where do i begin?
wow! it's been a crazy 3 days since i last wrote...not sure if it's been 2, 3, or 4 days really. time's a blur! we got to coban via a first class bus. it was in the nastiest part of town in Guatemala City i've ever seen. definitely blew tiajuana away. glad i was with nolan. the bus stations are all in Zona 1, which is the worst part of town. why, i don't know...the bathrooms were vile! i don't even know where to begin to describe them. it seems like every toilet seat here doesn't have a seat. not like we'd sit on them anyway. we always travel with our own seat covers and T.P. you have to pay 1Q to use it. they couldn't even flush them, just put water in to wash down the waste. it was so disgusting then you have the dirty T.P. in the trash cans...i am going to be so excited to flush again! i know, i know, you guys are probably so sick about reading about the plumbing here. poor nolan, sometimes i think he's irked that we're roughing it. he's a city boy and all. i just try to go with the flow and there's not much we can do to change it.
Ugh! We arrived at a hotel, but it turned out it was a hostel...we just can't stay in hostels. We've gotta sleep in hotels. I know, I slept outside right? Well, this place had dead flies all over the bed, dirty, dingy, no lock on the door, vile stench, dimly lit, the flaws are endlesss. We snuck out of there and got a room at the finest hotel in town! $34 USD per night! It was actually very beautiful. There was an incredible bake shop nearby. There was some church retreat going on that we sat outside in the courtyard and watched. The shitty hostel was $26 per night. Wow! What a difference $8 made!
we went on the most amazing trip of our lives monday! we visited Semuc Champey, Lanquin, tubing, and Kan ba caves. I can't even express how much it was worth going 10 hrs. out of our way to visit paradise. The area is VERY rural and has this lagoon and river tucked away in a jungle. We hiked for about 30 grueling minutes and then we saw a look out point of the lagoons. It blew Jamaica way. The lagoons formed above a river so there are two seperate bodies of water. The lagoon water is blue and the river water is brown. The river flows underneath and into the caves. We walked and listened to the wild life around us. Our guide was awesome and I translated for Nolan and this other girl who was with us. She was from Isreal and so sweet. I can't even describe how beautiful it was...I can't wait to post pics! We swam around for about 1 hr. Nolan's swimming lessons are paying off! He did a great job! We sat at the lagoon and ate lunch and admired the beauty. I talked to the Jewish girl a lot and swam with her as Nolan was leery to go into the deeper parts. Boy, did he not know what we were in store for next. The guide said we were going to go check out the caves next! We read about them in the book and it sounded cool. It sounded like the ones I've visited in Tennessee with my mom. Boy, was I wrong! The guide said we were going swimming in the caves with candle light. How in the hell am I going to hold a candle and swim under ground? What the hell was Nolan going to do? Nolan said that he wasn't going to do it. I explained that he's not a great swimmer. The guide quickly had a solution for that. He got an intertube for Nolan! He said the only thing that's missing is a rubber ducky on the front of it! God, I wish I had a camera, but we couldn't take it down there because we had to swim! I of course left our flashlight in some hotel, it was water proof and we could have used that instead of a candle. It was wild! the water was freezing, bats were chirping and flying above, and he we are entring this cave and ducking from bats and stalagtites, those rock formations above us. It was incredible difficult to doggy paddle and hold my candle above me. Poor Nolan could barely move in his inertube he was stagnant. He could barely use the candle b/c the guide was afraid he'd burn his intertube and drown. He took it away from him. It was so freaking scary, but so exciting! We could hear a waterfall. We had to swing underneat a waterfall to get across this area, climb up and down ladders, squeeze through areas where the stalagtites were. I felt like Indiana Jones! We had to dump the candles at one point and our guide used a head light. We walked through the caves and were covered in bumps, scrapes, and bruises when we got out of there. My beautiful $85 bathing suit was ruined! However, I'd do it over in a heart beat. It was amazing! Wild! However, when we had to turn back there was a point where Nolan didn't have his innertube and I panicked! I started screaming at the guide that he can't swim! Nolan all of a sudden took a flying leap towards me! I was about to die! The guide told me to calm down and he would take care of him. Nolan said he was worried about me and wanted to get over there, but I told him that he's crazy b/c he can't swim that great yet. YIKES! Now we can laugh about it...as we're cracking up right now. It was exhilerating!
Nolan said he had enough fun so I went tubing with the girl from Israel. We went with two other guys. We had to interlock our legs and I touched these guys feet. Ick! When I looked down it was covered in toe fungus! I nearly screamed. I let go of him and it was just me and the girl from Israel. The guide, came over after a while and latched on to me. Thank god, that other guys feet were NASTY! I used hand sanitizer all day and was freaking out after thinking I'd get nail fungus. So far I'm OK.
We took a shuttle from Coban to Flores on Tuesday. We almost missed the shuttle b/c Nolan decided at the last minute to go to the ATM. I had to ask the guy to come back for us. What a mess! I nearly had a heart attack. We're on such a tight schedule. Every person in the bus, NOT US, smelled sooo badly. It was body odor central. Crazy Europeans! LOL! It was so hot and no one wanted to roll the windows down. We're in the freaking jungle, people! Its hot, humid, sticky, and 95 plus degrees. It's like Florida in the northern part of Guatemala. I felt nauseaus the entire time.
