Fuentes Georginas Hot Springs, Guatemala 12/08/07-12/10/07

Fuentes Georginas is a hot springs near Xela, Guatemala. They are set in a mountainous cloud forest a few miles outside of the small town of Zunil (whose patron saint drinks and smokes.)Most people go to Fuentes Georginas as a day trip, but there are about 10 small cabins there for people who want to stay the night. I decided that I would kill to get some peace and quiet, so I booked a cabin for two nights-about US$12 a night with access to the bathing pools all night.I was the only passenger in the shuttle from Xela to the hot springs. The driver sort of acted as a tour guide. He is an American who fell in love in Xela and decided to stay. He told me how the locals switched from subsistence corn farming to growing vegetables. He pointed out all of the (very small) irrigation pipes. He pointed out where the new hydroelectric power plant was being built. He even went with me to make sure I got checked in and I showed him the cabin since he had never been in one and was curious.

The ride between Zunil and the hot springs was pretty amazing. Cloud forest covered mountains and valleys with a layer of mist rolling in from the unseen ocean many miles to the west.

I was totally pleased with the place. The hot springs were pretty basic--no spa resort here. I was very glad of that. There are 3 pools--the top one is the largest and hottest. It drains to the second pool which is shallower and cooler. Finally, the water runs to the third pool which is shallowest and coolest. Alongside the big pool is a restaurant/bar. The end of the big pool is an almost vertical wall up the forest. The spring comes out here. The whole place was shrouded in afternoon fog. There were maybe 20 people there, a mix of whites and latinos.

After the place closed and I had finished bathing and eating, I went back to my cabin. It had gotten quite chilly, so I decided to light a fire in the fireplace. (The cabins are not heated. In fact, I have not stayed anywhere with heat since I left the US.) It was my first time lighting a fireplace, and after an hour of frustration and my last piece of kindling, it was blazing.

Since they turn of the power at 10pm, I peaked outside around 9:30 to listen if anyone was out and about. When I stepped out my door, it was pitch black. There was no way I was going to walk the 20 yards to the pools in this. I could not see anything. I lit my LED flashlight so I could walk out far enough from my door to see the sky. I thought there would be mist obscuring the stars, but it was clear. The starts were amazingly bright and sharp. I read on the net that day that there was a meteor shower reaching its peak in a few days. I looked for some, but only stayed out for a couple of minutes. It was way too cold out to hang out long.

I awoke around dawn--7am or so. There was a bit of shouting a bit later, similar to last night when it got dark. All in all, there is not much shouting around here when it is just the cabin dwellers. When I first heard the shouting the previous night it did foster the thought: What is it about human nature that when we encounter a beautiful, tranquil, quiet setting, we feel compelled to spoil it by shouting at the top of our lungs? It is a truly an annoying characteristic.

After a morning bathe in the pools to defrost, I walked up the hiking paths into the surrounding hills. It was pretty in the cloud forests, but not much in terms of views. What would have been fantastic views were obscured by trees. It was kinda cool walking through the bamboo part where bamboo leaves carpeted the ground pretty thickly. I was surprised to find a lone grave up there marked with a simple wooden cross.

I took one snapshot of a vista. When I turned around and came back, what was a clear vista 15 minutes earlier was now just a wall of fog.

In the evening, I met a guy named Ken in the pool. He and his girlfriend are super low-budget travelers. I got to talking with them. In the end, it was decided that I would get to Xela tomorrow with them via pickup and chicken bus.

The next morning, after our morning bathe, we hopped in the back of a pickup truck in the parking lot. The girl (Adrien?) negotiated the price--US$6 for the 3 of us. Someone else I talked to yesterday payed that much per person.

The ride back to Zunil in the back of that truck was fantastic. Surprisingly, I was not freezing. It was great to see the views in 360 degrees. The couple and I talked about the vegetables in the fields we passed. They are small organic farmers in Maine.

Once in Zunil, we hopped on a bus destined for Xela. It was my first "chicken bus" (long distance, no frills bus) in Guatemala. In fact, I think the only other one I've been on was in India. It was actually quite nice. The owner clearly took pride in his vehicle. It was spotless inside and out. It was an old Blue Bird school bus, but the outside had been painted, a little chrome added, and some adornments placed around the driver's area. All of these buses in Guatemala seem to have names--usually women's names.

The bus took us to the main bus terminal in Xela. When I say bus terminal, it was not like a nice airport-like building like in Mexico. It was basically a wide point in the road with several long lines of buses parallel to each other. It was slightly organized chaos, with a minor market forming around the buses and vendors wending their ways through and on the buses.

This was where I parted ways with the Maine farmers. I was so encouraged by my travels so far today, that I decided to just get on another chicken bus and head to Panajachel. I wandered through the maze of buses and market stalls until a guy asked me where I was going. He then took me to the appropriate bus. The bus was scheduled to leave at 10. I got on at 9:45. It leaft at 10:20. I breathed a lifetime's worth of exhaust in that period.

The ride to Panajachel was fine. There were a couple of 10 minute stops for road construction. I did find that by the end of the 2 1/2 hour trip, my knees were a little achey (these were school buses made for kid-sized legs) and I was getting a mild headache. Nonetheless, I am a convert. For the most part, it is now chicken buses for me. It is just so much easier to schedule them than shuttles or "luxury" buses.