Honduras to Guatemala
After a nice nights sleep despite an amazingly loud ceiling fan in our room, I was ready for more Maya history. I stepped outside to get some money from the ATM down the street and then knocked on Rich and Lori's room, who we had meet the night before in the lobby. They had agreed to come with us to the ruins in order to save some cash on the tour guide that we were planning to get. We meet in the lobby in a few minutes and then started walking down the street to the ruins.
Rich and Lori had been in Panajachel for the last two weeks learning spanish and then had rented a car in order to see more of the country. They had offered to give us a lift to Rio Dulce but we were unsure if all our luggage and Silvia would fit in a little Mazda. But that decision was to made after the ruins.
We meet a man named Antonio who seemed to give us a fair price for a guided tour with the four of us in english so we set off with him. He talked about the history of the archeology of the site, the former rulers in, most notably 18 rabbit, and the way that the site was constructed. He walked us through the site for about two hours and cracked as many jokes as he could to us. The heat was setting in though and we needed to get into the tunnels of the structures.
Antonio bribed the doormen to let Rich and Lori in since they didn't buy tickets earlier in the day. We entered in and walked all through the tunnels seeing first hand how they structures were built and some of the living standards that were in place there. It was cool and dark inside which made a nice break from the sun outside. After taking as many pictures as we felt was needed we walked back to the hotel and tried to figure out where Silvia was. Our lift to Rio Dulce was in jeopardy of leaving without us if she didn't arrive in time.
We sat by the pool and sipped on fruit juices while waiting for Silvia and Rich and Lori went out for lunch. It was cool in the courtyard and we didn't mind just sitting. Luckily, Silvia showed up with her cousin Ariel in time for us to leave in the car. We sat four in back with luggage at our feet and on our laps as we rode in air conditioning listening to music from an iPod. It was a strange mix of Guatemalan travel and American travel. But it was good conversation and so it worked out.
They dropped us off at Rio Dulce, right on the highway. You can't really think of it as a highway though. More of a road pressed on each side with stands selling clothes, fried food, and lottery tickets. We said our goodbyes and began walking down the street to find a hotel. Air conditioning and hot water were in need since the temperature difference from Copan to Rio Dulce was incredible. The humidity shot straight up and we were sweating pretty bad. Finding a hotel is always easy to do but finding a decent one can be tricky. We got luck though and took the first one that we went to. Then we were off to get our first meal of the day, which would be dinner.
Eating tortillas on a patio hanging over the lagoon seemed an idyllic way of having dinner. The problem was though that once the sun began setting, the mosquito's decided it was also time to eat. For me, my hairy legs shielded me from the little beasts but for the girls, with their shaved legs, it was a torture chamber! So we got bags half way through the meal and ran back to the hotel to finish our meal. It was the tropics so we could only complain so much.
Rich and Lori had been in Panajachel for the last two weeks learning spanish and then had rented a car in order to see more of the country. They had offered to give us a lift to Rio Dulce but we were unsure if all our luggage and Silvia would fit in a little Mazda. But that decision was to made after the ruins.
We meet a man named Antonio who seemed to give us a fair price for a guided tour with the four of us in english so we set off with him. He talked about the history of the archeology of the site, the former rulers in, most notably 18 rabbit, and the way that the site was constructed. He walked us through the site for about two hours and cracked as many jokes as he could to us. The heat was setting in though and we needed to get into the tunnels of the structures.
Antonio bribed the doormen to let Rich and Lori in since they didn't buy tickets earlier in the day. We entered in and walked all through the tunnels seeing first hand how they structures were built and some of the living standards that were in place there. It was cool and dark inside which made a nice break from the sun outside. After taking as many pictures as we felt was needed we walked back to the hotel and tried to figure out where Silvia was. Our lift to Rio Dulce was in jeopardy of leaving without us if she didn't arrive in time.
We sat by the pool and sipped on fruit juices while waiting for Silvia and Rich and Lori went out for lunch. It was cool in the courtyard and we didn't mind just sitting. Luckily, Silvia showed up with her cousin Ariel in time for us to leave in the car. We sat four in back with luggage at our feet and on our laps as we rode in air conditioning listening to music from an iPod. It was a strange mix of Guatemalan travel and American travel. But it was good conversation and so it worked out.
They dropped us off at Rio Dulce, right on the highway. You can't really think of it as a highway though. More of a road pressed on each side with stands selling clothes, fried food, and lottery tickets. We said our goodbyes and began walking down the street to find a hotel. Air conditioning and hot water were in need since the temperature difference from Copan to Rio Dulce was incredible. The humidity shot straight up and we were sweating pretty bad. Finding a hotel is always easy to do but finding a decent one can be tricky. We got luck though and took the first one that we went to. Then we were off to get our first meal of the day, which would be dinner.
Eating tortillas on a patio hanging over the lagoon seemed an idyllic way of having dinner. The problem was though that once the sun began setting, the mosquito's decided it was also time to eat. For me, my hairy legs shielded me from the little beasts but for the girls, with their shaved legs, it was a torture chamber! So we got bags half way through the meal and ran back to the hotel to finish our meal. It was the tropics so we could only complain so much.
posted by Aaron @ 10:26 AM
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