Guatemala to Mexico and back : my hitch-hiking experience

Ayeeeayyeeee! Apologies for the long wait! For those who wonder, I am safe and sound in Xela (Quetzaltenango, Guatemala) studying Spanish. Which is one of the reason that made me neglect my inner reflection... I agree, it is long due! Soon you will find out why. However, let me start from the events of about month ago. (for more pics, refer to the links on the right under Guatemala)

Laguna Pacaya on top of an inactive volcano, Chiquimula

Out of the blazing heat of Honduras onto the highlands of Guatemala! After my 5 weeks in Honduras, I returned to my Guatemalan family and, as promised, I had the yummiest Tamale (Usually chicken/pork simmered in a tomato sauce held together by a mixture of corn and rice dough cooked in banana leaves)! It was a very pleasant stay as I needed a good and comfy home to come back to, and that is exactly what I received... with an extra spice. Spent a good week with my friend's family and played with the kids. That is when I realized how different it is to interact with kids that have been educated by parents, in comparison to the kids from the orphanage. Finally I do not feel so inadequate! True I was overwhelemed in Santa Barbara with 40+ kids as I felt like it was impossible to please all the children but with 2 kids at a time, the interaction is more pleasant, controlable, maintenable! I am not entirely a lost cause, yay, a good consolation :)

 

Back of a pick-up truck

I took advantage of this comfortable home to plan my next steps until the next unexpected event that propelled me to get out ASAP. For a good week, I stayed at my friend's brother's house. It was a newly built house that is very similar to that of ours in Canada. So similar and comfortable it was, with the comfort of unlimited internet access, watching the late night show and sharing the cultural shocks with my friend (him and I having both lived in North America and now in Guate) that the whole stay felt almost eerie. I was home... but in Guatemala! More home than I would have ever imagined that could happen on this trip! My friend and I hiked, cooked, watched tv together and shared stories. Until I started to feel a different vibe. My friend has interpreted this friendly bonding experience as something else. I felt frozen with fear as he leaned over my bed one night before bedtime when we were both alone in the house. Looking back, I am greatful that some men have good self-control over their emotions and have a sound moral to respect a refusal. Needless to say that I had a very troubled sleep that night...

The next morning, I knew I had to leave asap. Onwards to a travel that is free of obligations or expectations, which was the reason for my travel. I needed healing time and the journey to Chiquimula to visit the lake on top of the volcano Ipala provided exactly the kind of freedom that I desired, my own space, with no one to respond to. It took me a little over a month to heal from this intrusion into my personal space. I am amazed at how long it took me to heal despite the lack of physical contact. Removal from the element of cause, create a zone of comfort, self-retract into shell for protection, go through the motions of life in denial that it happened, finally reflect and accept. This sheds light onto what a real traumatic experience can take a toll on a human being.

During my hike to volcano Ipala, a Guatemalan has approached me and informed me that the hike up is dangerous for a lone girl and proposed to accompany me (at this point, I had so much conflicting information with regards to the safety of the hike that I relented). We started the climb, ever so slowly as my company needed a break every 5 min. When we finally reached the beginning of the real hike (in the woods), he sat down and told me he was thirsty and tired. He then took out a flask of some transparent alcoholic beverage, and emptied it in one shot and threw the empty flask into the grass. Here I am, in the middle of the mountain, with no one in sight except for my drunk companion continuing telling me stories of tourists being robbed or worst. I looked up and down the path, weighting my options with this man and my own safety. That is when he started to tell me that I like you, you're a nice pretty girl. One never knows in Latin America when they really mean it or not, or I am never sure due to the subtleties of the language. However, that was the last drop of discomfort I could withstand as it ignited the fear factor in me and I ran down the hill, fearing for my dear life, never dared to look back.

As I arrived to the sight of a house, one of the three talking men asked me if I have already seen the laguna. I described them my experience and he actually told me not to worry, that the man is harmless and offered to accompany me past the drunkard. What a relief! It turned out that the poor fellow has obvious drinking problems and was trying to befriend me by giving me compliments and earn some tip by accompanying me on a hike that he was not able to physically carry out.

