The Long Way Home

Chris, Monica, David, Saha and I decided to travel together on the public bus to Guatemala City where we would change buses for our next stop Antiqua. The bus ride wasn’t very relaxing and seem to take forever as it would pick people up and drop people off in remote locations on route. Every now and then groups of Guatemalans would board the bus trying to sell you local food and handy crafts. Even kids would climb on board and sing old folk songs for money. This bus is one of the better buses in Guatemala and i’ll be frank after being whisked around Mexico in their superliners for two months it is like being transported back in to the dark ages, windows didn’t open, it wasn’t very clean and not very comfry but like Jodie, Chris and anyone else who has travelled with me know that I can fall asleep in the most awkward and cramped space on them.

When I get to Antiqua I shall be turning back on myself for the first time and start heading north on the long journey home, some days I feel like I haven’t been away for one year (ok, I did spend 2 weeks in the UK after the massive fuck up half way through the trip) but still it really has gone quickly. Then I remember about all the ground I have covered, all the people i’ve met and all the photos I’ve taken.
The plan is start heading back up through Guatemala and Mexico and if I have enough money I will be heading to the US which is looking more and more unlikely now. I will get to see some parts of Mexico I had missed out which I’m rather excited about and I will do a little European tour for a week before returning back to the real world for Paul’s Wedding, yes thats right if you didn’t know my cousin Paul is getting married to laura on the 17th of May, congrats to both of them. But for now I shall chill out in Guatemala and save some cash.

I had talked about my pleasant and entertaining time on the chicken buses in Belize. However I wish I could say the same about ones in Guatemala. We roll up to the Guatemala City which again after hearing all of the horror stories about the place from backpackers I didn’t really want to hang around, I wish I wouldn’t listen to all the backpacker horror stories. I’ve said time and time again when you are in a city like this you just have to be street wise. I guess living in London and not in small towns has taught me the ‘rules’ of the streets and some people who come from safe countries and small towns I guess it can be a little daunting. Like most Central American capital cities there really isn’t much to see or do in Guatemala city so we were only there to change buses to go to Antiqua. We could have spent $40 on a taxi to take us there which coming from London doesn’t seem that expensive as its at least 1 hour away. But why spend $40 when you can spend $2 and ride a chicken bus there……. Pulling up to the Chicken bus depo we are the only ones so we hop on to the bus ‘this ride isn’t going to be that bad after all’….. We speak to soon, oh dear.
Our bus is rather snazzy, the old US school bus is painted in red and black with orange and yellow flames going the whole way along the side of the bus. As normal with buses in central America the front of the bus is decorated with Virgin Mary so she can look down on the drive who thinks it make him invincible to oncoming traffic. We pull out of the the depo and head down the main street of the the city dodging bikes, cars and other chicken buses. We must have hit rush hour as people line the street fighting for a space on our chicken bus and by the time we got out of the city our chicken bus was overflowing with people. The seats are made for two school children so there I am squeezed in to the seat with my legs around my head holding both of my rucksacks for dear life. A bus made for 60 school children had I should think about 90 adults on it, Every single space on the bus was filled by body parts and yet still people were trying to get on. From the outside it must have looked like the bus was a giant game of Twister and for some reason I found it to be such a funny experience and I couldn’t stop laughing and smiling for the whole journey. I’m glad it wasn’t more than one hour otherwise i think laughing would stop and I would throw a diva strop as I had Guatemalans pretty much sitting on my lap.

We get to Antiqua and find the Jungle Party Hostel which is fully booked up. No matter, its time to sleep outside on a hammock again in the hostels court yard and it would only be for one night.
Antiqua is another attractive colonial town and is probably the most touristy place in Guatemala as it has many attractions. Looming over the town are three volcanos. One of them is still active and is spitting out lava every second of the day. Anitqua is also where many Spanish Schools are so the place is full of gringo’s learning spanish which makes for a great party atmosphere but doesn’t really have a local feel to the place, it almost feels like Trinidad in Cuba.
Jungle Party was a bit of a party especially as it was Mikes birthday on the Saturday so there were silly games and a BBQ on Saturday night. It was also great to catch up with Alice who I met in Cancun, she now works at a language school there. We spent the night getting drunk and singing to 80s music in the Irish bar before the police came in and shut the place down, apparently this happens rather a lot in Antiqua and the few days i was there it happen to me twice.

The look on Mikes face said it all the next day, i think we showed him a great time on his birthday. Happy Birthday Mate.
I was only in Antiqua for a few days as I was getting so excited for my next destination and to be honest I have seen nicer colonial towns in Mexico. There was one thing I wanted to see around Antiqua and that is the active volcano of Pacaya. We took a bus half way up to the volcano and then hiked up the steep path to the lava flow. This is the first time I have seen lava and being in Guatemala safety isn’t really an issue as Monica, David, Saha toasted Marshmallows off the lava. I have never felt heat like it, the rocks beneath our feet were so hot and I was getting a little worried that my shoes might melt. When David was roasting his marshmallow his hoodie started to smoke and catch fire which at the time was rather funny but now looking at the situation it could have been a bit dodgy. Still there isn’t many places left in the world were you can get this close to a river of magma.

I met some great people at the hostel and we had recruit new members for our little tribe of backpackers who where head off to the Lake Atilan on the Monday. I will introduce everyone in my next thrilling blog!