Blog Post 44 - Guatemala Road Trip

SAVARONA
JIRIG & TERESA NERSESYAN
Wed 7 Sep 2016 21:30
Blog Post 44 - Guatemala Road Trip
6/27/16-7/11/16

NOTE: Sorry no pictures for this post, we don't have a strong enough wi-fi signal to include them and won't for some time

UPDATE: in my previous post I wrote about the enigma that was the Costa Rican culture and how/why CR developed so much differently than its neighbors. I feel bad that I dissed their culture or lack of it. It took a little digging but we found out the truth. Nico and I did some research and found out some interesting things that may help explain it. Unlike many of its neighbors, CR never had a dominant indigenous population. Mexico had the Aztecs, Central America had the Maya and South America had the Inca. When Christopher Columbus arrived in the early 16th century he did not encounter empires like those in then present day Mexico or Peru. Instead, a small contingent of Carib Indians rowed out canoes to meet his ship. When going ashore the Spainards encountered many disparate people's like the Chorotega, Bribri, Cabecar and Baruca peoples. Archeological evidence showed that they had lived here for thousands of years. Soon most would be dead due to disease brought by the Europeans. The brutality of slavery by the Spanish drove most of those remaining into the mountains. Some of these people still exist although in very small communities in or near Talamanca, a mountainous region near the border with Panama. (It is the least developed area of CR and is considered ‘wild’). Although many have been able to retain some of their own languages and religion and customs, a lot has been lost. More than 95% of CR residents are Mestizos, or mixed descendants of the Spanish and indigenous peoples. But few people here express pride in their Spanish heritage. The Spanish had little interest in CR. There was no gold, emeralds or silver here. They considered CR a backwater province. They built no magnificent colonial cities here or churches. It was the smallest and poorest of its Central American colonies. As a result, they had and left little influence here in CR, as a pose to their northern and southern neighbors. Instead the people here created a unique culture that mixes parts of Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. There is a strong emphasis on education, CR has a 95% literacy rate, significantly higher than any of its neighbors. It also has a much higher standard of living than its neighbors. There is a laid back attitude toward life, reflected in “ PuraVida” which translates as pure life and is a very common greeting here. So there you have it. There is good reason why CR developed differently than its neighbors.


GUATEMALA
When we returned to the boat from our Costa Rica road trip we were a bit apprehensive. We had some varnishing and cabinet work done while we were gone and did not know exactly what we were walking into or what to expect. Jirig is a perfectionist, especially when it comes to the boat and even more so when it involves varnishing. Did they do it right? Did they put on all 10 coats he had requested? Did they clean up after themselves? We let Jirig go on board first…..You had to see the smile on his face through the window. They had done a fabulous job! Our floors on the boat are the original, handmade, teak tiles. They had been covered with this ugly indoor/outdoor carpet that had been on the boat when we bought and who knows how long before that. The rug was ratty, dirty and felt like an SOS pad on your feet while barefoot. I hated it. Who knew what beauty lay beneath it? The floor now looked like a rich, well taken care of antique. The varnish was thick, luxurious and shiny. They had built a cabinet in our stateroom for additional storage by raising a settee/small couch and building out cabinets underneath. They had also cleaned up and repaired the area over our bed where we had removed some worthless cabinets. It looked spectacular. They matched the original wood finish perfectly. We spent the night in the hotel that is part of the marina. When I awoke the next morning Jirig was gone. I went down to the docks to the boat. There he sat with his cup of coffee with a huge grin on his face. He then proceeded to announce that he liked the work they did so much that he wanted to have more done. He wanted them to build more cabinets, touch up the varnish on the woodwork throughout the boat, install a washing machine and build a cabinet around it; then move a wall so that said machine would fit through the door and companionway. He anticipated that this work would take about 2 weeks and again the boat would be uninhabitable for that time. He then said, ‘let's take a trip to Guatemala’. I am not one that needs to be encouraged to travel, ever, so I said ’’let's go”. I woke the kids up and told them to get ready, we would do some laundry today, repack and would be heading to Guatemala in the morning.


