It's hard to believe I've been away from home for just 4 weeks now.
While I'm certainly glad I still have 7 weeks of this amazing journey
remaining, I could easily stop now and be content with the things I've
done, the places I've been, and the people I've met. It's been a great
trip so far.
A lot has happened in the last two weeks, so I'll try to keep this short, but allow me to first get a bit philosophical if you will.
Its been even more evident to me whilst traveling solo that small decisions, the willingness to take a risk or two, and more than just a hint of pure luck play a huge role in our enjoyment of the day to day things we do. Going through the motions and following a preconceived plan can be great, but it's been one of my goals for this trip to be more spontaneous, take more risks (within reason of course), do things that I hadn't planned on doing originally, and generally just take things as they come.
When I sit and think about it, there's literally been hundreds of forks in the road in my last two weeks. Junctions were I've made decisions, both consciously and subconsciously, that have led to the remarkably enjoyable time that I've had. Some are as simple as talking to a random person in a bar, others as difficult as doing a backflip off an 8m platform above Lake Atitlan. Its mind boggling when I think about how I could have taken the opposite path at any particular point. Would I have had as much fun? Maybe. Would I have met as many good people as I have? Probably not. Would I have been able to deal with the bad news I received from home so well? Almost certainly not. Every decision has combined equally importantly to get me where I am today (on a plane to Peru), and I'm extremely grateful for how things have gone down to this point.
Now onto the details, here's what I've been up to for the last two weeks:
My second week of Spanish lessons was just as intense as the first. Frustration rose as I learnt ton of new words, but couldn't string them together properly to form anything near what you'd call a coherent sentence, until it finally clicked together a little in the final couple of days. So after 40 hours of Spanish lessons, I found myself able to get around town, but I'll hardly be socializing with the locals any time soon. Proper conversations are still tricky, and I challenge you to have a conversation with someone today using only the present tense. You can even use your own native language.
I enjoyed a few nights on the town in Antigua, including one at Cafe No Se, where the famous Mezcal Bar runs by its own set of rules, if you're prepared to go through the 5 foot doorway adorned with the '2 shot minimum' warning message. Delicious Mezcal and good vibes await inside, a lot of fun.
A trip to the beach is one weekend I won't forget in a very long time. With the desire for a bit of adventure, we set off for a weekend in Monterrico 'the local way'. Two chicken buses, one comparatively luxurious mini-bus and a small wooden boat later we arrived about $6 lighter after three and a half hours of traveling. The journey certainly lived up to the hype. Monterrico is a pretty sleepy little beach town, and the first thing to strike you is the black sand. Coming from where sand is yellow or white, it's a strange feeling walking around in what looks like, but doesn't feel like dirt. The next thing that will strike you, literally if you let it, is the power of the Pacific Ocean. Churning black waves dump right on the beach, and just standing in the knee deep water is a challenge. If you manage to get through the breakers there is some respite, but the heavy undertow must be respected. A few minutes in the water and I came out quite exhausted. Watching the stars and listening to the power of the waves relentlessly hammering the shore in the darkness was a great way to spend the evening. A few bottles of Quetzalteca, and some great company were a fine addition to these natural wonders. A very memorable weekend indeed.
More chance encounters with fellow random travelers started one of the most enjoyable and relaxing weeks of my life. Everything slows down when you get to San Pedro, the Amsterdam of Central America. So it was lucky that by chance I'd stumbled across 4 genuinely good people to pass the time with as we'd wait for whatever it was we were waiting for. Card games and trivial pursuit quizzes were the norm once we'd ordered our meals. Unplanned hikes through coffee plantations, swimming in the lake, and kayak adventures filled the rest of our days. The trip over water to San Marcos was rewarded with the opportunity to jump from the 8m platform built into the rock face. Somewhat daunting the first time, it wasn't long before I found myself eager to get a little more adventurous thanks to being in the presence of an extremely talented amateur cliff jumper. A couple of backflips ensued, the second of which was caught on video and should surface on the Internet soon. Far from perfectly executed, but looking back I'm extremely happy with myself for giving it a go.
I returned to Antigua for the weekend, and it really was a weekend of mixed emotions. A birthday in Guatemala, a funeral back home. Through the highs and lows I was extremely glad to be in the company that I was, it made the hard times easier, and the good times even better. A couple of days relaxing and not doing much after the weekend had me feeling like a local, and not wanting to leave. But the flight was booked and more adventures await, on to Peru!!
