Destin, Florida: Beaches but no Coffee

For Thanksgiving, my parents and I decided to travel to Destin, Florida, rather than spending Thanksgiving in CT. I have traveled over several T-Days, but usually with friends. This will be the first one away from Connecticut, with my family. My sister and her hsuband, however, couldn't come. They have to work! Anyway, I rented us a beautiful two bedroom condo on the beach!

Destin is on what is known as "The Emerald Coast". There are miles and miles of beautiful white sand beaches. Along the beach are beautiful hotels, resorts, condos, and some beautiful (although expensive) private homes. On the other side of Route 98 are all the strip malls, fast food joints, and the occasional Waffle House!

Since I don't have a car, and like in most of the US, things are really designed for those who are mobile, I decided to go for a walk yesterday. Sunday I walked east for about 30 minutes. Yesterday, I thought I would walk down the beach. So I did. The plan was to walk downthe beach, then walk back along the street. I walked for about 35 minutes west along the beach. It was great, until I realized that there are only a few public beach accesses and that I couldn't find one. Well eventually one turned up, but I realized that I was not leaving the beach onto the main road, but onto a side road (Gulf Shore Drive). So, I walked. And walked. I was really thinking that a nice cup of coffee would do me well. I hadn't seen a Starbuck's (even with all the strip malls) but I figured that I would at least find a local coffee shop. No luck. I then figured that I would find a nice bar either on the beach of the bay, sit and watch the sun go down. Apparently, people in Destin don't drink coffee, and they only go to bars in the summer.

Eventually, I found the Hog's Breath. (Its better to have Hog's Breath then no breath at all!) I drank a few beers overlooking Route 98, and then meandered home. Basically, I walked for 4 hours, took a break, and then 30 minutes more. Moral of the story: if you come to Destin, bring a car, and a coffee maker!

Never Ending flight

While there are many more stories from Thailand, I am now home and back at work! I did want to recount a little bit of my trip home though.

I was brought to the airport by the driver that had been taking me around all week. When we got there we met up with Oak and Ekky. They were there to see me off. It wasn't just them though. They came accompanied by Captain Mike of the Thailand security police. He was sent by "the General" who is a friend of Oak's father. He met us, and then made a few calls on his cell phone, disappeared for about 10 minutes, and then came back with an official from Thai Airways and two immigration officials. Captain Mike then takes us to the Royal Silk First Class check in area and I avoided all the lines and craziness of the usual check in area. The check in lounge was separate and calm and nice! Then we moved to immigration and I went through the diplomatic line, again, no waiting. Oak, Ekky, and the two drivers, were also able to go through the secure area to hang out with me for a while. After some brief shopping for a book, Captain Mike worked his magic and got me into the Royal Silk lounge and I was able to wait for the flight in comfort with snacks and food and computer use! It was actually quite civilized.

Of course, I got to the plane and was thrust back to coach class (where I truly belong, of course). We boarded the plane for our 17 hour journey back home. Of course, someone checked their luggage but then didn't get on the plane so it took about an hour to serach for this guy's bags. We take off and it is a relatively boring flight. I ate all three of the hot meals, had a couple beers and a glass of wine, went to the bathroom three times, watched 4 movies (or was it five?), and slept a bit. I watched the clock and was pretty excited when it was reaching 7:00am (NYC time).

The pilot informs us at 7:00 that we are going to have to circle due to "traffic". It will be another 30 minutes. 35 minutes later he tells us that we will be diverted to Newark because of bad weather. We change course and land at Newark at about 8:00am. As we landed I saw the fire trucks racing down the runway, when I realized that they were coming towards our plane. We landed, stopped moving, the firetrucks zoomed around us and then left. I figured we must be low on fuel after being in the air for that long. We taxied for a while to a gate. The flight attendents tell us that we will need to wait to hear from the ground staff about connecting flights. Then they tell us that we need to sit back down. Then they tell us we are not going to be able get off the plane right away. I guess Custom's in Newark wouldn't accept us. Then they tell us that we are not going to deplane at Newark, we are going to need to stay on the plane and then fly back to JFK "when the weather improves."

The woman behind me is now hysterical. Crying, yelling, sobbing. "I have to get off this plane." "Some stupid business man is getting rich becuase they won't let us off this plane." "I don't think I can take it anymore." "I want to be anywhere but here, I can't take it." "DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" etc etc.

I decided I would ask the flight attendent:

"So, why can't we get off the plane?"
"US Customs wont' allow you to deplane."
"Why?"
"It has something to do with the bags being tagged to JFK."
"How long until we go to JFK?"
"It could be up to five hours!"
"Five hours? Can I just get a Coke then?"
"Sure!"

I felt bad for the flight attendents, you could tell they were ready for us to be off the plane as well.

So I pulled out my phone, sent some texts, made some calls, watched another movie, entertained myself. About two and a half hours later they tell us that we are leaving for JFK (a 13 minute flight) because "some planes have been able to land successfully." First they needed to refuel. (Why the didnt' refuel in the first 2.5 hours, I am not sure.) Off we went and arrived at JFK at about 11:00 or so. It was about a 23 hour flight.

