45 miles, 12 hours

we had a mule and a horse to carry our things, food , water etc., but only our feet to carry ourselves. there were 5 of us. our guide, who mike and i met on a bus to tikal , and two others. Rony, had been to el mirador once, to excavate, but never as una guia. this would be his first, which we discovered when we asked him about el mirador. after we asked him if he would take us, he said sure. and he did so, for less than a third of the price of any other organized tour. If booked from a tour agency in Flores, the price could be between $200-500 USD. We paid less than 500 quetzales each. the other two that made up our group, a canadian and his guide, we met on the bus to carmelita. they ended up being a savior , because we were drastically ill prepared, and thankfully they had ample extra food. carmelita is the town all who visit el mirador depart from. when i say town, i mean a little village three hours away from civilazation down a gravel road. it was essentially just a field, where pigs, horses, dogs and chickens roamed, a comedor and a tienda, and a health center that never was open. it took us two days to reach el mirador. the 7 hour walk to tintal, which took us 5 is considered a half way point. we spent the night there, and made it to el mirdador in about 6 hours the next day. after spending two nights and a full day exploring the ruins of el mirador, we decided to make the hike back to carmelita in one day. we woke up at 5am and started hiking through the jungle in the morning darkness. we made it to tintal by noon, had lunch, i.e. tuna and ramen, and hit the road again. the second half felt like forever, and we certainly did not have the energy to keep us moving at the same pace we made during the first half. the last 15 miles were arduous. my legs almost gave up on me. the crowd left me behind. they left mike behind shortly after. but we both made it, completing a 70 km hike in one day, i know i had never done. this is no walk in the park either, no sidewalks or grassy paths, but pure jungle. alot of the walk is through what would be swamp in the rainy season. instead its this clay like mud that almost eats your shoes at every step. spider monkeys jangle from the trees, and the canadian actually got shit on by one of them. lets consider it good luck.

el mirador is a vast complex of unexplored tombs and temples. the ancient mayan city was first abandoned in 300 AD, for mysterious reasons. only 5% of its structures have been discovered and excavated. even those remain buried beneath the jungle for the most part. that means that the huge pyramids that el mirador holds, appear to just be large mountains randomly pertruding out of the jungle floor. this could not be more of an illusion. underneath the flora and fauna are plazas, pyramids and giant acopolis´ of grandiosity. the largest and most extrordeinary is la danta. this is the biggest known still standing pyramid in the world, by volume that is. it can literally hold 17 soccer fields withiin it. it stands over 200 ft tall, and its base is a whopping 900 by 1800ft. o yea, did i mention we slept on this bad boy. we literally camped on top of this pyramid to sleep. the view; incredible, the sky; mega clear and the sounds; exclusively jungle like. because we were so high up, the bugs were kept at a minimal. the wind was pretty brutal as well, and almost blew our tent away at one point. we saw several shooting stars by the way, which i dont think i have ever seen one in my life. appearantly they happen quite often, although you rarely see them because the sky is so tainted by pollution. not the case when you are 60km into the jungle. Chris did a good job capturing the trip so let me add some details. The view from La Danta, the largest pyramid known and the place where we slept, was an incredible 360 degree panoramic view. Our Guide pointed out Tintal to us which was just a little spec in the distance, and we could see several other smaller pyramids still under the jungle. The bugs were not a problem, and in fact I've been bitten by more bugs staying in hotels than in the jungle. We had a great time while we were out there and the walk back was indeed arduous. We decided to make it back in one day because we wanted to catch the one and only bus out of carmelita which leaves at 5am. If we had not made it in one day then we would have had to camp an extra night. And the bus ride was a journey in and of itself, of a barrelling dirt road that would constantly throw you around. When we finally made it to Carmelita, the little images of beer and sodas and all things sweet became reality as we slumped ourselves into the tienda and bought all of our hearts desires. We also ran into the Germans which we had met in San Pedro {and I'm not sure if we had mentioned them before} but they are pretty awesome and they had said they were going to mirador at the same time, so we saw them coming out when we were going in. They came back later for a second trip to go hunting in the jungle and we drank some beers with them in carmelita. Chris got very cranky on the walk back which made it easier to pass him. We also never talked about Tikal I don't think. We camped at Tikal and snuck in with some insight for our soon-to-be guide Rony, and sneaking into Tikal is actually extremely easy. So easy that we sacked our plan to wake up very early to watch the sunrise from Temple IV and just strolled in at about 8am. But then we got busted this second time, so after some theatrics we went back to camp and decided we'd have to justpay for the ticket anyways, which is alot at 150 quetzales. Tikal was very impressive however, and Mirador may be like that in the future once they get all of the ruins our from under the jungle. But for now Mirador is a path tread lightly by tourists, still buried deep inside the jungle.

