through, and all the trees were mature. Huge orchards of mangosteen, upwards of 20 different palms, fruittrees. We stopped by the beach for a quick swim before the bikes had to be returned. Left the bikelock keys in the ocean! Walked back to town and told the shop, with our broken Spanish what happened. A dude with a motorbike road to the location to break the lock and Joey and I walked back so we could then ride the bikes home. In the end we were only charges $9. No biggie :)
Left Tula via San Pedro Sula into Puerto Cortez, Honduras. Fun bus ride day and good luck being the last on the bus so we got directly dropped off at a cheap, grimey hotel. Figured out how to get to Belize that night and ate Pizza Hut. Bad idea, never again. Met a local man who had lived in the states to drive us to Puerto Barrios, Honduras, where we could get a boat into Belize. Got in a small boat packed with 10 other gringos and our backpacks. Right when the rain started Joey and I got called out for not paying our Guatemala exit tax. Got a ride to the border office but then we didn't have the $10 each to leave in Guatemalan or US currency, only Limpira! And I just changed my Quetzales into Belizean! Eventually the sever returned and we payed him too much to exchange current for us. Such an annoying ordeal and lame we didn't remember to pay to leave, too many borders in 1 day. The boat ride was very wet- rained hard and we were zooming thru the ocean. We quickly jumped on the 12 o'clock bus after holding it up on front of the bank for Joey to get cash. Got off at the junction for Hopkins.
Hopkins is a great little village of more than 1000 Garifuna people. We camped at the Drumming Center. While we were walking through town with our backpacks a local guy who does construction for the center told us its a cool place to stay and we were sold. It was perfect; cheap, kitchen, and free drumming shows nearly every night. We got food in town, Dangriga, just 30 minutes on the bus and made delicious meals; fajitas for dinner, huevos motulenos for breakfast with fried plantain, and stir fry vege rice the next night. Hopkins is a taking off point for lots of the protected forests, jungle, and wildlife reserves. We just stayed 3 nights because we were eager to get to WWOOFing and stop spending money.
Now its 8:15 on Sunday night at the farm and I'm nearly ready for bed.
Spanish Creek is a for profit bamboo farm, owned by a tropical fruit farmer in Florida who sells tropical fruit all over the east coast. He doesn't live here. An American and her boyfriend live here year-round and she is the farm manager. We stay in a palapa with some other volunteers, work 4 hours a day 4-5 days per week, and cook meals together. The first work day consisted of ripping out the passionfruit plant that got taken down by the hurricane and preparing dinner for the 4 of us in the evening. Day 2, I rode a horse through the jungle with Clinton the local horse man who makes up stories and went to the river and swimming hole with Joey. On the 3rd day Joey and I cleaned up breakfast, gardened and made lunch; sauted garden bitter greens, bean burgers, and cabbage salad. In the afternoon all the volunteers continued to pour concrete to make the bamboo workshop. Friday we helped clean and landscape the environmental education office in town and I made lunch: homemade toast with farm chicken sunny side up eggs, lentils, and a habanero, tomato salsa. Saturdays and Sundays are weekends but we still do daily chores. Care for chickens, sheep, and horses, and water, weed, harvest the vege garden.
I learned how to make banana leaf tamales with a local lady and her family and brought about 40 back. The day before I went her to the banana trees on the farm and harvested 17 leaves, then made a fire with dead leaves and scorched the leaves so they become pliable. She tore them off the stem and I folded them into a bag. The tamales were so yummy, we all had them for dinner last night (there's 6 of us now). I made a thai dinner tonight with a green papaya, garbanzo bean, cold salad and lemongrass stir fry garden bitter greens and veges over rice.
