Such Great Heights

Caves, ruins, volcanos, markets, hot springs, horses and history....I have had one hell of a week in Central America. I´m going to do my best to summarize it all, but there´s a lot so bear with me!

By the way, apologies, but the internet connection in Honduras is not good enough to upload photos...so you'll have to wait for a later date to see those! I"ll try to get them up in Nicaragua, but more likely in Costa Rica...Anyway, hope the text is good enough for now!

I finished my time in Belize with a bang - the tour to Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM Cave), located in the Tapir Mountain Forest Reserve. The trip started with an hour or so drive through Belizian countryside over bumpy dirt roads and through 3 rivers (usually the rivers don´t cover the road, but it´s rainy season and all the rivers are flooded). We actually got stuck in one of the river crossings, but our guide Gonzo managed to get us through! We hiked an hour into the jungle, and then started the best cave adventure I´ve ever had...We hiked into this massive cave for 2 hours, swimming at several points, fighting a very strong current, climbing rapids in some parts and crawling through small crevices in other parts. The helmet and head lamp were essential, as were the ropes and guides pulling us along when the current got too strong! At the end of our cave trek we climbed up the side of the cave into an opening which was the site of ancient Mayan sacrifices. Our guide explained Mayan religion and the sacrificial ceremonies which were terribly interesting and quite brutal from my standpoint (although to the Maya they were very important religious activites). The cave is still littered with broken ceremonial pots and human remains. It was incredible (and spooky, as I´m sure you can imagine). After this we climbed back down and hiked out of the cave. Exiting the cave took only about 40 minutes, less than half the time it took going in. This can put the strength of the current a bit more into perspective for you, we really had to fight! Also, I ate a termite on the trail on the way back...they taste like carrots. So I really had an amazing end to my time in Belize.

The next day, I set off for Tikal, Guatemala. Since I had to cut my time in Guatemala from 6 to 3 days, I had to do some well-organized and compact traveling to fit as much in as possible. Starting with a tour to Tikal from Belize! Tikal was really impressive - the height of the temples and the steep stairs were really cool. (I have to put a little interjection here, as impressive as Tikal was, and all the Mayan ruins are, everything pales a bit in comparison to Angkor Wat...but I still love visiting these ruin sites and the Mayan history is fascinating!). We were allowed to climb a couple of the temples still, but only on special constructed wooden staircases up the sides. (There have been too many 'accidental sacrifices' on the other structures and on the main staircases to allow tourists up those). It was really good to have a guide in Tikal to learn more about the history and the sacrificial ceremonies that took place there. The best part was at the top of the highest temple, when we could look out over the jungle canopy and see the tops of other temples sticking out. I must admit I was a bit surprised at the number of unexcavated sites in Tikal, I expected it to be more like Chichen-Itza I suppose. There are a lot of temples still covered by jungle (only 15 percent of the site has been excavated), it´s amazing what time can do to these places. There is a lot of work left to do! But it was still really cool.

I couldn´t get a bus from Tikal to Flores because it´s the low season and there weren´t enough buses running, but somewhere between Tikal and the Belizian border, I managed to find a minibus gonig in the right direction, and hopped on. Despite it being low season, it took me 6 tries to find a hotel in Flores Guatemala (the base town for exploring Tikal), but I found one! Flores is a beautiful little town on an island in Lake Peten Itza. I had a lovely dinner there (finally starting to get a little of my appetite back at this point!), and a good sleep before I was awakened around 5 am by firecrackers...Why? Who knows. They like firecrackers in Central America, I don´t think they need a particular excuse to set them off. Next, on the road again to Antigua Guatemala. I had a bit of an eventful trip - to save time, I took a flight to Guatemala City from Flores (instead of the 10 hour bus ride), and then grabbed a mini-bus to Antigua. Of course, it broke down about halfway there and we switched to a passing bus... But eventually, arrived safely and in time to hike Volcan Pacaya, but I´ll get to that in a bit.

Antigua has definetly been my favorite place on the tour thus far. It´s a beautiful colonial town surrounded by three (inactive) volcanoes, which served as the Capital of Guatemala for over two hundred years (around 1543-1773 or so), until a series of earthquakes destroyed it and the capital was moved to the modern day capital of Guatemala City. A lot of Antigua has now been restored (although not always historically-correct restoration, I discovered), and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I met another solo traveler on the plane, and we went for lunch at a local restaurant. I should mention that not speaking spanish here is a big problem, there is a huge language barrier for someone like me who speaks no Spanish (even in Antigua, one of the most touristy places in the country)! I´m starting to pick up a little of it tho! Anyway, I had a tasty lunch with some sort of meat (I am still not sure what it was, although I think there was liver in it...?), and then I went hiking on the nearest active Volcano, Volcan Pacaya!