This time we would be driving not flying. The Guatemalan border is just 125 miles from San Salvador. We rented a Honda Odyssey mini van and loved it. Super comfortable to sit in, the back seats were more spacious and comfortable than the front seats. It had AC throughout with everyone having their own controls. This is important in our family as everyone of us has a different comfort zone for heat and AC. ES roads are the best in Central America so it did not take us long to get to the border. The crossing into Guatemala was a piece of cake. No long lines, we were the only car crossing at the time, super friendly border guards. Our friends and family thought we were nuts to drive ourselves through Central America, most people take a guided bus tour, but we had no problems at all. That is until Daniel say’s “I smell gas” and soon we all did. We pulled over immediately (we are in the middle of the countryside nothing for miles) and Jirig and Daniel assess the situation. I am so lucky to have married a man who is thoroughly competent when it comes to anything mechanical. He never travels without at least a Swiss Army knife and some sort of tools. It was determined that we had a broken fuel line that was leaking profusely when the engine was on. This would have been a trip ending event for most people but not us. Jirig and Daniel jurry rigged a replacement hose that would at least get us to where we could get the part to get it fixed properly. The whole repair took about 20 minutes. We got back on the road and found a small shack about 30 minutes up the road that had the exact hose that we needed for $1. The guys installed it and we were on our way again. The ride took us through the lowland farmlands then up over a spectacular mountain pass. The roads in Guatemala are not good. There are deep ruts and potholes everywhere. The exceedingly irritating “topes” or speed bumps are everywhere, and as elsewhere in Mexico and Central America, are unmarked. It makes going very slow. You go only as fast as the slowest car in front of you on the 2 lane highway. Inevitably you have an overloaded truck in front of you chugging up the hill or a broken down truck in the middle of the road. I didn't care, I wasn't driving. Nico and I were sitting in the back, listening to music and enjoying the scenery. Daniel was driving, Jirig was navigating with Maps.me and Goggle Maps and it was not an easy task. As a matter of fact, I opted out of driving driving altogether in Guatemala. I didn't drive that van once. Being in the car with three control freak, backseat drivers I was not about to sit in the drivers seat, ever. It's just not worth the hassle with this family. I throughly enjoyed myself in style and comfort well out of the combat zone.
The fact that Daniel was driving most of the time was a milestone for our family. Ever since Daniel was able to drive at 16 Jirig would let him drive if we were out and wanted to drink, he would drive us home. But to let him take charge, drive and map the route, that was a real change. Daniel has turned into a fine young man. He is responsible, capable, tech savvy and careful. He is an excellent driver in all conditions. Lucky for him that he also got his fathers gift for figuring out how things work and fixing them. We thoroughly trust him to drive us around.

Our plan was to drive directly to Antigua. We were advised by many people not to go anywhere near Guatemala City. It is a very dangerous and desperate place. We have dear friends that have been cruising for 8 years, who never had any problems anywhere in the world, who have circumnavigated the globe, that were there a few weeks prior. My friend Margie had a heirloom chain and locket from her mother snatched right off of her neck by someone who ran up behind her. At the time she was in the Basilica church, one of the main tourist attractions in the city. We heeded everyones advice and kept going to Antigua.

Antigua is a magical place. It was settled by the Spanish is the late 15th century. It was the center of their regional government for almost 200 years. The Spanish pored money and infrastructure into the city. There were administrative buildings, countless churches, schools , monastery's and convents. Central America in general, and Guatemala specifically, are prone to serious earthquakes. The city itself is surrounded by volcanoes. It makes for a beautiful but very dangerous landscape. In a period of about 40 years in the late 1700’s the city was hit with three disastrous earthquakes that virtually destroyed it. After the first one they rebuilt, the second and third came within a year of each other and at that point the Spanish threw in the towel and abandoned the city and moved the Capitol. The city literally languished in isolation for over 200 years. It was still inhabited but was left pretty much in ruins.

In 1970 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and its transformation and recovery was established. It is an amazing place. Daniel and I were here 10 years ago, I was speaking at a conference here and brought him with me. We stayed in a 16th century monastery that to this day, is the most unique hotel I have ever stayed in. Truly incredible, we always wanted to return. It was a city that Jirig and I were considering returning to after we are done cruising to possibly settle in and we wanted to thoroughly check it out. We booked another fabulous Airbnb, 4 BR, 3 BR amazing town home for $60 per night. The plan was to spend 10 days in Antigua and then head up to Lake Atitlan for my birthday and to celebrate our first anniversary of cruising.

Antigua has narrow, cobblestone streets and the traffic and parking can be horrific. Even though we had a car we rarely used it unless we were leaving the city to hike the volcanoes or visit indigenous villages. It is a fabulous city to walk in. You New Yorkers out there would love it. You can't wear flimsy sandals and definitely not heels or platforms. You would break a leg or sprain an ankle for sure. Jirig and Nico are not much for walking but Daniel and I thoroughly checked out the place on foot. There is an app specifically for walking the city that tells you where to go, what you are looking at and what it's particular history is. I love checking out ruins and ancient places. I can't help but try to put myself back in time and think about what it might have been like to live here back then. I look at the stone pathways and think of how many people have tread here prior to my footsteps?



