Xela

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I did make my way out of hiding in mute
reminense, and met many travelers. A lot are here (in Guatemala) for volunteer work, or intense several month long study for masters degree requirements, and there are a cluster who, like me, pass on through, one of whom I plan on meeting up with in a month as an escort across the border into South America.

I just finished my second week of classes, and have decided to take a break and travel on.
It is however, going to be hard to leave this fantastic place I'm staying right now. I moved from the cold refugio, to a host family, and before I died of scurvy from all the platanos, frijoles, and huevos the mother was feeding me, in need of vegetables, moved into an Indian restaurant.

Yup, I managed to find an Indian restaurant in this small city which houses all of about
3 non-Guatemalan restaurants.
A young couple owns and runs the place along with 2 mayan nannies who look after the 2yr and 6 mth old. The man, Indian, woman, Guatemalan (very unusual coupling by Guatemalan standards). They are so nice, and I get filtered water too, though I don't think I've been washing my vegetables very well since I've been one with the bathroom all day today.
I stay in one of the rooms to the back of the restaurant, and basically we all live together, the customers, Mayan nannies and all. "The living room" lies in the hallway from the door to the center courtyard of the eating area, so it's like anything goes, and kind of a (in my scared opinion) fuck you to the pretencious restaurant industry which snottish NYC hospitality dwellers obsess over. Their food is awesome. The man cooks all the food, and the woman runs everything outside of the
kitchen- serving, waiting, paying, clearing, etc.

So yeah, it's just me and the familia here on Sunday, writing some emails as the "living room" sits openly next to the dining area of the restaurant, ah the smell of Indian food, a mi me mucho gusta! Alora, in a nutshell, my "new home" is amazing, and I'm having trouble tearing myself away to leave.


Alas though, tomorrow I'm headed further up into the highlands to Todos Santos and then to Nebaj. Both are small mountain villages high up in the Cuchumantes Mountains. Nebaj is home to the Ixil Mayans where they live pretty far removed from modern life. The town is still recovering from the civil war where guerrilla forces made Nebaj a base of operations, displacing many. Refugees are still making their way back home from just beyond the Mexican border. It's going to very cold up there, so looks like I'm gonna have to purchase a poncho for the week that I'm up there.

After that, It's warm whether for me! I plan on traveling straight on through, across the border to El Salvador and hiking through El Parque Nacional El
Imposible- tropical forest
with numerous endangered species. El Salvador is going to be a bit tricky, the country is still fairly new to tourism, so I've been relying on recent travelers experiences and info. Overall though, there aren't many fascilities established, so it looks as though I'm going to have to make my own path.

No definite future plans so far. However, I do plan on making it to Panama before the end of Feburary (skipping over Costa Rica). I hope to do another week of study in Nicaragua, and I'm seriously considering avoiding the flight from Panama into Colombia and instead crossing via canoe, pickup truck, and boat with another traveler I met whom I'm going to meet at the border next month.

I thought I wouldn't do Brazil, but then again there is this great 3-4 weeks excursion traveling on the waterways and exploring the jungles of the Amazon basin from Peru
(Iquitos) to Central Brazil (Manaus, Porto Velho) to Eastern Bolivia.
Just imagine it
spending time sleeping on the river boats. Either in a cabin or just on a hammock.
Anyhow, that's months away, and I need a visa, so we'll see how all that works out in the end.

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Comments

[The Escort]

Well, I've now sent my parents back home again. So after a week of learning the local lingo and some time checking out the local wildlife and maybe a beach or two I'll be ready to run for the border. Glad to hear that you're still considering the boat trip(s) to Colombia and the jaunt down the river. Peter