El Retiro, LankinI am sitting in the most beautiful place ever.This morning I arrived to a small green farm right by the river, called El Retiro, which is right next to the village Lankin. Oh, the tranquility and peace and quiet of this place... Butterflies with all colors fly everywhere, the sounds of cool water flowing from the river, hammocks under every shaded tree, small wooden cabanias, a nice restaurant and bar down by the riverside, music playing, nice smiling people...
I feel like trying to capture all that I have been through in the past few days in Guatemala is close to impossible, but yet those moments have been far too special to not be described. In Flores I took the sunrise tour to see the amazing site in Tikal - the most famous Mayan city, right in the midst of the jungle. The tour was lead by Cesar, a very passionate Guatemalan who lived a few years in New York, so speaks perfect English. Yes, the jungle, the night-to-sunrise experience and the pyramids have all been breath-taking, but what made this tour much more vivid and fascinating was Cesar’s enthusiasm from the jungle and all the surprises that are waiting there – as if it was the first time he was guiding this tour.
We left at 03.30 in the morning, when it was pitch black outside, and started to walk inside the jungle, between the trees and muddy trails, in complete silence. Then we got to a place where we needed to climb up very long, steep and slippery wooden stairs - it was a hard one, but well worth it – as we got to the top of one of the Mayan pyramids right when the sun was about to rise and the jungle to wake into life. We sat there, again, in complete silence, and watched the fog slowly fade away. VERY slowly. At first you couldn’t see a thing. Then gradually, you started to see the shades of the enormous jungle trees right beneath you. And then, all of a sudden, as the foggy clouds scattered a little more, the gigantic Mayan Pyramids were revealed, rising above and between the trees. Oh, it was breath-taking. The most magical sight I have ever seen in my entire life. I just stared with amazement and couldn't say a word. In parallel, you could hear the jungle waking up - Monkeys and dozens of birds, frogs and all kind of creatures... singing, calling, squeaking, screaming - in a beautiful harmony.When the sun came up completely, we started our tour. Cesar chased monkeys and birds so that we could spot and follow them, we climbed a few VERY high pyramids and watched the entire area from there, we heard from him the wonderful stories about how Tikal was discovered in 1842 and how the reason the Mayan people deserted these cities and disappeared is still an enigma.We came back at noon, exhausted, but very fulfilled...After a few nights of hardly any sleep, I decided to hang one more day in Flores, just to relax and unwind. The entire day I spent reading books, strolling around the lake and chatting to people (not to mention drinking lots of Liquidos and eating great food).Then, on the morning after, I woke up very early (lucky I am a morning person after all!), waiting for the shuttle to take me to Koban. Koban is a main city, more to the south of Guatemala, from which you can easily get a bus to anywhere you need.
I was kind of surprised when a taxi driver in a beaten car came to pick me up instead of the usual shuttle mini-van, but said to myself, oh well, maybe we'll pick some more people along the way. But no. The guy took me to the regular bus station and pointed at the oldest bus I have ever seen in my life. I immediately recognized this as the famous "chicken bus" - the normal way Guatemalans ride (These are very old school buses that were donated from the US to Guatemala, very decorated on the outside, but extremely crummy on the inside).
You would have been very proud of the way I started arguing with him that if this is a normal bus, then I want the money I paid for the shuttle back! Of course I eventually got what I wanted, but... it still meant having to spend 6 hours on a chicken bus all the way to Koban...Very quickly I realized that the name "chicken bus" is not only a metaphor... It started with the fact that it stopped in every corner of every little village, while the man standing at the door shouting: "Koban Koban Koban!!!" and people just hopping on the bus while it's still in motion!
Then a woman sat next to me with her little baby, unbuttoned her shirt and started breastfeeding. I played with the baby all along and kind of enjoyed it. But then she got off, and an older lady came and sat next to me. She carried a bag on her lap that made strange noises... after a few minutes the mystery was unveiled: A young chic peeped from it!
