Summary:Very easy and fast ride to the border. Arrived at 10am. Very quiet, no queues.Guatemalan road good quality but more hills. Rain and thunder in the early evening.
Pension La Paz $6.50 (and it does remind us of Bolivia)
Lunch $5
Pupusas $5 (far better value than the lunch)
At the border, we were pleased to meet Dirk from Belgium cycling past and we off-loaded our maps to him. I'm not sentimental about keeping maps, even though I never got to finish tracing my green line across El Salvador. I noticed that Dirk's back wheel only seemed to be gripping the tyre by the skin of its teeth. Dirk said that it had been getting worse too and I felt a little worried. We wouldn't last 5 minutes with our bike in that state, not with our track record of breaking rims. Still, Dirk said it was next to be fixed! We said "goodbye and good luck" and made our way to the small, scruffy town of Chiquimulilla.
I noticed how relaxed we were today. A sixty-mile ride used to stress us out a lot but today, we did a border crossing, an hour for lunch, an hour spent chatting to Dirk and still completed our 100km journey in good time.
We found a tiny room with a lumpy bed and a cold outside shower. Everything except the price reminded us of Bolivia. In the night we had the loudest thunderstorm with the rain battering the corrugated metal roof. I kept an eye out with my torch to check the water wouldn't come in under the door but luckily the stream rushing along the path outside didn’t overflow. The pressure of the rain did manage to wash six months of sweat, dirt and grime from our handle bars though and in the morning our bike was immaculately clean.
Tuesday 17th May 2005
Chiquimulila to Escuintla - 39miles (then Antigua by bus)
The Chicken Bus
Summary:Left at 180m, went down to 50m then back up to Escuintla at 320m (but map says 347). Finally, persistent problems with the back wheel and we took a bus up to Antigua (1500m).
Hostal Los Danes $7.50 (kitchen, drinking water and puppies!)
Tacos 3 for $1.20
Chicken bus $2.50 (10 quetzals for the tandem, nearly nothing for us)
We left carefully from Chiquimulilla, quite a non-descript, scruffy town but like most of the places we stay on the road. Inspite of cycling very slowly dowhill, we still managed to puncture the bike on glass. Then after about ten miles, the back wheel that I have been watching like a hawk since Costa Rica, started to pick up a shake. Ben said that a couple of spokes had got very weak but the fault was only noticeable when we were pedalling. When we weren't on the bike, you couldn't notice that it wasn't true.
We met our second set of cyclists in as many days. Two Australians on mountain bikes with bobs headed to Columbia. These guys were quite funny as they seemed at first glance to be very relaxed, as Australians often do. But then after ten minutes or so, they told us they were headed off and appeared quite anxiousabout getting to the border or at least to the next place to camp. Later on, Irish Mark, also meeting them on the road, would tell us exactly the same thing! They did however have time to tell us that the road to Escuintla was pretty wide, flat and smooth so we decided to continue with our wibbly wheel. One good thing about going in the opposite direction to everyone else (broadly speaking) is that we cross the maximum of people and get to meet plenty of cyclists. We are still just as excited as the day we first met Seb and Virginie.
We wobbled along to Escuintla past green meadows and farm land, some of which you can tell used to be lush forest. The road does climb into the busy town so we think that the Australians may have mistaken tailwind for a downhill. But they had also told us that accommodation was very expensive in Escuintla so our plan became to take a lift in a pick-up to Antigua. It was looking less and less likely that we would be able to cycle safely up to the city. We didn't want to risk mountain roads on our now drunk tandem and it doesn't take much to talkus out of a 1000 metre climb. But then something possessed us to take a chicken bus, hoisting the tandem onto the roof of an old yellow US school bus, now painted in bright grafitti colours. The driver wanted 20 quetzals for the tandem, three times what a person pays as he said that it would cover him for carrying the bike. We tried not to laugh and explained politely that he would never have responsibility for itif it fell off and we got away with ten quetzals (about $1.20). But of course it wasn't insured!
