Guatemala Trip

I have the Guatemala trip photos in the Guatemala photo gallery on my website now so if you are interested please take a look! I am still working on my Belize and Mexico photos, but I hope that I will have them on my website in a few more days. While in Guatemala I was at Panajachel, Lake Atitlán, Chichicastanega, San Pedro La Laguna, Santiago Atitlán, Antigua, Tikal, and Flores. The highlands were probably my favorite and they were also a bit less hot and humid too. It was a cool trip!

One really interesting experience was when I rode on three "chicken buses" going from the town of Chichicastanega to the town of Panajachel in the highlands. The first bus was so crowded that I was standing right next to the driver with one foot on one side of the stick shift and the other foot on the other side. I was trying not to interfere with his driving on the bumpy, winding mountain road. I was doing all I could to just hang on and keep from falling on him on the curves or falling through the windshield. :-) Later had to transfer to 2 more "chicken buses" at Los Encuentros and Sololá. They were less crowded so I could get a seat. The rain was pouring down during the ride on the 2nd bus and I was praying we wouldn't go over the edge of a cliff or turn over. :-)

Also, the Mayan ruins at Tikal were really cool! Well, actually it was very hot and humid in the jungle, but you know what I mean. :-) Arrived at Tikal about 4:15 AM and we hiked through the very dark jungle using flashlights to get to Temple 4 pyramid. Then climbed way up to the top to sit in the cool breezes and watch the mist hanging over the whole jungle below. Not much of a sunrise because of the mist but for me the mist was better -- very mysterious. Then spent the next several hours wondering around in the jungle and visiting many of the most impressive ruins at the site.

The photos are in the Guatemala photo gallery:

http://www.bakubo.com