para el mirador

so we got our heads shaved, less hair for the bugs to nest. the beards remain. we leave today with two guatemaltecas and a mule for el mirador, a two day hike each way. this site is 7 miles from the mexican border and holds some of the largest and unexplored sites from the mayan world.
hopefully we get back to civilization by saturday.
wish us luck.

On to Tikal

So here we are, on the precipice of going to Tikal, so we´ll find out if the hype is real. Tikal by the way is an ancient Mayan city, amd the ruins have been restored, and it holds one of the largest pyramids from the Mayan world. Currently we´re in Flores, a tiny tiny little island village om the Peten Itza lake. Its quite beautiful despite the clouds struggling to keep the sun from shining through. Last night it also rained, the first time we had really seen rain this whole trip, although Chris and I were asleep by 9pm, a strange occurrence which has been happening lately. Another occurrence we´re getting used to is the daily routine of waking up to new and mysterious bug bites no matter where we stay, and curiously enough none of the bites are from mosquitoes. And Chris and I have been growing beards for over a week now and they´re getting pretty crazy. Before Flores, we were in Lanquin, which is in the middle of nowhere Guatemala, in a beautiful Valley surrounded by mountains. We stayed at a place called Rabin Itzam the first night because we got in so late from out long backcountry trip from Huehuetenango to Lanquin. By the way, these places with names like Rabin Itzam we can´t tell anymore if they´re Mayan or Israeli, because for some reason there is a large Israeli expat population in Guatemala. Maybe they come after their 2 year service in the army. We were even discriminated against in San Pedro, at an Israeli run hostal called Zoola, where the woman quickly looked us up and down and said there were no rooms - a phrase we have never heard on this trip. In fact there are always rooms. And we never have reservations. We merely hear about the next place to go visit from expats, hop on a bus there, and after many ¨no gracias´¨ to the swarming ´guides´that want to show us hotels to stay in, we quickly find one and put our bags down and explore our new surroundings. This is essentially how we travel. After Rabin itzam, Chris not-so-cleverly asked where El Retiro was - another hostal down the road full of gringos. To this the woman who worked at our place profusely asked ´why?´before finally giving us drections. She had devolved into such a funk andwas sending us such negative vibes after this that the decision to move was made very easy. El Retiro was like a fantasy hide away. Set upon the Lanquin river the large grounds were bset with thatch roofed bungalows, amd even our own roaming cow. But I guess Chris already mentioned this. In Lanquin we went to the caves there at dusk and watched bats fly out. At Semuc Champey (9 km from Lanquin), which was certainly a highlight of the trip, we went deep into caves, even having to swim at certain times, and performed many jumps - off of rope swings, bridges, high rocks, etc. We´re also getting used to seeing a lot of the same expats from time to time, which I guess shows how small the country is. From Lanquin we took a micro to Flores. which was a little over 8 hours. Interstingly, there were only 4 of us who left from El Retiro, and here is the shocker, we didn´t pick up anyone along the way- a true first. So instead of being crammed between 4 mayans, a chicken and bouncing mayan children, we had our own row of seats to lay down on. Now we have to figure out how we will go about Tikal, whether to camp there or stay 20 minutes away in El Remate. After Tikal we´ll come back down the Atlantic side of the country and wrap things up. Then party in Guatemala city or Antigua. Then off to el Salvador and Nicaragua.

