Tunco Part I (or- "Why Shoes are Awesome")

So after our exhausting/exhilarating/epic time in San Pedro, Katie and I decided it was high time we got back to the coast. We hitched a shuttle back to Antigua, and spent two "business days" (aka she hunted for necessities like a camera charger, while I was laid up with food poisoning) before grabbing a bus to El Tunco, a beach in El Salvador. We got a bunk at a hostel called Papaya, and immediately fell in love with Tunco.

El Tunco is a little surf town with two main roads, a few clubs, a long stretch of beach, and not much else. The closest main town is La Libertad, which is a 30 minute ride by "chicken bus". We haven't quite decided why they're referred to as "chicken buses"... perhaps because they cram you in there like chickens in a truck? Or it may be the fact that it wouldn't be entirely surprising to find someone transporting a chicken or two with them. Either way, these buses are retired (read: didn't pass inspection) school buses from the US that have been painted ridiculous colors and utilized as a form of hectic public transport here. All in all they're fairly cheap and efficient, if ridiculously crowded, loud, and unpredictable.

Anyway, our second night there a few of us decided to cook a family style meal at Papaya. Into the chicken bus we piled, and proceeded to hang on for dear life as we cruised into Libertad. We opted to hitchhike  in the back of a pickup truck on the way home, just to round out the experience. Two hours later, about ten of us were dining on veggie pasta, garlic bread, ginger stir fry, and more than a few bottles of wine. Dinners like those are definitely our favorite parts of hostel living!

A few hours after dinner everyone had moved onto a club called La Bocana, right on the beach. It was an equal mix of travelors and locals, and the place was packed. Everyone was dancing away to local pop music (with Gangnam Style thrown in for good measure), and overall having a great night. And then I decided to stomp on a broken bottle. Barefoot.

[SIDE NOTE: As a rule, we never go barefoot unless we're at the actual beach. We see it all the time, even in cities like Antigua, and think it's idiotic and unhygienic how many of our fellow travelers refuse to wear shoes, even in restaurants or grocery stores. Sorry if that offends anyone, but this is our blog so... we win.]

The events of this fateful Friday just added to reinforce that belief. I broke my own personal rule and kicked off the Havianas I kept tripping over as I made a pathetic attempt to salsa with a local on the dance-floor. Everyone else was doing it, why not me? Less than 30 seconds later I was sitting on the side of the club holding a sliced right foot and apologizing to the security guard (who was incredibly sweet and helpful) for bleeding all over his bar. Once I got over the shock of what I had just done- okay and stopped crying, I admit it- I hobbled my sorry butt back to our hostel, where luckily two of our friends were hanging out in the kitchen. Tanis helped me clean and bandage my foot while Greg ("because I have no idea what else to do") made us some epic grilled peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

Unfortunately, this was probably my most memorable event of Tunco. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time (as you'll soon read from Katie's post) trying to surf and meeting some truly amazing people. However, the memories of Kings Cup games with 15 people from 7+ countries (be a gecko!), gorgeous sunsets, and beach bonfires are sadly mixed in with memories of supergluing my wound shut, walking like a Crip, and changing the bandages and athletic tape 2-3x a day to keep the dirt and sand out. Summary of this post: Tunco is incredible, but keep your shoes on!

Livin la Vida at Lake Atitlan!

Hola -Smitty here, keeping things rollin' on...
We took a full day to recover after our New Years Eve night, it was necessary and we spent the day lounging around on bean bags and watching Guatemalan pirated DVD's at the hostel. I think I made a run to subway later that day too- the Italian BMT sub is Hangover Heaven!

The following day, we left with a friend and took a 2+ hour bus ride to Lake Atitlan.  Our shuttle took us on a winding road to the town of Panajachel, and from there we went to the docks and caught a water taxi across the lake to the town of San Pedro.  While en-route, I had the luxury of becoming a human shield for Caitlin and Al so that they would not get splashed on. (This was NOT a voluntary move and I was not pleased about coming out of the boat looking like a wet dog). 

