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Published: February 12th 2009
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Tiny bridge!
On the way to my hostel, really out of place, but with historical value I am sure Tim Version:
* Went to Quetzaltenango to find what everybody loved about the place so much.
* Trekked to a beautiful hot natural sauna in a litte old hotel, and found why people love to live in Quetzaltenango... I think... maybe?
The version that felt rushed on paper, but plenty of time in reality:
A good few hours from Chichicastenango is Quetzaltenango, though you will never hear that name as everyone calls it by its traditional name of Xela, pronounced "Chela". Ask for a bus to Quetzaltenango and you may like me just get blank looks.
Arriving at the bus terminal out of town the place is a real lowlight. Trash, no real personality, and hasslers everywhere. Howver once you wade through the tightly packed market, bust out the other side and catch a microbus to the centre of town, that all changes. Parque CentroAmerica is surrounded by beautiful German style (apparently, it kinda reminded me of Portugal!) architecture, giving it a granduer not found in the rest of the place. Its funny how people come here to see this and love it, saying Xela is so pretty, when really if you went to Europe you
would find entire cities of it rather than just the central square as it is here! Either way though, the central park works and I liked it. Some non-used fountains as all central american parks must have, a few columns, and people just chilling. The churches have figures carved in them, often missing their hands or heads, and it is mostly made of a cold coloured stone. Benches and a gazebo thing make it a good place to rest your feet.
I checked into a place called Casa Argentina into one of the biggest dorms I've ever stayed in, there must have been near 40 beds! I half expected a bunch of orphaned children to run out of the bathroom singing "oliver, oliver, never before has a boy ask for more..." buut they didn't. Instead a bus of about 15 backpackers rocked up from some tour! Its a cool place, very large, with a tonne of rooms and a kitchen to use. I went out and explored Xela until the sun went down and came back with a funny conclusion about the place to me... while its not that interesting on the eyes except the main park, neither does
it have the heat I like, it just felt like the best place I have seen so far in Guatemala to live a normal life... it just really seemed to suit it if you wanted to move to Guatemala. It had a bit of a University town feeling which was great.
I spent the rest of the night having a few wines from a dodgy cast with a British girl just chilling as the whole town was dead... I was told everyone leaves for Christmas and it seems its true!
I only had the night in Xela, killing time before my Antigua booking, but with my health being poor I knew I couldn't do any of the hikes and so there wasn't anything holding me in Xela, so I made the decision to leave. Before that though, I wanted to see at least one sight.. and Los Vahos sounded perfect! A natural volcanic sauna, inside a small cheap hotel at the top of of a local mountain, myself and a frenchman hopped in a bus for 1km then walked the remaining 3.5km up the mountain to the sauna. It was a crisp morning and the mountain is beautiful,
covered with may flower farms and other vegie farms giving a lot of colour to the place. I found a tree that I swear is a gumtree too, reminding me of home making me feel very comfortable... even the road up to the hotel was lined by flower fields, with crisp morning frost on the flowers not yet kissed by the sun. The views of Xela are cool, but its not really anything to look at but sliughtly industrial looking urban sprawl.
The sauna itself, which you use for a small price, is in a basic tiled room that just never stops getting hotter and its incredible! Remember, its natural... no thermostats and no off button. The room outside had 2 wooden benches that we lay on every 10 or 15 minutes to take a breather. The owners had placed some sort of plant leaves around the sauna opening and it created the most beautiful relaxing aroma in the room, and did wonders for my messed up lungs. Fuentes Georginas is the place I had planned originally to go, but it took too much time in the morning to make Antigua by nightfall, plus it looked terribly built up
and crowded, and I'm so glad I came to this one. The walk up the hill alone would have been worth it. We sweated away in there for probably a good hour before making the trek back down the mountain back to the hostel where I packed up and left. The Frenchman was going to come to Antigua too but backed out at the last minute. I was tired so no fussed as it gave me a chance to sleep on the bus without anyone talking my ear off. Sounds horribly rude I know but I've got really used to having my own time when I want it, very spoilt.
Its a cool spot in Quetzaltenango for launching hikes, having other adventures, or studying Spanish. Maybe even just to live if you want to live in Guatemala somewhere. I can't put my finger on why but it just feels comfortable... not exciting, not incredibly beautiful, not even over friendly or exotic, just really really liveable...
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