WEEK 3

DAY 15 - Lanquin
- we decide that today would be a good day for some downtime ... catch up on some email (and we´re still trying to finalize the reservation for semana santa), do some reading ... and I´m dying to see the brackets for the NCAAs!
- first up, we request to change to a real room, and today they have space in a loft ... i.e. in the crawl space above a normal room ... it isn´t bad really ... big improvement of the day before ... the ladder is a bit of a pain to negociate though
- everyone at El Rituro is raving about this all day tour of Semuc Champey ... where you swim through caves holding a lit candle, and climb rope ladders, and jump off bridges, etc.
- you have to sign up a day in advance, so we sign up for tomorrow´s tour
- a bunch of chilling and relaxing (internet and reading) later, evening falls, and it´s time to head back to the restaurant for happy hour and dinner
- the dinner theme is ¨Guatemalan food¨... which includes chili relleno! However, the chicken doesn´t seem completely cooked ... and we´re not sure which food item is the culprit ... but neither Isaac nor I are feeling great after dinner
- Isaac actually takes off and heads to the loft right after dinner ... this may have been due more to the fact that he had two Quetzelmeteca drinks during happy hour than any food-related issues
- I hung out and changed for a little while, but the night didn´t have the same energy as the previous evening
- early to bed was probably a good idea anyway, since we had to leave fairly early for the tour the next day
- EoD

DAY 16 - Lanquin to Coban
- I wake up to the sound of pouring rain outside
- Isaac isn´t feeling well, so even if it wasn´t raining out, he probably wouldn´t be up to doing the tour anyway
- by the time we get up, the tour has either already left, or been cancelled
- faced by the prospect of another down day with a bunch of tourists, we weigh the pros of staying (could do the tour tomorrow, can stay for the big St. Patrick´s Day party and shephard´s pie dinner tonight) against the cons (nothing we really want to do at El Rituro today, don´t really want to stay two or more nights, not really keep on a big party with tourists after all), and we quickly decide to make today a travel day
- we check out and flag down a shuttle bus that assures us it is going to Coban
- unlike our other shuttle bus experiences in Guatemala (where the bus would consistently pack 45 people into a 20 seater vehicle), this one was fairly empty
- also, thanks to the rain, the roads weren´t kicking up dust
- HOWEVER ... our bus seemed to be having difficulty going uphill ... and eventually smoke started coming out of the hood!
- we probably got about half way to Coban before the bus pretty much broke down completely
- we got ¨rescued¨ by another shuttle bus ... cramming all 9 passengers into the 4 remaining ¨spaces¨in the mini-bus ... I had the money collector basically sitting in my lap, with a nice metal nub (where the seatbelt used to be) under my arse, with me sitting half on the edge of a seat, and half on a makeshift cushion/seat, pressed up against the edge of the sliding door. FUN!
- better still, the first bus made us pay entirely too much for getting us stranded in the middle of nowhere ... then we also had to pay the new bus ... and then it turned out they didn´t even take us to Coban!!!!
- turns out we got dropped off in some town called Carcha ... we had no idea if we were close to Coban, nor how to get there
- slowly but surely, we asked enough people the right questions, and we found another bus depot a few minutes away (over a bridge) ... all the buses here were headed to Coban
- the ride took like 15 minutes, so apparently we were pretty close after all
- Coban is a town most noted for being a jumping-off point to almost every other destination in Guatemala
- we saw a few tourists, but it was mostly all locals, so again, we were destined to like the town
- we got a dorm room at la Casa de Acuna ... two bunk beds, and both lower bunks were already taken ... more awkward stair climbing to get into bed!
- the hotel was very nice though ... good bathroom, shower with nice hot water, comfortable beds ... they even did a huge load of laundry for us for like $5 US
- the hotel restaurant was also highly recommended in the Lonely Planet, but we wanted cheap local food
- we headed out to explore ... a STEEPLY inclined street or two, and the roads flattened out at their parque centrale ... down the main street, we found many merchants and shops of interest
- we got some super-yummy mango (not green!) dusted with chili powered and lime juice ... then we got it again!
