I just received an email from the director of the Guatemalensis language school in Xela, Guatemala about a warning for the Tajumulco volcano area that might be of interest to those planning to travel down south. The Tajumulco volcano is the highest point in Guatemala and often frequented by tourists.

The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala reports the following:

“Rumors of foreigners stealing Guatemalan children have recently surfaced in the
area surrounding the Tajumulco Volcano, an area of Guatemala frequented by
American tourists. In light of these rumors, the Guatemalan Tourist Assistance
Office (ASISTUR) advises – and the Embassy strongly endorses – that American
citizens avoid travel to the Tajumulco Volcano and the surrounding region.

Rumors of child stealing have previously resulted in the lynching deaths of
several Guatemalan citizens. Although no foreigners have been reported to be
the victim of such attacks recently, Americans are reminded to avoid gatherings
of agitated people. Avoid close contact with children, including taking
photographs, especially in rural areas. Such contact can be viewed with deep
alarm and may provoke panic and violence.

The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City can be reached at (502) 2326-4405 and is
located at Avenida Reforma 7-01, Zone 10. For emergencies (deaths, arrests,
etc.) after hours, U.S. citizens can call (502) 2331-2354 and ask for the Embassy
Duty Officer.”

There are a few things in life that make me immediately happy, and drinking a nice diet cola is one of them. I don’t know what it is exactly, but when I get a taste of that carbonated fake-sweetened water, I feel as though my frown turns upside down. But, what’s a girl to do when some place doesn’t offer a diet soda option?

I was in the hostel in Antigua, trying to convince Brian to go with me to find a Coke-Light down the road. Matt, a fellow traveler, overheard me and said that the hostel had Coke for sale.

“Yeah, but its regular Coke,” I replied. “I only drink diet soda.”

He asked why that was, and when I responded that I hate the syrupy aftertaste of regular soda he had a little tidbit of interesting information to add. Apparently, soda in Guatemala is not made with corn syrup like back in the States, but actual, real, SUGAR! After checking the bottle and seeing “azucar” listed in the ingredients, I gave it a whirl, immediately noticing the difference as soon as it hit my lips.

The regular soda was actually quite enjoyable and with less of an aftertaste. I still prefer my diet cola any day, but was willing to deal with regular in Guatemala when that was the only other option.

El fin del viaje. After Copan, the end of the trip was inevitably drawing near. It sounds silly to say this, but we felt as though we had come full circle, in more ways than one. Not only were we exiting out of the same city we had arrived in nearly 8 weeks before, but this time our perspective of that same city had changed just a bit. This time we weren’t so eager to stay away. Nope, this time we were going to spend 3 days in Guatemala City (gasp)!

Actually, it wasn’t so bad. Brian booked us a room in the business district, which ended up being a suite (lucky us!). We took taxis to all the museums, checked out some good restaurants, watched some TV… oh, and went shopping at the mall (brian got some SWEET shoes). I’m glad we got to see that side of Guatemala before coming home.

But, as I just said, we came home - or the closest place to home that I’m going to have for a long time. Now, as I am sitting here drinking coffee from a mug showcasing a picture of my grandma on a harley, I cannot help but think about how good we have it here - hot showers, clean water, the ability to flush both waste AND paper down the toilet - but at the same time I miss the simplicity of life in Guatemala. Brian was right. He said that I would look back at our buggy time in Rio Dulce and laugh (mainly because I just picture Brian ducking and dodging a bat in our bathroom). There were so many great times to remember!

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Trip Statistics can be found here.

Trip Expenses can be found here.

Trip Videos can be found here.

Language Schools

• Casa Rosario: Spanish school in San Pedro. It is very cheap, and your contributions will help the owners work with underprivileged kids in the city. However, you might find yourself getting sick of the town after a week.
• Guatemalensis: Spanish school in Quetzaltenango (Xela). If you are serious about learning Spanish, come here and definitely participate in the homestay! We loved it! Just be sure to bring some warm clothes.

Tomorrow, Brian and I take off for New York for experiences that could nothing but the exact opposite of those we have had the past two months. Wish us luck!

One of the most frustrating parts of traveling in Guatemala is never really knowing the true price of a service – a bus ride – or anything for that matter – a hotel room, a banana, or a shirt. It’s a little something we like to call a “gringo tax” since there is usually one low price for locals and any various price 2 or 3 times that for gringos.

Usually, when bartering for things in the market, we don’t mind it so much because we will only buy it when we reach a price both us, the buyer, and the seller agree with. We both win. The times that it really bothers me is when you are on a bus, the same bus as all the locals, on the same route, but are charged so much more… and you never really know how much more it is.

