A TALE ABOUT A THIEF AND OUR JUAYUA ADVENTURES

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Casa Frolaz is the name of the place we are staying in Santa Ana, dropped our things in the dorm room and left for metro center mall to internet eat and chill, then we headed to town center so the boys can check out travel agencies to book their tickets. Coming back to the hostel we had some red wine and just chill, it was quite windy and gusting quite strong. Then all of a sudden the owner Javier came in the room and said something like check your belongings as there was a suspicious dude who checked in earlier claiming to be Calixto from Cuba and that he showered in our room, he might have stolen things as he looked dodgy from the get go, I quickly checked my money belt and to my horror i was missing all my debit cards cash and drivers license!!! I feel gutted and could not speak in shock, Joey thought he lost a credit card as well but turns out he just placed it somewhere else. I was the only victim, he got hold of my day bag right away and probably rummaged through it in the bathroom pretending to be showering, we were all out at the time. Quickly cancelled the cards, a French dude staying in the hostel lend me his computer and I used skype with Pedro´s account in it, took a good 2 to 3 hours to sort out all this. i have calmed down by then realizing it was done and nothing i can do with it now, the only consolation i got was he did not take my passport and left my mp3, storage device and cameras alone.

He was able to use the debit cards though, probably helped by the fact he had my drivers license as well, the amount of purchases on both cards were roughly 400 US. One of the guys in the hostel described the thief to the police officer that came to make a report on the crime, apparently it was a fat dude latino and we all suspect he is a local. This scheme is going on in most hostel all over Central America, the reasosn the owner got alarmed is he got a phone call from a hostel in Juayua informing him of the theft that just happened there of the same scheme, and also in El Trunco in the beach. The dude stole money from backpackers and the owners!! It was a bad day for me but thankful that I still have my passport with me.

The next morning we made a decision to continue on with our plan to go and hike the Volcanoes in Parque los Volcanes. Javier the hostel owner was kind enough top drop us off to the bus station and we took bus 248, about 2 hours travel through beautiful scenery going up a mountain range and lake Ocatepeque. Arriving at the entrance we paid to enter and waited for 1100am for the guided trek, as it was very windy we were told we cannot hike Santa Ana Volcano and instead have to do Izalco but not to the top, only halfway through, the Volcan Izalco is barren and quite tough to climb due to loose stones and soil. the hike down towards the bottom was tough but gorgeous through the forest, once we got to the bottom of the volcano we started to hike up slowly, rocks are loose so we are very careful, just like climbing Volcan Pacaya, the wind is intense and you easily lose your balance, and i did once on the way back slipping and falling on my ass hitting my hand on sharp rocks, painful. The hike back up through the forest was the toughest, I got there first then the boys followed 15 minutes later, oh we had a guide and 2 tourist police with us with guns all through out the hike as muggers apparently abound, lots of tourist have been robbed in the past. We sat and chilled at the viewpoint platform until the bus arrived to get back. The bus was late leaving and stopped almost every 5 minutes to pick up locals, farmers, coffeee bean pickers etc. Arriving late in the city we got back to the hostel to freshen up.

We went to the police station to get a report of theft. Took forever, the woman taking the statement is chatting and flirting a bit with us, if not for Joey and Pedro I would have not been able to relate my story she only speaks Spanish. The once over we went to the hostel and ordered pizza and used Javier´s internet, he refused to accept our dorm payment as he said the robbery made him feel so bad, he was such a nice guy, letting us use all the facilities in his beautiful home, and was very helpful and informative, but likes his drinks, he seems to drink a lot every night but all in good fun. Quite knackered so i went to bed and did not stay to drink with the boys.

The next day we are off to Juayua but first have to sort out things, pedro and Joey need to book flights and I need to call the States about my credit cards etc. most of the day spent on business. The bus took forever to leave the Santa Ana bus station, vendors getting on and selling their wares, it is like a parade, quite fun to watch, i filmed it as well. The scenery towards Juayua was fantastic, through coffe plantations, we keep climbing up to the hills, arriving in Juayua late afternoon we looked for the hostel Anahuac, recommended by Lp and also Javier the Casa Frolaz owner made a reservation for us here, it was an amazing place, cool owners, and the rooms are clean and tidy, with kitchen and leafy garden with hammocks. Our roomie is Elena from Spain, very talkative and easy going, she spoke of how she visited Philippines years ago and was able to understand the language especially the chabacanos in the south. Pedro bought some boxed wine and we had a couple, as it was windy and cold, we played cards to pass the time by, the town was eerily quiet so went to bed early.

The next morning we just chilled then headed to the town center and the local produce market and check out the festivities that happen here every weekend, the gastronomia feria is happening, people started cooking in stalls assembled around the town square near the church of the Black Christ or Cross or something.. Bought some fruits, mandarin oranges, green mangoes and jicama. Fetched Joey and we all went to eat, we tired the cunejo parillada and the rana(frog), both were delicious, Pedro did not dare try the delicacies. Joey and i loved the cunejo, for me the best tasting white meat i had. I am a convert now, eat rabbits!!! We bought more booze in the afternoon and chicharron to go with the wines and we played cards to pass the time by in the eve, we played Ramona then asshole, where we got reintroduced to by Thor our Danish roomie, it was a fun night and we finished the green mangoes when no one touched it earlier. We had a few cigars that Joey bought from an old lady in Suchitoto freshly rolled for him. The wind started picking up again, there we bunch of American girls on the next dorm and they are getting quite drunk, The boys, Joey, Pedro and Thor could not stand their awful American accent talking in Spanish though they are quite fluent, but the boys thought it was wrong to speak such a silly accent!
Joey had talkedto Cesar the young hostel owner and he related how a French tourist was also robbed by the freaking fatso Calixto of Cuba, the thief that robbed me in santa Ana, he was here before then and did the exact same thing, he was apparently very friendly to everyone, such a con man, i hope he gets caught soon. The poor French guys did not have insurance in his credit crads so whatever Calixto took he lost it. I cant understand how that works.. Anway have to get this behind me and start enjoying my trip again.

The next day Joey and I went with our guide Mario to the thermal springs near the village, we were led to a finca up towrads the hills and valleys full of coffee plantations, the hike was quite pleasant, and good to sweat out the wine from last night, took us 4 hours to get to the thermal vents, lots of smoke and rotten egg smell signified we are near, the bath was a small square shaped slab of concrete below the spring, looks dirty but we hopped in anyway, Cesar the hostel owner and an American peace corps volunteer was there already waiting for us, we put on our facial masks from mud we picked up near the thermal vents, it was quite soothing after you washed your faced, our skin is more supple now than ever before. back to town we sample local food again, opting for a cunejo once again, delicious.

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