Sooo Julia and I went to Parque Celaque to give the hiking thing another try for me. There is a beautiful cloud forest and this National park has the highest peak in Honduras. We probably should have started with something smaller, but whatever.
Thank God we talked to a couple the day before leaving who had just done and told us it was very steep. It was in fact a vertical incline to the camp we were going to try to get to. We decided based on their story to camp at the visitors center at the base of the trail.
Our driver picked us up at 7am to take us to the park. We felt all local and cool sitting in the back of a pickup cruising in the coutryside, and as soon I get around to posting more pics, you will see how gorgeous our surrounding were. ANYWAY. We dropped our pack off at the visitors center which was a 45 minute uphill walk from the gate (tiring) and started our trek the cloud forest. Now, while I did much better this time, and last much longer physically, at around the same altitude as volcan Pacaya I began to feel dizzy and light headed, and couldnt continue. I think I have a real problem with altitude. It also didnt help that my allergies decided to kick me in the face while we were up there.
Julia wants me to tell you that she did not make me walk down alone, she came with me even when I told her she could go on. Good pal.
Back at the bottom we went to Doña Alejandrinas for dinner. This woman has been living on the mountain since before it was a National park. She has been there for over 54 years and can cook better than any restaurant we have been in since starting this trip. She served up two types of tortillas, black beans, refried beans, potatoes, rice with vegetables and the best damned coffee. Mmmm!
She and her son live in a wood shack with no electricity or running water. They cook over a woodfire, and by all North American standards, are literally dirt poor. Being there and eating two meals courtesy of them we were transported to a time long since forgotten. Eating her simple and delicious dinner over candlelight we could hear Pumas meowing in the distance, fireflies dancing and the dogs waited patiently at our feet for scraps. Peace.
Doña Alejandrina was a wonderfully sweet old woman, with sparkling eyes and big smiles and she and her son lived simply and most importantly they are very happy. I have to say that I was envious and humbled by their simple existance and wished that I could speak better Spanish because I am sure that woman had so much to teach. I wished that I could go back and sit with her. I tried to go and take her picture before we left but she had left for the woods, and I was unable to. :(
Now the scary part...We spent the night in the camp that by my account was infested with spiders. Julia may disagree but she is not as observant to these things as I. There were these rather large brown ones that had sharp looking legs and glittery eyes. So whenever I scoured the room with my headlamp the light would reflect off of their eyes and I could see them all glittering back at me. I had visions of them crawling on me in my sleep and biting my sweet, tender flesh...I really wanted to vomit and did not sleep very well at all that night.
All in all, it was really unique and educational experience, and certainly one that I will not forget!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Gracias, Honduras. The hot springs
When we first arrived to Gracias, I was ready to start crying. From first appearance it is a shit town, with nothing to do, and no where to go, and the locals couldnt even be bothered to smile at us. Not at all what the guide book made us think when we would find. However, this firt impression did turn out to be inaccurate. Good.
We realized soon in that the reason for the locals not being willing to help us was not because they had a thing against Gringos, but because they spoke a dialect of Spanish that we were not familiar with and thus communication was even more hindered. Super.
The town had dirt roads and no vegetarian options to speak of for restaurant selection with the exception of one place which was situated on a hill, and managed by a dutch lady who truly did not want to help us and guarded by rabid dogs who tried to take a chunk out of my leg one afternoon on the way to lunch. The town was cute though... in a way.
One afernoon Julia and I made the 4km trek to nearby hotspings ina an attempt to do some swimming. The hot springs, while still man made, were 1 million times better than the ones at Copan. There were multiple pools of varying depths and temperatures. We first chose the last one as it was unoccupied and was big enough to paddle around in.
I would say a good 3 minutes after getting in the pool two local men came over and tried to sweet talk us. They wanted to take us dancing and they wanted our email addresses (shcoker, they never did email us). The cute and VERY young looking one was keen on Julia, while the older one and unfortunetly much less attractive one was so keen on me he tried to pull me out of the pool and take me with him.