From Rio Dulce, we took a day trip to Finca Paraiso, a place that is interesting because it gives you the ability to stand in a cold pool while a hot waterfall pours from above. The bus ride takes about an hour and we were told by our hostel that it cost 10Q each way. We had a 20Q ready to go because we were determined to get that rate and nothing more. However, on the bus, when Brian gave the guy a 20Q he kind of stood there for a second. We broke the silence by stating it was for both of us. He responded that it was 15Q for each of us. Before Brian could reach into his pocket for more, I stopped him and told the guy it is normally 10Q for this ride. Brian joined in a little more firmly, and we could tell by the look on his face that he couldn’t fight it. We basically looked straight ahead and he eventually left to collect the rest of his fares.

Yes, we did good, but how good did we “really” do? I noticed the guy next to us only paid 7Q for his ride, so I made sure to keep an eye on where he got off. Well, it appears he only got off about a few hundred feet before us. After the ride, we met up with another gringo that was in the back of the bus and asked him what he paid for the ride. He, amazingly, only paid 8Q for the exact same ride! We were a little more than shocked because we felt good with getting it down from 15 to 10, but 8Q?! His strategy is one you might want to keep in mind if you are traveling in Guatemala. He generally starts with offering a rate of 5Q per hour bus ride, so for this ride, he held out a 5Q bill and was only upped to 8Q from that point. Very interesting, eh?! So, instead of basing your rates off what your guidebook says, I would suggest attempting something more like this.

On the way back, we decided to bypass the whole gringo tax issue and caught a ride in the back of a pickup truck. The ride was long and very, very bumpy – but the guy in charge was from the states and didn’t want any money in return. Ah, you just gotta love that!

After much deliberation, Brian and I decided our next stop after Tikal was Rio Dulce. We made our way in the morning to the place in Flores where the guidebook says is a bus stop, but in actuality it is just a travel agency that buys a ticket for you for the bus station in Santa Elena.

The only reason we decided to go along with this route is because the lady helping us said the bus was coming now. How convenient. We paid the guy in the office our money and the lady took off on her bike. Meanwhile, the guy in the office, who was obviously wasted at 9:30 am and still drinking, said we would wait at the office for the bus to come. I made it my job to wait outside with our stuff while Brian dealt with the drunken ramblings of the owner. The really crazy part happened when the guy opened his desk drawer and there was a gun sitting there. After he saw the look on Brian’s face, he responded with, “This is Guatemala. You gotta have a gun.”

Just then, the lady on the bike came back and said we needed to go the bus station to get the bus. Uhmm… ok. They did just tell us that we could wait here for the bus, but not today? They at least paid for the tuk-tuk there. We hopped on our bus, and there we were, on our way to Rio Dulce for something that tops all adventures had thus far.

Rio Dulce makes it difficult to scout out a hotel because the best ones, supposedly, are on the waterfront and require a boat to take you there. We made our way to Bruno’s to see if we could start there when we ran into a strange hippie guy from the states who was more than happy to help us find a hotel. Next thing we knew, we had a place to stay and a boat taxi all set up for us. If it hadn’t had happened so quickly, I can say I probably wouldn’t have gone for it because on the boat ride over to Casa Perico, I just heard the hippie guy’s words playing over and over in my head, “You’re gonna love it. It’s right in the freaking jungle.”

Casa Perico has a very interesting setup. It is run by some Swiss guys and has its own restaurant there (since its so remote) with a rockin’ buffet option (do it! People boat over from the town just for this!). Brian and I literally made ourselves sick by indulging both nights in the buffet! Since it was Friday, Brian and I weren’t able to get a private bungalow, but had to settle for a hostel dorm. The dorm bungalow has many beds in the bottom and an upper level with two beds and more privacy. We opted for the upper level, but the catch was it was open-air, meaning there was only an A-Frame roof with two sides open to the jungle outside. Even though we had bug nets, I couldn’t sleep that night. We had already encountered giant cockroaches, heard stories of botfly infections (see this video), and the sounds coming in from outside, and right next to my bed, were a bit too much for me to handle. And it was only made worse by the absolute pitch-black darkness that engulfed us out there.