There are great bars, restaurants and a robust local music scene. For the first time ever, Daniel and I went out bar hopping together. Jirig goes to bed early so he wasn't interested. Daniel is 22 so he had just barely turned 21 before we left, we had just never had the opportunity before.. He was a great date. We went to a mescal bar that was supposed to be the hippest in the city. We went wine tasting. Antigua is a magnet for hipsters. The local gringo paper is full of ads for water births, mom and baby hatha yoga, chakra balancing and astrological readings, there is an organic farmers market and a plethora of health food stores and restaurants. There are super high end hotels and restaurants and backpacker hangouts where you can get a burrito and a beer for $3. We toured numerous churches, convents, monasteries, cemeteries, the first university in Central American and ruins, ruins, ruins. When we got tired of the city we took day trips to nearby indigenous villages. We shopped the local markets and ate the street food. Guatemala is much more affordable than Costa Rica. The food and lodging is cheap and there is not nearly the hustle and hassle of CR. The thing to do for young folks is to climb the nearby volcanoes. Daniel and Nico spent a day hiking the Picaya volcano with a guide. You can't go up without one. About a month prior to our visit the volcano “burped” so they were unable to go close to the edge. Picaya is an active volcano and has erupted numerous times in the last 300 years. The top near the cone is a completely desolate landscape. After a certain point all the earth and plants have been scorched away. The path of the lava from previous eruptions is easy to spot. The volcano is incredibly steep at the top as it forms the cone. Jirig and I had no interest in climbing straight up, so we spent the day at a nearby caldera. A caldera is the cone of a hallowed out, defunct volcano that fills with rainwater over millennia. The last 10 miles of road to the volcano and the caldera was atrocious. We were sure glad we were in a rent a car. We would never drive a car we owned over such a road. Jirig and I bought some beers for a buck and some fried chicken from a street vendor and spent an enjoyable afternoon at the caldera. We returned to pick up the boys a few hours later.


Antigua is surrounded by indigenous Mayan villages. Each one is just a little bit different. Their traditional dress varies in color and pattern by village, so does the dialect. The indigenous Mayan’s are tiny, most barely 5ft tall. We looked like giants compared to them. All villages have a central square, a local open air market, a school, a church and a soccer field. The Mayan have adopted some practices from the Catholic Church but have their own customs and rituals that are more dominant. The Mayan women are very shy. They are forbidden to converse, fraternize and God forbid marry or have a child with an outsider. Their villages are almost 99% pure Mayan heritage. Jirig stopped and asked a group of teenage girls for directions and they shied away, would not look at him and just giggled.

Our time in Antigua was coming to an end and we prepared to head up to Lake Atitlan. Daniel had been booking all the Airbnb places through his account/profile and I wanted to establish an account with them so I booked the place for us in Lake Atitaln. On the website it sounded spectacular. A 2 BR 1 bath “rustic cabin” with both lake and road access. Sounds good right? As I spoke with the host to get directions I told him we would be driving up from Antigua. He replied that no one drives up here, everyone takes a tour bus to Panajachel,the biggest town on the lake and then takes a boat to whatever town they are staying in on the lake. I told Jirig this but he insisted on driving up. The road was fine, actually a 4 lane interstate. That is until the turnoff to go to Panjachel. We were staying in San Marcos. There are about 18 villages that surround Lake Atitlan and each one is a little different. If it were possible to drive around the lake, which it is not, it would be about 500 miles around. Lake Atitlan is a caldera, a massive one. It has no outlet and no fresh input like a river, it is replenished by rainwater. It is extremely deep in the center.


The villages around Lake Atitlan have a little something for everyone. Panjachel is the big tourist town, has the best shopping and the nicest hotels. Not for us. San Marcos is the hippie town and San Pedro was the backpacker town. Those two sounded like a good fit. We booked 2 nights in San Marcos and 4 nights in San Pedro. The owner of the Airbnb in San Marcos gave us explicit directions on how to get there. We made the turn from the interstate to the small dirt road that led to San Marcos and we were stunned. Never had we seen such a road. We were in a mini van for gods sake! I thought for sure we were going over the side. Of course there are
no guard rails, no shoulder and no turnouts. It is supposedly a 2 way road but 2 cars could not pass each other let alone a car with a bus or truck passing. We rolled down the windows and shut off the air so we could hopefully hear another vehicle coming the other way. It was frightening. I tightened my seat belt and put on my headphones. If I was going to die, I would do so rocking out to the Grateful Dead! We traversed 2000 ft down the steep mountainside towards the lake. With out the GPS map apps we would have for sure lost our way. There were numerous turnoffs, forks on the road that led to no where and of course no signs marking anything. The last 2 kilometers were the worst. People don't drive here they take little tuk tuks. Anyone that has been to India or Thailand knows of these little motorized carts. As a result the roads are not wide enough for cars.What a spectacle we made of ourselves driving through town in a gold mini-van! We finally found the house. Everything around the lake is built up the –

