Travels: The Wild West

I'm now getting into the western highlands of Guatemala. Riding a chicken bus between towns here is like driving Route 70 in Colorado or Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. Motorcyclists would love it for all of the twists and turns of the Interamericano HWY and the scenery is great. Our bus driver whipped around the bends at top speed causing us all to hold on for dear life to anything that was nailed down. It's amazing what a school bus can do. I didn't have any bus drivers in school that were willing to test the boundaries, but this guy was perfectly comfortable with experimenting. I felt like I was in a cartoon, centrifugal force pushing the top of the bus toward the outer part of the curves while the wheels stuck to the road.

I'm still not comfortable pulling out my expensive camera on a chicken bus, so I don't have pictures to share. But think windy roads clinging to green hills that dive (no sloping here) to valleys below that can't be seen because of the clouds below. Terraced farmers' fields cover the surrounding hills. At the highest point of the drive, the road runs along a ridge that provides a 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside. After that, you can see Central America's highest point, Vulcan Tajumulco. It's a little less than 14,000 feet and when you see it's perfect cone shape as a misty blue silhouette on the horizon, it's impressive. I'm trying to set up a tour of this volcano, so think of me on Tuesday trudging up the side of a mountain. It's a 14 hour day hike, so if you think of me at any time during the day, chances are good that I'll still be trudging.

I started the day today in a town called Chichicastenango which is best known for its market on Thursdays and Sundays. The market draws a mass of tourists with stall after stall of colorful Guatemalan handcrafts. The bulk of what's on offer are scarves, handbags, and blankets, but there is also some woodwork and jewelry. The nice thing about this market is that it isn't just a tourist trap.

Blankets for Sale in the Market

Many, many indigenous people still go the market to buy or trade. The stalls that aren't selling handcrafts, sell fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, meats, cheese, etc, etc, etc. The market takes up a good portion of the town's center and is busiest around one of the churches. The flower sellers congregate on the steps of the church and on Sundays some of the indigenous men, stand at the top of the churches steps and keep a constant stream of incense wafting through the air.