¡Hola Señores!?
Day 75
Since leaving Tikal we have been traveling though the Guatemalan highlands. The lands are beautiful, full of indigenous life and tradition, and rarely traveled by tourists. Before leaving I hadn’t really thought we were intrepid, but after yesterday when we undertook the most grueling trip so far squeezed in the back of minivans and pickups I rethought this!
A word about Guatemalan transport while we are on the subject. Never before have we realized quite how many people you can actually fit into a minivan. While there may be 12 seats, this actually means room for at least 20 people, with at least 2 on the roof, a couple hanging on the sides and the rest crammed into the seats that remain.
After 8 hours of the most uncomfortable travel we arrived in Santa Cruz del Quiché. We genuinely think we are the only tourists here, and as a consequence get stared at lots. Strangely (or maybe not, I don´t know) most people address us as Señor. Maybe this is because we are a bit taller than the average woman (and man) and are wearing western clothes. We have tried dressing in some of the local clothing, but this just makes people stare more.
Tomorrow we head to Lago de Atitlan where we hope to find some more travelers, celebrate our half way point (Day 77) and spend a relaxing few days before we cross the border to Mexico. Excitingly when we reach Mexico, we will be 3 as Helen (Shaw) will be joining us for about 4 weeks. As much as we love each other we are very glad to have some new company for a while!