- then we hit a bakery and got a couple of treats ... too much sugar overall, but we managed
- then another shop had real yogurt, so we each got a cup (was runny, so it was more of a refreshing beverage) ... the coco-pina was quite tasty
- next we wandered a lot of the town, just looking for a simple cozy place to go in for a drink ... it was ridiculous how much effort it was taking to find such a place!
- as a last gasp, we almost went into a touristy restaurant ... but before we entered, we saw this tiny hole in the wall (literally), called Comedor Henrry´s
- we walked up a few steps, and checked out the place ... four small tables ... the one closest to the door was vacant ... we called to the back (where the kitchen is) and asked if they served beer ... they did, so we had found our spot!
- and it literally became our spot ... the people were nice, and the food was good and cheap
- we split a plate of huevos rancheros, served with beans and tortillas (and yummy hot sauce)
- later, when it got dark out, we headed back to the parque centrale, to see all the street meat vendors (aka churrascos) ... interestingly enough, each cart was serving exactly the same thing ... grilled steak (or sausage) with beans, onions and some lettuce maybe (with tortillas of course) ... we tried some steak .... tasty and cheap ... but a bit chewy
- it´s worth pointing out that my jacket came out in the evenings in Coban (for the first time this trip)
- it´s about this time that we run into ... yup, the German!!!
- by this point, we´re beyond full, so we luckily have an excuse to decline Andy´s offer to go out for a beer
- we do talk to him long enough to hear that he doesn´t much like Guatemala either ... figures!
- he also took a bus to Copan (Honduras) instead of Coban ... he realised his mistake at the border ... poetic justice maybe?
- so we head back to the hotel and get ready for bed
- enter Klaus and Deiter, the technotwins ... nah, they weren´t that bad, but our roommates were somewhat annoying
- the hotel plays music in the restaurant area (which is easily audible in the room) and the noise seems to last into the wee hours ... a mix of songs from musicals and near-hits from the 80´s ... we´re pretty sure we´ve fallen asleep before the music has stopped
- EoD

DAY 17 - Coban
- we get up and change rooms ... we get a 1 bunk private room ... Deiter and Klaus are gone, but any repeat is to be avoided at all costs
- we head back to our new hangout, Henrry´s
- we each get a lunch special ... one dish is creamed chicken with the usually beans and tortillas, the other is a pulled beef stew with the same beans and tortillas ... both are pretty tasty ... we also get side salads of cooked broccoli, tomatoes and onion ... very yummy
- after lunch, we return to the hotel
- Isaac chills out in the new room, while I head out for a bit
- I get some more yogurt, make a reservation for both of us on tomorrow´s bus to Antigua, and I hit the internet
- the computer is telling me it´s Thursday, even though I thought it was Wednesday
- I go looking for NCAA scores, and it turns out it IS Wednesday
- I start entering notes into this blog, and a couple hours later, I still haven´t even finished week 1 ... now my arse hurts, I´m tired of typing, and I´m counting down until it gets dark out so the Churrascos can return
- I head back to the hotel, and Isaac isn´t there ... there is a piece of paper left on the table ... it´s blank, but when I turn it over, it reads ¨gone to internet¨
- so I figure I´ve just missed Isaac, so I go right back to where I was ... and he isnt´there ... maybe he hasn´t shown up yet ... so I wait ... and wait ... and walk around a bit ... and wait some more ... now it´s dark, and the Churrascos are out ... still no Isaac ... hrm ... maybe he got lost ... I see the German eating some street meat (fairly confident he tried it because he saw us eating it the night before, and even more confident he hates it) ... I ask him if he has seen Isaac ... he hasn´t ... so I head back to the hotel and wait
- a while later, Isaac pops his head in ... turns out that was NOT a note after all (¨gone to the internet¨was from some previous town) ... he took the paper out to bring with him, and simply forget it when he left
- oddly enough, Isaac just got back from a completely different internet place ... after spending hours starting ... a blog! Funny how that happens.
