Guatemala

I always wanted to visit the wild nature of Guatemala, scattered with great mountains and Maya ruins. 

The trip to reach my first stop, San Pedro la Laguna on the lake Atitlán, was kind of bloody.. I had a 9 hours trip, in which I started to have a really bad bladder infection. Fortunately, I had some antibiotics with me. Unfortunately, it was a small white bus without a toilet... However I was lucky that the bus driver was so kind to stop from time to time, so that I could go to the toilet. The weather was making everything even more hard: it was raining cats and dogs! When we got to the immigration office, we had to walk through a river that flew along the streets. It was really not easy to wait to get in the immigration office, with all this rain splashing on the soil, remembering me how much I actually needed a toilet. As soon as I get through the immigration office, I went to look for a toilet. I was in something like four shops before I finally found a small restaurant with a toilet. Because of the rain the whole restaurant was flooded, but the most curious thing, was that the not working toilet, as I found out at the end, was in the kitchen! Only a small curtain separated it from the rest of the kitchen.

Well, even if the start in this country was kind of painful and wet, I finally really enjoyed it!

I met a great guy in San Pedro, a CSer which has a Bar called the Buddha-Bar (if you can, try to visit it, it's really a nice place, and Mike, the owner, is full of good stories) and I had the most funny bus-trip ever!

At that time I was in Rio Dulce and I wanted to go to Flores to finally visit the great Maya ruins in Tikal. I took  a second class bus! You have to imagine am overfilled bus, with two lines of seats. In the first row there where three seats: one on the right and one on the left, which were both already occupied and one in the middle (a little bit higher than the others because placed on the top of the motor). The seat on the middle was full of  boxes for chicken-eggs, but the driver was so nice to put them on the roof and clean the seat for me.  So I was on this seat, higher than the others, with a lot of people around me, sitting, lying or staying... and in front of me I had  the free view on the road: I felt like Queen Elizabeth! I just had to start to wave with my hand! Well, after 6 hours sitting on the boiling motor, I felt more like the melted wax version of Tussauds' Queen Elizabeth. ;-)

Anyway, as we were only two tourists, and I was the only one awake, I became the attraction for the people in the first rows. We talked, we exchanged food and drinks.. it was great! Suddenly the bus stopped and policemen with guns entered the bus screaming something about that everyone had to show the own bags and get out of the bus. I asked if I had to do that too, and the policeman said no.. They made some controls, I thought because of drugs or weapons. After the second stop of this kind along the travel, I asked a policeman why they were doing these controls.  He told me that it was because of fruits! I couldn't believe it! I get out of the bus and in fact I saw a small carton box on the entrance of the bus, full of fruits that people had to throw away.
I know now that they do that, to avoid contamination of parasites along the country... but have they really to act so chunky?!?
Well, now you know that if guys with guns run in your bus, it's not always because of a raid or a drug control.. it may be that they are just looking for fruits! ;-)

A good reason to kill a chicken

Near to San Cristobal de las Casas in Chapas, in a small village called San Juan Chamula, there is a famous church:  the Church of San Juan. Interesting in this church is the visible fusion between the Mayan believes and the catholicism. From outside, no one would imagine what you can find inside! I took pictures only outside the church, as  many Mayan don't like to be photographed. This because they believe that by taking a picture, the soul get trapped in it and cannot be free anymore. 

However, once I entered this little church, a strong smell of dry palm leaves and burning candles invaded my nose. It was incredible: the whole floor was covered with palm leaves, and everywhere little groups of people were praying on the floor with some candles placed in front of them. 

The first thing I thought is that miracles have really to exist, if this church didn't burned down so far! 

I was looking to the huge amount of saint-statues, with strange names which probably rely to the Mayan culture, when I suddenly heard how a chicken got killed in the church! 

I thought that maybe it has something to do with a strange bloody gift to a saint. But a woman told me that it is a ritual against sickness. Very interessant. In a few words: they belive in energies, so when a person gets sick, they go to the church and transfer the sickness from the person to the chicken. After that, they have to kill the chicken, so that the sickness is blocked in it and cannot flow back to the person. She said to me that the strange thing is, that it actually works!

At that time I thought that maybe I also had to kill a chicken: I was full of strange red dots since a week and then I also got a bladder infection. But, this is another story... :-)

Merida - Progresso and trying to get to Uxmal!

During my travel in Mexico I wanted to visit different Maya ruins. One of them was Uxmal, a bigger Maya ruin near to Merida. 