Wow. That is a long time to be on a plane.

Bangkok after dark

So I was taken out on the town last night. How this fateful trip came about is a long story (aren't they all). I will only say here that 1. I drank a bunch of Heinekens, and 2. I have never been good in the face of peer pressure. As always I consider my night one of cultural exchange! Don't worry, Mom, it wasn't as bad as you are thinking!

Smelly feet?

When you walk into a Thai home, it is polite to take off your shoes. The same goes for a temple. As a guy who doesn't much care for shoes in the first palce, I appreciate the ability to be barefoot. It is just that, if you have been walking around sightseeing all day, you better hope that your feet and shoes don't smell too bad. I (thankfully) have been lucky, but I am not going to lie, I am always a little worried about it...and then there is that whole changing thing again, taking off the shoes, putting htem back on, etc. The funny thing is that I would be happy to be barefoot all the time, in or out, but I guess that defeats the purpose as well. I think I would have been happy if I could have found the pair of Birkenstocks I was looking for before I left!

The monks have it right

Bangkok is hot and humid. If you are outside you are going to sweat. There is no way around it. Everything is air conditioned, but you walk outside and you remember that it is a hot country. I was watching the monks and figured out that they are pretty smart.

There are all these rules when you are a monk. You collect alms, you can't touch money at certain times, etc. There is something like 277 rules they have to follow. Mostly though, a monk prays. And he shaves his head. And he wears an orange toga thing. And he is barefoot a lot of the time. And people give him food, and other supplies. How smart is that? You can wear nearly nothing, and people love you and give you food! So in this hot and humid country, it is socially acceptable for you to be comfortable all the time!

What I didn't realize is that most Thai men will be a monk for a short period in their lives. It is an important act for families to have their sons be a monk at some point in their life. The kids I was with said they are planning to do it for about 3 months at the conclusion of school. That is intense!

Elephants, Snakes, and Pandas

This past week, I travelled north to Chiang Mai, what in some travel guides in known as the "spritual capital" of the Thailand. It was a great little city, a lot less hectic then Bangkok but with a lot to see. Most of the tourist destinations in the cities are temples (or wats) and they are all unique in some way but have the traditional Thai architecture and they all have a ton of Buddha representations. Chiang Mai is no different. We arrived and immediately we were off seeing temples. Some are really impressive, some are just touristy, and at some you can really feel a strong spritual presence. I was wondering why I kept going to temple after temple, but then it is just like so many other places, houses of worship draw the spiritual as well as the visitor!

The point of the entry however and to say that one of teh things we did in Chiang Mai was check out a bunch of animals. I was sent up north with one of my students Ekky and his father's secretary/driver/"go to" guy. When we arrived at the airport we met our driver for the next two days and off we went. We went to the snake park, and then the elephant park, and then the next day we also hit the zoo to see the Pandas and Koalas! We were constantly on the move. AFter being here for a while, I am not sure that my sister, the vet, would really approve of the treatment and cages for the animals. They were somewhat primitive and I wopnder about whether it is really good for the snakes. We saw the "snake show" which was entertaining, but also a bit hectic. They would antagonize the snakes to get them to strike, etc etc and then left them in their little pens until the next show!

The elephant show was much better! They made the elephants do a bunch of things that may be unnatural for the elephant, but they also clearly had an appreciation of the animal and what it can do. We watched them kick soccer balls and move logs and swing their trunks and play harmonicas. But the most impressive thing that they did was paint pictures. Now, I thought it would be a gimmic. But I watch with my own eyes as about 10 elephants actually painted recognizable pictures with their trunks. There were trees and flowes, an abstract work (he must still be in training, but the most impressive picture was of a branch of a tree with some birds. After he painted the birds the elephant then painted "I love my mother" in Thai! Pretty incredible.

WE headed off to the zoo to ssee the pandas. Much like at the Memphis Zoo, the pandas are kept in a special enclosure, purposefully built to house them with climate control and everything to make them happy. These Pandas were a gift to Thailand from China. The Thai's did a nice job with it. I was excited to see them, not just becuase theyare cool to watch, but it was the first time I have seen a panda where I haven't been jostled by a crowd of people. There were very few people watching them so it was very relzed and actually quite nice. Also, there wasn't glass between the Pandas and me. There was a ditch (moat) but not glass. It was great to see them!

All was good in the north of Thailand this week.

Bangkok Traffic

In almost everything you read about Bangkok, you learn about two things: the nightlife, and the traffic. Even though I had read about it, and heard about it from our Thai students, I don't think I really got it; I am not sure it is possible to get it!