My legs are getting better now but 2 days ago they had more bright red bumps on them than any other time in my life. The mosquitoes and sand flies are horrendous and unavoidable here. But when that's the only problem, life is good :)
Onward to San Pedro Sula. To get anywhere in Honduras you need to go through San Pedro Sula. They have a huge bus terminal with a massive food court. Got a bus to Tela. Tela was pointless to go to. We thought we'd get a boat to Guatemala from a town very close by but that wasn't right. Ended up paying lots for accommodation with a broken toilet, spent 3 nights because we overstayed checkout time and decided another night was cheaper than the fee. In Tela we rented bikes; rode through the town, past several rural homes, over an old railroad, past a golf course and at least 2 km on a muddy muddy dirt road to a Botanical Garden. Its the world's second largest or best (I can't remember) botanical garden. It was quite impressive, set amongst the jungle, a clean swimmable river running through, and all the trees were mature. Huge orchards of mangosteen, upwards of 20 different palms, fruittrees. We stopped by the beach for a quick swim before the bikes had to be returned. Left the bikelock keys in the ocean! Walked back to town and told the shop, with our broken Spanish what happened. A dude with a motorbike road to the location to break the lock and Joey and I walked back so we could then ride the bikes home. In the end we were only charges $9. No biggie :)
Left Tula via San Pedro Sula into Puerto Cortez, Honduras. Fun bus ride day and good luck being the last on the bus so we got directly dropped off at a cheap, grimey hotel. Figured out how to get to Belize that night and ate Pizza Hut. Bad idea, never again. Met a local man who had lived in the states to drive us to Puerto Barrios, Honduras, where we could get a boat into Belize. Got in a small boat packed with 10 other gringos and our backpacks. Right when the rain started Joey and I got called out for not paying our Guatemala exit tax. Got a ride to the border office but then we didn't have the $10 each to leave in Guatemalan or US currency, only Limpira! And I just changed my Quetzales into Belizean! Eventually the sever returned and we payed him too much to exchange current for us. Such an annoying ordeal and lame we didn't remember to pay to leave, too many borders in 1 day. The boat ride was very wet- rained hard and we were zooming thru the ocean. We quickly jumped on the 12 o'clock bus after holding it up on front of the bank for Joey to get cash. Got off at the junction for Hopkins.
Hopkins is a great little village of more than 1000 Garifuna people. We camped at the Drumming Center. While we were walking through town with our backpacks a local guy who does construction for the center told us its a cool place to stay and we were sold. It was perfect; cheap, kitchen, and free drumming shows nearly every night. We got food in town, Dangriga, just 30 minutes on the bus and made delicious meals; fajitas for dinner, huevos motulenos for breakfast with fried plantain, and stir fry vege rice the next night. Hopkins is a taking off point for lots of the protected forests, jungle, and wildlife reserves. We just stayed 3 nights because we were eager to get to WWOOFing and stop spending money.
Now its 8:15 on Sunday night at the farm and I'm nearly ready for bed.
Spanish Creek is a for profit bamboo farm, owned by a tropical fruit farmer in Florida who sells tropical fruit all over the east coast. He doesn't live here. An American and her boyfriend live here year-round and she is the farm manager. We stay in a palapa with some other volunteers, work 4 hours a day 4-5 days per week, and cook meals together. The first work day consisted of ripping out the passionfruit plant that got taken down by the hurricane and preparing dinner for the 4 of us in the evening. Day 2, I rode a horse through the jungle with Clinton the local horse man who makes up stories and went to the river and swimming hole with Joey. On the 3rd day Joey and I cleaned up breakfast, gardened and made lunch; sauted garden bitter greens, bean burgers, and cabbage salad. In the afternoon all the volunteers continued to pour concrete to make the bamboo workshop. Friday we helped clean and landscape the environmental education office in town and I made lunch: homemade toast with farm chicken sunny side up eggs, lentils, and a habanero, tomato salsa. Saturdays and Sundays are weekends but we still do daily chores. Care for chickens, sheep, and horses, and water, weed, harvest the vege garden.
I learned how to make banana leaf tamales with a local lady and her family and brought about 40 back. The day before I went her to the banana trees on the farm and harvested 17 leaves, then made a fire with dead leaves and scorched the leaves so they become pliable. She tore them off the stem and I folded them into a bag. The tamales were so yummy, we all had them for dinner last night (there's 6 of us now). I made a thai dinner tonight with a green papaya, garbanzo bean, cold salad and lemongrass stir fry garden bitter greens and veges over rice.
My legs are getting better now but 2 days ago they had more bright red bumps on them than any other time in my life. The mosquitoes and sand flies are horrendous and unavoidable here. But when that's the only problem, life is good :)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
El Salvador, Honduras and beyond!
Alright, I haven't posted since Guatemala! There's a lot that's happened so I will give some abrieviated version.
I spent my last couple days in Guatemala alone at San Perdo, Lake Atitlan. Really nice days just getting ready to see Joey, repairing ripped clothes (clothing really takes a beating on the road and in those washing machines), soaking up alone time, and exploring the lake a bit more. I was able to make it over the the Yoga Farm I was thinking of apprenticing at and have decided that's not the place for me. Good to be able to knock something off the list when the list seems to grow exponentially. My favorite part of cruising to other parts of the lake was noticing the difference in the indigenous peoples. The people in San Perdo have by far the prettiest clothing, even though the men dress more modern, the women wear beautiful blouses with intricate embroidery around the neck and bright colors to match the very bright multi-colored skirts with the thick belt to tie it all together. The belt and the way they sinch their skirts forms pockets! How ingenious! The men in Santiago dress traditionally for the most part; white pants with colorful embroidery at the ankles with no shirt at all or colorful dress shirts with the leather sandals.