steep incline of the mountains. There were 65 steps leading to the cabin from the road and another 126 from the lake to the house. Approaching the house from behind from the road it looked like a chicken coop wedged into the hillside. As we rounded the corner it got a little better when we saw the view of the lake. The Airbnb owner lived in France and he had a local boy greeting us to show us around the place. He did not speak English. They failed to mention in the Airbnb ad that the bathroom was outside. Not a good thing in the rainforest at night when you have to go pee with the critters. They billed it as a 2br cabin, NOT, it was a studio with a loft with a flimsy curtain separating 2 double beds. The living room and kitchen were nice but as you climbed the rickety circular stairs that had no handrail to the upstairs things got dire. As we were headed up to the lake the host called me from France and said “I wanted to tell you that we have little critters in the cabin, mostly spiders, but they are not aggressive and we consider them our friends”. What was that supposed to mean? We soon found out. Jirig was furious and did not want to stay. It was getting dark, we effectively had no transportation, getting back in that minivan was not an option for the roads so we settled in for the night. I can deal with spiders. How bad could it be? As I lay down to sleep I see a spider the size of my palm. The problem with the cabin was that it was unfinished. The walls did not meet the ceiling that was a A-frame. There were wide open spaces where critters could get in. Once it was dark and we turned on the lights, all things that fly in the night that are attracted to light fought over each other to get in. We spotted 3 more huge spiders in our room and the kids room. I reassured the kids that the spiders would not harm them and we tried to go to sleep, in the dark of course because we did not want to attract anymore bugs. The only light was the glare from my iPad. I am just about to fall asleep and I take one more look at the ceiling and see something huge move up there. I grabbed the flashlight. This time I screeched. There was a huge fucking scorpion on the ceiling 3 ft above my head. Spiders are one thing, scorpions are on an entirely different level. I draw the line there. We all got up, searched for more critters and I got on the phone to try and find us a hotel room. No luck, we would have to spend the night in this critter infested place. Needless to say we were out of there the next morning. But not after spotting another scorpion in the outdoor bathroom. Next stop San Pedro.


San Pedro is a funky little town, filled with20 something backpackers. It has little narrow streets that wind around the town, there are few street names or addresses, you just have to wing it. There are tons of massage, healing and mind expanding exploits. The smell of burning herb was everywhere. Locals approached Daniel numerous times trying to sell him weed and mushrooms. There were great little restaurants, Thai, India, Japansese and vegetarian. The locals were very tolerant of the backpacker lifestyle and seemed to look the other way when weed was in the air and other nefarious activity was taking place. It had a great like music and nightlife scene and again Daniel and I spent a few nights on the town. Definitely a place you could get lost and drop out of life in. They say many young people come here and never leave. They open bars and restaurants, surf and yoga schools and generally cater to the backpacker lifestyle.

We took the little panga boats to the other towns on the lake while the kids climbed another volcano. Our tuk tuk driver took us to a place where we were treated to a traditional Mayan church ceremony, complete with an incense filled room with the local moonshine for everyone. What a trip. We loved the place. Our Airbnb in San Pedro was the best one so far. Again $60 a day for a 2br 2ba house spectacularly decorated in traditional Mayan handicrafts and textiles. It had a spectacular view of the lake and the 3 acre garden surrounding the house was one of the most beautiful and tranquil we had ever seen. The hosts were amazing, we will never forget our time there. We took a hike to an abandoned coffee farm, where we explored and discovered all sorts of cool things. We went to Panajachel for my birthday and had the best BBQ we have had since we left the states. We did some shopping, Panjachel definitely had the best handicrafts and the best prices we had seen in Guatemala.

It was time to head back to ES. Daniel needed to return back to Long Beach to begin working full time for Solar City and we needed to get back to the boat and boat schooling. The drive back was much easier than the ride there. By far, the best day to travel in Central America is Sunday. No one is on the road. We made it back to the boat in 5 hours.

None of us was looking forward to what lay ahead. Daniel surely did not want to leave and go back to work and Jirig, Nico and I were looking at 3 long months waiting in ES for good weather to head south.