The traffic is horrendous, horrific, terrible, frustrating, (fill in your own adjective here)! I realize that I walk to work, and that my longest commute (in my life) to and from work has only been 15 minutes and for that I am lucky. I really do know that. My father has driven 50-70 minutes one way to work as long as I can remember. I know I am spoiled. I can tell you though, I have seen a tremendous amount of Bangkok out of the windows of a car. It is nearly impossible at different times during the day to move at all in the city. Many of the traffic lights have a countdown so you can see how long you have to wait. The shortest one I have seen is 90 seconds, followed by a 25 second green light! Talk about road rage! It is not that the roads are to small, most of the main roads are 4-6 lanes in one direction. It is not that there isn't public transportation, there is the sky train, a subway, buses, and taxis. It is just too many damn cars! They estimate about 4 million cars in the city! 4 MILLION! No wonder it is crowded!

They have these boards to tell you which roads are congested. If the road is really bad, it is red, then yellow, then green. Any way you look at it, I have estimated even in off peak times going place to place in the city is about 45 minutes. I will try to remember this as I complain about having to wait for a minute as I cross Route 75 to work.

Chana Camp 2007

Since I have known Peem, he has always talked about their farm, a couple of hours north of Bangkok. He has described it as this somewhat idyllic place. They have some wildlife and it is really relaxing. Then my friend Cathy was visiting a former student and she, too, said it was really great. Needless to say, when something is supposed to be great, I want to check it out. Throughout this year, I kept asking questions about the farm. I found out it had miniature ponies, regular size ponies, emus, water buffalo, cows, horn bills, chickens, peacocks, a macaw, and any other number of animals. Of course, I was dying to go.

Poom (the father), Pam (the sister), and I drive up on Friday after noon. Peem had already gone up. It is a nice drive out of Bangkok and I am excited to get out of the congested city for a while. The drive was uneventful and was fairly relaxing. When we arrived at the farm, I immediately knew why people like it so much. It is really amazing. In fact, as I told the family, it is my dream to own something like that in South Africa. Once in the driveway you are looking at two log cabins, connected by a deck with a huge tree growing in the middle. Of course there are tables and chairs and a hammock and you immediately feel relaxed. You look out over several of the ponds on the property and see the swans (black and white) you see the little ponies, and the emus. Just to the left is where the chickens (and the mean emu) live. There is a huge lawn with great tropical foliage all around you. You feel like you are at a resort. They have recently added a huge deck with two other buildings (both equipped with plumbing, electrictity, and kitchens). There are little gazebo type things to sit in with tables, lounges and hammocks. A great place to relax. Which is exactly what I did!

For the past two years, several Thai families have been hosting a camp at the farm for underprivileged kids in the area. Last year Peem coordinated it, and this year, another student of ours did. It is really a great weekend for these 30 young Thai girls. They are selected 4th-6th graders, not the top of the class and not the students who usually receive accolades, but those kids who are good and solid citizens of their school. The 18 or so high school kids facilitate games and activities for the kids for the weekend. It was great to watch a group of high school kids really run a camp for the younger ones. They planned and executed a two day event which went smoothly even through some heavy rain! A great leadership event for all involved and hell, it could make a good college essay too!

Looking for Emeralds

Thailand is famous for its jewels, or at least its jewel trade. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds. Now, I am not much of a jewelry shopper, but I like to look, not that I know much. My mother, Joanne, has a good friend, Sue, who has a friend, Jor, who works in the jewlery business here in Bangkok. So Sue suggested to my mother that I meet with Jor and buy some jewelry at wholesale cost (before it is shipped to the US for department stores and jewelers). Sounds like a plan. Sue suggested we have an idea of what we wanted to purchase and how much we wanted to spend and then I could meet with Jor and do a little shopping.

I was sent with Jor's name, number, address, and a few thoughts of what my mom may want. Well off I went with Oak and Ekky to find the Jewelry Trade Center and meet Jor. I called ahead and set up an appointment. Well it is a little confusing at first. Jor did tell me that she was on the 32nd floor of the this building but you had to take one elevator, followed by a security check (where ID was taken), followed by a security check point to another elevator. Finally, we made it we are on the 32nd floor and find the office. There are two security doors to get buzzed through, and we are ushered into a small office cramped with about 20-25 people all at desks. Some are on the phone, others are looking at gem stones, others seemed busy, but I am not sure what they were doing. Jor looks up, we are a few minutes early and brings us into the conference room, about a 10 by 15 foot room overlooking Silom Street. We are given water and on the table behind me are just some bracelets and rings. No locked glass case, just out there. Jor comes in and asks a few questions. What do you want how much do you want to spend, but most importantly when are you leaving so that she is able to know whether they can make something, or if they will just have enough time to replace some stones. We want to look at bracelets so JOr digs out a few styles to choose from. Jor also reminds us that we aren't to haggle over prices with her.

Well Oak and I settle in on a couple of different styles of bracelets that we like, although they are currently set with sapphires not emeralds.So we imagine what they might be like and let her know. Jor them goes out and comes back with bags (ziplocks, really) or emeralds and we pick the stones (or some of them) that we like. She says she will email me with quotes and that was the end of the "shopping."
It was a very cool experience to see that side of the jewelry business, although it was a bit difficult because you don't know what all the options are. Maybe it was actually better because you had to know what you liked. You don't want to waste peoples time! Jor was wonderful and so helpful! Thanks, Sue. So hopefully I will bring home something my mother likes!