Sadly, as my man did not even speak a single word of English, and my Spanish is poor at best I could not even tell him that our relationship would never work as I have a distinct policy against dating anyone who spends more time looking at my breasts than my face or any other part of my body for that matter. I do have to give him props though as he paid a meriachi (sp) band to come over and serenade us, he even sang to me.
Julias manboy was also out of luck as well as she has a distinct policy against dating anyone who may not even be legal enough to vote. It was still flattering though, and they will remain in our thoughts for days to come I am sure.
Janelle
We realized soon in that the reason for the locals not being willing to help us was not because they had a thing against Gringos, but because they spoke a dialect of Spanish that we were not familiar with and thus communication was even more hindered. Super.
The town had dirt roads and no vegetarian options to speak of for restaurant selection with the exception of one place which was situated on a hill, and managed by a dutch lady who truly did not want to help us and guarded by rabid dogs who tried to take a chunk out of my leg one afternoon on the way to lunch. The town was cute though... in a way.
One afernoon Julia and I made the 4km trek to nearby hotspings ina an attempt to do some swimming. The hot springs, while still man made, were 1 million times better than the ones at Copan. There were multiple pools of varying depths and temperatures. We first chose the last one as it was unoccupied and was big enough to paddle around in.
I would say a good 3 minutes after getting in the pool two local men came over and tried to sweet talk us. They wanted to take us dancing and they wanted our email addresses (shcoker, they never did email us). The cute and VERY young looking one was keen on Julia, while the older one and unfortunetly much less attractive one was so keen on me he tried to pull me out of the pool and take me with him.
Sadly, as my man did not even speak a single word of English, and my Spanish is poor at best I could not even tell him that our relationship would never work as I have a distinct policy against dating anyone who spends more time looking at my breasts than my face or any other part of my body for that matter. I do have to give him props though as he paid a meriachi (sp) band to come over and serenade us, he even sang to me.
Julias manboy was also out of luck as well as she has a distinct policy against dating anyone who may not even be legal enough to vote. It was still flattering though, and they will remain in our thoughts for days to come I am sure.
Janelle
Monday, March 26, 2007
sneaky Canadians
One of the things I was looking forward to doing on this trip, was swimming in natural hot springs. I have, three times so far, but the first was definitely more appealing than the others, and most importantly - natural!
In Copan, we got a group of people together and sat on a bus for one hour to reach the hot springs 24 km out of town. The roads were winding, and the views spectacular - I love the landscape of Honduras - incredibly lush, rolling mountains, stray cows and horses roaming everywhere.
So we arrived at the hot springs to discover that what was accessible for $1 were two small spring-fed concrete pools (picture a public pool filled with warm water), and a river with run-off from the natural spring, that wasn't deep enough to cover your legs if you sat in it. It was more than disappointing, but we weren't going to pay the $10 (seriously, that is a lot of money for this trip) to access the natural springs, even if it came with a free massage.
Instead we decided to sneak in. I saw a path on one side of the river, guarded by a local wielding a machete. He agreed that the trail was public, and would lead to the ¨grande¨ hot springs. We followed the trail, which led where we expected it to, except the springs were guarded by security. He asked for our tickets, which we conveniently left by the other pools. He bought it, and we were in. Way too easy...
We made it down to a spring-fed jacuzzi (yeah, still not the natural wonder we were expecting, but it was a step up) and sat for about 30 seconds. The guard came down and told us that he'd meet us on the other side of the path after we were done, to see our tickets. We agreed, because we didn't know what else to say. He then told us the ticket should be yellow, and should have cost 10 times what we paid. ¨What?¨
So, we left the jacuzzi and followed the man up to a deck, where he called another guard who was to meet us and escort us back. I apologized and explained that the local dude told us the trail was public, and that we didn't know we needed a special ticket....his response? ¨lo siento? (I'm sorry?) yeah, right, no lo siento, you guys are sneaky! well, enjoy the view¨. Luckily he found it pretty amusing, and just asked to be careful when exiting the trail, so that other vistors wouldn't try to get up there too.
We are now in Gracias, Honduras, and one of the highlights of the area are hot springs an hour walk out of town. The place is a popular local hang-out, and basically another set of spring-fed pools. They were more appealing, given that the pools were made of rock, and were surrounded by trees. Janelle might have more to say about our adventures with the locals that day. For now, I have to go.