Six hours like that, in the heat and humidity, with people still jumping inside the bus even when I thought there is no way they can squeeze anyone else, with the sour smell of sweat (most of these people hop on the bus straight from the fields, smelling of tangerine, corn, soil and heavy sweat…) - and I was about done with the "true Guatemalan experience" – at least for that day. I got to Koban exhausted and decided not to continue directly to Lankin (another 2 hours on a chicken bus), but spend the night there in this rainy and gray town, which proved itself as one of the wisest decisions, cause I got a room with a private bath and hot water (gracias a dios!) for very little money and the lady cooked me the best dinner ever (rice with vegetables, salad, chicken... yes, the chicken was tasty for me even after the bus experience! I guess I'm on the verge of becoming a local ;-)).
As the day was about to fade, and I was clean and revived again, I thought to myself: you can't get to a country and expect to see all its treasures and beautiful places without experiencing the earthly sides of it, like how the locals live and work and behave. I feel like I am really blending in everything - the beautiful and the ugly, the clean and the dirty, and at least to me that is the true experience of traveling.
This morning I took the bus to Lankin. Once again I was the only tourist and for a long while the only woman on the bus, but I have to say impressively that I did not get harassed even once, on the contrary - people were extremely nice and helpful. Everyday I learn how important this is to try and speak their language - even if you suck at it, they appreciate it, and somehow understand you, and you don’t seem to them just like another condescending tourist...Anyway, again this bus was packed with people, mostly farmers and workers who came right from the field with their children and huge muchita's. There was one kid who sat on the floor right next to me, who puked in the middle of the ride... Now, normally, seeing this, I would immediately vomit myself – a kind of automatic reaction. But this time I somehow managed to treat it differently. I looked in his eyes, and he was so lost, sitting there on the floor with all the people looking at him, that I reached inside my bag and handed him a few candies that I had with me. At first he had suspicion in his eyes. Only when I told him that it's sweet, his lips stretched into a little shy smile - I cannot remember whenever a smile had made me so happy.And now I'm here... feeling healthy and relaxed and happy as I have ever been.Tomorrow I am supposed to meet Dudu here - he is a traveler I started emailing with from Israel, because we thought we might meet along the way, but we did a somewhat different (opposite) route, but tomorrow he'll get here as well. And I already met some nice people here. This place has one huge dinner for everyone together, for which you need to sign up in advance and I’m looking forward to it.
I feel like trying to capture all that I have been through in the past few days in Guatemala is close to impossible, but yet those moments have been far too special to not be described. In Flores I took the sunrise tour to see the amazing site in Tikal - the most famous Mayan city, right in the midst of the jungle. The tour was lead by Cesar, a very passionate Guatemalan who lived a few years in New York, so speaks perfect English. Yes, the jungle, the night-to-sunrise experience and the pyramids have all been breath-taking, but what made this tour much more vivid and fascinating was Cesar’s enthusiasm from the jungle and all the surprises that are waiting there – as if it was the first time he was guiding this tour.
We left at 03.30 in the morning, when it was pitch black outside, and started to walk inside the jungle, between the trees and muddy trails, in complete silence. Then we got to a place where we needed to climb up very long, steep and slippery wooden stairs - it was a hard one, but well worth it – as we got to the top of one of the Mayan pyramids right when the sun was about to rise and the jungle to wake into life. We sat there, again, in complete silence, and watched the fog slowly fade away. VERY slowly. At first you couldn’t see a thing. Then gradually, you started to see the shades of the enormous jungle trees right beneath you. And then, all of a sudden, as the foggy clouds scattered a little more, the gigantic Mayan Pyramids were revealed, rising above and between the trees. Oh, it was breath-taking. The most magical sight I have ever seen in my entire life. I just stared with amazement and couldn't say a word. In parallel, you could hear the jungle waking up - Monkeys and dozens of birds, frogs and all kind of creatures... singing, calling, squeaking, screaming - in a beautiful harmony.When the sun came up completely, we started our tour. Cesar chased monkeys and birds so that we could spot and follow them, we climbed a few VERY high pyramids and watched the entire area from there, we heard from him the wonderful stories about how Tikal was discovered in 1842 and how the reason the Mayan people deserted these cities and disappeared is still an enigma.We came back at noon, exhausted, but very fulfilled...After a few nights of hardly any sleep, I decided to hang one more day in Flores, just to relax and unwind. The entire day I spent reading books, strolling around the lake and chatting to people (not to mention drinking lots of Liquidos and eating great food).Then, on the morning after, I woke up very early (lucky I am a morning person after all!), waiting for the shuttle to take me to Koban. Koban is a main city, more to the south of Guatemala, from which you can easily get a bus to anywhere you need.