Muay Thai

So Peem and I were trying to figure out what to do with the evening. We were going to go workout (at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club), and then to dinner. What then? That is when we saw the sign for Muay Thai and decided that is what we needed to do!

Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) is like kick boxing. You are not only punching the other guy, you are swinging your foot to meet his face as well. We walk into the place prepared to by the cheap seats, you know the ones that are further back. In this case, third tier. When we get there to by the tickets we are told that we shouldn't purchase those, there ahve been a lot of fights lately in the thrid tier, by some seats closer up. (Remember, this negotiation is between the ticket person, Peem, and his driver all in Thai.) The next thing I know we are being ushered to the floor for ringside seats to this boxing match! It was great. There is nothing like watching a guy get beat up a little bit, and we were close enough where you can see the fighter really trying to focus on not passing out after he got a kick to the head. There were a bunch of take downs but know knock-outs.

Part of the fun was having Peem's driver explain what was going on, who was winning etc. The "heavyweight" division was having a championship bout on Tuesday. I think the bigger guy may have weighed 150 lbs. No lie, there were little and skinny (although perhaps mean) men. One aspect that is interesting to note is that fighting runs in the family, where most of these fighters are probably the sons of former fighters, etc.

I am not going to lie, my favorite match-up of the night was the bare knuckle round. But the thing was, it wasn't really bare knuckles. They didn't where gloves, although they wrapped their hands with rope and fought like that. They hit hard and kicked hard. Sort of like UFC, without the octagon.

We met these two guys who were sitting next to us. They were from Los Angeles and were there hanging out for a couple of weeks. Besides betting on the fights a little bit, they were asking where to go in Bangkok, they were leaving the next day. Peem suggested that they go to Patpong. This is a small neighborhood famous for its nightlife. They were looking to "hang out with some girls for the night." Hmmm...wasn't sure whether they were looking to experience Bangkok's famous flesh-trade or perhaps just pick someone up in a bar. Anyway, Patpong is known for it's Ping Pong shows, and we aren't talking about table tennis. Basically, the young woman shoot ping pong balls at targets without using any hands! Oh yes, you have the picture, they are shooting Ping Pong balls with their _____. We figured that this area would be just what these two guys were looking for.

Back to Bangkok

We headed back to Bangkok today. It was a good trip overall. As my first diving trip at a diving resort, I was struck by the fact that your whole focus is diving. Seems pretty simple, right? You are going to go SCUBA diving and that is what you do. Well I like to dive. I like it a lot. I always suffer from a little nervousness, there is always the hyperventilating on the first dive, and the constant vigilance regarding the amount of air that I am using. Overall though, I really like it. It is different, it is fun, you see cool stuff, what is not to like?

Well there are two things that drive me a little crazy, having to rush, and having to change my clothes. Sounds stupid, I know, but there it is. While at the resort, I didn't ever have to rush (even though we got up early), but I did have to constantly change clothes. Put on the swim suit, put on the wet suit, grab the mask, fins, and weight belt. Put on the weight belt, put on the fins, put on the BCD, put on the mask. Ugh. I am not trying to complain here, but I think that this aspect of the trip kind of weighed on me. When you are suiting up and unsuiting up three times a day, plus the regular clothes before and after, it takes a toll on you!

The hurdle to get ready to dive was soon forgotten as soon as I fell backwards off the boat and sunk 25m (75ft) under the surface of the water and saw the sea turtles, the sharks, the barracudas, the fish, the coral, the wrecks, the reef. Overall, things on this trip were great. It solidified my enjoyment of SCUBA diving, made me realize that there is a reason that Sipadan Island (Malaysia) is known as one of the top ten dive sites in the world.

That said, all that changing and suiting up was still a lot to take!

Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort

Well it has lived up to the hype. The Sipadan-Kapalai resort is a series of huts, built on stilts over a reef in the middle of the water. Very cool. While there is land around you that you can see, the most settled town is about an hour away by boat. To add to the mystique of place about 5 or 7 years ago, pirates came and attacked a resort, taking the western tourists for a few months. While I am glad that I have not been taken by pirates yet, it would be quiet an adventure. This resort was built to resist the pirates, since the water around us is shallow (due to the reef), the big ships can't make it in to kidnap us!

The diving has been pretty remarkable. While the water is not as clear as the Carribean or Belize, and is a little cooler as well, I have seen thousands and thousands of fish. We have seen a ton of massive turtles...huge turtles who are chilling out. They are like the giraffes in South Africa, the first time you see one you are all excited and spend some quality time watching it. As the dives go on, you see a turtle and you are like "oh, another big turtle." That said, it is pretty remarkable to see these huge animals! We have also been able to see quite a few sharks. A couple varieties and they are decent size (3 feet or more). I am not sure they would want to eat us, but it is cool to see them.

