Hiking and Horse Races

Hi everyone! Hope everyone is going well and is looking forward to the Melbourne Cup and election (in that order).

I am still in the highlands of Guatemala and have just returned to civilisation after a big hike to the wild west.

To elaborate: I have just completed at 4 day hike with my favourite trekking organisation, Quetzaltrekkers. We walked 75km in 4 days over hills and rocky mountains with packs on our backs, so it was no mean feat. It was an amazing trip - we saw some fantastic scenery which included everything from cloud forests to granite plains that reminded me of Ireland. We also visited some very isolated communities which can only be reached by foot and where many of the people speak a indigenious Guatemalan language as their first language.

But just so you dont think that everything was too perfect, we also stayed in some of the crappiest accommodation in Guatemala. One night all 17 of us stayed in a big school with a dirt floor, a big gap between the roof and the walls, and a resident dog who decided he wanted to stay the night with us. Our non-hiking transport also left a bit to be desired, but I did learn one thing: if anyone tells you that 17 people with loaded packs cannot fit into the back of a ute, they are lying. It can be done, because we did it, although I dont think the back wheels or axel of that ute will ever be the same again!

The trip ended in Todos Santos, a small town which is basically the wild west of Guatemala. All the men wear exactly the same outfit, with red and white stripped pants, white shirts with massive embrodiered collars, and straw hats with blue bands. It is quite strange to see all individualism go out the window!

We were lucky enough to be there for the Day of the Dead when Todos Santos has a big fiesta which includes horse races. This was potentially the most bizarre event I have ever been to. The horses and their riders race up and down and up and down and up and down on a single stretch of road that is blocked off for the event. Generally the riders are totally pissed and it is perfectly acceptable to ride while holding a beer in one hand and then to have a break for a while if you are feeling a bit tired. It was also pretty much the norm for everyone else to get really drunk and pass out before midday in the pub/street/mud or wherever was generally convenient. Todos Santos also has the fastest spinning ferris wheel I have ever seen - I had never screamed on a ferris wheel before this point but I swear our carriage was going to launch right off the top of that thing! So all in all a pretty crazy event!

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