The driver was right to talk about responsibility. I have never feared for my life on public transport before but today I nearly asked the Preacher on the bus if God couldn't make us go a little slower. We revved up and down little roads through villages off the excellent Interamericana (which would have been a nice smooth climb for us) and in one village, I'm sure the bus left the road for an instant as we flew over a hill. The two bus runners got people and parcels off and on and scrambled up on the roof to collect luggage. The bus always took off before they could get down so they used the back door or caught us up, running along side then diving into the drivers well at the last minute. We overtook everything we saw and I have never heard such boyracer acceleration coming from a bus before!
Still, after skidding to a halt into a parking space in Antigua bus station, we had arrived in one piece with the tandem thakfully still perched on the roof. We did have fun and it was an easy way to go up 1500 metres but reading the papers later we saw that often these buses leave the road, tip over or get hijacked. So there is a serious side to the excessive speeds and macho crazy driving.
In Antigua we found a relaxed place to stay as we would have to use the town as a base for a few days. The town is exceptionally touristy and very rich. There are huge elaborate fincas for coffee on the approach and even a colonial-style MacDonalds. The coffee is eight times what we paid in El Salvador though. We skidded round in our flipflops in the rain and found a supermarket with almost everything to stock up and prepared to make ourselves at home, waiting for our pimp my ride wheels to arrive.
Wednesday 18th to Saturday 21st May 2005
Antigua
A Mini Holiday
Hostal Los Danes $7.50 (turns out to be best deal in town)
Bus to Guatemala $1.50
Mangoes $0.40
Beers in Irish Pub $1.50
Laundry $$.25 (hooray!)
Since we haven't stopped at great deal since David in Panama, our break in Antigua felt like a true holiday. Our hostal was peaceful and equipped with a roof-top kitchen and the local supermarket stocked all our favourite goodies. We instantly felt at home and spent four lazy days on excursions, fixing the bike, reading and wandering and updating our website.
We travelled to Guatemala city on Thursday to collect our new rims and Glyn came up trumps smuggling a jar of marmite and a packet of jaffa cakes into the parcel. Hot tortillas with marmite are now are favourite "local" food. We found the capital city to be a little dreary and polluted but with good infrastructure and, of course, bike shops.
On Friday, we braved the chicken buses again to visit Lake Atitlan and the sleepy little village of Panajachel. The ride was hair-raising and even passing an overturned bus on the road didn't inspire our driver to take it easy. But we were quite lucky with the weather as previously people told us the volcanoes had been hidden by the rain. The rain in Guatemala can be fierce, battering the corrugated roofs and sending brown rivers rushing down the streets, but once it stops, it seems to disappear and not even leave many puddles.
On Thursday, there was also a hurricane. It affected some of the areas we had been through in El Salvador but didn't reach the Guatemalan highlands. We hoped the other cyclists we had met wouldn't have any trouble. We did feel the tremour of an earthquake the day before though as we were both on internet. It seemed like only Ben and I had felt it so we soon forgot about it, thinking maybe we were still in bike mode or something but the next day, on the bus to the capital, we read in the paper that it was confirmed as 5.1 on the richter scale!
The rest of our time was occupied with playing with two tiny boxer puppies at the hostal. We were also chuffed to meet back up with Irish Mark for a few days (from David in Panama) who is great company and even got us slung out of an Irish pub at closing time. Not that crazy but a result for Ben and I!
Sunday 22nd May 2005
Antigua to San Andres de Itzapa 17.89 miles
Back on the Bike (briefly)
Summary:Left at 14:00 to arrive before 15:30, just as a thunder storm started. Road very tricky - some pushing.
Lodgings in village $5
Taco $1.00
Chips $0.10
After our last errands in Antigua, we cleared out at lunchtime, ate a picnic in the park and then cycled out and upinto the hills. Ben had the idea to stay in Itzapa and a young lad on the road told us about a pension there so we made our journey to Itzapa. With just a short distance to cycle, it was still a good opportunity to test the new "chunky" rim. And comfortable was not praise enough! The wheel feels especially robust and stable and it usually takes a few days to convince me.