You Could Say We´re halfway...

Through Guatemala that is. So we are doing a loop through Guatemala, paying homage to even the most remote of touristy sites. By the end of the circle, before exiting Guate, we should have visited all the attractions of this beautiful country. We just seem to be doing it in the most unconventional way. Not to say that there is one routine way of traveling through Guatemala´s landscape, but the route we are taking is less navigated. To us, it make sense due to its linear path. To others, it is rugged and ardurous. These challanges not only make the adventure more compelling, but are outwieghed by the benefits of taking the most direct path.
Starting in Guatemala city, the southern capitol, a little over two weeks ago, we headed north west to Antigua. From there we made a day trip to an active, lava spewing volcano, before heading to El Lago de Atitlan. There we spent a night in Panajechel, before boating across the lake to San Pedro; an ex-patriot commune nestled at the foot of the volcanoes that surround the lake. Spending a week in San Pedro, taking spanish classes and recovering from our illness, we made a day trip to Chichicestenango, and bought a machete at the local market. From there we headed NW to Quetzeltenango, or Xela (Shee-la), where we spent a weekend. This city, second largest in Guatemala, is positioned 2335m above ground, way in the highlands, and is reminiscent to Antigua, just not run by foreigners. The city is cold, and has colonial history, from the Germans, who designed the gothic architecture of its main buildings. All too much a European town. And not coincidentally, probably the best place to live as a foreigner, with many oppurtunities to teach, learn and volunteer. Mike and I would have definetly spent more time there, if its weather didnt mirror that of which we escaped DC for. We did have enough time to make a day trip to Fuentes Georginas, a natural spa of hot water fueled by the sulfur springs of the volacanoes. The setting is tropical, and the water is hot, and gets boiling to the touch the further you go towards the waterfall, that releases the scorching liquid right from the source.
From Xela, we head to points of no return, East through the mountain ranges towards Tikal. This is where most travelers head back south to Antigua or Guate City before heading to Tikal or Lake Izabel. but our aforementioned path is calling, and we remained determined to take the circular and more direct course. other fellow travelers form more of a snowflake like shape, as they go back and forth, north and south, constantly retracing their steps, all to avoid the rugged and less explored terrain that Mike and I now find ourselves in.
We go to HueHuetenango, normally used as a resting place to and from Mexico, but to us the first stop of 6, to Lanquin. It is a dirty town, and we do not leave the bus stop, as we spend the night in a terminal hotel, with small concrete boxes as rooms. The next morning, the journey begins, we start with a microbus to Aguacatan, then another to Sacapulas, and another to Uspantan. From there we hitch another that is supposed to take us to Coban. The transit however was interuppted, as the bus could not go any further because a landslide had destroyed the road, and taken over 200 lives as well. This is where it got interesting. We hopped in the back of a pick up, with a dutch couple and a several locals, that took us on a detour to Coban. This one way road started as a mud fest, where we struggled to maintain traction down the sides of the moutain. Many times we had to stop and reverse, finding space against the cliffs to let a different vehicle by. Soon enough we made it to the valley, and hauled ass along the river on the gravel road, truck serfing. this method was identical to the way we made it to Fuentes, and i believe we have some video footage of both, by the way. once finally making it to Coban, after 5 different vehicles, and over 10 hours of traveling, we had about 40 miles left, to the village of Lanquin. This bus had assigned seating!! can you believe that, assigned seating in Guatemala, a country where kids literally play tag with machete in hand, families fit 4 to a motorcycle and life expectancy is one of the lowest in Latin America. we soon figured out the logic behind this restrictive, American-like policy. The numbers to the seat were aribitrarily construed as to fit up to 5 passangers in rows of seating meant for 3. 3 Guatemalans that is, not bodies of immense length like Mike and I´s.
I digress, we make it to Lanquin. From here we hit the caves, that extend miles in to the earth, and visit Semuc Champey, a spot off the Cahabon Rio, with series of cool pools of turquios and emerald green water. We checked in to El Retiro, a commune on the river. This lodge is your typical beach bungalow, shanty shacks and huts with lofts are your main sleeping quarters, but you can also rent a hammock to sleep on for $3 a night. Dinner is a communal affair, 50 Q´s for a vegetarrian buffet. there is a roaming cow, a fire pit and a night time gaurd armed with M-16.
One problem, no ATM in Lanquin, and this lodge is one of those resort type deals, where although unexpensive, offers everything you need so you do not have to, nor want to leave it. I have seemed to come down with another spell, and mike was kind enough to make the trip back to Coban to withdraw for the both of us. I am almost positive that the sterile pen is the cause of my ailments. Its not as if i have isolated all the variables, but i have narrowed this tool down, and its inablity to fully purify the water we are drinking, as the source of my stomack pains and weakness. I think i will retire this item for last resort use.
Tomorrow; Semuc Champey.
In the possible horizon; El Mirador and the Bay Islands. the latter more probable, the former most intriguing. El Mirador is deep into the Peten Jungle, 5 miles from the Mexican border. To get here, invovles a grueling 45 mile trek in primitive conditions, most likely with a armed private gaurd, as this area is no mans land, and is sovereign only to the guerillas and narcos that dominate the mexican/guatemalan border. This ancient mayan ruin holds the tallest pyramid ever in the Mayan world; El Tigre. The metroplis was said to be abandoned for mysterious reasons and virtually all its builidings remain buried beneath the jungle.
The Bay islands, on the carribean coast off Honduras, hold the second largest barrier reef in the world and may be possible to visit from Rio Dulce, where we will go after Tikal. This will be our eastern point, where we will descend back to Guatemala city, completing our circle, and heading south along the pacific.
Location of Next post; the carribean side of the Guatemalan/Honduras border, or the pacific beaches of El Salvador.

