sacred places

Is it bad that early for me is 9 in the morning? Ellia and I decided yesterday that we would go to a place called Laguna Chicobal (or something like that...I honestly don´t remember the name), which is outside a small town called San Martin Chile Verde. We thought leaving at 9 would be early enough, but in hindsight, it would have been nice to leave at about 7 and not on Sunday. We went to the bus terminal, the street that resembles a garbage dump where all the chicken buses arrive. We were told that the only way to get there was to take a microbus (an 11 passanger van that is ususally made to fit 20) to San Juan, and another one from there to San Martín. So, we did that, and were told all sorts of conflicting information about what time the last bus went back to San Juan and Quetzaltenango. But, we decided that, even arriving at 10:45, we could do the hike up to this lake, which takes about 2 hours each way. And, oh man, the two hours up were INTENSE. I don´t know if it was the altitude or all the polluted air we´ve been breathing, or maybe the lack of excersize as of late, but both of us were out of breath from the very beginning. We hiked up from town, through impossibly cultivated family farms on the sides of steep mountain terrain, up up up up a dirt road through a forrest that smelled like geraniums and green. It was delicious!
Right after we arrived, the clouds started rolling in around us, so our trek was foggy and cool. We arrived at a clearing where the "ranger´s station" is, as well as some bungalow-type buildings, and a wierd rocky soccer field. There, we paid our 15 quetzales, and the man who watched the enterence told us that it was just another 40 minutes to get to the lake. This sounded lovely, until I saw a sign with a drawing showing the path we were about to take, which went very vertically up a mountain, and then down to the lake, which is at the top. It was tough, but the endorphines kicked in, and we made it to the mirador, at the top of the steps. A mirador is a lookout, and the 50 feet of visibility we had was really beautiful! Later, someone told me that if you get there earlier, before the clouds roll in, you can see an active volcano, Santiaguito, from the mirador. Who knew?
At this point, all that was left were the 690 stairs down to the lake. I didn´t think this was much, until I calculated that that is the equivalent of like 30 or 40 stories of a building. It was so increadibly beautiful, though, and completely worth the effort. The lake is supposedly a really sacred site for the Maya people, and a lot of rituals are performed there in May. As soon as we arrived, we sat down on the bank, and looked over the lake for a few minutes. We could see to the other shore at first, but then a cloud FELL on us! It was so cool, like the mists of Avalon. Then we could barely see anything. I´ve never been in a cloud before. It was really peaceful and quiet, and a little creepy.

I don´t even want to talk about the trip up the stairs. The good thing was that it went a lot faster than I expected, and neither one of us decided it was better to live in the woods there than continue on. We wobbily walked/ran/slid back to the entrance, and as we were about to come out of the forrest, we heard a horn honking. For some reason, both of us took off running, with the idea that it might be some kind of public transportation. We RAN up to the microbus, and stood behind the other people who were getting in, who all looked at us funny. Then I realized that every one in the bus was part of a nice (and large) family we had met on the trail, and that it was a private van. We all started laughing, and they offered us a ride back to town. It was super nice of them, because, while it would have been nice to be in the forrest some more, both of us were dehydrated and shakey. They dropped us off on the highway (after giving me their phone number to go visit them when I pass through Colomba, where they live), and no 4 minutes later, a chicken bus passed by that was headed for Quetzaltenango. We squeezed on, and away we went. It was a beautiful and exhausting adventure...one that I´d like to repeat EARLY on a day that ISN´T Sunday!

Actually, we have had a weekend of nice adventures. Yesterday we went to the Fuentes Georginas, which is a hotspring outside of a beautiful town called Zunil. I don´t know if I can really describe the beauty of this place. I think I´ll have to try another day. The fuentes were really nice and relaxing, and I was really glad that I went back. At first, I thought about skipping it, because I had gone 4 years ago. But it definitly merits multiple trips.

Tomorrow, I am setting off for a community called La Florida, which is outside of Colomba. It is a coffee finca with a really interesting history. If you are interested in learning more, you can go to www.websamba.com/laflorida . I think I will be there for a week, volunteering. So don´t worry if I´m keep up even less with communication!

Fill in the blanks

Looking over my past entries, I realized that most of them have very sparse factual information, and not much else. It`s just that I`ve been so many places and felt so many different things, it`s hard to capture in words! Where do I even begin to fill in the blanks? I don`t think it will be chronological. We have been to remote regions that few other tourists visit, and to backpacker havens. I generally prefer the first, but I have to say...I really liked Palenque. I think it might be the jungle, or maybe the monkeys. I`m not sure. But it was hard to leave!

One day in Papantla, Vera Cruz, Ellia and I met a boy named Gustavo who started working at the age of 13, on the beach, chopping coconuts. He had returned to the city at age 15 to study, and lived in a room by himself that someone let him stay in for free. His mom still lived in the country, in a small community outside Papantla. He was so young and so old at the same time. We talked for a while, and after our conversation took us this way, he asked us if we`d like to go to see a curandera in the county, a señora that he knew. So we said sure and hopped on a bus that dropped us on a dirt road in a community called La Guasima. We went to this old lady`s house. One half of the concrete slab foundation that was covered by a tin roof was occupied by chickens and pigs, and the other half had wooden planks for walls. She did an interesting ceremony and prayed for both Ellia and I para quitarnos las molestias corporales. It was increadible, that`s all I can say!

a lanzarnos hacia el sur

Well, today I woke up in Quetzaltenango (aka Xela), Guatemala. I fell asleep here, too, after a long day of travel that included two combis, a collective taxi, two immigration offices, and one really crowded old school bus. The last two hours of the trip, Ellia and I estimate that there were at least 100 people on the bus, which means that there was absolutley no room to move, and the guy who collected the money was climbing on top of the bus to get back in the front window while the bus was moving full speed.