In the little town of San Andres de Itzapa, which would be our home for the next week, we checked into the Pension and then wandered the centre, sampling the Sunday night street food. We tried a thick hot drink made from habbas which reminded me of api in Bolivia.
I think people were a little intrigued by us. We have stayed in little villages before but never one so far away from the road. But three things wil stick in my mind from these Mayan hills. The first is the elaborately woven skirts and blouses that the women wear and especially the colourful woven pedal pushers worn by the men. Secondly, as the temperature got hotter in Central America, we started to see women carrying things on their heads. Sometimes in specially tailored basins and buckets. But up here, wih the cooler climate, children and shopping are again transported in Peruvian/Bolivian style woven fabrics, slung round the back and shoulders. Lastly, and the most fun thing are the local village washing areas. Stone sinks and washboards all in a circle; probably where the best gossip gets shared as with any good laundrette!
Monday 23rd May 2005
Day 1 at Maya Pedal
Hi Ho, Hi Ho - It's Off to Work We Go!
Lunch $4
Sausages $2.50
Veggies $0.50
Today was our first day of official work in over six months. We had the best welcome at Maya Pedal, especially as we arrived in style on the tandem. Carlos, the mechanic, and Mario, the director, were amazed and really enthused by the bike; just as we were more than impressed by the bici-maquinas. The machine that astounded us the most, during a little introduction to the NGO, was the bicibomba, a pedal-powered water pump which can pull water out of a well up to 25m deep in the ground. We could easily imagine how the local farmers must feel seeing 5-10 gallons of water a minute splashing out into a barrel and then into their irrigation systems. And all with just a few pedal strokes behind it. They must be amazed!
But there are other pedal-powered delights: a bicycle-blender, a mill (which can grind corn, coffee and almost any food substance), a bicycle-taxi, and a pedal-powered machine for ridding bubbles and smoothing roof tiles and slates. Possibly the most inspiring point is that Maya Pedal is an NGO and to find one running without government aid, helping people to improve their livelihood but without fundamentally chaning the way people live and work is quite amazing. Especially here in Guatemala where a 37-year civil war preoccupied generations and dominates history.
We had a great welcome, lots of space to settle in and Mario even sang the Maya Pedal theme tune to us. But it was straight to work. I had said to Ben, that I hoped they didn't just point to a huge pile of bikes and say "right get on with fixing those," but, they did! Still, it turned out to be good fun and I got my hands dirty helping Ben with the donated bikes, fixing them so they can be sold in the shop to finance more bici-machines. It is a lsow process but definitely a very worthy one.
Tuesday 24th May 2005
Day 2 at Maya Pedal
Ben's BMX
2 belts 80Q $10
2 steaks 10Q $1.25
Loads of Veggies - all very cheap
Ben worked all day on a BMX today. From taking a scruffy old frame, which I cleaned back to its almost-like-new chrome and pinching parts from here and there in the workshop, by the end of the day, Ben was admiring a shiny new bike which would soon be snapped up, hopefully. Mario liked it, Carlos loved it and the lad that also helps in the workshop, Jamin, was the most impressed. We were actually going to steal the stunt pegs off Jamin's own BMX but resisted temptation.
We also went to the market today, a bright, busy affair full of the smells of fruit and cut coriander, spices and washing powders. For once in my life, I felt like a giant, stooping to walk under the plastic awnings where the Guatemalans didn't need to bend at all. Ben took some discrete photos with the camera which captured the colour nicely. Mainly populated by women, the market seemed to make everyone come out in their traditional finery. I bought two colourful belts, (yet more) and a pair of earrings that everyone wears but that I hadn't seemed to find anywhere.
Later Mario told us a riddle: Three friends at a comedor get their bill for their meal at 30 quetzals.
The owner grants them a discount of 5 quetzals as he hopes they will come back.