We made it to Flores took a crazy shuttle from there to Tikal. I really don't have time to explain the entire thing, but I can when we get back. It was a saga! We walked around Tikal last night and then took a sunrise tour this a.m. It was incredible listening to the wild life and especially the monkeys howling. We swam in a pool at our disgusting hotel and had dragon flies dancing above our heads, toucans chirping in the trees, spider monkeys swinging from tree limbs, and the howler monkeys screeching. i felt like i was in animal planet. the hotel only has electricity 3 hrs. a day from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. when they serve dinner. we slept in pools of sweat the entire night. mom, nolan said it reminds him of when he lived with you! i was afraid to use the bathroom and we had to take a gas latern to illuminate the pathway. nolan accompanied me every time. there was lizards, frogs, and other insects i've never seen before. i decided i wouldn't go alone after i was corned in the bathroom by a frog. it was cute, but i was so afraid it would jump on me. every move i made it inched toward me. it was awful! i ran out of there and never went back to the bathroom alone. god, the room was soooo musty! it was shared bathrooms too. i felt like i was in the dorms from college again.
we took the sunrise tour of tikal without a flashlight. nolan almost fell countless times over the gigantic roots of the gigantic trees in the jungle. i nearly twisted my ankle! we walked up stairs to sit on top of a 210 feet tall myan temple @ 5 a.m. in the dark. we waited above to watch the sunrise and listened to the howler monkeys go crazy. unfortunately, we don't have pics of the howler monkeys, but it was incredible. nolan took a video of the sounds of them calling to each other. it was the most amazing experience. we were sitting above the jungle canopy of trees. it was freaking wild! you could see every star in the sky. it was the clearest night i'd seen in a long time. however, the clouds started rolling in as the sun rose. at least it didn't rain, but it's so foggy in guatemala in the a.m.
we're now going to take a cab and keep our fingers crossed so that we can get on the plane to guatemala city without our passports. i hope so! i'm looking foward to taking a shower...i'm so sticky, smelly, and icky! then we're heading back to xela to hang out with josefina and some friends then going to antigua then flying out. i 'm excited to come home.
i want to pinch myself and can't believe that we endured these adventures. it was awesome! i'm so glad nolan did it with me. he's not too outdoorsy, but i think after nearly 10 yrs. i can break him in.
mom, happy early bday! i'll call you tomorrow!!! i love u!
oh! bernie is doing well. our dog sitter said he's made a lot of new friends in her neighborhood, dogs and ppl, plus he plays a lot with her dog. her ex boyfriend gave him a nickname. einstein is doing well too. he's handling the 2 doggies OK. i can't wait to see them!
Sorry for all the typos once again! My english is so bad right now! Crazy, it's only been 4 months.
Ugh! We arrived at a hotel, but it turned out it was a hostel...we just can't stay in hostels. We've gotta sleep in hotels. I know, I slept outside right? Well, this place had dead flies all over the bed, dirty, dingy, no lock on the door, vile stench, dimly lit, the flaws are endlesss. We snuck out of there and got a room at the finest hotel in town! $34 USD per night! It was actually very beautiful. There was an incredible bake shop nearby. There was some church retreat going on that we sat outside in the courtyard and watched. The shitty hostel was $26 per night. Wow! What a difference $8 made!
we went on the most amazing trip of our lives monday! we visited Semuc Champey, Lanquin, tubing, and Kan ba caves. I can't even express how much it was worth going 10 hrs. out of our way to visit paradise. The area is VERY rural and has this lagoon and river tucked away in a jungle. We hiked for about 30 grueling minutes and then we saw a look out point of the lagoons. It blew Jamaica way. The lagoons formed above a river so there are two seperate bodies of water. The lagoon water is blue and the river water is brown. The river flows underneath and into the caves. We walked and listened to the wild life around us. Our guide was awesome and I translated for Nolan and this other girl who was with us. She was from Isreal and so sweet. I can't even describe how beautiful it was...I can't wait to post pics! We swam around for about 1 hr. Nolan's swimming lessons are paying off! He did a great job! We sat at the lagoon and ate lunch and admired the beauty. I talked to the Jewish girl a lot and swam with her as Nolan was leery to go into the deeper parts. Boy, did he not know what we were in store for next. The guide said we were going to go check out the caves next! We read about them in the book and it sounded cool. It sounded like the ones I've visited in Tennessee with my mom. Boy, was I wrong! The guide said we were going swimming in the caves with candle light. How in the hell am I going to hold a candle and swim under ground? What the hell was Nolan going to do? Nolan said that he wasn't going to do it. I explained that he's not a great swimmer. The guide quickly had a solution for that. He got an intertube for Nolan! He said the only thing that's missing is a rubber ducky on the front of it! God, I wish I had a camera, but we couldn't take it down there because we had to swim! I of course left our flashlight in some hotel, it was water proof and we could have used that instead of a candle. It was wild! the water was freezing, bats were chirping and flying above, and he we are entring this cave and ducking from bats and stalagtites, those rock formations above us. It was incredible difficult to doggy paddle and hold my candle above me. Poor Nolan could barely move in his inertube he was stagnant. He could barely use the candle b/c the guide was afraid he'd burn his intertube and drown. He took it away from him. It was so freaking scary, but so exciting! We could hear a waterfall. We had to swing underneat a waterfall to get across this area, climb up and down ladders, squeeze through areas where the stalagtites were. I felt like Indiana Jones! We had to dump the candles at one point and our guide used a head light. We walked through the caves and were covered in bumps, scrapes, and bruises when we got out of there. My beautiful $85 bathing suit was ruined! However, I'd do it over in a heart beat. It was amazing! Wild! However, when we had to turn back there was a point where Nolan didn't have his innertube and I panicked! I started screaming at the guide that he can't swim! Nolan all of a sudden took a flying leap towards me! I was about to die! The guide told me to calm down and he would take care of him. Nolan said he was worried about me and wanted to get over there, but I told him that he's crazy b/c he can't swim that great yet. YIKES! Now we can laugh about it...as we're cracking up right now. It was exhilerating!
