Greetings From Guatemala

Smarty is on the road once again, traveling at top speed through the amazing country of Guatemala, where the temperatures over the last week have ranged from 'how is it possible for any more sweat to escape my pores' to 'where is my hat I need to cover my head in order to sleep without freezing.'

First stop was the lovely island town of Flores, which can be circumambulated in about 15 minutes, even when it's 90 degrees and ragingly humid out, the streets are cobblestone (that's a euphemism) and you're wearing flipflops.  Used as a jumping off point to visit the ruins of Tikal, which far outweigh any Smarty has seen in the past (and yes, she feels badly betraying her long love of Palenque) in size and stature, buried in the jungle, temples peeking out of the clearings and towering one higher than the other. We climbed four or five of them before our knees turned to jello just a little too early, as our descent through the jungle path led us through a group of howler monkeys, which literally sound like roaring lions (not that we've ever heard a lion roar in the wild), a fact not lost on those of us who had seen the yellow animal crossing sign with a picture of jaguar on it toward the entrance of the park. Escaping the roaring creatures, which we couldn't see and so were sure had claws and teeth that could do away with us, was no small feat, but we did in fact survive and returned safely to the island haven in time for licuados, naranjadas, a shower and a Gallo.

Off to Chichicastnango in time for market on La Noche Buena via a segundo clase bus colored in all its glory that barely stopped to let people on and off via the back emergency exit. Missed our 'stop' in Chichi as everyone said the whole population of the bus would be bajando which of course it did not, so with the help of our friendly neighbors (the family of five in the one schoolbus sized seat next to us), who most likely were just hoping to clear more space for themselves, we banged on the bus ceiling to get the driver's attention and climbed out the back just in time to catch our luggage as it was thrown to us from the roof of the bus.

Chichi was gloriously cool and breezy with a large population of drunkards and hilly curvy streets to wander, reminiscient of San Cristobal de las Casas but not as clean or friendly. We were deterred from a visit to the most beautiful cemetary Smarty has ever seen because it's not safe for the chicas. Dinner at a lovely marketside restaurant with portions so large that (a) when you are finished, it looks like someone should just be starting on your plate and (b) we returned for breakfast the next day. Look forward to a picture to be posted (HERE)  when we return home of the fruit plate AFTER I'd finished eating from it.

Caught a tourist bus to Lago de Atitlan, as there were no second class directs to Panajachel, and have reveled in the relajando atmosphere of this place. Woke Christmas day for breakfast and a kayak  on the lake,  then took a barco  to a mellow hippy town to swim but and spent most of the time trying to figure out the relation between some adorable mixed kids and a variety of gringo men speaking the most fluid spanish with the worst gringo accents ever and the lovely Guatemaltecan women. Sat way in front of the boat on the way back to feel the wind and the waves, then talked our way into a nice hotel pool for an early evening goof off and some exercise before Italian dinner and drinks.

Today is a glorious day-windy and cool and left open for wandering (though sadly too windy for kayaking), but glorious mostly because, after about 4 days of no one in the country having any cash, the banks are again open and stocked. Rumors on the recent deficiency range from everyone in the country receiving 2-in-1 paychecks to cover la navidad y el año nuevo to a gringo run on Quetzales to a rise in robberies at the bank machines. Regardless, the feel of even dirty wet bills in one's hand is sometimes a relief.

Off to explore another town along the island and arrange for the bus to Antigua en la mañana. Feliz Año Nuevo a todos.