When we got there, we followed our amigo who had been to San Pedro before, and wound up at a place called Café Atitlan.  I had a great first night out flying solo as my companions were dead tired and total party poopers. We moved the next day to another spot called Mr. Mullet's Hostel which became our home away from home.  For only 30Q/night (that's $3.70 USD!) we had a 4 person dorm, free Wifi, HOT SHOWERS (yes - few and far between) brand new mattress that allowed me to sleep like a baby, Kitchen, etc.  More then all the fabulous amenities,  what won me over was the atmosphere and the overall friendliness of the staff. The owner Tim aka Mr. Mullet himself, is a very chill guy and has put together a solid place for the weary traveler to rest his or her head. I highly recommend anyone passing through San Pedro to stay at Mullets- its cheap, its cozy, and its a real, real good time.

While we were in San Pedro we had a little fun and brightened our horizons with an array of new activities. We kayaked around the lake, we did an afternoon of horseback riding, explored the local market (where you can stuff yourself for less than $1 US dollar full of delicious local dishes) and we even attended a roaring local Basketball match, where some quetzals were thrown down for bets on the winner of the game.

One of the best things about San Pedro however, is the American Style BBQ that takes place at Deep End Bar & Pool every Sunday afternoon. You can get anything from beef or pork ribs, to burgers, rump steaks, even bacon wrapped fillet minion (and one plate can easily feed two people) They also do 5Q tequila shots on the hour, every hour [interjection from Caitlin: our group of friends teamed up with one goal in mind: DO NOT LET KATIE DISCOVER ITS THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF AN HOUR. She had the habit of showing up with a tray with 15 or more shots, and just scanning like a deadly eagle, looking for some poor person to hand a tequila shot to. Even more than she loves tequila, Katie loves making people do tequila shots with her. Especially once she finds out you loathe tequila]. Sunday, fun-day amigos!

I can honestly say that I had TOO much fun here, and eventually, to save myself from mortal peril due to excess enjoyment of life itself, we had to make moves to keep keeping on.

Author switch! So I agree with everything Katie said. San Pedro is an amazing place, probably the stop on our journey where I've felt most at home. There's a ton to do- kayaking, jumping off the "trampoline" at San Marcos, trivia night at El Barrio, impromptu Aussie weddings at Buddha Bar, horseback riding, poolside lounging, and heaps more. And yes, we did do ALL of the aforementioned activities. Our team did abysmally at trivia, I remembered my love-hate relationship with horses, and was a proud bridesmaid in the wedding of Brent and Taighen (our favorite Aussie couple, whom we first met in Lanquin. Fun fact- Brent is responsible for my "Reggie" nickname). Not sure if it'll hold up to Australian law, but it was good enough for all of us!

I also strongly agree with Katie's last statement- San Pedro will eat you alive if you aren't careful. From the deadly happy hour at Zoola hostel (free shot with every drink from 4-11pm), to the late night partying at Buddha bar, to the even LATER night after-party at Psy-House (an uninhabited house that turns into an unlicensed bar and trance club once everything else shuts down) it's easy to let itineraries, goals, and life in general slip away as you fall into a comfortable rhythm with great people. We planned on being there for a few days, and all of a sudden ten had flown by! I fully plan on returning to the Lake for the last portion of my trip, and can't wait to reunite with some truly epic individuals.

Bienvenidos 2013 - Antigua

Picture this- you're riding in a minibus, packed with people from all over the globe trying to speak to one another in 3 different languages; English, Spanish, and Italian. It's loud, it's cramped, you have a hangover that rivals your prime college days, the ride ahead of you is 6 hours too long, and your best friend is possibly in an even WORSE condition than you. This was our ride to Antigua.

Caitlin and I were MORE than ready to exit our minibus when we got to the city of Antigua; we clearly had a great last night in Lanquin, and we arrived at our new destination with thoughts of making the new year even better but first a minor recovery was in order.