Nolan said he had enough fun so I went tubing with the girl from Israel. We went with two other guys. We had to interlock our legs and I touched these guys feet. Ick! When I looked down it was covered in toe fungus! I nearly screamed. I let go of him and it was just me and the girl from Israel. The guide, came over after a while and latched on to me. Thank god, that other guys feet were NASTY! I used hand sanitizer all day and was freaking out after thinking I'd get nail fungus. So far I'm OK.
We took a shuttle from Coban to Flores on Tuesday. We almost missed the shuttle b/c Nolan decided at the last minute to go to the ATM. I had to ask the guy to come back for us. What a mess! I nearly had a heart attack. We're on such a tight schedule. Every person in the bus, NOT US, smelled sooo badly. It was body odor central. Crazy Europeans! LOL! It was so hot and no one wanted to roll the windows down. We're in the freaking jungle, people! Its hot, humid, sticky, and 95 plus degrees. It's like Florida in the northern part of Guatemala. I felt nauseaus the entire time.
We made it to Flores took a crazy shuttle from there to Tikal. I really don't have time to explain the entire thing, but I can when we get back. It was a saga! We walked around Tikal last night and then took a sunrise tour this a.m. It was incredible listening to the wild life and especially the monkeys howling. We swam in a pool at our disgusting hotel and had dragon flies dancing above our heads, toucans chirping in the trees, spider monkeys swinging from tree limbs, and the howler monkeys screeching. i felt like i was in animal planet. the hotel only has electricity 3 hrs. a day from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. when they serve dinner. we slept in pools of sweat the entire night. mom, nolan said it reminds him of when he lived with you! i was afraid to use the bathroom and we had to take a gas latern to illuminate the pathway. nolan accompanied me every time. there was lizards, frogs, and other insects i've never seen before. i decided i wouldn't go alone after i was corned in the bathroom by a frog. it was cute, but i was so afraid it would jump on me. every move i made it inched toward me. it was awful! i ran out of there and never went back to the bathroom alone. god, the room was soooo musty! it was shared bathrooms too. i felt like i was in the dorms from college again.
we took the sunrise tour of tikal without a flashlight. nolan almost fell countless times over the gigantic roots of the gigantic trees in the jungle. i nearly twisted my ankle! we walked up stairs to sit on top of a 210 feet tall myan temple @ 5 a.m. in the dark. we waited above to watch the sunrise and listened to the howler monkeys go crazy. unfortunately, we don't have pics of the howler monkeys, but it was incredible. nolan took a video of the sounds of them calling to each other. it was the most amazing experience. we were sitting above the jungle canopy of trees. it was freaking wild! you could see every star in the sky. it was the clearest night i'd seen in a long time. however, the clouds started rolling in as the sun rose. at least it didn't rain, but it's so foggy in guatemala in the a.m.
we're now going to take a cab and keep our fingers crossed so that we can get on the plane to guatemala city without our passports. i hope so! i'm looking foward to taking a shower...i'm so sticky, smelly, and icky! then we're heading back to xela to hang out with josefina and some friends then going to antigua then flying out. i 'm excited to come home.
i want to pinch myself and can't believe that we endured these adventures. it was awesome! i'm so glad nolan did it with me. he's not too outdoorsy, but i think after nearly 10 yrs. i can break him in.
mom, happy early bday! i'll call you tomorrow!!! i love u!
oh! bernie is doing well. our dog sitter said he's made a lot of new friends in her neighborhood, dogs and ppl, plus he plays a lot with her dog. her ex boyfriend gave him a nickname. einstein is doing well too. he's handling the 2 doggies OK. i can't wait to see them!
Sorry for all the typos once again! My english is so bad right now! Crazy, it's only been 4 months.
posted by USFBULL2002 | 1:15 PM
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