In Pana now. Staying with my grandmother in her lovely house. Aiia! you should have seen the looks on Jake’s and Annemarie’s faces when we walked onto the property! Pictures to follow, I swear. You know, I should have brought my memory card and reader to this internet cafe; I could have uploaded my photos to Flickr. Anyway.
From Flores we went to Tikal, did a whole bunch of climbing and walking, and took hundreds of photos. The ruins are in a sort of nature reserve-type-protected area so there were all sorts of plants and insects and birds and monkeys that were basically untouched and just growing wild. I have been on top of three Mayan pyramids; how many have you been on?
Then we were back on that terrible overnight bus. This time the seats were better, and the food was mildly better, and the sound system wasn’t giving me a headache. But they turned the air conditioning on too high and didn’t give us fucking blankets so we were freezing fucking cold. Arg! So we arrive in Guatemala city at 7AM or whatever the hell it was and manage to get on a chicken bus to Chichicastenango. There Annemarie went nuts shopping and Jake got a whole shitload of yarn for next to nothing. He spent about $25 on about $150 of yarn.
So we came to Pana and left for San Pedro the next morning. We climbed up the volcano — Jake and I only made it partway because of various ailments — and managed to make it to Santiago by 6PM, dripping wet.
Now, the sons of the people who own and run the fanciest hotel in Santiago — possibly the fanciest on the lake — are friends of mine. I went to school with them when I lived here and so David and Suzie (the owners) know me and decided to give us a special deal: we stayed in the primo suite ($80 USD per night, which is four or five times what a normal hotel would charge) for $20. And then they stuffed us full of amazing food, the cost of which pretty much made up for the cheap room. Anyway, I want to send out a huge thank-you to David and Suzie for taking us in, bedraggled and pathetic as we were, lending us clothes while ours were in the drier, and treating us like honoured guests. Those cats are awesome. And if you’re ever in this part of the world, budget for a night at the Posada de Santiago. It’s well worth it, even if you’re paying full price.
So now we’re back in Pana, like I said. It’s raining, sometimes a little drizzle and sometimes a real downpour. I guess that’s why they call it the rainy season.
More later. And I haven’t forgotten to upload photos, I just haven’t had the chance yet.
