I am now in San Pedro la laguna.
In Antigua we hiked up to an active volcano, Pacaya. As soon as we got off we were mobbed by children calling ¨STICKS! STICKS! STICKS!¨ They were trying to sell us walking sticks for the hike. I always feel like its pretty fucked up when kids are trying to sell tourists stuff, and I wondered what the north american kids thought of kids their own age selling them sticks. On the other hand these kids know alot of practical things I am often resentful of modern society that I dont know. For example, one kid was riding a horse adeptly totally by himself. Plus they probably learn how to farm. It reminded me of Laos, where packs of kids run around unsupervised and basically raise themselves. At least they trying to figure out how to get a few quetzals out of the gringos, and arent watching TV!
The last day we were in Antigua was a festival day. There were fireworks and street food. I was excited to find that you can get tostadas with guacamole, salsa, onions and cheese for 50 cents or less in Guatemala! There were parades and dancing as well. The streets are so much more alive here than in the US.
Next we came to San Marcos, on the beautiful lago atitlan. We jumped off a rock into the water, awesome. San Marcos has alot of holistic healing, yoga, and other more absurd hippy new agey stuff like crystal healing. Its pretty small and has three sisters corn fields, coffee, etc. Lily found a room with a view of the lake for about 25$ a week. Today I made my way to San Pedro and found the Casa Rosario spanish school where I will be studying and living with a homestay family this next week. San Pedro is pretty nice too, especially down by the lake where the school is. The classes are outside in their garden, right by the lake. San Pedro has the reputation of being a magnet for drugs, hippies, and partying but I have yet to see this at all.
The locals here dont speak spanish to eachtoher. Mayan is a strange, gutteral language full of clicks and glottal stops. Probably because spanish is a second language for them, they all speak really slowly which is great. I happy that even though I forgot alot of my spanish I can pretty much understand everything people say. Speaking is much harder for me, but after a week or two of classes that will change.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Antigua
I made it to Guatemala!
I got in pretty late, so I was a little nervous about the hotel where I had agreed to meet lily being closed, and being stuck outside. Guatemala city is NOT a city where you want to be stuck outside. But it was open and I met lily, at the Pension Meza. Almost immediately a very talkative Colombian guy offered me a drink of his big bottle of gallo beer with a ¨salud¨. I felt appropriately welcomed. Che apparently once stayed at the Pension Meza, and the room he stayed in is almost like a little shrine, with pictures of him and revolutionary slogans scrawled on the walls.
Guatemala is big, dirty, and all around unpleasant so we came to Antigua in the morning. Antigua is very touristy and full of gringos. But its awesome, it´s surrounded by 3 volcanoes and has the very nice quality of a restored colonial city. The buildings are painted with soft pastel colors and there are various churches scattered round the city that have been wrecked by histories earthquakes.
We are staying at lily´s friend rachels homestay house, which is really fancy and nice. Rachels school has big avacado trees with citrus and loquats underneath and then chile plants at the bottom. There is lots of coffee under some kind of jacaranda looking tree.
We went to a show with the lead singer of buena vista social club. It was awesome to hear live cuban music. Most of the people dancing were short, stocky lation guys with gorgeous, tall gringas. I might have to learn salsa since its kinda the thing here.
Check my flickr for pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13958737@N03/
(let me know if that doesn´t work)
I got in pretty late, so I was a little nervous about the hotel where I had agreed to meet lily being closed, and being stuck outside. Guatemala city is NOT a city where you want to be stuck outside. But it was open and I met lily, at the Pension Meza. Almost immediately a very talkative Colombian guy offered me a drink of his big bottle of gallo beer with a ¨salud¨. I felt appropriately welcomed. Che apparently once stayed at the Pension Meza, and the room he stayed in is almost like a little shrine, with pictures of him and revolutionary slogans scrawled on the walls.
Guatemala is big, dirty, and all around unpleasant so we came to Antigua in the morning. Antigua is very touristy and full of gringos. But its awesome, it´s surrounded by 3 volcanoes and has the very nice quality of a restored colonial city. The buildings are painted with soft pastel colors and there are various churches scattered round the city that have been wrecked by histories earthquakes.
We are staying at lily´s friend rachels homestay house, which is really fancy and nice. Rachels school has big avacado trees with citrus and loquats underneath and then chile plants at the bottom. There is lots of coffee under some kind of jacaranda looking tree.
We went to a show with the lead singer of buena vista social club. It was awesome to hear live cuban music. Most of the people dancing were short, stocky lation guys with gorgeous, tall gringas. I might have to learn salsa since its kinda the thing here.
Check my flickr for pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13958737@N03/
(let me know if that doesn´t work)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Guatmala
New trip, new blog. I am going to Guatemala the day after tomorrow, to meet my sister and have adventures.
I will write about my recent trip to Yosemite, my other trip this Summer, in this first post. I don't have any pictures since I forgot my camera but hopefully that won't be the case in Guatemala. You can just image search the names I mention.
I took the Amtrak to Merced. Its wierd going through the central valley. Extensive continuous monoculture is really the only way to describe it. And some kids got arrested on the train as we were getting off. So then I was in Merced, waiting for Kevin ( my Irish friend from Santa Cruz), hoping that he would in fact arrive as I couldn't call him. He miraculously showed up only 20 minutes after me, off a ride from a bounty hunter from Fresno. We got to see downtown Merced, which was actually kind of nice. It was the first time that I have shown up in a new town in this country with a big backpack totally clueless, asking where stuff is, not knowing where I would spend the night etc. As we were a waiting for the bus into Yosemite a guy told us to stay at this day use area by the Merced river. We camped out and got the next bus into the valley.