- we head back out (again with jackets) and hit the Churrascos again ... this time we decide to also try a piece of sausage ... tasty, but should have been cooked longer
- it now feels LATE ... the town is quiet ... we wonder if our Henrry´s is still open ... it is!!
- so we have one last drink and bid the Comedor adieu
- EoD

DAY 18 - Coban to Antigua
- we get up, check out, and head to the hostel that sold us the bus tickets for Antigua
- Isaac ducks into the internet shop and is able to call Comcast and clear up this ridiculous $350 bill they had thrown at us for not returning their equipment (we HAD returned it)
- inside the hostel, we see the German sitting with a woman in the dining area ... it´s apparent he isn´t riding on the same bus as us, but he´s also in a direct path to the bathroom ... so looks like no pee right before we get on the bus for a 5 hour ride!
- we´re joined by 4 Canadians, waiting for the same bus ... I recognize at least one of them from El Rituro
- the bus arrives, and there are about 10 people already inside ... and I recognize at least 8 of them from El Rituro!! The big gringo tourist party that we had escaped only a couple days earlier had reared it´s vengeful head and pulled us back in!
- the bus ride was pretty decent really ... comfortable, not cramped ... BIG difference when it´s a tourist bus vs a local bus ... the roads were all paved too (no dust, no painful bumps) ... and the people are the bus were all pleasant (turns out the bus originates in El Rituro and just happens to stop in Coban to pick people up)
- the ride goes fairly smoothly ... a couple girls insist on a bathroom stop here and there, which most of us welcome ... we also stop at a cafeteria where most of them by some touristy food (we get a pretty good dose of how the way most of these people travel differs from our own style)
- then en route to Antigua, we pass through Guatemala City ... no idea how much of the city we covered, but it is HUGE and busy and everywhere you look, it´s an add for Pizza Hut or something similar ... we even saw a Taco Bell there!!
- we had already decided we were probably going to miss the big city, but this little taste was more than enough to confirm we weren´t really interested in spending any real time there
- not far from the city, we arrive in Antigua ... completely unlike the rest of Guatemala ... it boats a European feel ... lots of old churches and the like, but mostly unimpressive as they keep falling to Earthquakes ... the town is definitely catered to tourists, which a grid of streets and avenues all chock-a-block full of stores, restaurants, internet cafes and the like.
- the parque centrale is pretty, and it reminds me of Peru, both in appearance and size (with buildings of significance running the length of all four sides of the park).
- we walk to the Yellow House to try to get a room ... they only have one dorm left ... no good!
- this guy comes up to us and asks if we´d like to try out his hostel
- his name is David, and he is from Italy, but he´s lived in Central America for four years now
- we follow him for a couple of blocks and wind up at Viejo Danes ... it´s small and simple, but it´ll do the trick
- we get a small (cramped) room with 3 beds ... we´re told there is a girl that is supposed to return tomorrow, and if it´s alright with us, she´ll take the 3rd bed
- we dump off our belongings, and head out to see the town
- we´ve read about a bakery that sells warm banana bread around 2pm ... we´ve been CRAVING banana bread since Livingston, so that becomes our first stop
- they only sell full loaves ... so we get one, walk to the park, sit down, and proceed to eat way too much yummy bread (about half the loaf)
- we then do a walk-by on a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet for fantastic smelling local foods ... the food looks pretty good, but the smells aren´t overwhelming ... more importantly, the prices are jacked ... so we know we won´t be returning there for dinner
- we head back to the hotel and chill out for a bit
- we meet a nice Dutch couple that is likely travelling a very similar path as we are ... unfortunately, we never really saw them again after this initial conversation
- it´s gets dark, so we head out in search of some cheap local food
- the book says there is street meat about 1 block west of the parque centrale, so we head there ... and there´s no food going on at all
- we wander around aimlessly for a bit and the book is definitely nowhere near correct
- luckily, we run into David, and he directs us towards the market for the churrascos ... he also mentions that if we want authentic local food, there is a restaurant not far away where it´s all locals (and the food is good and cheap)
- we decide to try to find this restaurant ... first pass by, there is a door that opens into an apparent garage ... with SUV parked and everything!! ... so we figure this can´t possibly be the place
- we walk the rest of the block, and nothing else seems to even remotely ressemble a restaurant (not sure why the car in this place qualified it as the exception to that rule)
- I decided to poke my head in, and just see if there was anything past the car ... turns out there were about 5 small tables around an open courtyard, with a little kitchen at the back ... so we decided to give it a try!