In order to get to El Zonte, El Salvador (where Joey and I were meeting) I had to take 2 travel days. I left San Perdo and spent the night in Antigua, where I had been once before so it was easy to navigate and find a hotel for cheap since I knew what to expect. I ate some of the best food of my trip that night. Yummy Israeli raw salad and cilantro soup followed by a French crepe with homemade chocolate sauce, banana and whipped cream! It was a good thing I had a last supper because food has been pretty rough since leaving Guatemala. I got on the bus early on the 30th and arrived in El Zonte around 2pm. I wandered around a bit at the beach before finding Joey. It was so great to see him. It was like no time had passed between us. Joey had been at this beach for about a week before I got there so he showed me around and we ate burritos for lunch. We splurged a little bit for a nice hotel looking over the waves on a cliff outside of town a bit.
We spent the next two days just hanging out at the beach, lounging and getting reaquaited. We moved to another beach on the 1st of January, Sunzal. Staying in Sunzal for 9 days, I think. Sunzal turned into a long stay because my body decided to short circuit there. First I got strept throat, spent many days laying in bed, went to the free medical clinic and got a shot of peneciliian in my butt, met a holistic doctor at his juice shop and had some acupunture visits with him. Joey was surfing every day until he sold his surf board and then there was nothing for either of us to do we were just waiting for my next acupunture appointment which was in the city, San Salvador. We waited in Sunzal because it was dramatically cheaper at the beach. The next town over, Tunco, had movies every night at a restaraunt so we ended up going there most nights, sitting and playing in the water at the beach, relaxing at the coffee shop on top the lagoon that flows into the ocean, or relaxing in hammocks at our hostel.
San Salvador is a huge, busseling city. Expensive everything, expect movie theatre for $3 each! I went to my doctor appointment and bought a yoga mat a then we were outta there for Perquin!
We took a rather luxurious bus to San Miguel and then jumped off to get another bus to San Francisco Gotera. While Joey was loading our bags on the bus I went pee only to come back to no bus and Joey on the stree with our bags, cleary I took too long to pee. I had to sneak passed the metal round-about into the toilets because I was 10 cents short for entrance fee, I was telling the guy its okay because I have my own paper but he was yelling and holding the roundabout in place. We got on the next chicken bus going our direction with the help of a toothless homeless man who turned out to be the doorguy on board. He shuffled us off at our stop in SF Gotera and loaded us into a pickup truck with a tarp roof. Moor people kept getting on when I though there was no room left. The ride up to Perquin got higher and higher and the views beautiful, we were able to see the sunset from our open car ride.
Arriving in Perquin at night was not ideal because we couldn't see much in the distance but turned out perfectly. We went to every hotel in town, they were all too expensive. Our last stop was the War Musuem at the top of the hill. Jackpot, $3 per night for camping in the middle of the museum's grass. The gimpy man (Jose) and one eyed man (Chepe) helped us get settled, more like, just stood and watched us even awkwardly after all was set up. Went down hill to get pupusas and fresh orange juice. Watched the youngens play some soccer on the asphalt basketball court and then off to bed.
The next day was very adventureous! Diarrhea day 1. First we got a tour of the museum, given by Jose, we understood about 10% of what he said. Most the of museum artifacts were collected by these men around Perquin. Every man over 40 was in the war with obvious signs.I had several trips to the toilet during the museum tour :( We then set off to walk the 8km to Mozote, another war ravenged town in the vicinity. We walked the majority, stopped for coffee on the way and then hitched a ride. Our ride took us way out into the mountains to a town called Joateca. We saw the junction for Mozote but the truck went the other direction and we just went with it. We wanted to see where they were going because we couldn't imagine a town so far out, but low and behold and busy pueblo just over the mountain. We walked around the town, went into the city hall and saw where we were on a map and then hitched out of town toward Mozote. Got a ride from a hardware store who was delivering concrete. Joey helped unload a bit to the tienda down the road. Finally made it to Mozote around 4pm. There's a nice monument to the 1000 people who were massacred there in 1981. A woman gave us a little tour of the garden (again I had to take several breaks from out tour ). Then back on the road to get home before dark. We managed to get back around sunset and I went to sleep right away.
