First Stop - Chilly Xela
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
20
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Quetzaltenango,
Guatemala
Monday, January 22, 2007
We arrived on a Saturday evening to discover everything closed down for the weekend. At first sight, Xela appeared pretty bleak and not to interesting. We discovered over the next couple days that the real jewels of this region lay just outside of town, easily reachable by Chicken Bus for a day trip, such as volcanoes and other villages. Additionally Xela is known for being a great base for volunteering efforts or to take Spanish classes. That is, if you donīt mind the cold this time of year. During the day it was nice, but in the evenings and early morning - brrrrr! We even saw our breath! (I kind of doubt any of our friends and family on the East Coast who are reading this will give us any sympathy as they are getting doused with inches of ice and rain!)
We stayed for two nights at the Hostal Don Diego (35 Quetzales per person per night - about $4.60 US per person), a few blocks from the center of town. The first evening, we went to a nearby restaurant called Blue Angel that was playing Swingers (a movie). During the 30 minutes it took to rewind the VHS tape, we got to know our fellow movie companions - Griet and Tina from Belgium who were volunteering in Xela, and a couple from Chapel Hill that were studying Spanish. The Swingers tape turned out to be a bad tape, so instead we watched The Mosquito Coast, appropriate for our travels in Central America. Harrison Ford is a scary freak in that movie, though!
The next day, Sunday, we walked around town, but everything was closed. So we headed up to the central market which is usually the center of the action on the weekends. After browsing through the vendors, we decided to head out of town to visit any of the nearby small Mayan villages. We walked a few blocks until we found a local bus to take us to the main bus station. After we boarded the bus, we looked back and saw Griet and Tina (the Belguim girls from the night before) on board! Small world. After exhanging hellos, we told them we werenīt sure where to go, we were just looking to explore a nearby village. They were headed out to visit a couple villages as well and invited us to join them. Lucky us - because they were familiar with the confusing and hectic bus station and led us in the right direction.
We caught a Chicken Bus headed out of town and got off the highway near a small village called San Cristobal (no relation to the San Cristobal in Mexico). This was a small Mayan village and we were the only gringos in sight. We walked through their busy market and grabbed lunch from a little comedore - chile rellenos with beans and rice. As we sat on a curb eating lunch, many local Mayans said hello, welcome (Bienvenidos!), and enjoy your lunch. The friendliest people ever! All of the Mayans were dressed in their traditional woven attire: the women in brightly colored skirts and blouses, the men in capri pants.
After San Cristobal, we caught another Chicken Bus to visit the town of Totonicapan, the capital of the region. It was a medium sized village, way up in the pine covered mountains. The Belgium girls wanted to visit this town to see the Hot Springs (baths) and go for a dip. Frank and I didnīt have our swimsuits on, but came along for curiousity. Walking through town with our map in hand, several local people stopped us to say hello and offer help. A Mayan woman and her daughter insisted on walking us there. So friendly!
Again, we were the only Gringos in town, with the exception of a Missionary we walked by wearing a tie and coat (out of place a bit!). And again, all of the Mayans were wearing their traditional brightly colored woven skirts and blouses.
Well, that is, everyone except those at the spa! The spa turned out to be more of an indoor baby pool, about 1 foot deep. With a hundred people jammed in, each unable to move freely because of the crowding. Most were sans attire - bare naked - literally bathing themselves. A bath is truly a bath in this case. A place to bathe. Publicly. With one hundred of your closest friends.
After talking with some more very friendly and social (and dressed!) locals outside, we caught a bus back into town, and then another Chicken Bus back to Xela!
That night, Frank and I dined on local comedores in the park - papusas, papas fritas, some sweet fried plantain ball thing, and some nacho looking things. Then we headed home for an early evening out of the chilly cold.
We initially planned on taking Spanish classes in Xela, but changed our minds after two nights of chilly weather. Next stop: Lake Atitlan.
Cheers, Kay