We took the advice of a friend we had met on the road and tried our luck at hostel called Dionisio but that may have been the worst decision thus far in our trip... we shall leave the friend unnamed for that reason alone. Lets just say that being woken up at 6am with firecrackers literally outside your dorm door and being torn up by bed bugs was not our idea of a pleasant time so we nixed that place as soon as the morning came.

We moved to a wicked fun place called Jungle Party Hostel and from the second we walked in the front gate we knew we were going to have a good time.  We stayed up in the loft (if your over 5ft tall, watch your head on the rafters!!) and had good mattresses and large lockers to store our gear.  They also include breakfast in their price per night which is awesome. The first few nights were hazy fun and we hadn't even celebrated the new year yet. ohhh boy....

Truthfully for me, Antigua was more of a miss than a hit, if you're into city slickin' it may just be the place for you. Good food, good nightlife, and large markets draw tourists to this destination but if your a beach bum like me, you'll find a way out fast! Caitlin will fill you in on our NYE night though, GOOD TIMES!

So I liked Antigua a bit more than Katie did- I really enjoyed wandering around the town with our friend Mike and exchanging info about the city and Fact-of-the-Day-type knowledge (yeah I know, nerd alert). It's a beautiful city with amazing architecture and great shopping, especially if you know where to look (thanks, Julie!).

The day of NYE we started noticing a lot- and I mean a LOT- of feminine clothing, mostly saucy silk bathrobes and corsets, floating around Jungle Party. Turns out, everyone got free beer that night if the boys dressed in drag. As for the girls, well we just had to wear these gold halos, like the angels we are! Stop rolling your eyes. I'm serious. Katie, myself, and Juliette (one of the Rebel Gypsies from Mirador, you reunite with everyone on the Gringo Trail)  got a group of Aussie guys dressed up reaaal pretty, donned our halos, and started the party.

A bit of an aside: have we mentioned that the people of Central America love their fireworks? Cause they f****** love their fireworks. They set them off at 8pm, 7am, or mid-afternoon. They shout "cuidado!" (careful!) and then throw fireworks AT you. Yes, it's about as funny as it sounds. For a brief moment on Christmas, I thought there was a revolution in progress. That was a huge part of New Years- watching, hearing, and dodging fireworks.

We spent midnight with Juliette at the park watching- you guessed it!- fireworks and exchanging kisses and wishes. After that we went to a local club and reunited with some friends from Jungle, who had ditched the drag queen look (mostly) and were ready to party. The rest, as they say, is hazy. I mean history. The rest, is history. It was a helluva way to kick off 2013- may we all be as blessed in this year as we were in 2012!

Lanquin and Semuc Champey

Alright so after dealing witht two bouts of food poisoning, a sliced open foot, severe chest cold, and bed bugs (ALL in the last two weeks), I've concluded that either I've reaaaaally pissed someone off in the karma system, or I'm being punished for ignoring this blog for so long. My theory is that if I do 1.6 million random acts of kindness, and update this thing, I should be alright.

So Katie provided an epic account of Mirador- truly a life-changing experience. We continue to run into some of the friends we've made there along this Gringo Trail we're traveling, and we couldn't be happier about it! Seeing as how we've been absolutely terrible at updating this blog, we'll work to take you guys up to date bit-by-bit, since no one wants to read a 20-paragraph blog entry.

Once we returned to Flores from Mirador, Katie, Sofia, and I booked a bus to Lanquín, to check out the glorious pools of Semuc Champey. We landed at the Zephyr Lodge, a beautiful spot with sweeping views of the valley and crystal river below. In fact, we spent Christmas Day tubing down that very river with a crew from Zephyr and a bag of beers (props to Brenda the beer wench, nicely done!). Christmas night consisted of an awesome party, complete with tequila shots and one very epic speech by Dieter (a Guatemalan who was taught to drink by Irish guys... this man is a legend).

We took a day off to recover, and then all hopped in the back of a pickup truck and arrived at Semuc Champey after a very bumpy 20 minute ride. The day was pretty action-packed; first we explored a water-filled cave using only candles (easier than you might think... definitely a unique experience). After that it was time for the infamous rope swing. Everyone we'd talked to said they got absolutely WRECKED on this thing, but we all did pretty well. Except for that one girl... but I'm sure she's recovered by now. Because we hadn't had enough action yet, we decided to jump off the 30 foot bridge on our way to the park.