The next morning we got up early to miss the bus across the border into Honduras. We walked a bit down the road and then stopped at a tienda where we spent the next 3 hours, eating snacks and hanging out with the family. They offered us to wait inside until our ride came. Around 11am we caught a ride up the mountains in the back of a pickup with a friendly Honduran man who lived in Daly City but spoke little Enlgish and his happy daughter. We got a different ride at the top, still with the man and his daughter. The ride got super cold and foggy once we crossed the border and the little girl got closer and closer to ended to ride with her in my lap, me making sure she didn't freeze. She was adorable. Its comforting to hang out with a little one, where language doesn't really matter.
We got off in Marcala, Honduras! Sat at the ¨bus station¨ for a bit trying to figure out how to progress from there to Lago de Yojoa. We couldn't figure it out! haha. So we spent the night there and decided to deal with it in the morning. We waited for the us to Comayague for about 45 minutes the next morning before finding out its the wrong spot to wait. Joey chased down a chicken bus he saw down the street and it was our bus so he asked them to drive slow so we could meet them at the next intersection. He came back to me running so I got the bags on and we did a fast fast/ run 4 blocks away. Its super awkward to run in Latin America. No one is ever in a hurry and so when you are they think its hysterical. After passing people you can hear them laughing at our rediculousness. But we got the bus! Awesome. Nice ride through the mountains to Comayague and then a good 1.5 hr wait at the bext bus station. Missed 1 bus because Joey was out getting snacks, whoops! Got on the next bus to Lago de Yojoa! Surprisingly made it to La Guama, a town around the lake, with the bus flying around the corners and passing on turns (remember these chicken buses are the same buses the US school children took on fieldtrips back in the 70s and 80s but now they are painted fancy and say ¨Jesus es Dio¨ or something of sorts across the windshield). A young boy helped us get on a microbus to the lakeside resorts. We got off near the lake and wandered around looking for a place to set up our tent. It was dark and I was getting rather moody, mosquitos were eating me alive and I thought I was going to die from heat exhaustion (welcome back to the tropics!). A man guarding a coffee plantation let us camp in his yard after Joey had a conversation with him. He called his wife who stepped outside of their house across the street and she came over to get us and bring him a plate of food. She was Carribean looking and 1 of their 3 children was too. The kids hung out while we set up our tent and then went to be. We stayed up eating avocado and cucumber and playing cards for another couple hours before sleeping. In the morning we packed up and set out looking for a more legit place to camp.
We found a great spot at Agua Azul. Its got lots of little cabins on the lake, super nice. We got a fantastic deal! $5 a night to camp anywhere we want and full access to a room for showers, toilet, and storage. We set up our tent and hammock at the end of the building in the grass and have our own little private residence. They don't appear to have any other guests so its very quiet. Its an amazing spot to watch birds. I've seen over 30 species in one morning, easily from the tent or hammock.
Yesterday we finally found the brewery...we had one unsuccessful trip looking for it. Joey tasted some beers and I got homemade root beer! Then we wandered around a coffee plantation. The most beautiful I've seen so far. The canopy layer still stands, many low laying plants integrated in, and no irrigation. Harvest was a couple weeks ago so the trees are rather barren but still excellent examples of how coffee grows best.
Whew! That was a lot (and it was abbreviated too). Thanks for staying tuned to my travels, if you are still there...
Adios amigos!
I spent my last couple days in Guatemala alone at San Perdo, Lake Atitlan. Really nice days just getting ready to see Joey, repairing ripped clothes (clothing really takes a beating on the road and in those washing machines), soaking up alone time, and exploring the lake a bit more. I was able to make it over the the Yoga Farm I was thinking of apprenticing at and have decided that's not the place for me. Good to be able to knock something off the list when the list seems to grow exponentially. My favorite part of cruising to other parts of the lake was noticing the difference in the indigenous peoples. The people in San Perdo have by far the prettiest clothing, even though the men dress more modern, the women wear beautiful blouses with intricate embroidery around the neck and bright colors to match the very bright multi-colored skirts with the thick belt to tie it all together. The belt and the way they sinch their skirts forms pockets! How ingenious! The men in Santiago dress traditionally for the most part; white pants with colorful embroidery at the ankles with no shirt at all or colorful dress shirts with the leather sandals.
In order to get to El Zonte, El Salvador (where Joey and I were meeting) I had to take 2 travel days. I left San Perdo and spent the night in Antigua, where I had been once before so it was easy to navigate and find a hotel for cheap since I knew what to expect. I ate some of the best food of my trip that night. Yummy Israeli raw salad and cilantro soup followed by a French crepe with homemade chocolate sauce, banana and whipped cream! It was a good thing I had a last supper because food has been pretty rough since leaving Guatemala. I got on the bus early on the 30th and arrived in El Zonte around 2pm. I wandered around a bit at the beach before finding Joey. It was so great to see him. It was like no time had passed between us. Joey had been at this beach for about a week before I got there so he showed me around and we ate burritos for lunch. We splurged a little bit for a nice hotel looking over the waves on a cliff outside of town a bit.