The thing that I have like most was this morning. We left the resort at 5:30 am to head out to Sipadan Island. We dove early ( I guess certian fish are only by the reefs at the break of dawn?!). We were able to see tons of fish, big huge schools of fish....not just one variety but many. The highlight of the morning for me was the school of Barracuda. We swam through and then sat under a huge school of barracuda who were just looking at us and swimming around...thousands of them. Very very cool.

Nemo was here as well...I did spy a couple of orange clown fish hanging out by some coral/anenomes like they do in the movie...just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

We have four dives left and then the day's journey to get back to Bangkok. It was truly a mission to get here: Flight 1-2 hours, flight 2-3 hours, bus ride-1.5 hours, boat ride-1 hour. Add in there wait time and loading, unloading, and you have yourself a mission! The good news was that I was able to finish Harry Potter!

Thailand and Malaysia

Well I arrived in Thailand on Tuesday and was met at the airport by a former advisee Oak. What was remakrable about this was that I walked off the jetway and into the the terminal and that is where Oak was waiting. I guess his father knew someone who knew someone, and basically they had a undercover member of the immigration staff meet me with Oak at the plane and rush me through the process. I was processed (not with the rest of everyone) but at the diplomatic counter. Very nice.


While there is more to write about the journey to Thailand. I left shortly after arriving and I am currently in Malaysia SCUBA diving. So far it has been great!

Back Home in Suffield

I spent all day traveling yesterday but made it home to Suffield at about 1:00am last night. I took a shuttle from my hotel to the airport. The conversation in the shuttle was amusing but frustrating, I just looked striaght ahead. "I can't beleive he was so mad we were five minutes late!" "It is so annoying, it isn't even a big deal." "And he yelled at us for not having our tickets, can you beleive that? So ridiculous." Come to find out that these were doctors on a medical mission. Just when I had recovered from listening to that for the hour fifteen trip (it morphed into how ridiculous the traffic was, how ridiculous the smog is, and how ridiculous the buses are), I got the airport. Everything was smooth.

While waiting in the airport, I saw two groups of people who were on ministry trips. One group of older people was wearing the bright yellow "Neuva vida en Jesus!" "New life in Jesus". and the second a high school group were proudly displaying their brown ministry trip shirts. It was all a bit overwhelming to me!

I picked up my dog and now I am preparing for school tomorrow!

Antigua in the Clouds

Yesterday was a different kind of day. I decided to walk to two of the neighboring towns around Antigua. I could have taken a bus, or a taxi, or a shuttle, but decided that a bit of excercise would do me good. I had planned to be on a volcano hike, so a suburb hike seemed appropriate. The walk was good, and actually fairly uneventful. It was nice to get out of "the big city" of Antigua and into some smaller places. Basically each town had a square (complete with both food and tourist type market), dominated by a church (in some disrepair) and then a bunch of little cafes and restaurants. I had some coffee, continued to read about Guatemala, and enjoyed the day.

It has been pretty cloudy in Antigua these past few days. While this is really good for the sunburn on my knees (from the boat ride in Pana), I haven't been able to see the volcanoes around the city very clearly. I was almost going to go on a short hike today, but it appears it would be into the clouds, I think I will pass.

I am planning on spending the rest of the day in Antigua, doing a little shopping, a little reading, and a lot of people watching.

I need to organize transportation to the airport for tomorrow. I should be landing around midnight!

Colonial Antigua

Yesterday, I left beautiful Lago de Atitlan and Panajachel to come to Antigua where I will finish my trip to Guatemala. The trip here and checking into the hostel were uneventful.

This is a very different place thenany of the othersthat I have been to so far. While Gautemala City was huge and a bit overwhelming, Flores was small and quaint, Xela was easy to navigate and beautiful, Pana was like a vacation destination, Antigua is a big working city with lots going on. It is much more manageable then Guatemala City and it is much more attractive. The center of the city is a Park (one city block size) filled with Jacanda trees and many others trees and flowers surrounded by some of the oldest buildings in Central America. It is pretty cool. Also just outside the city, several volcanoes make for a nice backdrop.

Many of the sights in the city are old chruches, most of which have not withstood the many earthquakes in the region. In fact most are only ruins and shells of their formal glory. It is impressive to see what people have built to honor God.

There was a saint canonized here in 2002, Hermano Pedro, and people are still praying for him to intercede. Not only that but they write letters, create artwork, send photos, have marble and bronze plaques inscribed thanking him for hisintercession and healing. It is remarkable the depth of the people's faith.

I was hoping to tackle another volcano here and take a hiking day trip up to any of the three surrounding the city, but unfortunately the trips are not running until the weekend. So I may wnader around looking at some more church ruins and I may spend the afternoon walking to the next town over to check it out. I was going to go on a hike!

I did spend some time with the Suffield group that is here. We had dinner and then I went to their Salsa dance class. It was nice. I will see them again tonight. They are volunteering for a children's home and shelter for a week.