I was here 4 years ago, and it is totally surreal to be here again. Many of my memories of Xela are faint. I keep seeing things that I had forgotten about, but that I know. So it`s as if something I dreamed about are becoming real. Whoa. Its gonna take me a day or two to adjust.....

Lifetimes in a day

Vera Cruz... voladores, el son jarrocho, seafood, la costa, verde verde verde el paisaje, mucho calor.

Ellia and I spent a few more days in Vera Cruz with my friends. On Saturday we went to a beach that was beautiful exept that it was like a mile away from a nuclear power plant. Then we headed south to Cardel, to eat some sea food. They were celebrating carnaval there, but we arrived at the end of the big parade on Saturday. We then headed to La Antigua, the second place that Hernan Cortez went to so many years ago, and a place where he had a house. We walked around for about 30 minutes, then headed the city of Vera Cruz. We got there pretty late, and stayed at my friend's aunt's house. We really didn't spend much time there, but did go for a walk by the water. There used to be a coral reef there, but it has been replaced by a large industrial port, with lots of ugly boats.

On Sunday, we made a mad dash to a town called Catemaco, which is famous for its brujos and monkeys. We took a trip on this fiberglass boat in a beautiful lake there. The natural beauty is impressive but it is super touristy, too much for my taste. After eating some more seafood and icecream, it was on to the bus station again. We had a packed couple of days. I enjoyed it, but was definitely ready to rest for a minute. I like traveling at a rapid pace sometimes, because you can get to see and feel so many diferent places...but only to a certain degree. I think I enjoy staying in one spot for a longer time a little bit more.

So, we hopped on a night bus to our next destination, Palenque. The trip was interesting and involved a long layover in Coatzalcoalcos, where carnival was also being celebrated, and everyone was trying to get back home for work on Monday. That meant that the bus station was totally packed when we arrived at 11 pm, and it was totally surreal. But it all worked out perfectly, and we arrived at 8 to Palenque. I didn't know anything about the place before arriving, just that there are ruins there. Ellia had some info about some cabanas that are on the way to the ruins, so we made our way there, first looking for a colectivo, but giving up and taking a taxi in the end. I was totally suprised when we arrived at el Panchan, a place with a couple different businesses that rent cabanas. It is in the jungle, and...wow, I'm still not sure what to say. We meant to stay maximum 2 nights, but stayed for 4. It was a little touristy for me, but...the jungle is increadible, and the whole place has a kind of magic, wild feel because of it, I think. We heard dinosaurs in the jungle (they were really howler monkeys), ate mangoes sitting on the porch of our cabana looking over a stream, met increadible people. On Thursday, we went to a place called Lacan Ha in (or close to) the Lacandon jungle, and met some Lacandon people. They are an indigenous group with a story that I'm learning more about. The family whose house we went to had 12 children, and the dad was albino. I will have to write more about this later.

We left for San Cristobal today. We got a ride from someone we met at el Panchan, and had a nauseatingly winding trip thru the mountains to San Cristobal de las Casas, were we are planning on staying until Sunday morning. Then its off to Guatemala!!

still here

Ok, so I know I`ve been a little slack on keeping up with this blog over the past few things...I`ve just barely had time to stop and write! And I don`t have that much time to write right now, so I`ll just give highlights.

I have been to sooooo many places recently. I think I`ve covered like half of Mexico by now. Last time I wrote, I think I was in Oaxaca? Well, my dear friend, Ellia, came to meet me, so I returned to Mexico City to get her at the airport. She came with a suprise...that her little sis, Ma'ayan, was also coming to travel with us for a week! So we hung out in the city for a few days, while waiting for her to arrive. During that time, we also went to visit the family of our friend`s (Erin`s) boyfriend`s family in the state of Mexico, in a little town called San Francisco Tepaxuxuca. It was very rural and interesting.

So we got Ellia`s sis, and went to Guanajuato, where we stayed with my friends, and had a great time. It is such a colorful, magical town.

After about 4 days, we took off on a crazy adventure to this part of the country I`ve been wanting to see for years. It is called the Huasteca Potosina, and it`s increadible. It is this forrested part of the Sierra Madre Oriente, and it covers a large area. There are increadible waterfalls and other natural features there. We saw this place that I think would qualify as paradise (I`ll put pics up later), called Puente de Dios.

This adventure involved many, many hours on the bus, and we only had 3 days to do it and get back to Mexico city! So, we hit Tamasopo, Cafetal, and Xilitla in those three days, and then took an over-night bus back to the city. It was an aweful trip, through the mountains in a freezing bus. But, at least we had a sane driver who went the speed limit!

So, after dropping off Ma'ayan, Ellia and I headed for the state of Vera Cruz. We stayed for a few days in Papantla, a town that I liked a lot. We arrived in Xalapa last night, and met up with a few of my friends. We did a tour of the country side today. Later I`ll include names of the places we went, but I don`t remember all of them right now!

Also, more details will follow, but right now I feel almost too overwhelmed, like once I start writing, it will open the flood gates. I have to prepare myself!!

This was the first week that I felt really homesick, not for the place, but for family and friends that I love and miss. Really, I feel like everyone is still with me, though, even though we can`t talk face to face. I don`t believe that goodbyes exist once you know and love someone!