- dinner was 2 choices ... pollo or heuvos ... same sauce for either, served with the standard sides of rice, beans and tortillas ... we get one of each and do our best to split the mains ... overall, the food is decent and cheap, but the hot sauce is disappointingly mild and there´s just nothing special going on
- we head back to the hotel (after taking a look at the churrascos ... they are different than Coban, with the addition of sandwiches (buns loaded with lettuce, tomato, etc.) ... might have to try that out tomorrow)
- we get back, and discover that the girl who was supposed to share the tiny room with us tomorrow night had already shown up!
- we get to the room and it´s empty ... but the addition of her bags makes it evident that there is not much room for anything other than the beds ... we play a little tetris to try to make it work, and we get ready for bed
- a while later, a girl enters our room ... her name is Seiko ... she´s from Japan, but she lives in Vancouver ... for the most part, she´s quiet and just keeps to herself
- trying to sleep, it´s hard to stop feeling cold, even with several blankets on at the same time ... whatever happened to the nights when we had to keep a fan running just to try to stay cool enough to sleep??
- similar to Coban, this hotel pumps out music until fairly late in the evening ... the music here is significantly better though
- EoD

DAY 19 - Antigua
- big sleep (frequently interrupted by this nagging wet cough though)
- it´s uncomfortably cool outside
- my cough has digressed to mass amounts of phlegm, a sneeze and itchy eyes ... not good
- Isaac is still sleeping when I leave ... if he´s not under the weather, the plan is that he´ll climb Volcan Pacaya today (the ACTIVE volcano) ... my issues with breathing at the moment, along with my questionable knee are enough for me to avoid the hike ... not to mention the first hand stories we´ve heard of surviving when things go bad on that volcano (for example, Thomas and Shalini were there for a lava overflow that sent people screaming in all directions, with huge flaming boulders tumbling down directly at them) ... at the same time, today is day 2 of the NCAA tourney, and I know I can watch some live streaming if I find an internet place with a decent (read better than we´ve experienced so far) internet connection
- so I spend quite a long time at the internet cafe ... trying to watch basketball (but it buffers like every 3 seconds ... not exactly streaming). I see the Heels won easily without Lawson yesterday ... so that´s good ... hopefully they don´t need him much tomorrow, but LSU is a bit dangerous
- I spend most of my time adding entries to my blog ... while constantly flipping back to the basketball
- a few hours later, I´m shivering, and I have zero energy
- I head back towards the hotel, thinking I´ll check to see if Isaac went on the hike after all, and maybe I need to lie down
- the sun is out now, and it´s HOT ... weird how it was so cold earlier ... but I still have a chill ... so I try to stay in the sun as much as possible, hoping to warm up
- I get back to the hotel, and Seiko is hanging out in our room ... it seems that Isaac did get picked up for the tour, but the room also seems a bit too crowded for me to lie down at the moment ... plus the room isn´t in the sun at all, so I´m shivering again ... I head back out
- I head to the park and sit on a bench ... it´s mostly peaceful, but several boys who shine shoes keep asking to shine my SANDALS! When I decline, they invariably offer to sell me weed (it´s like Belize all over again, where we were offered weed at least 5 times a day)
- I head over to the market area and decide to give it a walk through
- it´s pretty big ... a long walk east-to-west, and then another long walk south-to-north ... but then it also opens up into a roofed middle area ... but for the most part, I´m just trying to stay in the sunlight
- I´m also getting hungry (feed a cold, right?), so I´m keeping my eye open for a potential meal ... lots of fruit is being sold ... much of it pre-sliced and ready to eat ... but I´m craving something hot ... I decide that once I´m done with the market, I will see if the churrascos are up and running yet
- deep in the market, I see a large gathering of locals, all watching a guy who is talking into a portable microphone and speaker
- turns out he´s doing a magic trick ... I watch for a few minutes to try to see what the trick is ... then I watch for several more minutes ... like 20 minutes later, he may have finally been getting to the finale, but it was just way too long and way too scattered ... so I headed out