We spent the next two days just hanging out at the beach, lounging and getting reaquaited. We moved to another beach on the 1st of January, Sunzal. Staying in Sunzal for 9 days, I think. Sunzal turned into a long stay because my body decided to short circuit there. First I got strept throat, spent many days laying in bed, went to the free medical clinic and got a shot of peneciliian in my butt, met a holistic doctor at his juice shop and had some acupunture visits with him. Joey was surfing every day until he sold his surf board and then there was nothing for either of us to do we were just waiting for my next acupunture appointment which was in the city, San Salvador. We waited in Sunzal because it was dramatically cheaper at the beach. The next town over, Tunco, had movies every night at a restaraunt so we ended up going there most nights, sitting and playing in the water at the beach, relaxing at the coffee shop on top the lagoon that flows into the ocean, or relaxing in hammocks at our hostel.
San Salvador is a huge, busseling city. Expensive everything, expect movie theatre for $3 each! I went to my doctor appointment and bought a yoga mat a then we were outta there for Perquin!
We took a rather luxurious bus to San Miguel and then jumped off to get another bus to San Francisco Gotera. While Joey was loading our bags on the bus I went pee only to come back to no bus and Joey on the stree with our bags, cleary I took too long to pee. I had to sneak passed the metal round-about into the toilets because I was 10 cents short for entrance fee, I was telling the guy its okay because I have my own paper but he was yelling and holding the roundabout in place. We got on the next chicken bus going our direction with the help of a toothless homeless man who turned out to be the doorguy on board. He shuffled us off at our stop in SF Gotera and loaded us into a pickup truck with a tarp roof. Moor people kept getting on when I though there was no room left. The ride up to Perquin got higher and higher and the views beautiful, we were able to see the sunset from our open car ride.
Arriving in Perquin at night was not ideal because we couldn't see much in the distance but turned out perfectly. We went to every hotel in town, they were all too expensive. Our last stop was the War Musuem at the top of the hill. Jackpot, $3 per night for camping in the middle of the museum's grass. The gimpy man (Jose) and one eyed man (Chepe) helped us get settled, more like, just stood and watched us even awkwardly after all was set up. Went down hill to get pupusas and fresh orange juice. Watched the youngens play some soccer on the asphalt basketball court and then off to bed.
The next day was very adventureous! Diarrhea day 1. First we got a tour of the museum, given by Jose, we understood about 10% of what he said. Most the of museum artifacts were collected by these men around Perquin. Every man over 40 was in the war with obvious signs.I had several trips to the toilet during the museum tour :( We then set off to walk the 8km to Mozote, another war ravenged town in the vicinity. We walked the majority, stopped for coffee on the way and then hitched a ride. Our ride took us way out into the mountains to a town called Joateca. We saw the junction for Mozote but the truck went the other direction and we just went with it. We wanted to see where they were going because we couldn't imagine a town so far out, but low and behold and busy pueblo just over the mountain. We walked around the town, went into the city hall and saw where we were on a map and then hitched out of town toward Mozote. Got a ride from a hardware store who was delivering concrete. Joey helped unload a bit to the tienda down the road. Finally made it to Mozote around 4pm. There's a nice monument to the 1000 people who were massacred there in 1981. A woman gave us a little tour of the garden (again I had to take several breaks from out tour ). Then back on the road to get home before dark. We managed to get back around sunset and I went to sleep right away.
The next morning we got up early to miss the bus across the border into Honduras. We walked a bit down the road and then stopped at a tienda where we spent the next 3 hours, eating snacks and hanging out with the family. They offered us to wait inside until our ride came. Around 11am we caught a ride up the mountains in the back of a pickup with a friendly Honduran man who lived in Daly City but spoke little Enlgish and his happy daughter. We got a different ride at the top, still with the man and his daughter. The ride got super cold and foggy once we crossed the border and the little girl got closer and closer to ended to ride with her in my lap, me making sure she didn't freeze. She was adorable. Its comforting to hang out with a little one, where language doesn't really matter.
