Summing it up in Antigua (Day 51)

Having just passed seven weeks on the road in Central America and now having only two days left in Guatemala before I return home this Thursday, I find myself cooling my heels in Antigua--I've run a bit over budget this week--and mentally summing up my journey.

My trip was successful in many ways.  First, and most importantly, I allowed myself enough time to get truly immersed in the local culture.  Though my original, vague goal of reaching beautiful Merida, Venezuela via Costa Rica and Panama was probably unrealistic given my penchant for taking things slowly and my unwillingness to spend more than four hours in a bus on any given day, I did achieve an important secondary goal of visiting several new places--notably Leon (Nicaragua), Perquin (El Salvador), Chichicastenango (Guatemala), and the beautiful countryside of the Ruta de Lenca in western Honduras (Los Cipreses, Marcala, La Esperanza, Gracias, and Santa Rosa de Copan).  Also new for me were my brief stops on the Pacific coasts of both El Salvador and Nicaragua.

It was very important for me to give this trip a lot of time.  My initial trips here in 2008 and 2009 were too brief--and too rushed--for me to do much more than take a quick glance at a region I'd found I liked at least as much as Southeast Asia--if not more so.  One of the joys of traveling in Central America is the geographical fact that all these countries are very small, so the backpacking tourist can cover quite a lot of ground in relatively little time.  Despite their size, however, these countries together boast an incredible diversity of peoples, languages, food, climates, and geographical features such as mountains, volcanos, cowboy countryside, beaches, two very different sea or ocean coasts, and numerous lakes--from the huge Lake Nicaragua to the large Lake Atitlan in Guatemala--and numerous smaller lakes and rivers between. 

Secondly, once I'd postponed the Costa Rica leg of my journey, that opened up the possibility for revisits of Copan Ruinas (Honduras) and Antigua (Guatemala) this past week.  Despite the fact that they were second time visits for me, they definitely remain highlights of this trip since I was able to capture hundreds of images of these beautiful places on my "photography mission."

My photography mission itself was a third important goal  for me.  I was able to take the time I needed to seek out and note photo subjects, mostly of city/town/village buildings and streets, and return later to take photos as unobtrusively as possible.  There were three main reasons for this approach.

First, up until this time I had almost no experience taking hundreds of digital photos, so I considered this to be a learning experience for me.  Early in my trip I didn't take very many photos at all, preferring instead to get the lie of the land.  Later, after I'd become more sure of myself, I began to shoot much more, but with a strong emphasis on experimentation with light, shadow, composition, and subject.  My aim here was to try to improve my skills shooting pictures with the modern equivilent of the old "instamatic".

Second, I didn't want to make myself a target for beggars and hustlers, or worse, thieves and muggers, by walking all over the place with a camera around my neck.  Whenever I did shoot photos, usually I kept the camera in my shirt pocket or in my daybag until I found a likely subject.

Third, when it comes to photographing people, it pays to be discreet, especially in this region.  Guatemalans in particular (but this goes for people all over the world) don't appreciate foreigners taking photos of them without permission.  Consequently, I was very careful not to be too aggressive with the lens.  Since I had almost no experience shooting candid photos of people, I was particularly careful to tread that path cautiously.  I have probably improved a little bit in this area.  But readers will notice that--once I get my photos posted--there aren't very many good photos of people apart from some typical street scenes.

Another important goal I achieved with this trip was the establishment of a credible travel blog which I can continue to build in the months and years to come.  Committing myself to writing something almost daily was important in that it kept me on my toes, forcing me to wander--not aimlessly as I might have done two decades ago--but with some specific destinations in mind, always remembering that I had to be loyal to a readership (no matter how modest).  This helped me to focus everyday on seeing things with a writer's eye.  Everyday became a different story for me, and the challenge was to try to improve at creating a daily story that would be compelling to the general reader.  I'm not sure how well I succeeded in that, but I think I've definitely made a good start.

La Antigua: Busker Central in Central America

I haven't written much about buskers or musicians in Central America mainly because there hasn't been anything to write about.  Unlike in Mexico where there is a whole mariachi troubador culture on the streets of its colonial cities, in El Salvador or Honduras you can go many days without seeing someone with a guitar or violin.  When you do encounter street musicians, as you do in Granada, Nicaragua, it's somewhat of a pleasant surprise.  And when I do bump into the occasional street band, as I did in Gracias, Honduras, I always donate something to the cause.