They take back 1 quetzal each, just to keep things fair, and leave 2 quetzals with the restaurant for next time.
So they each paid 9 quetzals (10 minus their discount of 1) which totals 27. There is 2 quetzals in the till for next time. So who ended up paying the extra 1 quetzal to make the meal up to 30?
I haven't been able to solve it yet!
Wednesday 25th May 2005
Day 3 at Maya Pedal
A Glimpse at Indigenous Life
Bread 30 cents
Juice 50 cents
First thing this morning, I tidied up a pile of wheels taking up a whole landing of space at Maya Pedal. I then re-categorised them all and put a list on the wall. There are useful things even a non-mechanic like me can do.
We were invited to eat at Mario's with his wife and three lovely, but hyper, kids. We ate Guace chilli, which is typical of Itzapa and I noticed how quickly Ben and I wolfed it down, compared to the rest of the family. Maybe cycling has taught us to only eat when we are starving!
In the nice cosy kitchen, Mario's daughter Nandy was persuaded to sing for us with a bribe of a prize. With all the singing at Maya Pedal, I panicked slightly, hoping I would never have to flex my vocal cords in front of a horrified Guatemaltecan audience.
Then we went to visit Mario's mother, a very strong woman who still keeps her indigenous values strong and wears traditional woven clothing. She has one of the bici-machines in her home and uses it to grind chicken feed. Neighbours also pay to come and use it so it is a form of income. I asked if she wore a helmet on the bici-machine, not sure if she would get the joke but she gave a really hearty laugh, flashing gold front teeth. I am always really proud if I make a joke in Spanish, probably why I write so much about them in this journal.
We learnt about the kidnapping and subsequent execution of Mario's Dad, when Mario was nine years old. Also the method of distributing the surrounding land to indigenous families. It was an interesting afternoon.
Later that night after so much eductaion, Ben and I decided to let our hair down and played a mini disco in the workshop with all our favourite songs on the computer. We stopped when the silly dancing went a bit too far. Very mature!
Thursday 26th May 2005
Day 4 at Maya Pedal
The Funeral
Water (5 gallons) $1.50
Over the past couple of days, I have been working on translating a manual for the bici-licuadora into Spanish. Slowly, I realised that the process needed fine-tuning so I spent a long time on it, changing the process and the order of tasks and adding little graphics to it, some stolen from our website. I was very proud when Carlos read it and only changed a few spelling mistakes. I had assumed it was in a Spanish only I could understand!
Throughout the day, we watched the different stages of a funeral procession passing the huge open doors of the Maya Pedal workshop which give onto one of the few paved streets in Itzapa. In the afternoon, the coffin was carried past with sage smoking through the streets. Ahead of the coffin were all the men, shouting and laughing. Then behind it, in a solemn group, the women followed dressed in their best bright woven clothes but mourning loudly. Some women at the back were less woeful and gossiped as they passed. A huge white cross accompanied the coffin. Incidentally, there are more churches than could possibly ever be needed in Itzapa. You could select almost any religion you wanted. In the evenings, we first thought we lived close to kareoke bars but then realised it was the loud speakers of the village priests, talking to their dedicated followers.
In the evening, we waited for our new house mates to arrive. Gwyn and Victoria, from MIT in Boston, staying 8 and 6 weeks respectively to work at Maya Pedal. It must have been a culture shock for them to arrive in their new home, the workshop, especially as we later found out that they had arrived straight from a luxury retreat in the States. Still, Ben and I were well chuffed to have some company. We tend to spend too much time in karennben.com world.
Friday 27th May 2005
Day 5 at Maya Pedal
A Business Meeting
Today all the groups linked to Maya Pedal joined us for a meeting at the workshop. Dona Ana nd Dona Fransisca attended from Mujeres en Accion, who produce organic aloe vera shampoo with a bici-blender, and Dona Sabina came from so far away, she had to leave her village at 5.30am to get to Itzapa. I noticed she had a few little naps in the meeting!
