Day 1: Michigan to Guatemala
This is the beginning. Saying, "Goodbye to Mom and Dad," and putting all of the processions you will not carry on your back, in someone's attic. In this case, that'd be my brother Jon's attic. Thanks Jon.
On day 1, May 26th, 2015, I woke up at 3:30am. We flew 5 hours to Guatemala city, and then bussed our way 5 hours up to Lake Atitlan. The bus we rode on was a "Bus de Pollo" or "Chicken Bus."
The bus ride was a mix of all sorts of things. In Guatemala city, it consisted of people jumping on and selling things. They sold anything from mangos, to jolly-rancher-type candies, to pencils. The man who was selling pencils yelled at the top of his lungs for 10 minutes as he gave his sales pitch. What could he possibly be saying about a classic no. 2 pencil that would warrant such a pitch? My Spanish isn't terrible, and I know that he was comparing prices to other stores, and was bringing up the value it could have for your grandmother or nephew or cousin.
There was also a band that got on to play, as well as a couple of fully dressed and maked-up clowns who performed a drama/comedy about a father son relationship.
The end of the ride was the most extreme bumps I've ever experienced. We were bouncing like children on a trampoline for the last hour of the ride. As you can guess, having been on the bus for 3.5 to 4.5 hours at that point, we had to pee, were very thirsty and hungry. Bumps caused headaches, but all in all we were happy to reach our destination: San Padres, La Lengua. This town is so romantic. Thus far, all of my photos have been taken on my iPhone. I'm going to wander around town today with my beefier camera in my bag.
Still iPhone here, this is where we woke up. Hotel was essentially 7.5 dollars a night with tax.
Day 2: San Pedro
The first day of waking up on the road has been very pleasant. After having a couple of cups of coffee at Mikaso Hotel, we walked the streets.
The streets don't have names. They are too narrow for cars. Dogs abound. We started really thinking in Spanish, and had many successful conversations as we walked.
Almost everyone has a motorcycle.
We walked around for a few hours, and then found this boat, and asked it to take us to a town across the lake. It was 15Q, which is $2 per person.
We landed near San Marco, walked into town. Cadari and I were asked to join a pretty intense game of basketball.
Photo Cred: Lindsey
Cadari getting some mad points for our team. Photo Cred: Lindsey
So who are these mysterious adventure teammates??
Lindsey and her newly purchased Nicaraguan Rum. 85Q, or roughly $10.
Cadari getting his jungle on!