- the churrascos weren´t in operation yet, so I wound up heading into Pollo Campero (in Guatemala, we´ve seen Pizza Hut, Dominos, Subway, MacDonald´s, Burger King and Taco Bell ... but we have NOT seen KFC ... only this Pollo Campero) ... I decide to give it a try ... I get a tropical spice chicken burger with fries and a drink ... the sandwich winds up being pretty tasty (and not breaded) ... and there hot sauce was pretty addictive ... overall, it was fast food, and a bit pricey ... but it was worth checking it out one time
- the sun starts to go down, and my chill just gets worse and worse
- I head back to the hotel, and Sieko or not, it´s time for me to lie down
- I spend the next several hours bundled up in bed, trying to get warm, with my nose all stuffed up and my cough getting much more frequent ... apparently I´m full on sick
- hours later, Isaac returns from his tour ... says it was great and that some guy from another group died of a heart attack ... that´s about all that registers before I go back to my futile attempts to rid myself of this insufferable chill
- Isaac asks how I´m feeling, and my throat has closed up so much that I can´t even speak
- the first half of the night consists of coughing up a storm, trying not to breathe on anyone (while trying to breathe at all), and listening to the hotel´s ¨special music¨
- the bits and pieces of sleep I get are filled with vivid and non-sensible dreams ... they keep repeating though, so I feel like I´m going crazy
- then magic happens ... I wake up absolutely drenched in sweat! The fever has broken, and suddenly I don´t have a chill anymore ... my breathing is also a lot easier, and the cough has been more or less surpressed!
- I´m able to sleep through the rest of the evening rather peacefully
- EoD

DAY 20 - Antigua
- we get up and check several travel places to find out how we get to El Salvador from Antigua
- we make a reservation for EARLY the next morning
- I feel a lot better than I did the day before, but I still don´t feel great
- Isaac checks out the market while I head back to the internet
- I try to watch the UNC game ... the streaming isn't all the great, but I'm able to see most of the second half (this is also when I accidentally wiped out my original week 2 blog)
- not much else happens for the day ... Isaac wants to try Pollo Campero, so we head back there for lunch ... it's not as "good" as it was the day before
- Seiko took off early in the morning, so we had the room to ourselves for our last night
- evening comes, and we realize we have quite a few quetzals left, and this is our last night in Guatemala ... so we decide to go spend some money
- first up, we hit a used book store ... we figure we're low on books as it is, so this is a great way to use up some of the cash ... after about an hour of browsing (and the shop wasn't that big), we settle on 3 chick-lit/romantic comedy style books
- next, we head to the market area to try the local street meat ... this is the first place we've seen big buns for some kind of sandwich with guacamole in it ... so we each get one ... turns out it's a chicken sandwich, and the chicken is pretty grisly ... we also see a couple chiles rellenos, so we get those too ... but again, not all that good ... at this point, we're slightly disappointed, but just done with food for the day
- we still have a bit of local currency left, so we hit a pharmacy, and Isaac gets some shampoo
- we head back to the hotel and try to get to sleep early, because we have to be up for a 4am departure the next day
- EoD

DAY 21 - Antigua to Playa El Tunco
- after a few short hours of sleep, we get up at 3:30am (thanks to Isaac´s iPod alarm that is not loud, and only lasts for 10 seconds ... but thankfully, I hear it and wake up)
- we head out of the hotel, and a minibus picks us up right at 4am
- we´re the first 2 on the bus, but we wind up making several stops throughout Antigua, and by the time we are officially heading towards Guatemala City, the mini bus is full ... the same as all the other minibuses we´ve been on, only instead of 20 to 25 tiny locals crammed into the bus, we have exactly 9 tourists ... and it´s a tight fit (I once again get Colorado ... this time, she´s so big, so actually needs help getting out of her seat ... and she´s having body heat and breathing issues ... awesome)
- the roads are quiet and the ride isn´t too long ... it´s dark and no one is talking, so overall, it´s a fairly painless experience
- after about 30 minutes, we arrive at the airport in GC, where five of the tourists got off the bus
- the airport wasn´t huge, but it wasn´t tiny either ... and it looked fairly nice and modern
- about 10 minutes later, we drove through a much less modern part of town, where many people were mulling around, getting ready to set up their market stands (even though it´s still dark outside) ... only, we weren´t driving through that area, it just happened to be the same spot as our $5 cheaper bus station (TICA bus being the other option))