But in Antigua we are in a whole different league.  It helps if you can picture the massive crowds here--not only of weekend trippers from Guatemala City and other parts of the country, but also foreign tourists from Europe and North America, high school and college kids from America, and denizens of the large expatriate Western community who now make Antigua their home.  With crowds like these on a typical Saturday, it can pay very well to play on the street.

This city just reeks of cosmopolitan prosperity with its restaurants, bars, coffee shops, hotels, travel agencies, boutique stores, and regular markets.  In a region where bookstores are oases and second hand English language books sell for $10 or more, there are so many books in English available, and for almost nothing,  that I'm close to hyperventilating as I type this dispatch.  La Antigua definitely has anything you could possibly want, especially for someone like me who has come from a markedly much poorer place such as western Honduras.  If you want McDonald's or Burger King or Subway or almost any kind of pizza you desire, it's all here.

With crowds the way they are and with the sort of conveniences you can find here, maybe that's partly why the local buskers can do so well in this town.  And it seems even foreign travelers can hang their hats for awhile and make a living with a song and a guitar, or--as in the case of "Takeshi"--by painting Japanese calligraphy.

Check out the following website from a young  Japanese guy I just saw on Antigua's streets who had a huge crowd around him:

http://takeshi.henjin.com/

Takeshi sings original songs, plays guitar, and sells his CDs, but his main attraction is he paints your name in katakana/hiragana (Chinese/Japanese script) on a strip of white paper for five quetzales (60 cents).  He has a big sign written in Spanish telling of his voyage around the world which encourages donations, and he wears a baseball cap and t-shirt promoting his website.  Flyers ("take one!") are available so you can look him up on the web. . .and link him to your blog!

I can report that the kids loved this guy, and their (mostly) affluent local parents were fascinated by him.  Of course I was pretty fascinated too.

When I think back now to my experiences in France and Switzerland of the 1980s,  I regret that the CD was barely invented then, that there was no such thing as a "world wide web", and that it didn't seem economically feasible to busk one's way around Central America, Eastern Europe, Africa, or any other so-called "third world" area.

Now it looks as if maybe "third world areas" are among the only interesting--and lucrative--places left to go as an itinerant troubador in this increasingly homogenized, globalized world.

Copan to La Antigua

Finding myself hardly in the mood Thursday morning for a six hour microbus trip I stayed in Copan another night, and I'm glad I did since my ticket to the ruins was also good for a secondary site further down the road, Las Sepulturas, which experts theorize may have been housing for the ancient Maya civilization's power elite.

Though smaller than the primary site, Las Sepulturas in its way is even more impressive.  Almost completely shrouded in jungle growth along a couple dirt trails, these ruins capture the imagination in ways the more touristed main area doesn't.  As I was busy snapping away with my camera, and filling my memory card in the process, it occurred to me that kids would love this place.  In a setting out of an Indiana Jones flick, on ruins where one can easily climb to the top and be master of all one sees, children can fancy themselves warrior princes and princessess from another millenium.

The mosquitos, however, were vicious.  Located on lower ground than the main site and close to the winding Copan River, swarms of them lie in wait for the instant you stop to take a photo.  And these suckers can bite through denim!  Experts remain puzzled about the reasons for the sudden decline of the Maya.  Could the lowly mosquito have played a bit part?

Yesterday's bus ride was relatively easy and uneventful as I shared a micro with a British couple and a German woman.  We had the whole van to ourselves, and apart from some Friday evening traffic snarls in Guatemala City, everything went smoothly and we were only half an hour late. 

Antigua, yet another Central American capital, is a classic destination in these parts.  Even though there are tons of tourists here and the prices are higher than elsewhere, I'm glad to be back for a return visit to swim in the town's lovely charms.  Because this capital city had more staying power than other towns like Gracias, it's larger in area and has many more architectural marvels.  If I can buy a new memory card I'll probably go hog wild with the camera here too.

The timing of my arrival here may be fortuitous as tomorrow, Sunday, is one of the market days of Chichicastenango, which is only a couple hours northwest of here.  I'm looking into joining a $10 day tour so I can remain based in Antigua.

Copan Ruinas and Beyond

Making up for yesterday's "lost" day, I grabbed a 7.30 bus this morning to La Entrada, the crossroads town in northwestern Honduras where I needed to catch a transfer to Copan Ruinas.  I was checked into my hotel before noon and at the impressive Mayan archaeological site by 1.00 p.m.