The next day, we made it clear to the owners that we preferred a private bungalow, and luckily we got it. Oh yes! The building has its own bathroom, which meant that when I had to get up late at night to use it, I wouldn’t have to walk a mile of dock with the creepy sounds of things jumping into the water right next to me. Even better was the fact that the private room had 4 walls! The first thing we did was check out the bathrooms in the back to see what we were now working with for an extra $3/night. Brian went to open the shower door and immediately started ducking. Then something came flying out and swooping around. Brian thought it was a bat, but I thought it looked like a bird. I decided to use the toilet at that moment, being careful when opening the door at first. When inside, I took a look around at the ceiling to make sure no bird was hanging around only to find the biggest spider I think I’ve ever seen in my life straight above. There was no way I could use the bathroom there in good conscience! I showed it to Brian and even he was a little taken aback by the size. We started to leave the bathroom area in search of the public ones when we heard a high-pitched screeching noise behind us. We turned around to see a bat hanging out right there by the sink. Brian was right!

It was a very long two days, full of many close encounters. I would have probably slept better the second night had it not been raining so hard! I would definitely recommend Casa Perico to any traveler to Rio Dulce looking for an interesting place to hang out. For us, two days in the jungle bungalows were more than enough, but as hippie guy put it, “You’ll never forget it!”

Here’s a little video of me ranting about surviving the jungle. I claim being delirious from stress, heat, and lack of sleep because its clearly not me at my best. Enjoy!

It’s been a while since my last post since Brian and I have been on the move practically every other day. I believe we left off at Palenque, Mexico – the home of one of the best preserved (or reconstructed) ruins of such a grand size. We heard many stories from other travelers (we were guidebook-less for Mexico) on how the city of Palenque is the pits, and the true charm of the area is found by sleeping in a hammock in a cabana outside of town. I, being completely freaked out by the thought of sleeping out in the jungle, decided we should take a look around town first before resorting to this option.

Luckily, town has a great hotel/hostel area, and, dripping with sweat, we found a place we were happy with, and with cable TV. I’m glad we chose to not listen to everybody else on this particular route especially because we discovered a restaurant with THE BEST nacho chips we have ever had in our lives there!

The following day, Brian and I braved the sweltering jungle heat to explore the gigantic ruins. Being too cheap to pay for a guide, we often found ourselves wandering aimlessly and making up stories about each temple along the way. If you go to Palenque, make sure you hit their little museum (included with entrance fee) because it definitely helps to fill in the gaps. After sweating all day, we thought it would be nice to hit up Agua Azul for some cooling off, but unfortunately, we were unable to find proper transport from the ruins straight there and decided to just call it a day.

From Palenque, we booked a ride crossing the border back into Guatemala and all the way to Tikal. There was the possibility of booking this same trip back in San Cristobal, but for 100Q more. Brian and I both felt good about waiting until in Palenque to set this up. The ride involved a shuttle to the border, a jungle boat ride across the border, and shuttle after straight to Flores (the town that acts as a hub to Tikal). Don’t be fooled by the emphasis on “jungle boat ride” because in actuality it really just felt like taking a boat down a dirty river with little vegetation. Our ride was also saddened by some news we received along the way. We met up with a Belgium guy from our hostel in San Cristobal and he told us how another girl from the hostel, who we had hung out with a few days before, drowned at Agua Azul the same day we wanted to go. It was very sad to hear about. Apparently, there are some very unsafe places to swim there, so please be aware of the warning signs if you are planning a trip to this area.

The trip had a way of redeeming itself when we were dropped off at the Guatemalan migration office. This building was very interesting in the fact it was a) in the middle of freaking nowhere, and b) surrounded by nothing but cows. You could tell these guys were bored by the fact they found such joy in annunciating and nationalizing my name.

Finally, 8 hours later, we were in our hotel in Flores and wanting to crash, but unable to call it a day just yet. We heard about a sunrise tour they do to Tikal on the bus to Flores and were determined to shop around for a better deal. We only found one, but it required you to leave the park at 11am. We didn’t like the idea of being forced to leave at any certain time, so we eventually decided to pay the 300Q for the package, which included

1) the 150Q admission to Tikal (Be aware they recently upped this rate for foreigners. Our guidebook said admission was about $7, but it is now around $20!!!)
2) roundtrip transportation
3) ability to enter the park at 4am to climb Temple IV and watch the sun rise over the park
4) guided tour for 4 hours of the temples and jungle life

Also note that if you are wanting to do a tour like this to buy the packages that INCLUDE your admission fee to the park. The people on our bus that did not pay beforehand were actually skimmed of an extra 10Q each.

The sunrise tour was great, and not so much for the sunrise, but for the ability to sit in silence and listen to the jungle wake up. Howler monkeys, parrots, and crickets filled the air. It was also nice to see most of the park in the morning when it is less busy and a lot cooler. The guide was a great addition because he helped up see wildlife we would not have otherwise – spider monkeys, tarantulas, giant elephant beetles.