Hiking around the park was awesome, with the gorgeous views being well-worth the climb. Semuc Champey's main attraction is a series of crystal blue pools formed by the Cahabón River. They're stepped, so water flows down from one to another, and there are endless possibilities for jumping and climbing. After we'd exhausted all our energy, it was time to clamber back into the pickup and force our jello-like limbs to cling on for the jolting ride home. 

We spent another day at Zephyr enjoying the views and meeting some fantastic, Jager-loving Aussies who promptly awarded me the nickname of Reginald, or Reggie for short. I've been going by Regan down here, since the whole "Cait and Katie" thing seemed to be confusing for people, and we were both sick of responding only to find that it was the other Caitlin/Katelyn being summoned. Anyway, after our fun-filled stay at Zephyr, it was time to head to Antigua to kick off the New Year! 

The Trek to Mirador

Aloha Amigos! Katie here- we are alive and well after spending the turn of a new era at the ancient Mayan City of El Mirador! We have been cruising around the beautiful country of Guatemala ever since and we've made a truly great start to 2013!

El Mirador: I will start from the start: (as that is usually a good place to do so)
On our first day, we woke up early -gear packed, and said goodbye to our friend and hostel liason Francisco. We made our way onto a chicken bus designated for our trip and left our big packs behind - taking only a few days worth of gear with us. Making new seat-mates and friends right away was made possible by our over-excitement as well as the lack of space on the bus. Right away we met the infamous "Party Mike" of San Diego (who dresses like Aladin, and parties like Jim Morrison), as well as the lovely Debrow Brothers and tricksters from the Midwest. Caitlin happpend to sit down next to a guy who looked like he had just seen a ghost, or eaten a bad bowl of chili, and I must admit I was a bit worried about the sensitivity of his upchuck reflex.  (We later recommended him to the smaller van and he -Josh- ended up making a speedy full recovery. What a trooper!)

The ride out took us from Flores to Carmelita, and was a bumpy 2 1/2 hours of our lives. Upon crossing into protected Mayan lands, we were met with strange glances, and local boarder gaurds were taking photos of us, as they had never before seen such a large group at one time enter through the gates.  When we rocked up to Carmelita, we were all given breakfast of coffee, beans, eggs, and tortillas and after organized our gear onto the mules with the help of the locals.  Some time passed before our group of 45 was summoned into a large circle where we had a ceremony where a Mayan time keeper by the name of Tatajuan, blessed our journey into the jungle.

And then we were off!  The group quickly broke up into fast, medium and slow, and Regan and I became part of the leading pack.  We had gotten a late start on day 1, which was filled with excitement and conversations of everyone getting to know each other.  We ended our hike in the dark, and some frustration mounted as we continued to wait at the campsite at Tintal, for our gear and tents that we had packed on the slow moving mules.  Dinner, drinks, and smokes were shared and soon enough we were crashed out in our 2 man tent.

The second morning was a decently early start, and a healing circle with the notorious Doctor "Gato" was formed by people in our group (myself included) who wanted to continue the positive flow of energy on the second morning. Good vibes kids.

Onward through the forest we went, and because of our morning promptness, we arrived at our campsite by midafternoon with plenty of sunlight left! Again, waiting for the mules was a necessary evil and so a small fellowship was formed and moves were made to catch the sunset on one of El Mirador's half unearthed pyramids known as El Tigre. The sunset was beautiful and as we climbed down we came upon the start of a Mayan ceremony in which chanting, fire spinning (not to be confused with fire dancing) and the burning of offerings to Mayan gods took place.

That night we bonded with our group, drinking and hanging out around the campsite and went to bed in pretty great moods.

The following morning was early, and full of walking around the different sites at El Mirador with the help of our local guides, Juan Pablo and Alex. I wish I had counted the number of stairs we climbed, honestly it was daunting. My favorite site was La Danta, a complex temple that supersedes most other pyramids in the world in both mass and volume. You can see the surrounding unearthed Mayan cities as well as how far you trekked and the vastness of it all is simply unreal.

