Antigua to Xela
Greetings All. I am now in Xela, where I arrived early last night. Until now, I have been in Antigua where I stayed for three nights instead of the one that I originally planned. I will post photos from Antigua soon as I don´t have them with me today.
Antigua is a beautiful city, protected by building and painting codes and kept very clean, so that it maintains a quaint feel, somewhat akin to Santa Cruz if it were more of a grid and widely spread out. The town is sorrounded by lush volcanic mountains and the weather was mostly crisp and clear. My time in Angtigua was peaceful and relaxing, spending many hours walking the streets and getting to know much about the town´s restaurants and bars. The hostel I stayed in had great people running it and a nice quite courtyard where I spent many hours reading and relaxing. I also hiked up to Cerro de La Cruz, a hill above town. My time in Antigua was also my first view of a traditional Guatemalan market, a truly sprawling indoor7outdoor affair where literally anything could be bought.
I met some nice people there and kept deciding to stay one more day. This was partially attributed to the peace & quite of the town, but also, as Graham Greene descrbes in The Lawless Roads finding love for a place simply out of fear for the next. And the next did hold some fear.
From Antigua, I took Chicken Buses on the 6 hour ride to Xela. I´m sure many of you know, but these buses are old retired school buses with no schocks and 2-3 people per seat. They stop often, drive fast and are loud and dusty. The ride to Xela is over mountainous territory ripe with construction and long delays. However, I was the only white person on the bus and this was my first taste of a more un-westernized Guatemala after the very ex-pat and American experience I had in Antigua.
Arriving in Xela was another experience, really arriving in a true city and not a quaint town. I had some trouble finding where I was going, taking two walks, a minibus (van crammed with 10 people) and finally a taxi. The chicken bus ride was exhausting, so aside from a quick meal where I met some nice folks I slept last night, on until the morning when I was awakened by the freezing cold Xela dawn. Today I will choose a language school and hopefully start school and move in with a family on Monday.
I look forward to finding my way around Xela improving my Spanish along the way. Please stay in touch.
Bob says:
I am looking forward to your Xela pics. We did not go there in ‘79. And talk about “fear”, the country was in active civil war then and we had been commandeered by the army who wanted a ride in our car through the jungle. Hope you have none of that. luv, Bob
November 9th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
sara says:
i absolutely ADORE reading your blogs. also, if you have the time, will you write some of the places down, when you think about it, either hostels, markets, restaurants, or bars, that you really like and think i should miss? put ‘em in the blog or something, that’d be AWESOME. Sounds like a beautiful time, and your writing is really nice. miss you here in LA, but so glad to read your posts.
love,
sarita
November 9th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Peter says:
Mmmm chicken busses. MY favorite mode of transport in any country. Glad that you’re taking your time, immersing yourself and not being a slave to the calendar. The best way to travel, without a doubt.
November 9th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
lauren says:
love the graham greene quote
November 10th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Bonnie Primbsch says:
Yeah! The chicken buses are alright! Back in ‘92, I preferred the Guatemalan chicken buses to the more “luxurious” buses we caught in Mexico. The Luxury was watching a movie instead of the road while lurching & swaying on top of mushy shocks. A recipe for queasiness. By contrast, I liked the generosity of spirit of the chicken buses: dammit we’ll *make* room for whoever wants a ride! And I found the chickens to be well-behaved.
November 13th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Irad says:
Still sounds safer the riding on a bus in Israel…
I’m excited for you brotha…been really busy with this bid so im sorry about the delay..but i been checking up on ya!
Love you,
Irad
November 15th, 2007 at 11:58 pm