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.

In Gracias!

I had a pleasant surprise today when I found that the road from La Esperanza to Gracias is paved nearly all the way, cutting an anticipated four hour trip down to three.  The 25 mile stretch from La Esperanza to the halfway point San Juan was so new that the painted lane markers couldn't have been more than a week old.  For the locals this must make their lives a bit easier, at least for getting around more conveniently.  And it occurred to me that with this new road, the area suddenly goes from being very underdeveloped, to having one of the best roads in all of Central America--a "first world" perk!

I'm realizing now that my Lonely Planet guide definitely needs an updated edition, at least for this part of Honduras, since their stated travel times around are no longer valid.  And whereas three or four years ago, when my edition of LP's Central America on a Shoestring was published, there were no hotels in San Juan, today I counted three as we passed through.

How quickly things can change, even in a very impoverished place like western Honduras.

Gracias is a lovely town but much hotter than in La Esperanza.  I'm staying at an excellent place, the Hotel Guancascos, which is perched on a hill overlooking the town and features a large terrace restaurant.  I will stay here for at least two nights which will take me to Sunday July Fourth.  I now have just a little less than two weeks--about 12 days--to get back to Guatemala City.

Tropical Storm Agatha Devastates Guatemala

Check out the link to the upper right for some facts on the recent storm in Central America which hit Guatemala particularly hard, leaving at least 145 dead, 53 missing, and more than 100,000 homeless. Tropical Storm Agatha was the first major storm of the season and it also hit southern Mexico and the area of El Salvador where I´m writing this now.

As the Sun Goes Down I Follow the Locals

In the tropics people start their day pretty early, and their day tends to end earlier too, as it basically following the progress of the sun.

There are many good reasons for this, especially on travel days when I like to get a bus to my destination between 7-9 a.m. in order to arrive at the next town & get settled before it gets too hot in the afternoon.

And though I used to be a night owl when I was a journeyman musician working the bars & clubs, these days I'm not at all into the nightlife scene when I'm at home or on the road. When I'm traveling it definitely helps keep the budget balanced if I'm not spending very much on drinks & nightclubbing.

At sundown people here head home, and all over the city the gates are coming down--not just on businesses & restaurants but on the one & two star hotels where I hang my hat, and the gates are coming down on people's homes too.

Given that most guidebooks advise foreigners to avoid walking the streets after dark and to take taxis everywhere (for even a short trip to the wealthy Zona 10 from the hotel in my less-wealthy Zona 9--just a ten minute walk--it is recommended that you take a taxi), I tend to follow the locals when in Rome. So here in GC after dark I prepare to take an evening meal somewhere nearby and pretty much call it a day after that.

¡¿Where's the D%&ç Bus Station?!

One of my least favorite chores on the road in Latin America is figuring out which bus I need and from which bus station I have to find my way out & onward to my next destination. Unlike in some countries, Central American bus companies have their own private terminals, and most big cities have several of these large, chaotic terminals spread out over a wide area. So it can be tricky to navigate your way from hotel to terminal--especially if you want to save money on taxis--and from terminal to hotel in the next town or city.

Even when I have the assistance of maps & guidebooks, as I do here, I am often frustrated in my research. For example, my Guatemala Rough Guide indicates that the Tica Bus Company, which runs major routes all over Central America, has its terminal just three blocks west of my hotel (unusally convenient for me, in my experience!), but when I went for a walk to look for it yesterday I found no sign of it. Errgghhh. . .

Sometimes the bane of my traveler's existence, Latin American buses are a reality you have to deal with sooner or later--if you want to stay on budget and get around overland. But unsurprisingly I will sometimes stay an extra day someplace just to avoid dealing with it a little bit longer. . .

Great Place for a James Bond Movie Chase

The Lonely Planet´s 1000 Ultimate Travel Experiences Guide lists Guatemala City among the ten best cities in the world to film a James Bond-style movie chase scene.