That night we slept like babies, only to rise and pursue yet another adventure.

Palenque to Tikal from Brooke Schoenman on Vimeo.

My favorite Guatemalan dish is from the breakfast menu, but I often find myself ordering it for dinner as well. The first time I had it in Antigua, I wasn’t quite sure of what to do with it. They brought out eggs, some funny looking cheese, fried plantains, and bowl of black/brown pasty soup.

I looked to Brian in confusion. “What are we supposed to do with this?”

We both weren’t sure what the proper process was since it was only our first day in the country. Most of all, we didn’t want to look like fools if there was some traditional way of eating it.

“I guess I’ll try dipping stuff in it,” I said.

I tried a little of my toast, a little of the cheese, and even a little of the banana. We realized it was just some sort of black bean soup, but I just wasn’t sure if I liked the taste combination at the time.

I decided to give it another try, and the taste started growing on me. I started mixing everything together – I was in love. “Eggs with black beans…” I said, “where have you been all my life?!”

Sometimes the beans are less soupy, and sometimes the cheese is more of a cream. Other times, the eggs come with onion and tomato, or you might be lucky and get tortillas instead of bread. It doesn’t really matter to me how it comes – I still love it. Even after getting sick off this meal last week from a shady local restaurant that smelled of urine and old beer, I continue to order my huevos y frijoles.

On the way to Xela, and while walking around Xela, I realized having our backpacks stuffed with all the wonderful things we bought in Chichicastenango was going to be a problem. After tightening my straps all the way on my pack, I was still having trouble getting it to fit correctly (I have definitely lost some weight here! Not to mention the fact I ate something bad last week and couldn’t eat much for quite some time after.), and the weight was also making my bad knee hurt a bit more than I’d like. It was at that point I knew I was willing to lay down some cash to ship a box home. However, I had no idea how hard just finding a box to put our stuff in was going to be.

Normally, in the states, I’d just go to the post-office and buy a box for shipping. To my dismay, the post office here sells nothing of the sort. Actually, the post office is pretty barren and dismal. The lady there started giving instructions on where we could buy one, in Spanish of course, but after the initial “go five blocks that way, turn here, turn here…” we both lost interest and decided to go another route.

We started with an actual bookstore thinking they were bound to have a few, but alas, I was wrong. We then wandered to a small grocery store, but even this place was lacking a box. Then we decided a libreria, a paper store, would be a sure shot. The problem, however, was that we didn’t even bother to look up the word for box before heading out. I saw a box on the shelf, too small of course, pointed to it and tried to tell the lady in broken Spanish that we needed one.
“Papel?” she asked.

“No, no, a… box,” and then I continued making a box shape with my hands. The lady still didn’t get it.

Finally, on the fourth try, a kid in the store understood what I wanted and shouted out, “Caja!”

Ah, there was our word – caja. “Necesito una caja!”

No, they didn’t have any cajas, either. Our last resort was the mercado (location with many different vendors). There’s a mercado here that is actually partially indoors, so we went traipsing through all the different levels, scoping out our options. No boxes, anywhere. Finally, in the basement, we hit the jackpot. There was an aisle full of cajas, just waiting to be scooped up by a needy American, such as myself. I picked one up, but then Brian said we should ask if we can have it. I agreed, but the vendors were not there. We went down the aisle to another woman, but she was uninterested in our broken Spanish and said it belonged to someone else.

Argh. What to do?! We looked everywhere for a box, and there it was in my hands, ready to go.

“Let’s just jack it, man,” I said to Brian.

“I’m not touching it,” he replied back.

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

I looked around and planned our next moves. I weaved left and bobbed right through the aisles until we hit sunlight. Success! We had our box.

Now we just needed to find some packing tape…

*It’s cold in Xela… higher altitude.

In the last post, I made a reference to the “Quiere pan” lady in San Pedro. There are actually many, but one in particular is very persistent with her job of haggling any passerby to buy one of the pastries she carries in a basket on her head. It did not matter how many times you passed by and said no, she would still come at you with her spiel of “Hola! Quiere pan? Pan de banana, pan de chocolate o canela?” Not a day went by that we did not turn down this offer.

Well, you know you’ve been in San Pedro too long when the “Quiere pan” lady starts saying, “Quieres pan?”* Brian and I then knew it was time to catch a bus to our next destination: Quetzaltenango (Xela for short).