Lago de Atitlan

What an amazing place this is! I spent the day touring the lake and several small towns around it. From Panajachel, I went to San Pedro, Santiago, and San Antonio for the day, taking several boats. It was the perfect day to spend on the lake, sunny, warm, with little wind. Things were good. Each town is a little different, each town has something special. What is amazing is that these are all towns built on of the slopes of two volcanoes with amazing views of scenery. No matter where you look you see something beautiful. From the fresh squeezed orange juice stands, to the Mayan women dressed in the traditional textiles, it was pretty cool.

Women spend hours making many brightly colored textiles...they are actually sitting at wooden looms or on their knees with a make-shift loom and weaving these brightly colored fabrics all day. They are embroidering them by hand, and they doing their best to sell them at a fair price. Of course you are supposed to bargain but it is hard when the prices are already at rock bottom. I haven't really bought anything yet.

Pana and San Pedro have a reputation for being hippie hangouts, and I have to say the reputation is well deserved. I hve been offered smoke, weed, pot, ganja, mary jane, and just plain marijuna since I have been here. In the streets, at the beach, pretty much everywhere people are trying to sell you some "good stuff". I guess if I were a stoner I would be psyched. I think I will stick to the orange juice stands.

Tomorrow I am heading to Antigua, it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in Guatemala. It will have to work hard to beat Pana.

Fuji, Tajumulco...what's next? Everest?

Maybe not Everest, but perhaps Kilimanjaro!

I decided in Xela last Friday to do a two day hike up Tajumulco. It is the highest peak in Central America at 4222m. It is an inactive volcano last eruption was something like 100,000 years ago. The hike looked good day one up to base camp and then a minor peak for sunset, get up early in day two to hike to the summit for sunrise. Should be pretty cool.

The organization I used donates all their profits to three charitable organizations in Xela, helping kids get homes, school, and medical attention. The guides are all volunteers. Meet our guides: Tal (Isreali), he was in charge of the trip and was a pretty serious but fun, and very good guide. Becca (American), offcially out of the guiding business but they needed some one sshe jumped on for fun. Brent (Canadian), looked a bit like Heath Ledger and talked all about getting drunk and hoepfully getting laid. James (Canadian), new to the organization but earnest and nice.

As a hiking group we were pretty diverse: An 50ish Canadian pilot, a 50ish British MD who has worked on a cruise ship for four years, 5 Norwegian girls, a 12 year olf guatemalan girl who is part of one of this gruops charities, a couple of guys from Northampton, a couple who hae been volunteering in Guatemala and are going to work in a national park in Idaho, a American girl starting Oberlin in the fall, a goth-type Spanish guy named Oscar and me.

We organized our water, six liters (13 lbs), all of our warm clothes and we carried with us the tents, sleeping bags, sleeping rolls, food, and all the other gear we needed for the two day hike. Yes, the packs were heavy. I carried tent poles, pasta sauce, peanut butter, and soup packets for the group.

Here is how it went: Meet at 4:45am to take a pickup to the bus station (12 of us and our packs in the back of the truck), take one chicken bus for 2 hours or so, have breakfast, take another chicken bus an hour and half into the mountains, then climb. The ascent was from 3000m to 4000m on day one. They kept talking about altitude and that we were going to be experiencing some altitude sickness, perhaps. I thought how can it take us five hours to walk 1000m? That is 3000 feet, which is under a mile. No problem. This was an intense hike. I like to think of myself as a pretty fit individual, but this was a streuous hike. At times we are walking, at other times we are bouldering up the cliffs with our packs on. They gave us frequent rest breaks and they were needed. My thoughts were a bunch of these throughout the day: "Why do I like hiking?" "Why does anyone like hiking?" "I should have done some extra running before I left." "Just keep walking, Just keep walking" "I am not sure I can breathe" "Damn, I am getting sunburned" "Why do I like hiking?" "Is this worth it?" "and to think, I could have gone to the hot springs today and sat in the thermal baths instead." "why is hiking fun?" you can see how it was going for me.

So, why do I like hiking? The views along the way were amazing and our rest breaks were perfectly timed so that we could rest after particularly steep sections and also so we could see the surroundings. Pretty amazing. I felt a certain sense of accomplishment after having made it to the summit. Excercise in fresh air is always good for the soul, even if it doesn't always feel like it at the time. This was one of the hardest hikes I have ever done. That said, my compettitive sense kicked in and I was always one of the top three hikers to make it to the rest breaks. I was on a mission.

We det up camp and of course are about to start our sunset hike to the secodary peak when the clouds roll in. Not worth the hike. Much like when Duc and I hiked Mt Fuji in Japan all night to see sunrise at the summit and it was cloudy. Shame. Of course, just after the dark, the clouds rolled out and we could see clearly the stars and the Milky Way.

We woke up at 4:00am the next day to see sunrise. The steepest and most difficult part of the climb was the last 222m, which we did in the dark. It was tough, but at least we did not have to carry our packs. I had four layers of clothes, two hats, and gloves, and it was still a bit chilly! We got to the summit to see a magnificent sunrise. You could see Mexico, almost to Belize and the amazing mountains and volcanoes of Guatemala. It was one of those moments that remind me how blessed I am to be able to walk, hike, climb, see, feel, and travel. Certainly not a moment I will forget.

