Hola,
It has been a couple days since we last posted and much has happened! We just got off a horridly long trip back from Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. It was like driving in rush hour as everyone was heading out of the lake. Now picture rush hour on a single lane road in the mountains, winding, steep, drop-offs, and at times, lack of road due to washouts and landslides. Of course, we were the last to be picked up so we got the really good seats...the small fold down ones with low backs and nothing to hang on to. After more than 3 hours, thankfully our driver dropped us off right in front of our hostel. As they know us now, it took less than 30 seconds to check in, drop our bags in the room and have a frosty beer.
So now let's back track a bit. We last left you enjoying our zipline adventures in Honduras, when we returned to Antigua, we went directly to the hostel and had a beer. Surprise, surprise! This time we had to share a room with another couple that we met just before bedtime. They were an Italian/Spanish couple and we never got their names but they seemed nice. They were supposed to be going to Chichicastenango with us the next day, but cancelled so that they could climb Volcan Acatenango.
We went to bed fairly early as we were going to be on the bus at 7:00 for Chichi and the market. We were up and waiting for the bus the next day, when Blanca arrived at the hostel. We settled our bill with her as she had been booking all of our shuttles for us, including the one we will be on tomorrow to Rio Dulce. Not sure how we will function without her...lol. Blanca called me inside to arrange a little birthday surprise for Stacey. You'll have to see if you can guess what it was when we post the pictures.
Then it was on another shuttle and off to the market in Chichi. We were able to sleep on and off on the way. We stopped only once for a quick cafe/bano break. When we got to Chichi, it was very hot. The market was WILD! It was packed from one end to the other and all the spots in between. But boy were the deals amazing. We shopped and shopped and shopped. Of course, it was all bartering. Blanca had told us to offer less than half and then go up from there. Most stuff we managed to get for half the original price. I can't believe how much stuff we bought. I had to dig out my fold up bag to carry it all and Stacey jammed a lot into her backpack, too. AMAZING!
We went back to the shuttle area around 1:00 and waited to leave. The shuttle driver who we had tipped to keep our backpacks told us we'd be on a different shuttle to Pana, but he couldn't find the right one. Finally, he discovered one that had a SPICE or SPACE listed and so we decided that must be Stacey's new name. We didn't care as long as we had a ride. It was a relatively short ride to Pana and the driver took Stacey and I right to the pier so that we could catch a boat to Casa Del Mundo. We decided to hire our own personal boat rather than wait for the public boat and so after we purchased a couple of bottles of wine, we hit the water...literally. It was crazy rough and we bounced all over the place, but we did manage to get a couple of pictures along the way.
What a view, coming up to the hotel. It looked amazing. It took us about 20 minutes by boat to get there and another 1/2 hr to climb all the FREAKIN steps to the office. lol I thought I'd die before we got to the top and a young lad came out to take my bags the last couple of steps up. Who the hell books a room in a hotel on a cliff, anyways. Crazy.
Hot showers were first on the agenda. It was almost orgasmic, it was so hot and the pressure was so strong, We followed this up with a glass of wine on our own private balcony off of our huge room (it was really meant for 4 people, but we're greedy and kept it to ourselves). Our first "family" style supper was Guatemalan food, but it was tasty. We met an American, and Stacey stayed up and chatted with him for a little while I went to back to the room and washed some of my clothes. With a balcony of our own we had somewhere to wash and dry them. Yippee, cleanish clothes!
The next day was New Year's Eve and we started out with breakfast (yummy) and a swim in the lake. It is much calmer in the morning so we took advantage of it and the sun to relax. We also dug out the snorkling gear so that I could try it out. There wasn't much to see except the balconies that were under water from a really heavy rainy season. Our swimming jump-off point was another balcony that was actually underwater a bit, too. The lake was 3 m higher than normal. The water felt great and it was a nice relazing morning.
After lunch, we walked to Jaibalito. There wasn't much to see as everything had high walls or fence. It was a very hot walk, up more stairs, and hills. When we got home we went to cool off in the lake. We showered and headed for a special New Year's supper. Just before supper, Stacey met the same couple we'd shared a room with in Antigua, Marko and Selma (really her name was Merixell...sorry if I spell that wrong, that's why we called her Selma and because she looked like Selma Hayek. Also, an Australian couple, Mark and Karin were there. We had a drink before supper and then headed in together. They were a lot of fun and it made supper a blast. When the meal was over, we decided to head to a bar that Selma assured us was just a minute down the path. Not sure where she learned to tell time, but it wasn't too bad a walk and the Crantini at the end tasted heavenly. We partied at this bar/hotel until midnight, dancing to old 80s music, drinking and having a great time. I think the owner was glad we came as we were more lively than the guests that were there. After the fireworks and midnight hit, we walked in the dark back to Casa Del Mundo. I will let Stacey fill you in with all the rest of the details as I am sick of typing.
The following day, we again swam and relaxed in the morning. We met up with the other two couples for lunch and then we checked out and headed down to the dock to catch the boat back to Pana where we stayed the night in an okay hotel. We did a little more shopping today and generally just hung out until it was time to catch the shuttle at 4.
As you can tell, I'm tired of typing now and so I'll let Stacey take over.
Karen
Hello all! I had suggested that we take turns telling our 3 day story...but since Karen decided to tell it all! I have nothing to add really!
Stacey
Ps....Chuck is still sulking that we dont take him out enough!
PPS...will add pics when we get the chance....dont really feel like it tonight!
ppss.....just remembered that we did so much shopping, and that we found it out you cant mail anything on sundays, and it would be so expensive.....we ended up buying another bag each to contain our shopping! Now we are HATED BY ALL SHUTTLE DRIVERS! Because we have so much luggage! Hoping to be able to POSSIBLY leave the shopping in storage in Belize when we go to the island. BUT...we still have at least 3 more shuttles.....2 boat rides for sure...and possibly more! Which means we have to haul all this stuff with us! AH WELLL...everyone back home will love us for all the lovely gifties we cant help but buy!
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