Santiago, who has an environmentally-friendly house came along and more users of the bici-maquinas attended. It was quite fascinating listening to everyone's stories and especially the limitations they have in their daily lives on being able to sell their bici-maquina products, for example. Even the community groups are in need of volunteers to help them make the most of their capacities.
We took photos with everyone and I realised how tiny the Mayan women are. But also just how polite.
In the evening, I made everyone late for dinner at Mario's by insisting that we get a cake to take. So we woke up the maker at 8pm with a request for a gateaux and she made a huge cream-covered affair for us. Ben carried it through the streets and it looked like something out of those Funny Home Videos, where it is very obvious the cake is going to get dropped at any minute! Still, luckily he made it in one piece.
Saturday 28th May 2005
Day 6 at Maya Pedal
Karen's Bicycle
Today, I finished repairing a red Specialized Rock Hopper, which needed new wheels, gears, cables, and new everything really. I am really proud of the finished product though and a little proud of myself too. For two days now, Ben has been getting Gwyn to reveal all his technical secrets from establishing Merlin titanium frames. True enough, Gwyn is very interesting and it has beenfunny talking to someone who Ben would class as a superstar in the bike world.
In the evening, we all ate tacos in the town, just catching the seller before he packed his spicy wares away.
Sunday 29th May 2005
Guatemala City
A Home From Home
Bus to the capital 6Q each
3 beers and 1 coffee in zona 10 Q100!!
After a quick trip to the market, finishing a "volunteer pack" and eating lunch in the workshop with Gwyn and Victoria, Ben and I got a chicken bus to the capital.
I learnt that no matter how full the bus seems, you can always squeeze more and more people on. A little girl in front of me stuck her sticky fingers through the seat to offer me a chocolate ball. Even though I'm not supposed to take sweets from strangers, I made an exception and said thankyou to the tiny toddler. I even started to drop off on the way which must mean I am less terrified of the chicken buses now.
We collected Ben's excellent new specatcles from the opticians. We realised more than the last time we were in the shopping centre, just how large the gap is between the poorer people and those that can afford to shop in luxury. It must have been more apparent to us after a week in a tiny village. Then we made our way to zona 10 and spent the evening with a school frined of Ben's, Jean-Roch.
We were treated to wine from Burgundy, tea from Earl Grey, chocolate from Belgium and 33-year old rum in Jean-Roch's flat. It couldn't have been more different from the last few days living in the workshop. But how cool to talk about travel and swap stories about Guatemala and Guatemalans. We had a great evening but the best thing of all was the carpet! I kicked off my flipflops and made a point of feeling the fluffy, wooly carpet in my toes. I honestly cannot remember my last wall-to-wall deep pile experience!
Monday 30th May 2005
San Andres de Itzapa to Tecpan 26.88 miles
(Nearly) Joining the Circus
Summary:Tough but feasible road, getting pretty cold. Thick black exhaust from buses was the worst anywhere and made me feel queezy. Winter veg agricultural scenery.
Hotel Los Mayans $12 (1oo quetzals)
Taco 20Q
Banana Chips 4Q
This morning we woke up late with Ben looking rather the worse for wear and nothing like a professional cyclist. Jean-Roch had more treats: chilled milk (hard to come by here) juice, coffee and croissants. Then we went for a quick drive round the city which changed from the last time we were here.Today there was bright sunshine and incredible luminosity and with everything bathed in light, it looked far more positive than our first visit.
J-R drove us to Itzapa and was really impressed by Maya Pedal. It was good after he had told us somuch about Guatemala that we could show him something different too. A young boy that everyone calls malacara (or bad face!!) because he is so angelic-looking said "hello Karen" to me in the street. J-R commented that we were well-known in the village already but I didn't own up that malacara lived next door to the workshop and he is probably the only person that knows our names anyway. Still, its always nice to be thought of as a local.