In Merida I had the chance to stay at Ignacio's home, another CSer (Couch Surfer).  We wanted to meet at the bus station, but as often in Mexico, the bus was late. The travel to Merida just gave me a small impression about how things in Mexico work (or better to say, don't work): the aircondition was broken and the windows were impossible to open.. Rember: in Mexico it can be very very hot... We were all sweating like a group of peope in a finnish sauna! At some time the bus stopped and the driver went... Where? Who knows! After 30 min he came back and we continued our travel. Maybe he went to get some lunch.. ;-) Finally arrived I tried to find Ignacio, but with 2 hours of delay I knew he'll be gone. So I just went with a couple of French to the cheapest Hostel in Merida. After a friendly conversation with the guy of the hostel, which wanted to make us a special price for a room, the couple said to me that they wanted to find a little hotel, as they were in honeymoon.. Honeymoon backpacking??? I'll never do that! They told me that they slept alredy 5 nights in multiple rooms! I always thought Honeymoon should be based on sex, sleep and good food.. Obviously I was wrong! :-)

Well, so I tried again to find my Ignacio... and I did! A very nice family! They have a house on the sea and Ignacio told to pack my swimsuit and we went right to Progresso for a few days. 

There I met two belgian girls: Kim and Jacoba. I really enjoyed the time with this two girls! We selpt in amacas, we eated much, get burned, went out to dance and just enjoyed the time together! The whole family was really nice. Some days later Ignacio brought us, the Belgian girls and I, back to Merida. 

That day I went to Campeche a small city, very colored and absolutely desert (I hope this was the case because it was Sunday) and when I got back in Merida I bought bus tickets to get to the next morning.

So, the next morning I woke up, exited to see my first big Maya ruin! I had reserved a ticket for 9am. So I tought that leaving the house at 8.15 would be early enough to reach the bus-station in time. Well, it would have been enough, if Ignacio hadn't locked me in the house! So, after looking how to get out from that damned house, after a half an hour I finally get on the main road (thanks to the help of Kim and Jacoba). 

Normally as a tourist gets near to a road, lots of taxis arrive. As you can imagine: in my case no taxi was in sight! I started to walk on the road, hoping that someone would pick me up soon... But probably they just thought: "what the hell is this gringa doing with her shoes pending on her backpack????"

After a while I arrived to a carwash center. I asked the guys there if someone could take me to the bus station, and so I met Ulisse. He brought me to the station.. for free! Such a nice guy! 

Of course I missed the bus.. And I had to buy a new ticket. But the ruins were really beautiful!

My first trip all alone...

Last year I decided to do something I thought I would never be able to: I booked a ticket to go to Mexico! I had no Hotels reserved, I just wrote to some people from CouchSurfing, took my backpack, some travel books and went.
I have to say that, before that trip, I was scared like hell from taking the plane. So it was kind of insane to think of me taking such a long flight by myself.
The travel to Cancun was very long... even longer than it had to be! Originally 26h of travel were planned, including a change in Madrid... at the end it took more than 30 h! As I came in Madrid I couldn't find my flight to Cancun... The number of my plane was inexistent on the board! I just thought "Of course something like this has to happen!".
Fortunately I met another girl that wanted to go to Cancun: she was starring at the board as stunned as I did. We decided to go together to the  Aereomexico-stand and ask about our flight. We had both tickets where there was written very clearly: ZHR - MAD; MAD - CUN.
The very motivated and nice (yes, indeed, I'm sarcastic) woman of the desk, just liquidated us by simply telling there is NO direct flight from Madrid to Cancun. It didn't exist.. So we had to take a flight to Mexico City and there change to Cancun. 
Of course it wouldn't be funny, if this would have been all.. In Mexico City the successive flight had 2 hours of delay. Well, we took the chance to eat something and sleep a bit, in the I think coldest airport I've ever been! Fortunately, just before we get frozen to our seats, we were asked to enter the plane. But, as we sat down, relaxed, happy to finally reach out destination, the pilot informed us that they had a technical problem with the plane... We asked the stewardess how long this would take, and only after she told us that it goes "solamente diez minutos mas" for more than 30 times we finally started and get to Cancun! 
So, after 33 hours of travel I finally reached Cancun. 

To start, a story from my Holy Communion

I would not define my self as very religious. However, I grew up in a small village in the south of Switzerland, where catholicism is still very spread. So, as part of my primary school education, I had to follow religion courses, go to the church for the confessions and, of course do the holy communion.

I was more the kind of girl that liked much more to talk than to listen. For this reason, while the preacher was doing his service for the holy communion, I was much more concentrated in talking with my neighbor Sara. I was really surprised when I suddenly realized that the preacher was talking to me! I understood that he was trying to ask me something, but I get nervous as I had no idea what he was talking about! So, I thought, I'll answer what I thought is always right thing in these church-situations: "I do the sign of the cross".

The whole church started to laugh. I had no idea why... Until the preacher, which had to laugh too, asked me "Really?! You do the sign of the cross to show your love to your parents?!".