I had set my alarm for 7, but I woke up at 6 after having a dream that a pathway I was walking on broke and I fell into a dark hole filled with water. You’ll be glad to know that someone rescued me. I thought I might not be able to go back to sleep, but I did. I got up at 7, got ready, read my Bible, and worked on my blog from yesterday. I went into the house at 8 for breakfast. I had coffee, a roll with a big blob of jam (strawberry, I believe) inside, and some tostadas (the sweet kind). I talked to Sandy and asked for suggestions of what I should do during the day. She suggested going to La Laguna Chicabal which is a lake that is in the crater of a volcano. I had read about it in my guide book, but I wasn’t sure if it would be safe to hike it alone because it is not safe to hike the hills near Xela (pronounced shay-luh) alone. I trust Sandy’s judgment, though. I asked how to get there, and she gave me directions.
I went back to my room and packed up my stuff. I left my room a little after 8:30. I caught the bus at the corner near my house (the one that has “información” written on the wall) to go to “Terminal” which means Terminal Minerva. The ride only cost Q1. I can’t figure out why the prices vary when you are going the same distance. Anyway, we were almost to Terminal Minerva when I spotted a van (“microbus”) behind us that had a sign in the windshield that said “Chile Verde,” which is where I was trying to go. I went to the front of the bus, and they stopped to let me out. I quickly ran behind the bus and climbed aboard the van. I probably saved 15 minutes by getting on that van instead of taking the bus all the way to the terminal, then having to walk through the market, and then waiting for the correct van to take me to San Martín Chile Verde. Sandy told me she thought the ride would take a half hour. However, it took almost an hour. I got on the van at 9am, and I didn’t arrive at my destination until 9:55. During this time, we stopped about a million times with the ayudante trying to get more people to ride the van. My stomach was feeling kind of queasy (maybe from the bread with jam in the middle?), but the curvy, bumpy roads with enormous speed bumps while sitting in the very back seat of the van did not help. By the time I got out at the bottom of the volcano, I was feeling pretty bad. I really just wanted to lie down on the road, but that was not really an option. I prayed that I would start feeling better and started walking up an extremely steep mountain road.
It was interesting because there was just one road up the mountain. It was paved for a while and had houses on either side. It was basically a village, only the houses were arranged vertically rather than horizontally. I saw lots of children out playing and people working in the fields. I saw cows and pigs, kittens and dogs. The road went on for a long way and then the road changed to cobblestone-type rocks with two cement tracks for vehicles. After a while, the road changed again to gravel. This was the end of the houses. I kept walking up and up and up. It was just a road with trees on either side. It started getting foggier from the clouds as I got higher. When I got to a point where I could look down below, I was surprised to see how high I had come. I kept walking. I would pass people coming down, some tourists and some men and boys carrying loads of firewood on their backs. By this time, it was so foggy that I could hardly see. It was kind of eerie, but I wasn’t scared. There were people working out in the foggy fields. I walked for an hour and then I came to the entrance to La Laguna Chicabal. I felt bad because the only money I had was a 100 quetzal bill, but the man was able to give me change. The entrance fee was Q15. The man and his helper tried to explain to me how to get to the path that would take me to the laguna. I couldn’t see what they were trying to describe to me, and it seemed complicated. The helper walked me through a pick-up soccer game until we reached the beginning of the path. There was a map on a big wooden board, too. I kept walking. The road was more like a trail at this point. It was flatter and muddier. I reached a point where there was a sign that told visitors to be silent so they could hear the birds. The bird songs were really quite spectacular. Then it started raining, and the birds stopped singing. The air was completely white by now. It reminded me of the cloud forest in Costa Rica. There was a mirador (lookout point), but I could not see anything other than white. I put up my umbrella because of the rain. I felt kind of silly hiking in the woods with a hot pink umbrella, but at least I was sort of dry. I walked for about a half hour on this path. Finally, I came to a sign that reminded people to be respectful since this lake is sacred to the Mayan people. They still come there today to have special ceremonies. The final descent to the lake was very muddy and slippery. Finally I arrived and saw… more white. I was disappointed at first because I could not even tell there was a lake! Then it started raining harder and I noticed the rain hitting the lake near the shore. There were several other tourists around and some Guatemalans having a cook-out. I walked a bit further around the lake and took some pictures. I met a girl named Ashley from Wisconsin and her guide, Christian. We talked a bit, and while we were talking, the fog cleared off the lake and we could see across it. I took more pictures and then my camera batteries died. I tried my extra ones, but they had apparently lost their charge. Ashley said I could get her pictures on facebook! After about 15 minutes of looking at the lake, Ashley invited me to continue hiking with them. We climbed 591 steep, slippery steps to get to a lookout where we could see… nothing but white. The lookouts had roofs, so we rested a while up there and had a snack. I wrote down Ashley’s name so I could find her on facebook. Then we got ready to descend the 9,514 feet high volcano. It was slippery, and we all nearly fell at least once or twice. There really is not much to say about this part of the hike except it was rainy, steep, and slippery. We came down the same way I had come up (the only path there is). We were glad to get to the paved road part, but it was still slick. The only part that was different was inside of walking up the big hill to get to the road at the bottom of the volcano, Ashley and I walked across a rope bridge one at a time that went over a creek and then we climbed 54 steps to get to the road. We didn’t have to wait long until a bus showed up. We clambered aboard with some other tourists who were also waiting. This was a chicken bus (autobus) instead of a van (microbus). The man charged us Q10 apiece which is twice what I paid on the way there. I was so glad to be sitting down out of the rain that I didn’t mind too much! We got back much faster, too. The return took only 30 minutes. I was going to ride all the way to the terminal like I usually do, but Christian told me I should get out with them. I did, but I had no idea where I was. I was regretting my decision until we got on a microbus that went around a corner and I realized that that was where I usually found my microbus! I now know a shortcut to get back! Christian got off first, and then Ashley got out near Central Park. I rode all the way to Parque Bolívar, and then walked the rest of the way home.