Back to El Tigre for a Sunset ceremony with our 3rd guide Jen, and this was the moment that I was truly moved by my experience at El Mirador. It hit me like a rogue wave and I was aware of myself and everything I felt in that moment. It was wicked and something I wont ever forget.

Meeting a group of "rebel gypsies" that hiked in without a guide (which is almost impossible to do) made our last day/night tons of fun, and left a good taste in our mouths - minus the fact that we needed to hike all the way back, a wopping 55 kilometers. Not much to say in this regard, we were ready for a swift return to a more thriving civilization and had fresh beers waiting for us after the first days trek back. LOVELY how a cold, shitty beer can taste so good after a long day of huffing it through the jungle.

Finally, we made it to Carmelita and then back to Flores and our time being sweaty and dirty chicas was over. It felt nice to shower and put on a dress, but it felt even better knowing what had just accomplished and seen.

On to Guatemala!

The day after ATM a group of us decided to explore the surrounding area in search of come cliff-jumping that we'd heard of. We set off with the intention of taking a bus to the next town, but somehow ended up renting 2 canoes off a local man and the six of us, along with a couple bottles of rum, ventured upstream. It didn't take long for chaos to ensue- flipped canoes, surprise rapids, war wounds. All in all one of the funniest days so far this trip.

On Friday, Katie, myself, and our friend Mark packed up our stuff and headed to Xunantunich to check out our first Mayan ruin site. A word to the wise- if an old man named Star (who smokes way too much pot, and talks like Cookie Monster) assures you that you can find a safe spot at a hotel to store your gear while you hike Xunantunich... don't listen to him. Luckily a nice bartender we spoke to named Ismenia agreed to put our stuff behind the bar while we adventured. Overall it was an epic experience. Looking at this towering ruins and realizing that the ancient Mayans shaped and placed each stone by hand is just mind-blowing. It was great that we were allowed to climb up to the top, and have this incredible view of Belize and Guatemala.

After that began a trip into Guatemala that can be described as nothing short of disaster. Crossing the border on foot was a piece of cake- however, if you are a "gringo" and you are driving a car across, be prepared to stop for a couple of hours while your car is thoroughly searched. Once across the border, Katie and I ignored the the slew of taxi drivers following us who assured us the last bus had departed for the evening, and that the colectivo was a 2km walk away. Rule #17- never trust a taxi driver.

The bus ride itself was uneventful, aside from the two stops during which soldiers with AKs boarded the bus and searched the compartments. Unsettling, to say the least. Overall, we made it to Flores safe and sound and met up with our friends from San Ignacio (minus Mark, plus a new friend named Sofia) and the six of us have been exploring the town and drinking beers on the docks by the lake. Pretty rough life, eh?

Final note: this may be the last post before THE END OF THE WORLD! No one down here actually believe this- from what we can gather, it's seen as a new beginning, focusing more on the start of a new calendar than the end of the old one. However, that hasn't stopped people all over from organizing End of the World parties, and many tours are offering special deals to the ruins. At least four of us plan to spend The End at El Mirador, an ancient Mayan site way up in the jungles of northern Guatemala. It will be a 5-day trek, with us reaching El Mirador on the 21st. It's one of the harder journeys you can take, and we're all pretty stoked about it. Expect a lengthy blog entry about our journey when we get back! That is, if the aliens don't get us.

Much love,
Regan and Smitty

Actun Tunichil Muknal

Actun Tunichil Muknal ("Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre"), abbreviated ATM, refers to an expansive network of caves outside San Ignacio in the Cayo District of Belize. Inside it are immaculately preserved Mayan artifacts and human sacrifices. The ancient Maya believed caves to be a passageway connecting them to Xibalba, or the underworld. Offerings of food, water, and sometimes humans were brought deep inside the caves, and used in elaborate rituals- some asking for better crops or rain, others for guidance in matters of war. As the Maya civilization began to decline, the offerings became more and more frequent.