We got off in Marcala, Honduras! Sat at the ¨bus station¨ for a bit trying to figure out how to progress from there to Lago de Yojoa. We couldn't figure it out! haha. So we spent the night there and decided to deal with it in the morning. We waited for the us to Comayague for about 45 minutes the next morning before finding out its the wrong spot to wait. Joey chased down a chicken bus he saw down the street and it was our bus so he asked them to drive slow so we could meet them at the next intersection. He came back to me running so I got the bags on and we did a fast fast/ run 4 blocks away. Its super awkward to run in Latin America. No one is ever in a hurry and so when you are they think its hysterical. After passing people you can hear them laughing at our rediculousness. But we got the bus! Awesome. Nice ride through the mountains to Comayague and then a good 1.5 hr wait at the bext bus station. Missed 1 bus because Joey was out getting snacks, whoops! Got on the next bus to Lago de Yojoa! Surprisingly made it to La Guama, a town around the lake, with the bus flying around the corners and passing on turns (remember these chicken buses are the same buses the US school children took on fieldtrips back in the 70s and 80s but now they are painted fancy and say ¨Jesus es Dio¨ or something of sorts across the windshield). A young boy helped us get on a microbus to the lakeside resorts. We got off near the lake and wandered around looking for a place to set up our tent. It was dark and I was getting rather moody, mosquitos were eating me alive and I thought I was going to die from heat exhaustion (welcome back to the tropics!). A man guarding a coffee plantation let us camp in his yard after Joey had a conversation with him. He called his wife who stepped outside of their house across the street and she came over to get us and bring him a plate of food. She was Carribean looking and 1 of their 3 children was too. The kids hung out while we set up our tent and then went to be. We stayed up eating avocado and cucumber and playing cards for another couple hours before sleeping. In the morning we packed up and set out looking for a more legit place to camp.
We found a great spot at Agua Azul. Its got lots of little cabins on the lake, super nice. We got a fantastic deal! $5 a night to camp anywhere we want and full access to a room for showers, toilet, and storage. We set up our tent and hammock at the end of the building in the grass and have our own little private residence. They don't appear to have any other guests so its very quiet. Its an amazing spot to watch birds. I've seen over 30 species in one morning, easily from the tent or hammock.
Yesterday we finally found the brewery...we had one unsuccessful trip looking for it. Joey tasted some beers and I got homemade root beer! Then we wandered around a coffee plantation. The most beautiful I've seen so far. The canopy layer still stands, many low laying plants integrated in, and no irrigation. Harvest was a couple weeks ago so the trees are rather barren but still excellent examples of how coffee grows best.
Whew! That was a lot (and it was abbreviated too). Thanks for staying tuned to my travels, if you are still there...
Adios amigos!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Alone again
Briony left for Mexico today and I decided it would be a good day to take a trip to the yoga farm I've been thinking about doing an apprenticeship at. First I had to take a boat to Santiago Atitlan and ask around about Finca de Yoga Mystica. After wandering the town a bit I found someone who knew what I was talking about. I got on another boat and the man took me across the bay to the property. I didn't realize it was going to be so expensive, 80 quetzales with return! That's like 10 dollars. Plus when I got picked up it was by a different boat and that boatman was trying to get me to pay him 40 more. It was a bit of a scene and I ended up not paying him and telling him he needs to figure it out with the other dude because it wasn't my problem he didn't get paid. That, and the fact that I had over an hour and a half wait until the next boat back to San Pedro, put me in an irritable mood. I forgot how difficult it was to get around with my embarrassing Spanish skills, I was so spoiled traveling with Briony ;)
So, anywaysss.. Finca de yoga was alright. Kinda pointless for me to have visited because they were in the middle of a teacher training so no one was available to chat with me about the possibility of an apprenticeship. I did feel like I could spend some time there though. Its in a very secluded location, one of the most beautiful spots on the lake, on the eastern slope of San ¨Pedro volcano where its all a protected park. The side of the lake with San Pedro volcano is obviously a protected site because compared to the other mountains, it is mainly forested, where as the remaining mountains are pretty sick looking. They have lots of landslides because they farm on the steep slopes year after year and add more and more fertilizers. From a distance you can see the square corn and coffee crops and then many plots with no vegetation whatsoever. Close to the lake shore are many small scale vegetable gardens with much more variety in plant species.