Actually, I will add one more thing. Janelle and I have parted ways with Mark, at least for the time being. We are now enjoying our vacation, conflict-free.
- Julia
In Copan, we got a group of people together and sat on a bus for one hour to reach the hot springs 24 km out of town. The roads were winding, and the views spectacular - I love the landscape of Honduras - incredibly lush, rolling mountains, stray cows and horses roaming everywhere.
So we arrived at the hot springs to discover that what was accessible for $1 were two small spring-fed concrete pools (picture a public pool filled with warm water), and a river with run-off from the natural spring, that wasn't deep enough to cover your legs if you sat in it. It was more than disappointing, but we weren't going to pay the $10 (seriously, that is a lot of money for this trip) to access the natural springs, even if it came with a free massage.
Instead we decided to sneak in. I saw a path on one side of the river, guarded by a local wielding a machete. He agreed that the trail was public, and would lead to the ¨grande¨ hot springs. We followed the trail, which led where we expected it to, except the springs were guarded by security. He asked for our tickets, which we conveniently left by the other pools. He bought it, and we were in. Way too easy...
We made it down to a spring-fed jacuzzi (yeah, still not the natural wonder we were expecting, but it was a step up) and sat for about 30 seconds. The guard came down and told us that he'd meet us on the other side of the path after we were done, to see our tickets. We agreed, because we didn't know what else to say. He then told us the ticket should be yellow, and should have cost 10 times what we paid. ¨What?¨
So, we left the jacuzzi and followed the man up to a deck, where he called another guard who was to meet us and escort us back. I apologized and explained that the local dude told us the trail was public, and that we didn't know we needed a special ticket....his response? ¨lo siento? (I'm sorry?) yeah, right, no lo siento, you guys are sneaky! well, enjoy the view¨. Luckily he found it pretty amusing, and just asked to be careful when exiting the trail, so that other vistors wouldn't try to get up there too.
We are now in Gracias, Honduras, and one of the highlights of the area are hot springs an hour walk out of town. The place is a popular local hang-out, and basically another set of spring-fed pools. They were more appealing, given that the pools were made of rock, and were surrounded by trees. Janelle might have more to say about our adventures with the locals that day. For now, I have to go.
Actually, I will add one more thing. Janelle and I have parted ways with Mark, at least for the time being. We are now enjoying our vacation, conflict-free.
- Julia
Thursday, March 22, 2007
white hot
We arrived in Antigua after a bit of a nerve wracking drive through the mountains. I think it has been mentioned already that drivers love to pass the vehicle in front, no matter if it means driving into oncoming traffic, or in this case, on a narrow mountain road. I also loved the wide switchback turns. It was a gamble each time - would there be another car in the opposing lane of traffic? Luckily for us, there never was.
So we made it to Antigua, and again were instantly surrounded by locals who tried to direct us to a hostel they were associated with. We found a pretty decent hostel with free breakfast! Yes, that is a wonderful bonus - fresh fruit, pastries and coffee, all for free!
We spent some time wandering around town, looking at church ruins and markets, and ate a lot of meals at an obviously Western-owned bagel restaurant. The ruins were pretty beautiful, if you´re attracted to dilapitated buildings as I am. There was an earthquake years ago which devastated the town, and some time after that the captial moved to Guatemala City, and so did the funding to cover the maintenance/reconstruction of the churches. Fine with me.
For me, the highlight of the trip to Antigua was climbing Volcan Pacaya. Janelle may disagree, as she had a panic attack about a quarter way up, and had to ride a horse the rest of the way. And then she kind of got stranded near the top, alone, for over an hour. By the way, you aren´t supposed to climb without a guide because of the risks for robbery and rape. But she was alright, and I will continue my story..
I won´t lie, it was an arduous climb. When we got off of the bus local kids offered us walking sticks, and it turned out to be an excellent companion. Even with that, we climbed on very ashy terrain, which has the texture of sand, right? So it was tough. Plus, as Mark pointed out to me, my teeth turned a lovely shade of brown from breathing in so much of it.