Then we hitchhiked to Tuolumne meadows. It was the first time I hitchhiked since one time in highschool when I had to walk all the way home. After almost immediately getting picked up we made it to a spot where a large RV broken down and taking up almost the whole turnout. After uselessly sticking our thumbs out for a while it was clear that nobody would pick us up there. So we walked to the next turn out, which was also really small. We were there for a long time. Alot of cars would slow down upon seeing us, as if thinking about it, and then speed up and pass us. Finally a guy stopped and took us to a better pull out, where almost immediately two girls picked us up. They pulled up and asked,
"you aren't going to murdur us, are you?"
They took us almost the whole way (I didn't realize how far this drive was!) So we made it to Tuolumne meadows at around 2 and started hiking, in pretty good spirits. We made it about 4 miles when we came across a ranger. He asked to see our "wilderness permits". Of course we didn't have any. A very awkward moment passed as he explained that they are required and that we would have to go back and get them. He seriously made us go all the way back, and said that we could just camp at Tuolumne meadows backpacker camp and start the next day. Of course by the time we got back the camp was closed, and there was no option but to camp illegally (the whole ordeal was totally absurd, but what really got me is that by enforcing one rule he made us break another, as well as totally fucking with our plans).
Anyway the next day we made the 15 mile hike to Merced lake high sierra camp, where my friend Michael works. Definately one of the most beautiful hikes of my life. Absolutely idyllic scenery. Glacier carved mountains, green meadows with sparkling streams meandering through them... awe inspring to say the least.
So then we spent a few days at Michaels camp. We fnished the better part of a 1.75 liter bottle of whiskey Kevin hiked up and took baths in the camp's big kitchen sinks. We also hiked to another lake and fished, almost every cast got a bite from small fish called brookies (first time I ever caught a fish).
Then I had a 13 mile hike back down to the valley. The first 10 miles or so were fine. Then there were two epic waterfalls, which involved steep descents, basically just stone steps, and it was totally crowded as seeing the waterfalls is a popular day hike. It was pretty strenuous but rewarding.
Good times.
I will write about my recent trip to Yosemite, my other trip this Summer, in this first post. I don't have any pictures since I forgot my camera but hopefully that won't be the case in Guatemala. You can just image search the names I mention.
I took the Amtrak to Merced. Its wierd going through the central valley. Extensive continuous monoculture is really the only way to describe it. And some kids got arrested on the train as we were getting off. So then I was in Merced, waiting for Kevin ( my Irish friend from Santa Cruz), hoping that he would in fact arrive as I couldn't call him. He miraculously showed up only 20 minutes after me, off a ride from a bounty hunter from Fresno. We got to see downtown Merced, which was actually kind of nice. It was the first time that I have shown up in a new town in this country with a big backpack totally clueless, asking where stuff is, not knowing where I would spend the night etc. As we were a waiting for the bus into Yosemite a guy told us to stay at this day use area by the Merced river. We camped out and got the next bus into the valley.
Then we hitchhiked to Tuolumne meadows. It was the first time I hitchhiked since one time in highschool when I had to walk all the way home. After almost immediately getting picked up we made it to a spot where a large RV broken down and taking up almost the whole turnout. After uselessly sticking our thumbs out for a while it was clear that nobody would pick us up there. So we walked to the next turn out, which was also really small. We were there for a long time. Alot of cars would slow down upon seeing us, as if thinking about it, and then speed up and pass us. Finally a guy stopped and took us to a better pull out, where almost immediately two girls picked us up. They pulled up and asked,
"you aren't going to murdur us, are you?"
They took us almost the whole way (I didn't realize how far this drive was!) So we made it to Tuolumne meadows at around 2 and started hiking, in pretty good spirits. We made it about 4 miles when we came across a ranger. He asked to see our "wilderness permits". Of course we didn't have any. A very awkward moment passed as he explained that they are required and that we would have to go back and get them. He seriously made us go all the way back, and said that we could just camp at Tuolumne meadows backpacker camp and start the next day. Of course by the time we got back the camp was closed, and there was no option but to camp illegally (the whole ordeal was totally absurd, but what really got me is that by enforcing one rule he made us break another, as well as totally fucking with our plans).
Anyway the next day we made the 15 mile hike to Merced lake high sierra camp, where my friend Michael works. Definately one of the most beautiful hikes of my life. Absolutely idyllic scenery. Glacier carved mountains, green meadows with sparkling streams meandering through them... awe inspring to say the least.
So then we spent a few days at Michaels camp. We fnished the better part of a 1.75 liter bottle of whiskey Kevin hiked up and took baths in the camp's big kitchen sinks. We also hiked to another lake and fished, almost every cast got a bite from small fish called brookies (first time I ever caught a fish).
Then I had a 13 mile hike back down to the valley. The first 10 miles or so were fine. Then there were two epic waterfalls, which involved steep descents, basically just stone steps, and it was totally crowded as seeing the waterfalls is a popular day hike. It was pretty strenuous but rewarding.
Good times.
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