Santiago is a small town, much less touristy than San Pedro. I was thinking I would change locations for my last couple days on the lake but I'm pretty content with my spot and now that I've been to 3 other towns I enjoy the variety of things to do in San Pedro the best. You can have all the meditation, yoga, eating, social life you want here, a little bit of everything :)
I haven't been doing much around the lake. Our second day here we hiked up volcano San Pedro. That was one hell of a hike! I've never hiked such a steep trail before, there were times I thought I was going to fall backwards. We met the local guide, whom turned out to be about 70, accompanied with his machete and towel around his neck...(the towel should have been my clue to get more clothes!!) at the reception of our hotel at 5am. Two Irish guys were ready for the hike as well. We started walking through the town and into the National Park and began the accent at sunrise. All seemed pretty good until I realized the guide was going to keep up the fast pace and not have any tolerance for stopping or meandering. I got pretty frustrated with the hike. I really wanted to enjoy myself and be able to check out the plants n whatnot but the guide was, clearly, in a hurry. (Its mandartory to get hire a guide in the National Park, otherwise we would have gone alone). We got to the summit at 8:30am! We relaxed and ate for about 20 minutes and then, vamanos! down we went, basically running. We made it down in 1 hour! It was so crazy, I have no idea why we had to complete the hike so fast. Oh and to make matters worse I thought I was getting frostbite on my toes the whole way up. I really assumed I would heat up and the sun would warm us but, man alive, was I wrong. I ended up wearing one of the Irish dude's thermal on my legs to keep from freezing. Briony and I were both wiped out for the rest of the day so we just sat and drank coffee and ate for the remaining of the day. There are many delicious gringo restaraunts here with lots of vegetarian options.
The other day we took a boat the Panajachel, the biggest town on the lake. We just wandered around and then came back to San Pedro, there's nothing special about Panajachel except it has the best view of the three volcanoes from the dock. Yesterday we kayaked to the town across the lake from San Pedro, San Marcos. San Marcos is very small, its basically a meditation, yoga center and then the indigenous people doing their thing. The kayaking was great on the way there but the way back was brutal, the wind was blowing against us and waves were crashing into the kayak. Briony thought we were gonnna drown, haha. I will stay here for 2 more days and then meet up with Joey somewhere on the beach of El Salvador. I've met some pretty..interesting El Salvadorians so far so I look forward to seeing what the country is like.
As for Tikal...where I left off on my last post:
Tikal is massive, its a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It took nearly 5 hours to walk to all the different temples, climbing the temples gave grand views of the forest canopy and the vantage point for hearing monkeys all over. We got there shortly after sunrise and there was still a heavy fog covering the tips of the temples to the point where you couldn't see the temples from high up structures. It was beautiful to watch the fog burn off from the top of Temple II. Tikal was definitely the most impressive of the Mayan Ruins I have visited. Its very close to the Mexican border, so it is close to Calakmul, that other archeological site I wanted to visit but never made it. Tikal was the capital of the conquest state for the Mayans, in politics, economics, and military.
After Briony and I visited Tikal and Flores we went to Lanquin for 2 nights. The major spot to see outside of Lanquin is Semuc Champey, a series of natural pools in the valley of the mountains. Lanquin is, in my opinion, the most beautiful place in Guatemala. Its just a small village community and some tourists who are there for a day or two to visit the river's beautiful colorful pools. We stayed at a hostel that was on the peaks of several smaller mountains, we had a nearly 360 degree view of the canyons and river down below. The highlight of Lanquin was definitely the puppies at the hostel! There were 4, 7 week old puppies. SO cute!!! Briony and I spent pretty much all our time with the puppies or taking photos of the puppies. Moma pup was around too so that was just even more adorable when the puppies wanted to eat and she wasn't having it or when she would groom the little guys. Precious.
After Lanquin we spent one night in Antigua. We were getting anxious to settle in one spot, at the lake, so we just briefly saw Antigua. Besides, Briony had been there previously and I didn't care for the town as much as other people seemed to. People from all over rave about Antigua but what I saw was a bunch of white people taking over the town. There's a large population of students and peace corps volunteers in and around Antigua that makes it seem like a Californian town in Guatemala. Yuppie shops and not much traditional Guatemalan life going on in Antigua. Also very expensive clothing and food stuffs. But then again, where the white people are so are the health food shops so Briony and I did have a play day in one of the cafes, mmm huevos motuleños!
Well, I think that sums up what I've been up to in Guatemala so far. It sure doesn't sound as exciting as its been so I must be leaving things out or just not a good story teller...op! but thanks for reading anyways!
So, anywaysss.. Finca de yoga was alright. Kinda pointless for me to have visited because they were in the middle of a teacher training so no one was available to chat with me about the possibility of an apprenticeship. I did feel like I could spend some time there though. Its in a very secluded location, one of the most beautiful spots on the lake, on the eastern slope of San ¨Pedro volcano where its all a protected park. The side of the lake with San Pedro volcano is obviously a protected site because compared to the other mountains, it is mainly forested, where as the remaining mountains are pretty sick looking. They have lots of landslides because they farm on the steep slopes year after year and add more and more fertilizers. From a distance you can see the square corn and coffee crops and then many plots with no vegetation whatsoever. Close to the lake shore are many small scale vegetable gardens with much more variety in plant species.