It was sad leaving Maya Pedal, Victoria and Gwyn and J-R. Originally, we felt crazy stopping for a week, but the time went so quickly and there is still so much to be done there. Still, backing from such a prestigious organisation as MIT, will be fantastic for Maya Pedal and Ben and I feel sure we haven't seen the last of our friends in Guatemala. I also know Gwyn can expect emails galore from Ben over the next few months. Even as we set off, Ben said he forgot to ask Gwyn why titanium creaks!
We went past a huge lavoire of about 30 sinks where women all wash together. I thought about the bici-lavadora that MIT were working on. The road was good and smooth but exceptionally polluted. The bike though seemed silent and especially comfortable now that Ben had completed his maintenance on it.
We went past the circus and were offered a vacancy for us and the tandem. Later we saw a clown who had escaped up the hill and were glad we had politely declined. Working conditions must be bad!
Still a little tender after last night's excesses, we pedalled on to Tecpan, where we arrived at 6pm. On the way, we probably received the most smiles, waves and laughs than anywhere we have been. I can't quite believe our guidebook discourages travelling on some of these roads. With colourfully-dressed peasant women waving and laughing at us from the fields, you can't help but feel as safe as anywhere. I got us settled into an expensive hotel in Tecpan. I already had the keys when I went to tell Ben the price. I felt that a little luxury was in order so we wouldn't feel too bad about leaving Itzapa. The hot shower was one of the best in ages and to compensate paying $12, we ate on plastic seats outside at a taco stand. A great day!
Tuesday 31st May 2005
Tecpan to Los Encuentros 25.42 miles
School's Out
Summary:Sunny morning with brilliant luminosity but mist and rain when we got to the lake. Nice. Good hilly roads busy with Guatemalans. Much quieter traffic today
Hotel Tikal $10
Fruit $0.12 per bag
Evening $7
All day it has amazed me that yesterday we left Itzapa to start cycling at 3pm in the afternoon without even hurrying. Once upon a time, leaving that late would have mega stressed us. Today was another late start too and we didn't even visit the ruins at Iximche, capital of Kachiquel. If Ben doesn't wake up, noone does.
The road was quieter than yesterday and we didn't seem to notice the pollution so much with a bright sunny, cloudless sky. At lunchtime, the road was full of children coming out of school, all smiling and laughing of course, and mostly at us! There was less traffic today and more people, so all the better. Women lined the road weaving in small groups with their looms strung up high and campesions went about their work. We learnt that a very luxurious woven tunic top for a woman would cost a Guatemalan 500 quetzals, around 60 dollars.
I did feel a little mean though when a little boy, running with his sister up the hill, was watching us go past a little too intently. just as I said "hola" to him, not looking where he was going, he tripped over a rock and plopped over. Luckily he got up and started laughing but I would have to remember not to distract clumsy toddlers in future.
Wednesday 1st June 2005
Los Encuentros to San Fransisco El Alto 42.32 miles
Men in Skirts
Summary:Beautiful road through Canadian-style pine hills and valleys with a crisp blue sky. After Nahuala, the road climbs slowly to a pass at a cold, misty 3000m, then drops down into Cuatro Caminos at about 2400m.
Almuerzo - chicken soup (brings back memories)
Hotel Vista Hermosa $12
Tacos $5
Internet 50 cents/hour
Another fun day on the bike and soon out of Los Encuentros people started smiling and waving at us again. Los Encuentros is not the friendliest town as it only exists because of theamount of activity on the Lake Atitlan junction. It has no real identity other than to serve bus passengers changing. Still, travelling by bike, we have to take the rough with the smooth and the crumby places as well as the spectacular.
Ben had his knee-warmers on today which he hasn't worn for months. But even more feminine, as we started to reach Nahuala, we saw that the men wear skirts made out of thick brown woolen material. We stopped in the sun on a hill and saw a man (with a skirt) waving to us from up the hill. We waved back enthusiastically, but then both turned round at the same time and saw his mate further down the hill, waving up at him. Ben and I must take ourselves for celebrities! We always think people are waving at us as happens so often on the tandem. But luckily, to save our embarassment, the skirted man down the hill waved back to us.
