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.