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Published: June 27th 2006
hello everyone, So I am in Mexico now after a solid 35 hours of travelling. I am in a little tiny place called Mazunte, it´s beautiful...paradise...again.
I had a good time in Xela, Guatemala. It´s a nice city, there was plenty to do and see andI ended up running into some friends from Utila on the street, which is always nice. And I ran into my Israeli friend for the fourth time, in a random restaurant in Xela. So we went out and had some good times. It rained a lot though, and I mean a lot, pretty much all the time with little breaks, but it was also really hot during the day. Never go out without a raincoat and umbrella in Xela! One day I decided to go to this tiny town called Almolonga for the market. I went without my umbrella, which wasn´t too smart. The town was so small, and the streets weren´t paved so it was super muddy, really poor, and it was pissing rain like there´s no tomorrow, and there was some sort of church progression happening so the streets were packed with a black mass of umbrellas and the buses took forever to get though.
It wasn´t really too much fun, I definately got some looks like what are you doing here?? I pretty much got back on the bus back to Xela after getting soaked and muddy and buying a bag of papaya.
I walked up to the Mecado de Democracia when I got back to Xela and I saw some new things there. A big ol' Armadillo fried up for lunch on the sidewalk, tons of freaky looking meats in various forms for sale, loads of dried herbs and spices everywhere too, it was one of the smelliest markets I have been to. Tons of fruits and veggies as well, I had to pick up some piña, but no worries, they were only 2 for 50 cents. I had lunch in the dark undercover, steamy hot market with all the locals amongst the pirated movies and other random goods for sale. It was some sort of soup, and beans (of course), an unidentifiable peice of meat, a huge stack of tortillas fresh of the grill, and a slop of polenta-type stuff. It was tasty and filling for a dollar fifty, and once again an interesting experience. It was so dark and smelly and crowed, I felt okay in there but I must have looked so out of place. I bought a bunch of coconut cookie things after lunch and ate them in the park and watched people watch the soccer game.
I got up early on Sunday and walked all the way from my hotel in Xela to the Minerva bus terminal on the outskirts of the city. On the way I ran into my Israeli friend again, waiting for a bus to Guat City, he thought I was crazy for walking, but it wasn´t that far and I´m sick of taking cabs. I found the other city market, slowly getting going on, and wondered through the deserted stalls and came out on the otherside in the bus area. Just my luck I got right on a bus to the boarder.
There were only 2 other people on the bus when we left Xela but within an hour is was packed to the brim, and there I was once again squeezed three to a seat in a bloody chicken bus. Only this time the engine kept overheating, so we were pulling over at every roadside stream so the driver could throw a bucket of water on the engine and clank around with some tools, while buddy at the front was preaching the bible at the top of his lungs, my window was stuck closed, and some guy was selling eye drops, trying to demonstrate how to use them while we were bumping down the road. Oh, how I´ll miss those chicken bus times.
I finally found a place that I really, really, really hated going through. Maybe hate is a little strong, but it sucked really bad! I got off the chicken bus in Tecun Uman, and the driver sent me to a bike cart man to take me to la frontera de Mexico. The guy seemed a little shady but I hopped on anyways, I couldn´t understand him at all either. This boarder town is stupidly hot, seedy, full of shady looking characters, pretty much what you would expect from a lesser used Mexican/Guatemalan boarder. The bike driver took me to a money changer and I couldn´t communicate with him either, there were no other travellers any where to be seen, and I had my first little break down. I am sure the money changer was trying to rip me off and I was trying to communicate, but it just wasn´t working. I didn´t know where I was either, and it turns out we were still a little ways from the boarder. I gave in to the money guy because there were all these men around us by this time trying to see what was going on. So I am pretty sure he ripped me off, and I kinda freaked out and felt taken advantage of for the first time since being down here. And then he gave money to the bike driver, so maybe they had some sort of deal going on there.
After that episode, I was all shaken up, but the actual boarder crossing was fine, no problems there. Then the bike driver ripped me off, he first said a ridiculous price, and he wouldn´t talk to me or look at me, but was talking to me through this other guy. It was so weird, that whole place was just weird and sketchy. Again there were all these men around watching what was going on, I felt really intimidated and I couldn´t understand anybody. After about 15min of fighting in confusion with these guys, I managed to pay him half of what he asked, which was still way, way too much, but what could I do. After all that I didn´t have it in me for another chicked bus to Tapachula, so I went with a private mini van right to the bus station.
At the bus station I found out it was a 12 hour overnight bus ride to where I wanted to go, so I had to hang out in Tapachula for 8 hours waiting for the bus which left at 10:30pm. It was pouring rain and super hot, so I couldn´t really do much except sit in the bus station. But the bus was worth the 35 bucks, it was so comfy and air conditioned and I finally got to Potchula. Then it was another cab ride down to Mazunte, and I finally got here. It was worth the wait, it is really perfect here. Hot sun, perfect beach, palm trees, warm, clear water, it´s nice and quite, and I have a nice little room right on the beach, ahhhh. So I am planning on spending the next week at the surrounding beaches and not doing a whole lot except working on the tan that I lost in rainy Guatemala. It seems to be all Mexicans around here, but that´s okay with me, I can get away from it all and relax before it´s back to my hard life in Canada. You know how summers on the Island are so tough! Looking forward to bumming around for the rest of summer before I think about this thing called a job!? Or at least a way to make more money so I can get back down here asap...but I do miss you all very much and I can´t wait to see you!! and thanks for the messages, they´re always great to read...
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Charley
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Howdy Deryn, You sure made me appreciate how awesome my school bus is....i don't know if i could handle a 'chicken bus'. And I thought the greyhound made for an interesting trip!! love ya, Charley