Later at the top of the pass at 3000m, a figure walked towards us through the thick mist. It was a man with a skirt and bright cerise pink jacket on. I will try to get Ben to dress a little more colourfully in future.
Thursday 2nd June 2005
San Fransisco El Alto to Huehuetenango 45.61 miles
Market Day
Summary:More beautiful road. A long downhill, then a climb back up to 2000m before dropping into Huehue (another town with a silly name). Little traffic and stunning views for miles. Road surface nice as ever. Very sunny and no afternoon rain.
Lunch $3 (lots of veggies - excellent value)
Central Hostal $5 (more good value)
Ruins $5.50 ( tried to pretend to be nationals to get away with paying less)
Evening meal $9 (again very good - bit of a treat)
Since I ate most of our breakfast last night, I offered to go and get more this morning. I thought it strange that the butchers were all open and the bakers all still tightly closed. But then I couldn't help notice a huge amount of quite activity going on throughout the little town.The small town of San Fransisco El Alto was flooded with stall holders, mainly in the central plaza, where you had to duck and swerve to walk, but also spilling out into the streets leading off the market place.
Because the streets are generally cobbled and steep and women with headscarves sell their goods from baskets and bundles tied with ropes, it gives the village the feel of a fishing port. We are miles from the sea here though. Men hoisted massive loads of garments and merchandise on their shoulders and held them more or less in place with straps and ropes around their foreheads. They ran up and down the streets, slightly out of control with their excessively heavy packs.
But the strangest thing of all on this crisp early morning, was the lack of noise. The only explanation I had was that people were too tired from setting up so early and were all sleepng off an early start. A quiet market does have a strange atmosphere though. So much activity and so little sound.
I decided to go and get Ben and show him my view point of the market from the two-storey bandstand in the middle of the plaza. From here we took photos of the awnings stretched out like waves across the square. Although the best photos were down below, amongst the hussle and bussle.
Old women with softly wrinkled faces guarded stalls. Dozen upon dozen of hats, baskets, textiles and clothing items. Women with those pirate scarves again, were busy behind steaming vats of hot drinks, the sun catching the rising vapour. Little girls helped their mothers attentively; little boys got in the way. Old men took an age to chose a belt.
All these would have made beautiful photos but so often remain missed opportunities as Ben and I never like to disturb people in their daily work. Occasionally, we get away with discrete photos on the digital camera but even then we often feel guilty for invading people's privacy. We like to try to blend in to our surroundings as much as we can, although with a bright yellow tandem, true, it can get tricky sometimes.
So then we set off, along more beautiful roads, all in fantastic condition with wonderful views of the mountains below. When we arrived at Huehuetenango, I found a sudden ability to navigate from the back of the tandem. Normally, I make Ben stop, consult the map, then our guidebook, then we ask half a dozen locals before getting to an obvious landmark, like the central plaza, then we repeat the process to get to a hostal, campsite or restaurant. But suddenly today, I was experiencing an uncanny skill to pedal and read the map. And even though I directed Ben the wrong way down the one-way streets (even facing chicken buses, head-on, cyclists always have right of way!!) we travelled straight to the door of a cheap and cheerful hostal. Ben was very impressed with me so it was easy to convince him to take a bus tripto visit the ruins at Zaculeu.
As the entrance fee was 2 quetzals for Guatemalans and 25 for foreigners, I told the guard we were Guatemalan nationals. Ben thought it was hilarious but I expect the poor man hears the same joke everyday. Just as we always enjoy something different, we enjoyed wandering the site and when we got back to the city, we used the (almost) last of our money on an excellent cyclist's pasta meal. So a busy but fun day.
I think someone is getting a bit nervous about his 30th birthday in two days. There is even talk of a beard disappearing to make him look younger again! I will have to take on extra responsibility for being young, hip and trendy over the next two years! I'm sure I can cope with that though!
