Quetzaltenango (Xela), Guatemala 12/06/07-12/08/07

I am falling behind in my blogs, so I will be doing them out of order. I am writing this in Antigua, Guatemala. Prior to getting here, I was in Oaxaca, Mexico; Tehuantepec, Mexico; San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico; Quetzeltenango (Xela), Guatemala; Fuentes Georginas Hot Springs, Guatemala; and Panajachel, Guatemala.

I'm in Guatemala because, well, it's on my way. Several people have sung the praises of Antigua, so I am curious to see it.

I'll start this blog entry from my departure from Mexico.

I woke up early in San Cristobal, packed, and got picked up by the shuttle to Guatemala. I was the second to last person to be picked up and when we picked up the last group, there was some shuffling. Two shuttles where driving together (a good safety precaution) and I got shuffled to the second one while my baggage stayed in the first. This was fine, but it meant that when we got to the border, I had to wait for my luggage before getting on the shuttle on the Guatemalan side. Because I was in between the two groups of people, I caught up with the first group and asked where to get my passport stamped. There was a miscommunication (with another American) and I was told that the next shuttle would take me there. If I had just opened my eyes, I would have realized that this was not true. I was 50 feet from the immigration control point. Once we were on our way in the shuttle, it shortly became clear that I was screwed. I was in Guatemala without my visas stamp. A week and a half later I would end up making a run to Guatemala City to get this fixed.

The mountainous scenery in Guatemala was beautiful.

My destination in Guatemala was Quetzeltenango, known more commonly in Guatemala as Xela (SHELL ah). Xela is a highland town and is the second largest city in Guatemala. The focal point of the town is the central park, which although small, is quite nice. It is surrounded by old colonial buildings. Unfortunately, that is pretty much the only interesting part of Xela. It is definitely less touristy than Antigua and less grungy than Guatemala City. Not a bad city, just not overly exciting.

I checked out a guesthouse recommended by the guidebook. Although my Spanish is not great, I can usually pick up quite a bit of what people are saying. With the young guy who showed me the room at the guesthouse, I was thining, "Is this guy even speaking actual words?" If this was how all Guatemalans talked, I was going to be in trouble. Fortunately, it was not. I did not stay at the guesthouse because the room was right off the kitchen and I did not want the noise.

Instead, I stayed at an even dumpier place that ended up being just as noisy. No matter.
That first evening I ended up having dinner with four women, two of whom were waiting outside for the restaurant to open when I arrived. The other two were the pair from Maryland whom I talked to on the shuttle.

After dinner, I picked up a SIM card for my phone at a little store next to the restaurant. It was with the phone company Claro. It only cost around US$6. Unfortunately, it kind of sucked. Most of my calls in Xela were not completed. I had to try many times before I could send a text message. People had to try many times before they could reach me. On many calls, I could hear the other person, but they could not hear me (both local and international.) When I got to Panajachel and Antigua, things worked much better.

I spent half of the next day sick in bed. I felt exhausted, my stomache was a bit woozy, but mainly, I had the trots. Six hours later I was fine. I think my immune system has gotten very good at fighting off foreign bacteria.

It turns out that the guy who runs/owns/lives in the house where I was staying lived for several months in San Mateo, California which borders Belmont where I used to live.

By the second full day in Xela, I was making plans to leave. I made a reservation for a cabin at the hot springs nearby. I was going to arrange a shuttle there, but there was a miscommunication between me and the guesthouse owner (who also runs a tour agency).
I went around town taking photos, which I had not yet done. Not much to take, other than the square.

I had dinner at this "Middle Eastern" restaurant, Cafe el Arabe, which I only mention because I swear that the meat was carved out of salt. I was warned that the food here can be salty.

Here is today's bullet list: Concepts not understood in Guatemala:

• A full bus
• Too much salt
• Peace and quiet

Except for the one about salt, they apply to Mexico as well.

I was very tired and tried to sleep early, but the house's owner had the morning's tour group staying over, so there was an hour of noise and mayhem. After that (around 11 or so) it was fine.

The next day, I discovered that the shuttles to the hot springs only ran if two or more tickets were purchased. I purchased two and killed several hours until the afternoon departure. I walked to a point overlooking Xela and snapped a few pictures.