Correction

Mike has so far done great encapsulating our trip since the last post, indeed i will not bore you with a competing account. although im sure you would love more graphic details regarding the epic, yet brief, plague we contracted. but i must say one thing about the conversion rate that mike listed because it merits immediate correction. it is 7.1, not 1.7, Guatemalan Q´s per US $. Basically it costs us $130 to pull out 1,000 Q´s. pretty good deal, heh?
hopefully i will beat mike to the next post, otherwise we will fight to the death to determine who gets to summarize our latest adventures.
hasta luego

Paradise Lost

We arrived at Lake Atitlan, a gorgeous crystal blue mass of water surround by towering volcanoes. We stayed in Panajachel for a night and upon the realization there was nothing to do there, we hopped the boat for San Pedro, a village on the other side of the lake. After getting settled at what is quite possibly the farthest hotel (although cheap and with a nice view) we partied pretty hard. The next morning, as the usual cold air seeps into the room and at which time I would normally grab my sweater and put it on, I came to the stark realization that my sweater was still in Pana. I jumped out fo bed, gathered my things and headed for the dock. Then I realized I didn´t have any money. I head for the bank which when they said was át the top´ of the hill, they weren´t kidding. And by hill I mean Morgantown style 30 degree sloped hill. Then I quickly discovered I didn´t have my debit card on me. I finally got it all settled and jumped on the boat for Pana. Luckily, we stayed at a hospedaje (guest house) run by an elderly mayan couple and the woman had found my sweater and held onto it. by the time I had made it back to the dock another boat was departing. I met up with Chris and we bought some food a local store. Chris prepared an awesome meal and we took a nap. I don´t know what it was. The food? The water? All I know is when I woke up from my nap I was completely devoid of energy. I could barely get out of bed. Add to that a fever, and you have me sleeping on and off for the next 29 hours or so. This was two days ago. This sickness developed into what you would typically assume would happen when traveling. That continued horrendouly through yesterday. Today I feel better but my stomach still hurts. Chris is lying in bed because his stomach hurts too, although he wasn´t sick like I was. We´ve decided to stay in San Pedro for a week and take Spanish lessons. San Pedro is part expat part mayan, ordained with slim alleyways that work like a labyrinth when walking about. Oh and don´t be confused, we are now fully in Mayan country. Did we mention our visit to the Pacaya Volcano from Antigua? We were right next to the lava, roasting marshmellows. One of the coolest things I´ve done. Interestingly, there are even expat owned and operated businesses here. For instance, there is Zoola, an Israeli retreat where your more likely to hear hebrew than Spanish. At Zoola the woman looked us up and down and said they had no rooms. We´re still trying to figure if it was because we´re not Israelis. Hows that fro discrimination? Or take Phatburger, a horrendous storefront run by an odd American expat where Chris and I got tricked into eating. The food was expensive for here, which the thought of combined with our lackluster experience there, nearly ruined our first day in Sand Pedro. Phatburger, we have theorized, could very well be the source of our newfound illness. We have much ahead in this week. we can use kayaks for free, since we signed up for the spanish classes (4 hours per day, for one week at $67 US). By the way, the conversion from one US dollar to one Queztal is 1 to 1.7. Oh and have you seen Apocalypto? Yeah when the Mayan people talk its kind of like that, for real.