I was kind of surprised when a taxi driver in a beaten car came to pick me up instead of the usual shuttle mini-van, but said to myself, oh well, maybe we'll pick some more people along the way. But no. The guy took me to the regular bus station and pointed at the oldest bus I have ever seen in my life. I immediately recognized this as the famous "chicken bus" - the normal way Guatemalans ride (These are very old school buses that were donated from the US to Guatemala, very decorated on the outside, but extremely crummy on the inside).
You would have been very proud of the way I started arguing with him that if this is a normal bus, then I want the money I paid for the shuttle back! Of course I eventually got what I wanted, but... it still meant having to spend 6 hours on a chicken bus all the way to Koban...Very quickly I realized that the name "chicken bus" is not only a metaphor... It started with the fact that it stopped in every corner of every little village, while the man standing at the door shouting: "Koban Koban Koban!!!" and people just hopping on the bus while it's still in motion!
Then a woman sat next to me with her little baby, unbuttoned her shirt and started breastfeeding. I played with the baby all along and kind of enjoyed it. But then she got off, and an older lady came and sat next to me. She carried a bag on her lap that made strange noises... after a few minutes the mystery was unveiled: A young chic peeped from it!
Six hours like that, in the heat and humidity, with people still jumping inside the bus even when I thought there is no way they can squeeze anyone else, with the sour smell of sweat (most of these people hop on the bus straight from the fields, smelling of tangerine, corn, soil and heavy sweat…) - and I was about done with the "true Guatemalan experience" – at least for that day. I got to Koban exhausted and decided not to continue directly to Lankin (another 2 hours on a chicken bus), but spend the night there in this rainy and gray town, which proved itself as one of the wisest decisions, cause I got a room with a private bath and hot water (gracias a dios!) for very little money and the lady cooked me the best dinner ever (rice with vegetables, salad, chicken... yes, the chicken was tasty for me even after the bus experience! I guess I'm on the verge of becoming a local ;-)).
As the day was about to fade, and I was clean and revived again, I thought to myself: you can't get to a country and expect to see all its treasures and beautiful places without experiencing the earthly sides of it, like how the locals live and work and behave. I feel like I am really blending in everything - the beautiful and the ugly, the clean and the dirty, and at least to me that is the true experience of traveling.
This morning I took the bus to Lankin. Once again I was the only tourist and for a long while the only woman on the bus, but I have to say impressively that I did not get harassed even once, on the contrary - people were extremely nice and helpful. Everyday I learn how important this is to try and speak their language - even if you suck at it, they appreciate it, and somehow understand you, and you don’t seem to them just like another condescending tourist...Anyway, again this bus was packed with people, mostly farmers and workers who came right from the field with their children and huge muchita's. There was one kid who sat on the floor right next to me, who puked in the middle of the ride... Now, normally, seeing this, I would immediately vomit myself – a kind of automatic reaction. But this time I somehow managed to treat it differently. I looked in his eyes, and he was so lost, sitting there on the floor with all the people looking at him, that I reached inside my bag and handed him a few candies that I had with me. At first he had suspicion in his eyes. Only when I told him that it's sweet, his lips stretched into a little shy smile - I cannot remember whenever a smile had made me so happy.And now I'm here... feeling healthy and relaxed and happy as I have ever been.Tomorrow I am supposed to meet Dudu here - he is a traveler I started emailing with from Israel, because we thought we might meet along the way, but we did a somewhat different (opposite) route, but tomorrow he'll get here as well. And I already met some nice people here. This place has one huge dinner for everyone together, for which you need to sign up in advance and I’m looking forward to it.
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