We drove most of the way up the mountain, and then hiked for about an hour and 45 minutes (I think?). It was a little slippery as it had been raining, but this wasn´t a problem. A steep hike but well worth it, because at the top we got to climb all over the hardened lava which had poured down from the summit. The views were incredible, but the most amazing thing was seeing the fresh lava flowing several layers beneath our feet! It was cold because we were high up, but the lava kept us warm while we were having snacks. We brought marshmellows, roasted them on the lava and ate smores! The summit even errupted while we were there, spewing hot lava into the air like fireworks. We were near the summit, but not close enough to get this spraying lava on us, don´t worry! You couldn´t get too close to the areas with flowing lava (it is so hot the marshmellows would catch fire long before touching the lava), I actually felt my legs burning now and then. This was an amazing experience, something you would NEVER be allowed to do back home...I´m really happy I got a chance to do it! On the way home, our bus broke down several times, and we had to changes buses for the second time that day....Welcome to Guatemala :)

When we got off the bus in Antigua that night we found a gathering of hundreds of people in the main square, complete with street vendors, a concert, and some crazy guy running around lighting fire crackers from a basket on his head! We grabbed pupusas and watched the concert for a while. It was great music, latino-rock mixed sort of, and obviously a very popular band (though I never did get the name). The festival went on all weekend, so the town was really exciting. Friday morning I watched the parade and did a walking tour of Antigua, and learned a lot about it´s history. Then I had a couple of hours to shop at the local market (the textiles are absolutely amazing, I´m having a hard time not buying everything I see) and to visit with locals. Visiting is difficult because I don´t speak Spanish, but everyone is so friendly, we do our best to chat! In the afternoon I went to see a coffee plantation and sampled some of the best coffee I´ve ever had (Genuine Antigua, if anyone´s interested!). I got back just in time to join up with my tour group.

So for the next three weeks, I will be traveling with a group (Toucan Travel), much like I did with Budget Expeditions in SEAsia. The group seems really cool so far, much different from my last one tho! From the Guatemalan Highlands to the Honduran Highlands, we traveled to Honduras on Saturday, which went well, although I am sad because I don´t get a Honduras passport stamp. Our first stop is Copan, a lovely little town with cobblestone streets in the Honduran highlands. It´s gorgeous here!! My favorite part is the locals hanging out at the central square. It seems everywhere you look here there are Rancheros with their cowboy hats and machetes (sometimes on horses too). This is different from the Mayas in Guatemala who were all dressed in beautiful, colourful textiles.

Anyway, after lunch and a walk around town we saw yet another parade (who knows what they are celebrating here, it seems that Central Americans like to celebrate!) and then hopped in the back of a pickup truck and drove out into the Honduran countryside and found some hot springs. We spent the evening sitting in hot springs, drinking wine and listening to the jungle. We also had a wonderful Honduran BBQ meal, with chicken, beef, veggies and refried beans - it was amazing! Today, we visited the Copan Ruins, which are right beside the town of Copan. This ruin site was different from the others, as it focused on the Mayan arts. As opposed to being a huge powerful city like Tikal and Chichen-Itza, Copan is thought to have been a University and artistic capital of the Mayan Era. The buildings were not quite as high as some of the other ruins, but many are covered in beautiful and interesting Hieroglyphics. The coolest part was a temple called the Book of Life, which has stairs covered in inscriptions which describe the daily life of the ancient Maya.

In the afternoon I grabbed a quick BBQ lunch and then I adventurously took a horse ride up to a small Mayan Village in the hills. I say adventurously because I haven´t been on a horse for at least a decade, and even then it was only once. It was fun, if a little challenging, and the village was really nice with a magnificent view. Somehow I made it back in one piece! Tomorrow we are headed out to the Caribbean coast of Honduras, and after 3 weeks in the Jungle, I must admit I´m looking forward to it!

Sorry this has been so long winded, but we´re finally all caught up now! Hope you´re all well and I´ll try to write again soon :) Adios!

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