- we pull into the station, and it´s a total dump... fumes everywhere ... the bathroom was straight-up scary ... someone is grabbing our bags and throwing them on a bigger bus, someone else beckoning us to a counter to get our names passport numbers) ... the mini bus takes off with the last two tourists (heading to TICA bus, I presume) ... we experience a couple of ¨where are our tickets¨sketch moments, but next thing you know, we´re on a perfectly comfortable bus (this was $5 supposedly because it didn´t have a/c and tv ... but it had both) ... and it never even filled up - just us and a few locals
- so we head for El Salvador at 6am, and it´s just a nice ride ... we´re both in and out of sleep the entire time, and as the sun comes up, it hits the windows hard ... but the bus was equipped with fairly efficent curtains, and the a/c made it fairly comfortable
- we arrive at the border to El Salvador, and the bus stops at immigration, and we figure we need to get off and talk to an officer ... but no one is saying anything, and only some people ahead of us actually got off the bus
- I head out anyway, with Isaac a couple minutes behind
- I immediately get circled by all these men, all talking to me a mile a minute ... some of them with huge wads of cash in their hand (so obviously trying to offer to exchange any remaining quetzals we might have - El Salvador´s official currency is USD)
- but the non-cash guys kept saying something about you need to go this way, and you need a passport ... it was all very confusing (and no one else from the bus offering any help or stepping in) ... eventually I pull out my passport to shut them up ¨stop saying I need my passport, I have it right here¨ ... well that was a huge mistake, because one guy immediately grabs it and takes it from me!!!! NOT GOOD!! I grab back at it, and I´m freaking at the thought that he may just bolt ... instead we each hold on to the passport and he leads me to a part of a wall with a ledge, and he pulls out some piece of paper and a pen
- the whole thing seems beyond sketch, but more importantly, I can see a queue inside the immigration office (and none of these people have any appearance of representing immigration - and yet the officials inside don´t seem bothered that these guys are pestering tourists outside)
- whatever he´s doing ... MAYBE he´s actually trying to do me a favour ... I see a better alternative just a few feet away ... so I swipe the passport, head straight into the office, and ignore the various spanglish-esque insults being hurled at me
- I get in the office and join the queue ... I look out wondering where Isaac is, and if he´s getting the same treatment ... he enters the office a minute later, and he says he saw enough of what I went through to avoid them altogether, so no issues there
- 5 minutes later, we´re at the front of the queue and we get our stamp to leave Guatemala ... simple as that
- back on the bus, and we cross over to El Salvador ... no stamp here (sucks not getting a stamp), no getting off the bus ... an official comes on the bus, looks at our passports, nods his head, and away we go
- the bus showed two movies ... the first movie was god-awful made-for-television flick (with a bunch of really famour actors, but dubbed), where three guys kidnap a baby for ransom, and they wind up getting hit with a variety of ¨Home Alone¨-esque disasters ... funny for a minute, but not what I would call watchable
- the second movie was WAY more entertaining ... where a bunch of prisoners get dropped off on an island and it´s a PPV tv show that shows all the prisoners trying to kill each other to be the last one standing (one of them being the wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin, so you know the movie is crap, but still way better than the first one)
- naturally, we arrive at the bus station in San Salvador about 20 minutes into the ¨good¨ movie
- we get off the bus, and we're in a rather nice terminal for King Quality (infinitely better than the terminal we first boarded in GC)
- we head upstairs and talk to a ticket agent, and we get enough information to get our bearings, and we decide to walk towards parque central to try to catch a bus to the beach
- naturally, it's the hottest time of the day, and carrying our packs, the heat feels like death incarnate
- after asking this person and that person, we eventually find ourselves on some random street, in front of a food/drink stand ... apparently, this is THE bus stop to get to the beach (although there is no sign that it's a bus stop at all)
- as we're waiting for the 102 bus (San Salvador constantly has a gazillion buses going by in all directions), about three 22L buses go by ... eventually, the woman running the food stand tells us that the 22L will get us to the beach too ... doh!
