Thursday, 2/4/2010 Xela

This is getting better as the week is progressing.

On Monday I just hung out here, checked out the city and got comfortable in the hostel.

On Tuesday, I went with Lilian, a Guatemalian-born girl from Cali to Volcany Chikabal. We took the "Chicken Bus" (old US school buses they use for public transport over here) to a city close by. Then we hired someone to take us up to "La Laguna Seca", the official starting point to walk up there. The ride up was quite an adventure. We were sitting in the back of the pick up, enjoying a great view of the valley down below. The valley is full of steep fields on which they grow vegetables. It's a rough dirt road, and we get thrown around a bit. When the truck drops us off, we start the 40 minute hike up to the viewing platform. We get a brief view of nearby Volcano Santa Maria and the crater lake, just before they disappear in clouds for the rest of the day.

That evening I meet Lenka, a Czech traveller, who is asking me lots of questions in order to "perfect" her travel itinery. I'm trying to arrange for her to go up to the same place, volcany Chikabal, the next day with Verena, the German girl that is married to Lari, a Guatemala who grew up here. They have a 2-year old son, Arjumi, and travel around the country selling jewelry at artisan markets. The trip doesn't happen, but we all go have breakfast together the next morning. Lari and Verena take us to some place I would have never found on my own, and I get to try some new local drink: It's yellow, made of corn, and tastes like vanilla pudding.
Since their plans got canceled, I later went with Lenka to sulfuric hot baths called "Fuentes Georginas". We take the chicken bus, and then again hire a truck to take us up the mountain. This time I stand on the back, and enjoy absolutely fantastic views. As we get close, I already see smoke coming up from rocks by the road. The baths are super-relaxing, and a 5 our driver is waiting for us outside again to take us down. He stops after about 100 yards, next to some rock cliff going steep up to our right, which then turns into woods. He asks us if we can wait for 10 minutes, his wife is up there getting wood and he needs to help her carry it down. I'm a little shocked at first - this is super steep. Turns out, his wife was up there WITH his little daughter - and I was quite worried about her making it down there safe. But it all worked out well, and wife and daughter rode down in the back of the truck with me.
Today - Thursday - was a really cool day:
- Left hostel at 6am to go the Volcano Chikabal again with Lenka, Lari Verena and Arjumi (in car)
- Pushed the Subaru to it's limits on the dirt road up the Volcano (we tried to go all the way up - had to surrender half a mile before the top)
- Were the first people up there - and arrived just in time to witness (smoke) erruption of nearby volcano "Santiaguito" - which has small eruptions (smoke, some ash) almost every hour (see pictures)
- Got invited by some Maya people (they speak a language called Mam, some spoke Spanish) to eat beef stew
- Made it safely back home, sweaty, nasty, - and the water in the hostel was out again. Who cares, it's Guatemala ...