The First Breakdown

Trip Start Jan 20, 2004

164

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Guatemala Panajachel, Guatemala
Sunday, March 14, 2004

It is almost inevitable on a trip such as ours to expect a breakdown or two along the way - hopefully not too major. On this occasion, it couldn't have happened in a more serendipitous fashion. It was Friday afternoon, about 2 o'clock, when we decided to go for a short drive, first down to Panajachel and then alongside Lago de Atitlan to visit a couple of textile and pottery co-operatives in local villages. The van was rather hesitant to start, but soon we were on our way. However, just three km down the road on a major bend, the engine died. We soon realized that it wasn't about to start again anytime soon, so decided to hitch back up to the hacienda to get the tool box. On the walk back down we suddenly realised that the four motorcycles coming by were Canadians from the youth organization "Outta Town" that we had met in Antigua earlier in the week. They were keen to help, and soon we had also enlisted the help of the friendly mechanic from nearby San Andres Semetabaj. We'd have this problem licked in no time!

By 6 pm, we had to admit defeat for the time being. We seemed to be fine on the fuel side of things, but weren't getting much joy in the sparks department. Being stranded on the road after dark wasn't a good idea, so our priority became getting the van down to Panajachel. Since the remaining 9 km were all downhill, the obvious choice of action would be simply to put the van into neutral and coast all the way. It turned out to be quite amazing how many "uphill" sections there are on a road that you think is all downhill, but fortunately our young Canadian friends had stayed around and were able to supply some much appreciated pushing power.

01 Now, what seems to be the problem?

We left the van at their hotel and then borrowed one of their motorcycles to blast our way back up the hill to the hacienda for the night.

Early next morning, we again enlisted the help of our "pushers" to get the van to the locally recommended workshop. It didn't take too long to identify the problem - a burnt out ignition coil. Although we have a good selection of spare parts with us, a coil was not one of them, and neither was there a suitable replacement to hand in Panajachel. A new one would have to be ordered from Guatemala City, and likely wouldn't arrive until the following Wednesday. Thus, arms laden with things we needed from the van, plus groceries to tide us over for the weekend, we went in search of a local bus to take us back up the hill.

In our younger years, we travelled frequently on local buses, but it has been some time since we experienced the process of filling the bus to capacity, and then adding another 20 to 30 passengers (including their large bundles and a selection of small livestock) before grinding into gear and taking off. We needn't have worried about swaying back and forth on the curvy road, as we were packed in like the proverbial sardines. All was well until about 10 minutes into the trip, when we realized that the bus had taken a turn to the left, and was no longer on our familiar route. We decided to sit tight anyway, and hope for the best. We eventually got off at a point closest to our destination - about 5 km away, but at least it was now downhill!

A few minutes into our walk the first passing car stopped. We were happy to accept a lift with a couple of friendly Guatemalans, although their car looked to be in such disrepair that we weren't sure it would make the short distance involved. Surprisingly it did, and they dropped us right at our gate. So we settled in for a quiet weekend at the hacienda, confident that we'd be able to get the van back on the road next week.