Today, I took a shuttle to Panajachel, a small town on Lake Attitlan. This lake is surrounded by volcanoes and is beautiful.

Buses and Xela

I was pleasantly surprised with how great Linea Dorada was! They pikced us up at precisely 9:00pm. Can you believe they had a food service. I received a homemade jamon y queso (ham and cheese, for the gringos) and a can of orange juice. I actually was able to get a few minutes of sleep before they put on the movie. While I am sure that movie was very funny, it was in Spanish at a volume that made it almost impossible to think. However, post moive the drive was comfortable. I arrived in Guatemala Cityat exactly 6:00am. All was according to plan. AFter I arrived in GC I decide that I would walk to the next bus station. There is this tricky thing in Guatemala it appears, every bus line has its own terminals (but they don't all go to the same palces) so connections can be a challenge. The new bus line was about 10 blocks east and 3 south. Well I got there and it was closed. It appeared although with no certianty that it was no longer running. Shame. I then got a grip on my pack hitched it up a bit and wandered off to find another station. It was found with just a little bit of trouble, but nonetheless I hopped a bus at 8:30 to Quatzeltenango or Xela. This bus ride on Trans Galgos, was not quite as pleasant. With the smog pouring in through the open windows we made our way out to the InterAmericana highway.

While my seat came off and I was fixing it, I noticed the bus moving like a ship as the driver accelerated through the major corners as the Inter Americana winds it way up into the mountains. But that was only the beginning. While this is a mojor highway through Central America in many places it is only one lane in each direction (think South Africa here). The major trouble is that this is a major thru way for everyone. The construction itself was fun to watcha s they shaved off cliffs to make place for new roadways. The traffic however was bad and the bus old and the driver aggressive. We were passing on the wrong side of the road, sneaking in between cars....overall a busy ride for the five hours. I did of course get off the bus filthy from smog and dust. I found my hotel to find out that I got the last bed in the palce...in a 20 person dorm. I will pretty much be sleeping on top of everyone...

I normally would have moved, however, I am taking a two day Volcano hike on the highest point in Central America it leaves at 4:45am, so I figured it was worth it. So we are trekking up to 4228 m tomorrow. We will be at the rim of the volcano for sunrise on Sunday morning. Should be amazing. Then we will make our descent and hed back to Xela.

If anyone would like anything specific from Guatemala, make some requests! There are wooden carvings the brightly colored cloths and clothes, etc. Let me know what you may be thinking.

Cash Shortage in Guatemala

I learned today that there is a cash shortage in Guatemala which is why not all of the ATMS work, even though they say they are working. In Flores, none of the ATMs work, in Santa Elena (the next town), they only work in the morning.

Sadly, that is not the cash shortage by which I am frustrated! When I woke up today I had plenty of money to get me through the next couple of days. I had been spending fairly carefully, saving where I could (remember the 14 bed hostel?), thinking about trying to balance the plane ticket. Today, I threw it all in the guter. I decided, for multiple reasons that I would take the bus back to Guatemala City. It made sense for a lot of reasons, time to bite the bullet, so to speak. I went to a travel agency anc bought my ticket. Unfortunately, it was with a less then reputable company, but I decided that I would go with it anyway, but first I would walk and check out the bus station. After about a 45 minute walk, I get to the station and i decide that this is not exactly the bus I would like to ride even they say it was "air conditioned and had a toilet". Oh yeah, and it arrives in a not good area of the city. Trying to decide what to do, I hear my mother´s voice in the back of my head, "Do you really think this is safe? Should you try something else? I am not sure this is a good idea?" So, yup you guessed it, I bought another ticket on a good bus line. So I am feeling good about the bus, but I have wasted the money for the other ticket (They won´t give me a refund), the money for the hotel tonight (I had already agreed to another night), and of course now I must jump on an 8 hour bus journey. Linea Dorada better be worth it! Now, I realize that the other bus line would have been fine, and I would have arrived with no trouble, and I probably wasted some money, but hey, a little piece of mind is good. At least this bus will pìck me up close to the hotel and I through a little bit in the economy.

After a brief layover in Guatemala City, I am off to Quetzaltenango (only four more hours on a bus), but the volcanoes are supposed to be worth it!

The Mayan Ruins at Tikal

This morning the alarm went off at 6:10. Why so early? Well I was planning to get up and take a shower and then go down stairs at the hostel I am staying to catch the shuttle bus I purchased to Tikal. All seemed to go as planned. I got up early, took my shower, and went downstairs to wait. Being a veteran of this type of "shuttle", I figured I need to be ready early for my 7:00am ride, as they often come a little early or a little late. 6:40. I am ready and waiting. 7:00. Still not here. 7:15. Still patient, things happen. 7:30. Grumpy, but trying to hide it. 7:40. Grrrrr. I talk witht he people at the hostel. They call. I guess San Juan Travels, cancelled the 7:00am shuttle, not enough people. No worries, they are coming at 8:00. Just enough time for a cup of coffee.