We arrived in Xela early this morning, and were pleasantly surprised. Being the second largest city in Guatemala, we weren’t exactly sure of what to expect – poverty, crime, blackouts, earthquakes – but soon realized it is kind of like a larger Antigua only without all the tourists. Yep, so far no one has really spoken English back at us, we stick out like a sore thumb walking down the street, and some people even stare at us. This is going to be a great place to study Spanish!

The amenities of the city are also a pleasure. There’s free wi-fi all over the place, lots of nice cars, clean toilets (still can’t flush the toilet paper), universities, a hospital, lots of police officers, a soccer stadium, firefighters, multiple ATM’s, wide sidewalks … I even noticed that every person at Pollo Campero was wearing a hairnet! Yes! You almost feel as though you’ve stepped back into civilization, or it’s as though we are no longer in a third world country.

In hopes of picking up a bit more Spanish (the one-on-one lessons are more than worth the money!), we’re taking a more intensive week of lessons here, which consists of 25 hours of study with a teacher (instead of 20) and living with a Guatemalan family. We meet our family tomorrow, and since we’ll be with them for 3 meals a day for the next 7 days, we hope it is a good one. We heard they live right next to the Gallo and Moza factory (that’s Guatemalan beer for those who don’t know), so Brian’s convinced they’re into partying. Haha. Wish us luck!

*Quieres would mean that we are on friendly terms.

1) Chicken Buses aren’t for chickens. - Seriously, there are no chickens on these buses. If you can’t take whipping around mountain roads at high speeds, then these old-school American buses aren’t your best bet for getting around Guatemala. We had our first experience on our way to Chichicastenango last weekend, and honestly, I’m not excited about taking another this weekend to Xela (Quetzaltenango).

2) I can actually tan. - After thinking for the past years I’ve become allergic to sunlight, I am actually getting something resembling a tan during the past couple of weeks in Guatemala. I think Brian is a little jealous because he remains pasty despite spending more time in the sun.

3) Hot water is a luxury we miss! – In Chichi, we decided to splurge and stay in the nicest place in town for a change. It was a much needed break from the basically camping lifestyle we’ve maintained in San Pedro. I heard Brian shout from the bathroom, “I’m washing my hands with hot water!” with a hint of amazement in his voice. I immediately grabbed my two dirtiest shirts and proceeded to wash them in the sink until they had reached a clean unseen since our arrival.

4) There are places in Guatemala where you don’t listen to dogs bark all night. – Guatemalans definitely do not spay or neuter their pets, meaning stray animals roam the streets at all hours of the night, sometimes barking or meowing profusely (we later learned this type of meowing that sounds like a cat dying is actually mating noises). I didn’t realize how much of a problem it was until we stayed at the nice hotel in Chichi and didn’t hear a peep all night. Wow, that place was totally worth the money!

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5) Bartering is hard work! – Chichi is known for its huge market on Sundays where even the streets, not just the plaza, fill up with stands. Brian and I decided this was where we were going to get most of our souvenir/gift shopping done, so we hit the markets hard. Let’s just say we were both exhausted after only a few hours of haggling with merchants and turning down wandering peddlers. Only after this experience did the “Quiere pan” lady not bother me quite so much in San Pedro.

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6) Pana is actually a cool town with electricity! – You might know from a previous post that our only experience in Panajachel was without electricity. We decided to give it another try the night before heading to Chichi, and we are very glad we did. Pana is a completely different, bustling, and inviting town when it has power. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay this time, especially since this is a bigger town than San Pedro with more options.

7) It’s winter here. – No matter how hot I get during the day, there’s no getting past the chilly nights. I made sure to buy a hat at market last weekend.

8 ) Leg muscles are vital. – After having to walk up and down the hill of San Pedro every day, and squatting over sketchy toilet seats, one sure does start to be thankful for thigh muscles.

9) I actually packed quite well for this trip! – There are a few things we brought that have come in handy more than once. A) Collapsible cup. We use the cups to share beverages, drink free pure water available at hotels, and to help rinse our toothbrushes since we can’t use the tap. B) Medicine. Immodium, pepto, and decongestants (for flights/mountain rides) have all been worth every penny. C) Multi-tool. I’ve used my multi-tool to peel fruit, clean my nails, and open our liter bottles of Gallo. D) Scotch tape. I’ve used scotch tape to tape things in my journal, post notes around the dorms, and to fix torn money that wouldn’t be accepted otherwise.

10) It’s amazing how so little can help someone so much. – We bought 10 tortillas yesterday for 2 Quetzales, after which we were informed our money would help feed a little boy or girl for 3 days. We get about 7.5 Quetzales for every US dollar – you do the math.