Santiago is a small town, much less touristy than San Pedro. I was thinking I would change locations for my last couple days on the lake but I'm pretty content with my spot and now that I've been to 3 other towns I enjoy the variety of things to do in San Pedro the best. You can have all the meditation, yoga, eating, social life you want here, a little bit of everything :)
I haven't been doing much around the lake. Our second day here we hiked up volcano San Pedro. That was one hell of a hike! I've never hiked such a steep trail before, there were times I thought I was going to fall backwards. We met the local guide, whom turned out to be about 70, accompanied with his machete and towel around his neck...(the towel should have been my clue to get more clothes!!) at the reception of our hotel at 5am. Two Irish guys were ready for the hike as well. We started walking through the town and into the National Park and began the accent at sunrise. All seemed pretty good until I realized the guide was going to keep up the fast pace and not have any tolerance for stopping or meandering. I got pretty frustrated with the hike. I really wanted to enjoy myself and be able to check out the plants n whatnot but the guide was, clearly, in a hurry. (Its mandartory to get hire a guide in the National Park, otherwise we would have gone alone). We got to the summit at 8:30am! We relaxed and ate for about 20 minutes and then, vamanos! down we went, basically running. We made it down in 1 hour! It was so crazy, I have no idea why we had to complete the hike so fast. Oh and to make matters worse I thought I was getting frostbite on my toes the whole way up. I really assumed I would heat up and the sun would warm us but, man alive, was I wrong. I ended up wearing one of the Irish dude's thermal on my legs to keep from freezing. Briony and I were both wiped out for the rest of the day so we just sat and drank coffee and ate for the remaining of the day. There are many delicious gringo restaraunts here with lots of vegetarian options.
The other day we took a boat the Panajachel, the biggest town on the lake. We just wandered around and then came back to San Pedro, there's nothing special about Panajachel except it has the best view of the three volcanoes from the dock. Yesterday we kayaked to the town across the lake from San Pedro, San Marcos. San Marcos is very small, its basically a meditation, yoga center and then the indigenous people doing their thing. The kayaking was great on the way there but the way back was brutal, the wind was blowing against us and waves were crashing into the kayak. Briony thought we were gonnna drown, haha. I will stay here for 2 more days and then meet up with Joey somewhere on the beach of El Salvador. I've met some pretty..interesting El Salvadorians so far so I look forward to seeing what the country is like.
As for Tikal...where I left off on my last post:
Tikal is massive, its a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It took nearly 5 hours to walk to all the different temples, climbing the temples gave grand views of the forest canopy and the vantage point for hearing monkeys all over. We got there shortly after sunrise and there was still a heavy fog covering the tips of the temples to the point where you couldn't see the temples from high up structures. It was beautiful to watch the fog burn off from the top of Temple II. Tikal was definitely the most impressive of the Mayan Ruins I have visited. Its very close to the Mexican border, so it is close to Calakmul, that other archeological site I wanted to visit but never made it. Tikal was the capital of the conquest state for the Mayans, in politics, economics, and military.
After Briony and I visited Tikal and Flores we went to Lanquin for 2 nights. The major spot to see outside of Lanquin is Semuc Champey, a series of natural pools in the valley of the mountains. Lanquin is, in my opinion, the most beautiful place in Guatemala. Its just a small village community and some tourists who are there for a day or two to visit the river's beautiful colorful pools. We stayed at a hostel that was on the peaks of several smaller mountains, we had a nearly 360 degree view of the canyons and river down below. The highlight of Lanquin was definitely the puppies at the hostel! There were 4, 7 week old puppies. SO cute!!! Briony and I spent pretty much all our time with the puppies or taking photos of the puppies. Moma pup was around too so that was just even more adorable when the puppies wanted to eat and she wasn't having it or when she would groom the little guys. Precious.
After Lanquin we spent one night in Antigua. We were getting anxious to settle in one spot, at the lake, so we just briefly saw Antigua. Besides, Briony had been there previously and I didn't care for the town as much as other people seemed to. People from all over rave about Antigua but what I saw was a bunch of white people taking over the town. There's a large population of students and peace corps volunteers in and around Antigua that makes it seem like a Californian town in Guatemala. Yuppie shops and not much traditional Guatemalan life going on in Antigua. Also very expensive clothing and food stuffs. But then again, where the white people are so are the health food shops so Briony and I did have a play day in one of the cafes, mmm huevos motuleños!
Well, I think that sums up what I've been up to in Guatemala so far. It sure doesn't sound as exciting as its been so I must be leaving things out or just not a good story teller...op! but thanks for reading anyways!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)