The bus ride to Chichi was just under 3 hours and at one point we were shuttled onto another bus due to the fact that there was a mechanical issue. I asked the driver what was wrong he he responded fuego mechnico. Just as I was thinking that must be a pretty bad problem they were loading locals into the exact bus we had gotten off of. After the vehicle exchange we made it to Chichi where we were instantly met by the bustling market that you couldn't walk for a second in without getting yelled at to buy something. The city and market had kind of a dirty feel to it but we were up to explore every corner of it while we were here. Being the biggest market it Guatemala we wanted to buy regalos (gifts) for folks back home and it also gave us a chance to sharpen our bargaining skills. Alex wasn't the best at saying no or turning people down so we ended up looking at a ton of places that had mostly the same things such as pillow cases, masks, knives and blankets.
We had had enough of the market and headed back to our fluorescent green painted hostel were we napped upstairs and listened to the afternoon thunderstorm. Most people who visit Chichi only go for the market and head back to where they left in the morning but we had decided to stick around and go to HueHuetenango the next day. We probably should have done a little more research on the routes to get to HueHue because the next morning it seemed almost a death wish to travel the washed out mountain road that has yet to be fixed. After talking over coffee and eggs at breakfast we decided to skip northwestern part of Guatemala and head towards Flores and Tikal further North and closer to Belize. The change in plans seemed to be the best and safest option but it also meant we had to go back through Antigua before getting a bus in Guatemala City. The chicken bus was entertaining on the way to Antigua, complete with old western Spanish movie playing on a flat screen TV above to driver and every seat packed in 3 deep with the aisle also full. After winding through the mountain roads and trying to keep down our lunch we made it back to Antigua where we found a hostel for the cheapest rate yet at 70 Q total.
After napping for a while we headed out to find a bus to take us up North in the morning. Not only did we find a bus but we found one leaving at 9 pm from Guatemala City that evening. Although we had already paid for the hostel it seemed like a good idea to try and knock out the 8 hour bus ride to Flores during the night...
12 hours later, after a midnight breakdown, crying baby and urgent roadside bathroom break we made it to Flores. There we stayed at a small little hostel with a great view of the lake. We bought tickets for the Tikal Mayan ruins an hour or so up the road for the next day and also made the decision to head to Belize. Initially we were going to only stay in Guatemala but after talking to Mark (a.k.a Stone Cold) a bald headed, grey bearded American who lives in San Pedro, Belize, we bought tickets for the 5 hour bus/boat ride to the island....
Other random things..
-Met badass couple Simon and Julia from New Zealand who we had dinner with in Flores.
- We met an recently married angry couple in the hostel that we call the Angry Birds. They yelled at the cleaning lady for stealing their pot they left out. They always seem to be following us, bc they were on our same bus to Belize and also stayed in San Pedro.
- People in Belize are nice
- Food in Belize is amazing
- We aren't rich (with money) but staying in Ramones makes is feel like it
- Snorkelling yesterday was amazing
- Lobster Fest Today!
- Heading back to Guatemala tomorrow
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