It was 2:30 when I got home. I felt bad because I had missed lunch at 1. I hoped Sandy wasn’t worried about me. It was an awkward situation because I didn’t want her to feel like she had to feed me lunch, but I wanted to let her know I was back, in case she was worried. I went in the house and Sandy and Roberto were eating. I talked to them and Sandy asked me if I had eaten. I said no but told her I could go eat somewhere else. She said she had assumed I was not eating when I was not there at lunch time. She gave me some leftover soup and rice and pureed lentils on a flour tortilla. I thanked her and ate quickly.
I took a shower. I realized that showering in a cold place with no heat is a series of painfully cold steps. First you have to take off your clothes, and you feel cold. Then you step into the shower and turn on the water, and you feel even colder at first. Then the top half of you gets warm enough from the water that the goose bumps leave, but the water is cold by the time it hits your legs, so goose bumps and shivering are commonplace, and you feel cold. Then you turn the water off every few minutes during the shower to prevent your suicide shower head from overheating, and you feel even colder. When you finish the shower, you turn the water off, and you feel colder. Then you step out of the shower, and you feel even colder. You think you have endured the worst until you open the bathroom door and realize that although the air inside the bathroom is cold, it is much colder outside the bathroom, and you start shivering. Finally you have to remove the towel, and by this time you are apt to be shivering uncontrollably. Your best hope at this point is to quickly put your clothes on, and if you are re-wearing something from before the shower, it may still be slightly warm if you hurried in the shower.
I packed my backpack for the hike that night. I brought some snacks, 2 water bottles, a flashlight, my camera, extra batteries, and a few other things. I planned my multi-layed outfit. I started writing this blog entry and I read for a little bit. Then I went to the internet café for a half hour. I posted some pictures on the blog. Then I stopped by a little bakery and selected some bread and tostadas to take on the hike. I organized my stuff in my room and my suitcase.
I have come to the conclusion that “clean” is a relative term. When I got here, I thought that clean meant you had not worn that item since it had been washed. Now I am realizing that there are different levels of “clean.” For example, clothes that I washed at home and brought with me are the highest level of clean. Then the next level would be clothes that are washed here at the laundromat (although I have not yet gone). Following that, the cleanest clothes are the ones I wash in the sink and hang to dry over the shower rod for 3-4 days until they dry. (Did I mention that it is very humid here and nothing ever dries? I can set my umbrella up to dry overnight and in the morning, it will still be covered in raindrops. My thin waterproof jacket whose label claims it dries “in minutes” takes a full 12 hours to dry.) Anyway, the rest of the levels of clean have to do with how many times an article of clothing is worn without washing. Since I wear 3-4 layers a day, this means I am getting a lot of use out of each washing. I would wash more clothes if I didn’t have to carry them to Central Park (20 minutes away) and then pick them up and carry them back. We will see how long I can make it (without smelling bad, that is!).
After that it was time for dinner. I can’t remember exactly what we ate. I think we had rice, black beans, bread, and maybe something else. It was raining fairly hard, so I was hoping that it would finish before it was time to leave for hiking. After dinner, I went to my room, made a peanut butter sandwich to take with me, went back to the kitchen to wash and return the knife, and then got ready to sleep until it was time to leave for the hike. I knew it would be cold when I got up at 11:30pm, so I decided to go ahead and put on my inner layers of clothing, so that way I wouldn’t be so cold. (I learned this tip in Mexico). I was in bed before 8:30, but I couldn’t fall asleep forever. I was really cold even though I was wearing 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, and had 3 blankets on me. I didn’t think I had fallen asleep when I heard my alarm go off and realized that I must have fallen asleep. I don’t think I slept much… maybe an hour. I didn’t want to get up. It was hard to remember why I thought hiking a volcano at midnight would be fun. I got out of bed and put on my hiking clothes. On my top I wore a tank top, a t-shirt, two long-sleeved shirts, a zip-up jacket, a thick fleece jacket, and my waterproof jacket. I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I was ready to go at 11:45, and I walked over to wait under the carport roof. Did I mention that it was raining?
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