The trek was well worth it. We made it to a clearing near the top in time for the sunset - beautiful, albeit a bit cloudy. Pacaya is an active volcano, so we could see and hear the flowing lava. We hiked across a lava field - each step was crucial! The lava rock was sharp, and the morbid side of me couldn´t help but think what would happen if the group fell down like dominoes. That´d be a bloody mess. But again, we all made it to the top and back. By the time we started to descend the volcano, it was dark. I brought my trusty head lamp, but with the group of us constantly kicking up ash in the air, visibility was low.
It was definitely the most incredible experience on this trip so far. I didn´t get as close to the laval as others did, but it was still amazing. Areas of the field were white hot, and could be ignited if you tried to stir it up. The temperature went from cold to ridiculously hot in a matter of 25 feet. It was insane.
We are now in Honduras. We decided to bypass El Salvador, at least for now, because of the logistics of it all. Tomorrow we are heading to the Copan ruins. I´m sure someone else up update this soon, with a story about our hot springs adventure today. Hope you´re all having fun at home.
-Julia
So we made it to Antigua, and again were instantly surrounded by locals who tried to direct us to a hostel they were associated with. We found a pretty decent hostel with free breakfast! Yes, that is a wonderful bonus - fresh fruit, pastries and coffee, all for free!
We spent some time wandering around town, looking at church ruins and markets, and ate a lot of meals at an obviously Western-owned bagel restaurant. The ruins were pretty beautiful, if you´re attracted to dilapitated buildings as I am. There was an earthquake years ago which devastated the town, and some time after that the captial moved to Guatemala City, and so did the funding to cover the maintenance/reconstruction of the churches. Fine with me.
For me, the highlight of the trip to Antigua was climbing Volcan Pacaya. Janelle may disagree, as she had a panic attack about a quarter way up, and had to ride a horse the rest of the way. And then she kind of got stranded near the top, alone, for over an hour. By the way, you aren´t supposed to climb without a guide because of the risks for robbery and rape. But she was alright, and I will continue my story..
I won´t lie, it was an arduous climb. When we got off of the bus local kids offered us walking sticks, and it turned out to be an excellent companion. Even with that, we climbed on very ashy terrain, which has the texture of sand, right? So it was tough. Plus, as Mark pointed out to me, my teeth turned a lovely shade of brown from breathing in so much of it.
The trek was well worth it. We made it to a clearing near the top in time for the sunset - beautiful, albeit a bit cloudy. Pacaya is an active volcano, so we could see and hear the flowing lava. We hiked across a lava field - each step was crucial! The lava rock was sharp, and the morbid side of me couldn´t help but think what would happen if the group fell down like dominoes. That´d be a bloody mess. But again, we all made it to the top and back. By the time we started to descend the volcano, it was dark. I brought my trusty head lamp, but with the group of us constantly kicking up ash in the air, visibility was low.
It was definitely the most incredible experience on this trip so far. I didn´t get as close to the laval as others did, but it was still amazing. Areas of the field were white hot, and could be ignited if you tried to stir it up. The temperature went from cold to ridiculously hot in a matter of 25 feet. It was insane.
We are now in Honduras. We decided to bypass El Salvador, at least for now, because of the logistics of it all. Tomorrow we are heading to the Copan ruins. I´m sure someone else up update this soon, with a story about our hot springs adventure today. Hope you´re all having fun at home.
-Julia
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
San Pedro, Guatemala
Today I am going to tell you about San Pedro, Guatemala.
When we first got into the town all we could smell was the overpowering odour of olives, which we later found out to be coffee beans drying. We loved it on sight. The food there was great and it is the cheapest place to stay in all of Guatemala. We could get a Foccacia for 5Q (about $.75) and our room was 20Q ($2.50) per person/ night. Our hotel overlooked the lake and we had a dock which I used to tan. :) We found a few really delicious places to eat, and met some cool people.
Our first day there we were on a mission to find John, the friend of Michelle. We asked a random waiter at The Alegre pub, who knew immediatly of Michelle and John. He sent us over to Freedom where they informed us that John and Michelle had moved to Rick's place on San Marcos. It was like we had just missed her. :)
We met a lovely girl named Megan with whom we ended up spending lots of time with, talking about food and such. Poor girl must have thought we were ill because Julia and I were always in bed by 10:00 at the latest, and couldnt even manage to stay out and drink on St. Patty's Day.