- we get on the next one, and it eventually gets packed (typical chicken bus) ... I wind up having to sit with my bag on top of me (even though there really isn't enough room to breathe like that) ... at least the ride only costs like $0.60
- it's around this time that it really hits home that El Salvador's official currency is the US dollar ... kind of strange
- the bus takes us on a decent tour of the southwestern parts of the city, and we eventually hit the southern highway to La Libertad
- we arrive at La Libertad, and the ocean is within view ... always a good feeling
- the town is a bit of chaos, but the bus driver points us to the 80 bus, just down the street a bit ... telling us that will get us to the beach town we want
- little did we know there are two 80 buses ... one that runs northwest (the one we wanted), and one that runs southeast (the one we didn't want) ... and they naturally stack on the same street, one after the other (alternating)
- so obviously, we took the wrong bus
- fortunately we pieced together our mistake before we'd completely left town ... they let us exit before we had to pay, and we were more careful getting on the next 80 bus
- this bus ride only cost $0.25, and about 20 minutes later, the bus stopped for us, letting us off at an intersection to a road that boasted many signs for Playa El Tunco
- bags back on our shoulders, heat still trying to cripple and maim, we walked a surprisingly long road to get to where the hotels were
- we finally arrived at a couple that were recommended in the Lonely Planet ... unfortunately, they were both full ... it never occurred to us the whole beach might be full
- we keep walking until the road turns towards the ocean ... there we found Papaya, and were quite relieved to be informed they had a room available
- Papaya turned out to be a really great place to stay ... an open kitchen, a couple of shady areas to hang out, with hammocks, internet (if you could ever get your turn on the computer) ... and the room was decent ... pretty good beds, a fan, and a private bathroom ... and the price was on the low-end for the entire town ... the only real negatives were that the sinks were all outside the rooms, and the water often stopped running for hours at a time
- we get settled in and then we go to check out the beach
- dry black sand under the sun all day = HOT ... I can't imagine that walking on coals is much worse really ... but as long as you're wearing sandals, your feet don't burn
- the moist black sand was actually very comfortable, and fine for lying on
- the ocean itself was very inviting ... not cold at all, and not dirty ... the waves were constant, but rarey "big" ... about four sets of waves out is where all the surfers would gather ... but El Tunco is known more as a play to learn to surf (as opposed to a place when you can catch really big waves)
- we jump in the ocean, dive through a few waves, and life is just suddenly GOOD
- as the sun started to set, we hit a beach restaurant and got a huge michelada ... refreshing, yummy and cheap
- we then headed out to look for food ... we walked back up the main road for a bit, and then we discovered Mopelia ... our new "home"for dinner
- we sat at the bar and ordered drinks ... we met Miguel, the bartender ... then we ordered cheeseburgers (that were soooo good) ... we eventually met the owner, Gil - he'd come from Belgium a few years ago ... he's now married to a local woman (Mopelia's cook), and they have an adorable little boy
- a few drinks later, we did the short walk back to our room, and went to bed pretty happy ... minus the fact that my cold was still on the mend ... and Isaac's cold was really just beginning
- EoD
- EoW