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Published: January 17th 2006
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Antigua
Pretty street corner. I had a lovely Christmas in Antigua. The plan was to go to a big lunch somewhere in the town but I went to the town's plaza in the morning and this is where I stayed all day, watching the passing parade and chatting to folks. Everyone, it seemed, was in the plaza, dressed in their Sunday-best and wandering around, buying lunch from the food stalls on the roadside stalls and then eating it in the plaza.
Next stop was San Marcos la Laguna on the shores of Lago de Atitlan. I was going to stay here for New Years Eve but, even though the lake was beautiful, I didn't really like the town so I headed on to Chichicastenango (Chichi for short) for their awesome markets.
Market towns are funny little places because the people have the blood for bargaining in their systems. The people in Chichi were some of the most persistent people I've come across. The lady in my hotel knocked on my door on four different occasions, asking if I wanted to stay for another night. At dinner, a lady selling handicrafts pretty much stayed with me my whole meal trying to sell stuff while
Antigua
A whole lotta hoo-ha and some fireworks on Boxing Day. the waiter asked me, after each mouthful, if everything was alright.
After a night in Chichi it took a few chicken buses to get to Quetzaltenango (Xela for short). Here, upon the advice of my Ecuador travel-buddy, Kate, I took a side trip to the town of Zunil, 10km from Xela, to see San Simon.
San Simon is the deity revered throughout the Guatemalan highlands and each town usually has an effigy to which they bring offerings and ask for blessings. In this particular town Kate last saw San Simon sporting Michael Jackson garb. There wasn't any way I was going to pass up an opportunity to see this.
Finding San Simon was an effort in itself, perhaps because he is moved once a year to a new house where he is taken care of. In my case, finding him involved asking many of the town's people, with an equal response each time: A pointing of the finger and the instruction, "mas alla", which translated means "more there" (the Latin American response to any request for directions).
After walking up and down a maze of streets, I finally found the house and found San Simon looking
Lago de Atitlan
A fisherman doing his thing early morning in San Marcos. a little more distinguished than when Kate last saw him, but still looking very much like Michael Jackson. Perhaps, in keeping with the times, his suit and tie is meant to represent Michael Jackson attending a court hearing.
People came and knelt by Simon and popped his hand on their heads to be blessed and the lady of the house would occasionally tip his chair back so that he could drink some rum, making sure he was getting enough fluids. The owner of the house took me on a brief tour of the house and showed me the bed where Simon sleeps from 7pm to 7am.... truly weird stuff.
I paid my dollar for a photo and left an offering. Those visiting San Simon in the future will see him sporting a koala around his neck.
The intention was to go from Xela to Todos Santos Cuchmatin for New Years Eve. However, whilst in Xela I was struck down with a none too pleasant case of food-poisoning, so not a very exciting New Year's Eve ensued. However, I did get to see the fireworks in between dashing from my room to the toilet.
A couple of
Chichi Markets
From the cathedral steps. days after New Years, I finally made it to Todos Santos. This is a town best known for it's traditional dress (which both men and women wear), 'Mam' - the local Mayan dialect, and a well preserved traditional way of life. It's also known for an occasion some years ago when a Japanese tourist was beaten to death for taking a photo, as locals feared he was stealing the souls of the two townspeople he was photographing. I thought it best to not take any photo's.
The traditional dress was quite amazing. On the women, the colours and styles of the textiles were quite varied but the men's dress was more like a uniform because it was all exactly the same: red-striped pants and blue/grey shirts with red or blue collars. Some men also had some weird shorts over their pants that were kind of like backwards woolen chaps.
From Todos Santos, my last destination in Guatemala was to Flores to see the nearby Mayan ruins of Tikal. And so began three days of some very interesting road-travel to get to Flores from Todos Santos.
Day 1 started with the chicken bus from Todos Santos to Huehuetenango,
which I soon found out wasn't to Huehuetenango at all, but to some distant location (I should have heeded Rachel's advice and never trusted a man with less than three teeth). This particular journey was quite amusing, as the bus was cram-packed with men and women in traditional dress. And then there's me: towering above everyone, not in traditional dress and with two locals dozing on my shoulders (Latin Americans have an extraordinary ability to sleep even on the bumpiest, most uncomfortable roads)... a game of 'Where's Katie' wouldn't have been hard on this bus.
Next, I had to take a microbus to Huehuetenango, then a taxi to the bus terminal, then a chicken bus to some town I can't even remember the name of, but will, however, always remember it as the town that had a blockade on so that I had to trudge 2 km across town with my backpack, 20kg heavy from everything that I had bought from the Chichi markets. On the other side of town I took a microbus to my destination for that day, Sacapulas.
It became pretty clear that Sacapulas rarely (if ever) sees foreigners, as I was the source of
Chichi
They did sell more than just bananas at the markets. much amusement. There were differing opinions as to just where the only hotel in town was actually located, but I soon figured out why, as there was absolutely no indication that this place was a hotel. No sign. No nothing.
I settled into my room for the night, which was not so much a room but more like an attic where you lock away an ugly step-child, complete with a purely ornamental black and white TV, just to tease. The town's pigeons were all nesting in my roof and I was feeling somewhat like the bird-lady in 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' (minus the glamorous location).
Despite all of the difficulties of Day 1, the highlight was the chicken bus playing the movie 'Tragedy in Guatemala'. Part love story, part musical, part slasher film that could give 'Nursery' a run for it's money (for those not familiar with the cinematic masterpiece, 'Nursery', it was the 3-scene horror movie made when i was 16, with a cast and crew of 4 and a budget of $1.29 ). I would urge anyone to see both films if
Chichi
The cathedral. you ever get a chance.
Day 2 of exciting bus travel started with a chicken bus to Uspantan, then a microbus (in contention for the Guinness World Records title for 'Most People in a Minivan') to Coban (with 2 hour delay because a cabbage truck had gone over the edge and there were many cabbage casualties), and then a mad taxi-driver intent on going in the opposite direction that I was telling him to go in. Eventually, I got out and walked to the hostel in the rain.
Day 3 was without incident, and after a taxi, a microbus, a boat, another microbus and then a Tuk Tuk, I arrived in Flores.
Flores itself wasn't very exciting but the nearby Tikal Mayan ruins were cool to have a bit of an explore around, as they are set right in the middle of the jungle. I was very excited to see some of my monkey friends up in the trees.
And with that, I was off to Mexico...
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Luke D
non-member comment
San Simon
San Simon has a striking resemblance to Michael Jackson....hmmm!!!