This was my second trip to Copan following an August 2008 visit during which I had no camera.  Today's visit was mainly for the purpose of getting photos--in that I can report I succeeded beyond expectations.

Click the following link for a very interesting website about Copan Ruinas:

http://www.honduras.net/copan/

Apart from the thrill of again seeing this amazingly well preserved site, I can report the oddity of traveling from one of the least touristed areas of Honduras--the Ruta de Lenca which I've just traversed from Perquin to Santa Rosa--to one of the top tourist destinations in Central America. 

The village of Copan Ruinas, which I remember vaguely as a quiet, hot, dusty, and somewhat unkempt municipality now sparkles and shines vibrant with international restaurants, coffee shops and bars, a slew of hotels, and more tourists than I've seen anywhere apart from Granada, Nicaragua.  These tourists are more affluent and of a wider age range than the college age backpackers I encountered in Nicaragua.  The French seem particularly well represented here.

Readers of this blog have probably noticed that I'm not a huge fan of spending big bucks for the "touristy type" tours no matter where I go.  Anything that costs more than $20 gets a long hard look before I decide to spend.

But the $15 admission charge to these 1600 year old ruins were definitely worth the splurge for me--even for a second time.  From its Classic heyday circa 426-900 C.E. this important Mayan settlement was second only to the even more remarkable--and larger--ruins in Tikal, Guatemala.

Now that I'm only seven miles from the Guatemalan border, and a six hour microbus ride to Antigua, and since my return mission to Copan is basically complete, it's feasible for me to catch tomorrow's noon micro out of here and be in Antigua tomorrow night.  From there the famous market town of Chichicastenago is only a couple hours away and Guatemala City's airport is only an hour or so.  I will be very happy to have most of these arduous bus trips behind me.

A note about my photos:   my readers understand, as I do, that a cutting edge 21st century blog needs photos along with other up-to-date bells and whistles.  I appreciate my readers for their patience in bearing with me until I can return to the States, download the software, and upload some of my hundreds of photos.  I hope to have an excellent slide show on this blog by August 1. 

Projected Itinerary Beyond Perquin

Following Perquin I may re-enter Honduras and travel by back roads to re-visit the Mayan ruins at Copan.  This is worth another look for me because this time I will be able to take photos, unlike when I made the journey there in August 2008.  Alternatively, I can reach Copan by traveling to the El Salvador/Guatemala border near Esquipulas then cross to Honduras from there.

At that point I anticipate traveling by microbus from Copan to La Antigua de Guatemala, a six hour trip which is the reverse of the one I did in 2008.  From Antigua I can make connections to Chichicastenango and other towns further northwest.

That will pretty much wrap things up for me for this round of Central American travel.  As of today I have just over three weeks to catch my flight back to the U.S.

Cuilapa & Points Southeast or Antigua & Northwest?

I´m stuck here ´cause I can´t make up my mind about the basic direction of my travels. Should I head south/southeast so I can get started immediately on an itinerary leading to Costa Rica, Panama & Venezuela? Or should I go revisit beautiful colonial Antigua de Guatemala--just an hour from here--where there is good tourist infrastructure and from where I can continue my travels further into Guatemala's interior?

If it´s the latter, then I should plan on a visit to the famous market town of Chichicastenango, only 2-3 hours by bus from Antigua, where my aunt´s church in Wisconsin has its sister church in Guatemala.

Logistics dictate that if I want to visit the large Mayan site in Tikal, then organizing the trip from Antigua makes a lot of sense.

Cuilapa, about 50 miles southeast of the capital, is a small town I visited in 2008. There´s not much there except a fine resort-type hotel with an excellent restaurant where I stayed for a couple days on my way back home that year.

No, I´m not here to do resort travel, but this place has great value, as I recall, with almost luxurious rooms for $25 or so. Sounds good, doesn´t it? But there´s virtually no tourist infrastructure for planning other legs of the journey. From Cuilapa there´s really only one place to go: El Salvador.

The fact is, the capital city isn´t much to write home about. I needed a few days to get my bearings, set up the blog, finish some other business, and get plenty of good food and rest for the next leg of my journey. So now, on Day 3, it´s time to make a move.

Yet my basic predicament remains: should I head south immediately, or chill out for a bit nearby? And where´s the bus station for Antigua buses?!