The tour we booked through Mayawalk allowed us the opportunity to see these ruins and experience the history up close and personal. Our guide's name was Aaron Juan, and he has been running these tours for about 15 years now. Before tours were offered to the public, he worked closely with archaeologists studying the caves, and knows ATM inside and out. He is hands down the most experienced and most thorough guide in all of San Ignacio. During the drive to the site and the hour-long hike to the cave, Aaron was full of stories, Mayan history, and jokes. He pointed out various plants that have practical uses in the jungle, and got us all psyched for the cave itself.

We reached the opening to ATM, and after a quick dip in the pools outside the mouth of the cave and some lunch, our crew was ready to head inside. Overall it was an eerie feeling; I'd never been deep inside a cave system before, and therefore had never experienced such a profound and total darkness. Our headlamps did little to mitigate the blackness that enveloped us, and many times Aaron had us stop and switch off our lamps, holding hands as he told us a story or simply had us imagine what it would have been like a thousand years ago, being guided by torches instead of headlamps. The other groups rushed through the tours, so many were heading out as we were heading in, resulting in the 8 of us being the only people in the entire cave network for a majority of the adventure.

I'll let Katie tell you the specifics of what we saw, but overall it was an epic experience. I can't deny a feeling of unease that I carried with me throughout the journey until we reached daylight again. The relief I felt at emerging back out in the jungle sun was more profound than I'd expected. Maybe it was being engulged in complete darkness, or imagining what the ancient Maya felt and saw as they journeyed to Xibalba. Aaron told us at the beginning that Actun Tunich Muknal effects everyone differently, and for me it was definitly an adventure I'll never forget.

When you first set your eyes on the entrance of the cave, it just might take your breath away. Like something out of the jungle book, the tall stone mouth of Xibalba is surrounded by lush green plants and from the mouth a deep stream flows down into a series of refreshing pools which we happily took a dip in before gearing up with helmets and headlamps and heading in.  

We swam into the mouth of the cave like a line of little ducklings following one another and soon found ourselves in another world.  The first cavern makes you realize just how small you are, and suddenly you sense the foreigness of your environment.  As Caitlin said before, the atmosphere of the cave affects each person differently, some feel scared, some sad and so on.  For me, at first I was simply in awe, but the ominous beauty of things creeps over you slowly and for a few moments my heart was beating faster and my mind was racing.  Soon after Aarons introduction, we moved further into the depths and he pointed out a few cave dwelling insects such as cockroaches, spiders (yes, just sitting on rocks and crawling up walls) crickets, and catfish.  We walked through wide shallow passages filled with stelagtites and stelagmites, and maneuvered through small crawl spaces that made you feel like a contortionist.  

Upon arriving at the point within the cave system where we would need to climb up into higher caverns where the offerings and sacrifices were made by the Maya, Aaron told us we had only gone 1/4 of a mile in even though it felt like we were in the belly of the beast.  We helped eachother make the ascent into the dry cave system where we were very careful to stay in line and listen closely to Aarons instruction -well, most of us anyway... ;) we wont name you fellow blogger.  The first things we saw were many offerings, broken pots of all sizes, and stones where fires were made with scorch marks on the cave ceiling.  Calsification has left many artifacts unearthed but also has done a phenomenal job at naturally preserving the skeletons as well. Many skulls were believed to be from royality, and the Mayans would alter the shape of the skull by placing a board on an infants forhead, making it long and flat as the bones fused together.  The teeth on some skulls were also visible, and were shaped into petals .  

The last skeleton was by far the most amazing , and was reffered to as The Crystal Maiden , a fully preserved skeleton body whose sex is still in debate as of today. The body is located at the highest and deepest part of this section, signifying great importance and is believed to be the last human sacrifice made there before collapse.

The overall feeling was unreal, you emerge from the cave back into the jungle feeling relief that the light of day is back in your sights, and a great appreciation for being able to go back in time and actually feel the presence of that era all around you. To ATM and this adventure, I hold great admiration.