Somos los Muchileros!!

Mike said this several times to innocent strangers as we departed our hostel from Guatemala city. "We are backpackers" says it all, but it wasnt like that was not blatantly obvious, two long white bodies with backpacks that take up our torsos' entirety. the phrase itself does not have the negative connotations that the word gringo presents however.
Antigua, is cool. we keep asking people what to do here and we get the same response, go out drinking, meet people and have a good time. i think we accomplished that last night. this is definetly gringo town though, mostly because its the launching pad for volcanos, lakes and other natural hot spots.
we should be posting pictures soon, if our blog is capable. if it appears that mike and I are wearing the same clothes in each picture, its because we are, that is no illusion.

To Antigua

I woke up early today, probably the earliest voluntary wake up in recent memory, clocking in at about 730. I´m the only one up right now, and if the amount of coffee cups sitting idle next to the coffee maker is an accurate indication of the number of people now staying here, then the number has increased to 9, including us. My Spanish, which has become rusty since studying abroad in Cuba, has come back quicker than Chuck Norris from a roundhouse kick to the face. Yesterday was pretty lackluster, in that there simply was not much to do in Zona 1, the historic part of the city. Zone 1 is the scene that most likely pops into your head when thinking of G City, with all the congestion, mass of people, etc. The only real sight, El Palacio Nacional, was so boring Chris and I dipped out of the tour halfway through (but were found and had to quietly serve the rest of the time with the group until we could leave). While tempted to eat at the Wendy´s on the corner, we instead went to el mercado central and bought some food there sitting alongside many other guates dong the same. This was the place with all the kitsch, easy pickings for gifts. We did manage to navigate the public bus system, which was an experience unto itself, without incident. With this uneventful day we pledged to head straight to Antigua the next day, and over a few beers with Luis last night, he agreed to give us a ride there. Luis lives halfway between G City and Antigua (which is maybe 45 min away) and he said we could check out his town also. Antigua is where most of the backpackers flee too as soon as they land in G City, and it is a beautiful old Spanish colonial town. The scene there is supposed to be more catered to the backpacker and Antigua is the jumping off point for most of the sights in Guatemala. Luis has also told us of a sight to see that we had not heard of yet, La Laguna de Ipala, a lagoon located atop a volcano, in the Chiquimula region. We´ll definitely have to make it there. Antigua itself is surrounded by 3 volcanoes, so we´ll be volcano hopping shortly.

I would say more but damn this connection is slow, and i think there just might be better things to do

Guatemala city, or what i have witnessed of it so far, is more what i did not expect than what i did. granted it has its´third world facets, clogged streets, high emissions, more motorcycles than the CC´s that power them, street vendors etc. but we have yet to be overly hassled. the endemic violence, out running the criminals, and the rampant corruption, outwitting the police, has yet to be seen. the city is on the rise yet stuck in antiquity. payles shoes, dominos and quiznos stand side by side with ancient sculptures, parks and museums. Economic disparites are evident, and preserved. gated and barbed wired communities with three car garage homes inside seperate the rich from the rest of the residents, who appear to make a honest living themselves.
Zona Viva, where we are residing, is pretty much the only thing Guatemala City has to offer for American tourists like ourselves, bars clubs,malls and restaurants other than the historic, colonial relics of the sate; the national palaces, churches and parks.
we depart for Antigua tomorrow, used by travelers as a gateway to everything cool in Guatemala.
Lago de Atitlan, Tikal, Semuc Champey, Monterrico beach: here we come.

