backtrack

the week before christmas i was rushing around somewhat trying to a bit more of guatemala before heading onto mexico.

first i went to place called semuc champey in the middle of the country, travelling in various pick ups and minibuses, 15km taking 1 hour but the surroundings were beautiful and i had a big latino man squashed in next to me telling horror stories about cars and buses falling off the edges, plummeting down the cliff sides, i was glad for my limited spanish so as not to hear the details. semuc consists of a series of beautiful turquoise pools on top of a massive river and is incredibly beautiful, set in the lushest jungle. exploring the caves there was a bit of a cheap thrill to; scaling the sides, swimming under rocks, climbing waterfalls all one handed so as not to extinguish the single candle in your hand which is the only light source you have! it aint no wookey hole, i tells ya.

after semuc i headed north to lago de peten itza for yet more beautiful scenery and silvery water, climbing, monkey spotting, hammock swinging and to pick my friendly parasites, the amoebas! i also made it to tikal, the most incredible land of mayan temple ruins in the jungle. caught a beautiful sunset and sneaked in early for a cloudy sunrise and was ¨serenaded¨ by the howler monkeys whilst the temples emerged from amongst the clouds and trees.

finally i am now in here in mexico, staying with pip and family in their gorgeous place.
i leave in a few days to find my destination for new years. have a good one yourselves.

till the next blog adios

greetings

christmas eve and i wake up from my comfy double bed and walk out of the house and onto the beautiful empty white beach and into the turquoise sea. by 8am i am asleep under the hot mexican sun and when i wander back for a fresh papaya breakfast i whisper a wee thanks to the creator of this new christmas experience and my early christmas presents of parasites which cause me to look pregnant and even more ridiculous in my hidious new bikini, i´m working at expelling them...nice!

so i am on my holiday from my holiday, hard work all this holidaying eh! staying with the fornieres in playa is fun again a perfect turkfest would surely thrive here.

as expected at this time of year i miss everyone like crazy, especially mi familia but its really nice to see pip, a little piece of home.

i´ve been running around like crazy this week, trying to see as much of guata as possible, and its been some of the best times for sure but i´ll try and elaborate after christmas.

have a lovely hol/christmas yáll

x

guata

i think i´m just starting to find my feet, and my balls for that matter!
going it alone has its ups and downs but i suddenly really like it. although sharing an experience is really amazing and i miss just looking at someone i know, at that key moment, and knowing that there´s a blueprint of it in their mind too, the freedom and adrenaline of going solo kicks cucu.
some places i´ve been i don´t know whats more irritating, us "the gringos" or the mosquitoes and i frequently muse on the similarities.

spent this morning freezing and roasting myself on volcan pacaya with a hilarious mountain goat-like guide... the infamous calves were stretched to their limits but well worth it. also i found out that volcano skree-skiing is an olympic sport, its ace fun, i´m in training for london.

a few days later...
creation seems to be rearing its head in every flavour, whilst elegant and fragrant there is no lack of spice, everything is fullbodied, vibrant, tantilising and fresh but the sadness, hardness and poverty can leave you with such a bitter taste that is hard to shift and in all honesty i ache to do some work here and get my hands dirty instread of just tasting the bitterness and covering it with the sweetness of the next thing i see.

some of the people here are so beautiful, natural and so generous with their nothing and others are cautious and resentful of your fortune in being born pale/western/"rich".

and a few days more...
i´m now in guatamala, accompanied by bad white wine and a beautiful fresh avocado, reggae sounds wafting, beautiful lago de atitlan before and surrounded by dark, moody looking mountains (obviously rewriting now in a less idealic internet cafe) amongst the mountains are several gatherings of lights, less that there were a month or so ago as whole pueblos were destroyed in flooding and lost to mud.

the week ahead holds hammocks, jungle, mayan temples, many hours on chicken buses i imagine, new people and more bad spanglais. i want desperatley to emmerse myself in the language but i fear the loneliness this brings. i´ve learnt how much i love the english language and how i hate it for being such a huge obstacle for me.