The next 30 minutes or so are spent picking up the others who are on the shuttle and off we go. We get to Tikal (an amazing place, really, in the middle of the second largest rainforest in the Americas), and one of men that the "shuttle" picked up along the side of the road (yes there were several) is actually a guide. For a little extra he will give us a four hour tour of the ruins. I had decided no, I wasn't really ready to deal with four hours of touring in a small group all in Spanish, but these two Canadians were going to go and try it so I asked Rueben (the tour guide) if he would do it partly in English. So I jump on the tour. There are 6 of us and while I am not always a big fan of tours, Rueben did a very nice job.

The temples are tall, but what is so remarkable about them is that they are not completely excavated. So you see the part of the temple which has been studied and worked on by the Archeologists, and then you see what they may have looked like had they been left alone. It was truly amazing the way the rain forest just swallowed these massive structures to make them look like hills. The coolest thing is that they used some of these temples in Star Wars, Apocolypto, and Survivor Guatemala.

The ride back to Flores was equally as exciting. There were only 6 of us for our shuttle in these tiny minivans meant for 12 or so. I thought great a little bit of room. Not a chance. I should have known better. There were 15 or so of us in there. Some guys on the floor, others, on laps, and even a woman who got on only to realize 30 minutes later she was traveling in the wrong direction. Shame. We did drive through some villages where the chicken, turkeys, pigs, horses, and ponies were all running free, crossing the road at will (think South Africa). Oh yeah, I was chatting with these two doctors from Canada all day on my tour. We decided to have a beer on the top of the Temple of the Jaguar. Pretty cool. I watched the sunset over the lake in Flores. A nice way to end the day!

La Isla de Flores

So I flew to Flores this afternoon and all worked well. I got a cab to the airport with no trouble, the TACA flight was great. Much like the airport, it is The Most Modern Airline in the Americas. The flight was absolutely great though. No worries, it was 35 minutes. I decided to fly instead of taking the bus after some of my past harrowing journeys on a bus (Costa Rica, Morocco) and instead of the eight to ten hour journey (I am always nervous when they can not tell you how long the trip is), the flight was short. I got off the plane got a minibus taxi for $2.50 to my hotel. I looked at a single room (double bed, fan, TV, my own bathroom) for Q60 which is aout $7.50. I asked about a dorm, it was only Q25, about 3 bucks. I decided to take the 14 bed dorm to save money. As I was sitting organizing my stuff, I realized that I saved $4.50. Kind of stupid after paying $100 to fly here! Sometimes, I amaze mysef at how ridiculous I can be!

One of my favorite things about Guatemala City is that the streets were lined with Jacaranda trees. It made me pretty happy.

Tomorrow I head out to Tikal, an excavated and well known Mayan sight.

Guatemala City Protests Bush

It has been a pretty hectic day in Guatemala City. I arrived yesterday and the flight was easy. I got my bag right way, no worries. I headed off to the ATM to get myself some Quetzales so I could take a cab to the hotel. Shame. It wasn't taking my card. Ok, I figured I knew there must be mor then one ATM at the airport, and if not I had brought some cash to exchange as well. I continue through the airport (of course there is significant construction, hidden by the walls with signs saying "We are creating the most modern airport in Central America for your convenience"). There is not really an Arrivals Hall, as you move out through customs into some temporary structures. I keep walking (of course missing the one currency exchange desk), see the crowds of people and then find, that I have left the secure aprt of the airport to be outside on the street. Fine. I check with some cops to find out if there is an ATM or a cambio to change my money. They send me on a bit of a wild goose chase and I find myself back having walked half a mile at the exit of the airport where I started. I stand for a moment considering my options when another traveller, speaking in french, is trying to figure out how to change his money. I listen. No one is that helpful, so I walk back into the airport the wrong way. The most wonderful thing about not understanding a language is not really knowing what they are saying to you! People yelled, and I kept walking. I found what I needed and exchanged my cash.

I was able to hop in a cab right away. It is an old Hyundai Excel, not that much different then the one I drove in high school, except the doors only opened from the outside and I could see the street through the door as we were driving. The cabbie was telling me about all the protests due to Bush's arrival, while narrowly missing the curbs, the motorcycles, the buses, the pedestrians, the street stalls, and all the other cars.

The city seemed closed. Everything was eerily quiet with all the metal grates covering all the businesses all day. I decided to walk to where I though Bush would be meeting and check it out. Of course, you can't get in a two block radius of the city, security. So I wander a bit more and then I see the throngs of protesters running towards me. I decided to step back into a doorway of a shopping center and let them go by. No need to be in the middle of an anti-American mob! They run by and I decide to steer clear of that area of the city. I chilled at the hotel and then I found myself a couple of beers and decided to lay low.

This morning however, was a very different day. The sun was high in the sky and the weather is beautiful. I checked out the Parque Central, an old palace (where Bush spent his day) and then a cathedral. I bought a plane ticket to Flores/Santa Elena for this afternoon and I will be heading north to the Mayan ruins of Tikal tonight and for the next couple of days. I just need to get back to that airport!

For Megan!