La Cuidad de Guatemala

So we safely made it through our first day in Guatemala City without being robbed, kidnapped, or having our organs harvested. In fact, so far Guate is the complete opposite of what you´d think. It is very developed and quite beautiful. This fact is accentuated by the fact that we are staying in Zona 10 (Zona Viva) where all the malls, restaurants, and bars are located. We did witness the view of colorful shantytowns when our flight was landing, but those are far removed from our current location. So far the Guatemalans have been very warm and friendly, this morning the women that worked here made Chris and I some pancakes and coffee, which is a great way to start the day. Yesterday Luis, my friend and our guide through Guate, met us at the airport, which upon seeing him completely lifted the tension of being in a strange new place. We proceeded in his car to some malls, to check them out and exchange some money. The first was Oakland mall, which rivals Tyson´s Corners in is scale and grandiosity. Then we went to Fontabella, near our hostel, which looked like a plaza with shops straight out of Italy. The Hostel, by the way, is amazing. It´s called Xamanek, and it´s located right near all the clubs and bars in Zona Viva. There are only a few people staying here, and the interior looks like a mix of post modern Swedish design and grandmas hand-me-downs. We plan on staying here for two more nighs and then heading out to Antigua where we will really get our bearings. I´ve also realized that A) camping is most likely not going to take place while we are in Guate, and B) we´ll need at least 5 weeks to see all of Guate. Today we´ll head into Zona 1 to see the central Park, El Palacio Nacional, and some more of the historic sights and museums. Already Guatemala has defied expectations, and we can tell that Guate has many more surprises in store for us.

Basement Farewells

As I lounge in the underground, bunker like basement of the Erickson household, deep in the historic Del Ray district of Alexandria, I ponder what better way I could spend my last night in the states, than with three awkwardly big bodied Erickson alphas.  No surprise I spent Friday night frequenting the Fairfax bar scene with the crew, and got mega wasted grilling waffles in Mansey's petite kitchen, leaving me not only physically exhausted but too mentally unresponsive to participate in the admonishing discussion regarding poisonous snakes, explosive diarrhea and festering blisters, that we will apparently inevitably encounter.  Luckily, my welcoming sleeping assignment is tantamount to hard wood floor, and will invariably place me next to Mike in his cold and subterranean basement, as if I won't be spending the next at least half year in agonizing sleeping arrangements with Mike as my sole and only accustomed companion.  Despite these discomforts, I remain adamantly prepared to begin our utterly spontaneous and unorganized travels throughout a region plagued with corruption, poverty, violence and oppression balanced with extreme natural beauty, rich bio-diversity,  indigenous cultures, exquisite food and wonderful people.  For all you readers with even the slightest bit of tacit jealousy, this trip is not in anyway unique to Mike and I.  Get out; Explore, See, Understand.  And if you need a catalyst for such life changing experiences, hope that the two of us will make enough moves to establish ourselves so that you can come and visit us, wherever we may be so transiently residing.  Until post #2, From Guatemala, Paz y Amor, Adios.

Almost There

Chris and I are a little more than 36 hours from landing in Guatemala!  I just made this blog (my first blog ever) in the hopes that it would be the best way for the both us us to post what's going on with our trip and share a little bit of our adventures with our friends.  I think we're prepared enough to at least get through the initial phrase well.  I have some friend in Guatemala City, and one of them, Luis, has agreed to pick us up at the airport, saving us some tension in a new place.  We both have a one-way ticket, a little bit of money, and all the time in the world.  So we'll take things as they come and make our plans as we go.  We both also became certified to teach english, but whether or not we settle down somewhere to do that, or stay on the move, we'll decide as we travel and experience the rich continent of Latin America!