A lot has happened in the last two weeks, so I'll try to keep this short, but allow me to first get a bit philosophical if you will.
Its been even more evident to me whilst traveling solo that small decisions, the willingness to take a risk or two, and more than just a hint of pure luck play a huge role in our enjoyment of the day to day things we do. Going through the motions and following a preconceived plan can be great, but it's been one of my goals for this trip to be more spontaneous, take more risks (within reason of course), do things that I hadn't planned on doing originally, and generally just take things as they come.
When I sit and think about it, there's literally been hundreds of forks in the road in my last two weeks. Junctions were I've made decisions, both consciously and subconsciously, that have led to the remarkably enjoyable time that I've had. Some are as simple as talking to a random person in a bar, others as difficult as doing a backflip off an 8m platform above Lake Atitlan. Its mind boggling when I think about how I could have taken the opposite path at any particular point. Would I have had as much fun? Maybe. Would I have met as many good people as I have? Probably not. Would I have been able to deal with the bad news I received from home so well? Almost certainly not. Every decision has combined equally importantly to get me where I am today (on a plane to Peru), and I'm extremely grateful for how things have gone down to this point.
Now onto the details, here's what I've been up to for the last two weeks:
My second week of Spanish lessons was just as intense as the first. Frustration rose as I learnt ton of new words, but couldn't string them together properly to form anything near what you'd call a coherent sentence, until it finally clicked together a little in the final couple of days. So after 40 hours of Spanish lessons, I found myself able to get around town, but I'll hardly be socializing with the locals any time soon. Proper conversations are still tricky, and I challenge you to have a conversation with someone today using only the present tense. You can even use your own native language.
I enjoyed a few nights on the town in Antigua, including one at Cafe No Se, where the famous Mezcal Bar runs by its own set of rules, if you're prepared to go through the 5 foot doorway adorned with the '2 shot minimum' warning message. Delicious Mezcal and good vibes await inside, a lot of fun.
A trip to the beach is one weekend I won't forget in a very long time. With the desire for a bit of adventure, we set off for a weekend in Monterrico 'the local way'. Two chicken buses, one comparatively luxurious mini-bus and a small wooden boat later we arrived about $6 lighter after three and a half hours of traveling. The journey certainly lived up to the hype. Monterrico is a pretty sleepy little beach town, and the first thing to strike you is the black sand. Coming from where sand is yellow or white, it's a strange feeling walking around in what looks like, but doesn't feel like dirt. The next thing that will strike you, literally if you let it, is the power of the Pacific Ocean. Churning black waves dump right on the beach, and just standing in the knee deep water is a challenge. If you manage to get through the breakers there is some respite, but the heavy undertow must be respected. A few minutes in the water and I came out quite exhausted. Watching the stars and listening to the power of the waves relentlessly hammering the shore in the darkness was a great way to spend the evening. A few bottles of Quetzalteca, and some great company were a fine addition to these natural wonders. A very memorable weekend indeed.
More chance encounters with fellow random travelers started one of the most enjoyable and relaxing weeks of my life. Everything slows down when you get to San Pedro, the Amsterdam of Central America. So it was lucky that by chance I'd stumbled across 4 genuinely good people to pass the time with as we'd wait for whatever it was we were waiting for. Card games and trivial pursuit quizzes were the norm once we'd ordered our meals. Unplanned hikes through coffee plantations, swimming in the lake, and kayak adventures filled the rest of our days. The trip over water to San Marcos was rewarded with the opportunity to jump from the 8m platform built into the rock face. Somewhat daunting the first time, it wasn't long before I found myself eager to get a little more adventurous thanks to being in the presence of an extremely talented amateur cliff jumper. A couple of backflips ensued, the second of which was caught on video and should surface on the Internet soon. Far from perfectly executed, but looking back I'm extremely happy with myself for giving it a go.
I returned to Antigua for the weekend, and it really was a weekend of mixed emotions. A birthday in Guatemala, a funeral back home. Through the highs and lows I was extremely glad to be in the company that I was, it made the hard times easier, and the good times even better. A couple of days relaxing and not doing much after the weekend had me feeling like a local, and not wanting to leave. But the flight was booked and more adventures await, on to Peru!!
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