Ancho and I stayed in San Cristobal one more night and got up on Friday morning to drive to the border with Guatemala. Aside from a jerk working the Mexican side of the border who was ever unwilling to help us with a small currency problem, the border crossing was smoother than silk. Total time at the Guatemalan side was probably 20 minutes tops. From there we have been nothing but overwhelmed at the beauty of Guatemala and the great folks here. The roads are fantastic... much better than the non-autopistas in Mexico. In fact, Ancho thinks they are better than the autopistas. We stayed last night in a town about 80 kilometers from the border called Huehuetenango. It was a good place to stay because it was quiet and we enjoyed one morning without a rooster beckoning us to rise. The funniest thing happened once we got to huehue (as the locals call it. It is a slightly confusing city and we were having trouble finding our hotel (does this sound familiar?) So, Ancho told me to ask directions from the two Guatemalan police officers walking down the street, which I did because asking directions seems to be the trick to keeping this whole thing going. So anyway, the police were quite nice, but thought that there was no way in hades that I would find the hotel for which I was searching. So, one of the police men said in Spanish of course, I will come with you and show you myself. So he pile in our little truck (with a gearshift in the middle) and leads Ancho and I to a hotel. He was really nice and had just been restationed to the area and had only been working there for 15 days. Anyhow, his partner, who stayed behind had somehow ran up the hill (and I do mean up) and found us again after we had swirved our car around a million different ways and then told his partner in our truck the precise direction of our hotel. Anyhow, yet another story of chivalry. Also, I might mention that the border crossing into Guatemala is fairly simple and that all I had to do to avoid getting the truck interior sprayed with pesticide was tell the guy that I had problems with my lungs. Also, they never even searched our truck.. Thus far we have not had to unpack the beast, but we assume that will happen eventually.
So anyhow, we have been traveling through this beautiful country. It is really not possible to describe its beauty. We were going to speed through the rest of the trip but decided Guatemala was much to amazing for a speedy drive down the PanAmerican highway. So, Ancho turned off toward Lake Atitlan and we found an amazing place to camp on the property of hotel Vision Azul, nxt to Hotel Atitlan. Our tent opens right out onto the lake and the three, yes three, cones of volcanoes. Quite ideal and no loud punks to keep us up at night, as was the case in Palenque the night we camped. Apparently, the town we are in (Panajachel) was once the haunt of hippies and druggies but they got run out of town by higher prices and clean cut tourists. They are now across the lake and we will avoid them like the plague in order to avoid the relentless drum circles that they construct in the wee hours of night when most of us like sleeping.
All in all, Guatemala has much to offer and Ancho and I think we like it more than Mexico thus far. Good roads, helpful people, beautiful weather and FANTASTIC VISTAS make for a good trip. So, Melissa I have changed my mind. Skip the trip to Mexico and come to Guatemala... your dollar will go further also. Mamasita, in response to my health... I am fine although I have some allergies that are bothersome. All in all, I am well and have not relapsed or anything dreadful. Ancho is healthy as always and eats fearlessly and with much furvor. Surely he will obtain traveler's diarrhea at some point but has avoided that thus far. I have too for that matter. Perhaps I should cease the talk of poop. A Brit we met at Palenque called it dodgy tummy. Perhaps that is nicer. Well, Ancho and I are on our way to the old part of this town which is hopefully not as touristy as where we are now. I want to see the church which has Maya and Catholic imagery inside and we will go to the market to see if we can round up the makings for dinner. We may cross the Salvadoran border tomorrow, but may spend one more day in Guatemala as well. Melissa, you might check out information about tourism in Antigua, which is supposed to be nice and here around lake Atitlan.
Well, we miss you all and will be in touch.
Much love,
Ancho and Lefty