Angel and I in the back of a pick-up truck

Trying not to fall off in the
back of the truck

Forward the days to my first latin-american hitch-hike experience. I met a Spanish guy who has covered all of his distance in Central America, for a period of 3 months, solely on hitch-hiking! His stories spontaneously reinitiated the adventure in me. We hitch-hiked, hiked, traveled together for about a week. He taught me tricks of the trade as well as Spanish and in return, I taught him English. I was a bit skeptical about this method of traveling, however it turned out to be a wonderful experience. We connected more with the locals, heard their stories, shared a lot of good time in the front/back of the pick-ups. Rain or shine, travelers do not stop! We were banged around in the back of a truck once and almost got bounced out from the back door! Another time, as there were only enough space for one person in the front seat, I stayed in the truck and inhaled some fume due to malfunction of the car (our driver could not stop the engine otherwise he couldn't start it). During one of our breaks, waiting for our next ride, a young girl generously offered us a drink and offered us a place to stay if we ended up stranded without ride out of town. Meanwhile, she shared with us her story of being an illegal migrant who left at the age of 15 from her hometown, alone in search of work in the US by road. The story was heart-breaking, valiant, filled with determination and motivation driven by poverty. I looked upon the face of a pretty face, albeit young she carried a well-worn expression, one that has lived way more than her 21 years of age. Experiences such as this one, is something that is not easily accessible when one follows the "gringo trail" (gringo is a rather derogatery term used in Latin America for white Americans, and sometimes expands to all white travelers).

Todos Santos, Guatemala

Angel and I hitched about a total of 18 rides together. We traveled to Todos Santos, a small village in the north of Guatemala, at around 2500-3000m altitude. One of the most peaceful village I have been to. The scenery is one of lush green and serenity. The local Mayans speak "Mam" and Spanish and is one of the few Guatemalan indigenous Mayan village that men still wear the traditional "traje" (dress). We hiked on non-rainy days and stayed and lived and ate with an indigenous family. One one of our hike, we encountered an old man, who was hiking up the mountain at a steady pace without rest. We greeted him the usual "Buenos Díaz" as it is custom to do in all of Guatemala (Guatemalans are very polite, friendly and helpful in general), and asked him his age: 70. Amazing! He is definitely more fit than we both were as we had to rest...

The Guatemalans of my home-stay speaking "Mam" :) Enjoy!

Once we reached on top of one of the hill, I kindly asked to use the ladies room and were greeted with a warm welcome. A lady with her 4 kids enjoyed the attention and the picture taking. Not all of the folks dislike camera, however the majority still do not appreciate picture taking, as they do believe that cameras steal pieces of their soul away with every shot.

We hitched again onward to Lagos Montebellos (Mexico), which is a group of around 56 lakes on the border of Mexico/Guatemala. For me it was a visa run as well as accompanying my friend Angel on our hitch-hike journey. The lakes are beautiful, pristine and little visited by foreign tourists. It was not difficult to find a lake all to ourselves for bathing! The water was rather nippy but clean clean clean!! Qué ricoooo!!

It was time to part ways as Angel was headed further into Mexico and I, back to Guatemala. After we parted ways, I decided to continue the hitch-hike solo as I really enjoyed it and needed to experience it solo. Every time I put my thumb out, my heart tensed. I made my way back to Xela (Quetzaltenango) with 7 rides and 1 bus ride, safe and sound. Some people really would get out of their way to drive us to our destination and purely enjoy the company of another traveler on long journeys. My last ride even invited me for lunch, to which I cannot refuse as it is impolite to refuse an offer from a host, and even more so from a man in Guatemala! Mom, if you're reading this, I'm safe and sound! Mexico and Guatemala are not countries known with security, however, I want to have faith in the people. Most people are really fantastic and friendly. Those who give a lending hand, are usually those who do not have a lot and understand the difficulty of traveling/living with little dough. Not a single "car" had stopped to pick us up, only pick-ups, trucks and sometime SUVs.