The town was quite lovely, and Julia fell in love with a little blind street dog who cowered whenever she went near him. She spent quite a bit of time feeding this dog some leftover bread she had. My only complaint about this place was that to leave our road and go anywhere else in the town...like the bank, we had to go uphill. A tall hill that was at least on a 60 degree angle. Ugh!
Oh yeah, back to John. We took the boat to San Marcos and when we got there we ran into 2 girls who also lived at Rick's place who informed us that John would not be back until Saturday...we never did meet this John. He is like Polkaroo...
I think that is all I have to say about that. I have twisted Julia's arm into telling you about Antigua.
bye bye
Janelle
When we first got into the town all we could smell was the overpowering odour of olives, which we later found out to be coffee beans drying. We loved it on sight. The food there was great and it is the cheapest place to stay in all of Guatemala. We could get a Foccacia for 5Q (about $.75) and our room was 20Q ($2.50) per person/ night. Our hotel overlooked the lake and we had a dock which I used to tan. :) We found a few really delicious places to eat, and met some cool people.
Our first day there we were on a mission to find John, the friend of Michelle. We asked a random waiter at The Alegre pub, who knew immediatly of Michelle and John. He sent us over to Freedom where they informed us that John and Michelle had moved to Rick's place on San Marcos. It was like we had just missed her. :)
We met a lovely girl named Megan with whom we ended up spending lots of time with, talking about food and such. Poor girl must have thought we were ill because Julia and I were always in bed by 10:00 at the latest, and couldnt even manage to stay out and drink on St. Patty's Day.
The town was quite lovely, and Julia fell in love with a little blind street dog who cowered whenever she went near him. She spent quite a bit of time feeding this dog some leftover bread she had. My only complaint about this place was that to leave our road and go anywhere else in the town...like the bank, we had to go uphill. A tall hill that was at least on a 60 degree angle. Ugh!
Oh yeah, back to John. We took the boat to San Marcos and when we got there we ran into 2 girls who also lived at Rick's place who informed us that John would not be back until Saturday...we never did meet this John. He is like Polkaroo...
I think that is all I have to say about that. I have twisted Julia's arm into telling you about Antigua.
bye bye
Janelle
Yo
Hookay...
First of all yes we are homesick.
Secondly, my online album only allows like 100mb or something so I have created and used multiple accounts. Cheap I know, but I didnt have time to set up a pro account...get over it. Now I will be uploading to all of them as my limits permit. All the links will be posted so you will just have to check them all...I know, I know.
Janelle
First of all yes we are homesick.
Secondly, my online album only allows like 100mb or something so I have created and used multiple accounts. Cheap I know, but I didnt have time to set up a pro account...get over it. Now I will be uploading to all of them as my limits permit. All the links will be posted so you will just have to check them all...I know, I know.
Janelle
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Baby Fader
This is only trip related in that it is about what we are missing by not being back home.
The thing is, that while for us, life is on hold, for the rest of you, life goes on. WAIT FOR US, WE ARE COMING HOME IN JUNE I PROMISE!!! We will be missing birthdays, and anniversaries, and we have already missed one big giant event.
We don't have a lot of details yet, but my lovely Adrienne Fader had a beautiful baby girl on Monday (?) Both Julia and I are a little teary that we missed this event, and give both of them our love. We will update everyone (even if you dont know her) when we have more details.
Congratulations kiddo. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Janelle and Julia
The thing is, that while for us, life is on hold, for the rest of you, life goes on. WAIT FOR US, WE ARE COMING HOME IN JUNE I PROMISE!!! We will be missing birthdays, and anniversaries, and we have already missed one big giant event.
We don't have a lot of details yet, but my lovely Adrienne Fader had a beautiful baby girl on Monday (?) Both Julia and I are a little teary that we missed this event, and give both of them our love. We will update everyone (even if you dont know her) when we have more details.
Congratulations kiddo. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Janelle and Julia
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)