I think I know what they're saying if they mean this city's perfect backdrop for it includes the horrendous traffic and the wide variety of motorcycles, cars, vans, trucks & buses; the gridlocked grid system of numbered squalid streets & wide photogenic avenues; the modern skyscrapers next door to the two story shacks; the hustle & bustle of the Mercado Central with its shoe shine boys, CD peddlers, street food stalls, and beggars; the armed guards at the entrances of not only banks & jewelry stores but also most businesses, higher end restaurants, and even supermarkets; similarly armed guards literally "riding shotgun" in every delivery van to discourage old-fashioned highway robbery; fat cats & their entourages who exude wealth & power on the street as you've never seen it in a rich country like America while the vast majority of ordinary people--indigenous and mestizo alike--go about their ordinary, difficult everyday lives.

One More National Bird for the Buck

The quetzal is Guatemala's national bird. It's also Guatemala's national currency. When I was here last in August 2008 the exchange rate was just above Q 7 per greenback. Now it's just above Q 8 per greenback.

If you think Americans were hit hard when the economy tanked in 2008-09, then you can be sure that people in Latin America were hit even harder.

The Atlantis Building, a modern glass and steel structure, was like some microcosm of Chicago or New York when it was new--a sparkling, gleaming edifice of successful capitalism and "development." Twenty two months ago it was an attractive, acclimatized refuge for me from the typical bustle and squalor of Guatemala´s hot humid streets.

Now, although the building is still a convenient place for me to hang my hat for a bit, it's visibly more run down and rougher around the edges (and the air conditioning is history too!), and it's quite clear that some businesses here have fallen victim to recent hard times. Maybe Cubana Airlines was one of them.

The Wealthy Part of Town for Cuba Flights

I'm writing from a cyber cafe in the Edificio Atlantis, a high rise office building in Guatemala City´s Zona 10--also known as the wealthy part of town. I know this area from my visit in August 2008, and I knew about this building, the cyber cafe, and the fact that you can get delicious espresso drinks for $2.00 or less and internet access for about $1.50 an hour. The building also has an ATM of the bank I prefer to use, so it made a lot of sense for me to set up the Atlantis Building as my headquarters for the day.

Imagine my surprise then when I was researching Cubana Airlines and discovered they have their offices in this building--or at least they did when my edition of the Guatemala Rough Guide was published a few years ago. I have confirmed that there are a number of travel agencies as well as the office of U.S. Airways in the building, but Cubana seems to have gone elsewhere.

Do I really want to go to Havana anyway? Well, yes, I do (and I have wanted to visit Cuba for many years), but it remains an open question if I will attempt to do so on this trip. I didn't do much research at home, and I´m not even sure of the current restrictions post-Bush era, but as far as I know it is still illegal for most Americans to spend their dollars in Castro's Cuba (but not illegal, at least technically, for Americans to travel there). So I wouldn't want to do anything overt--such as pay for a Cuba flight on a credit card--to break that law. And I don't know if I'll be able to access enough cash in a timely manner to pay for such a flight. Still, the possibility is enticing. And I'd like to go before Washington eases the rules and Cuba is invaded by Yankee hordes.

Day One: Guatemala City

It´s Day 1, I'm in Guatemala City, and I don´t feel like traveling anywhere. Our flight out of Dallas yesterday was delayed so they "could change a couple tires." Nearly two years ago the same airline did the same exact thing on another Guatemala flight out of Miami. Despite the delays I´m glad they changed the tire because we had a bit of a rough landing in rain.

So I´m not going anywhere today. I´m staying in the Hotel Carillon and it has no windows! Yeah, but the price is right and breakfast is included, and who needs windows in a hotel when it´s got cable TV, HBO and Showtime included?

SubwayFiddlerBlog Welcomes You

Welcome to my trip blog. The premise is simple: I have seven weeks to get to Merida, Venezuela by way of Panama then back to Guatemala City in time to catch my flight home Stateside. Alternately, I have the same amount of time to skip Venezuela and make my way to Havana instead (and get back Stateside without the feds finding out!). A third option? Go to Nicaragua and hang out at the beach ´cause it´s cheaper and less hassle!

Can I do it? Do I really want to do it? Does anyone really care? Which option is better for the budget? Check back soon for more posts to find out answers to these and other questions. . .