Coban, Guatemala
Trip Start
Oct 09, 2006
1
23
62
Trip End
Jun 15, 2007
Coban, Guatemala
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Unfortunately this place was just a stop off for one night!
It wasnīt the infamous Chicken Bus (3rd class), but it may as well have been. We stopped to pick up every Tom, John and Alfredo possible! The suspension on the bus was non existant and we really felt every bump as we had to sit over the back wheels. At least we had our own seats, which, on a chicken bus you are not guaranteed. To be fair we really enjoyed the journey, there is something special about sitting a a rickety old bus in a different country and watching all the different people hopping on and off. At every stop there was of course the usual vendors jumping onto the bus, selling all kinds of food.
The kids at home donīt know how lucky they are that they donīt have to jump onto the Cork to Youghal Bus Eireann service trying to sell "fried banana chips" or "hang sangwidches" to all the passengers!!!
When we arrived into Coban... Mike made a cardinal error of travelling.... he made the decision to walk into the centre of town with our backpacks. Baaaadd call!!!! It was supposed to be 3 blocks..... as Sarah said.... how long is ONE block!!! We were shattered by the time we found a hotel! The place was rank, but we said as it was only for one night that weīd stay there. As we sat in the room contemplating Mikes bad call, Sarah pulled back the bed sheet.... guess who was living in there..... good old Mr. Roach. Yup, a cockroach was wandering around the bed..... flock that.... back on with the backpacks... outta that dump! Luckily, the next place we looked at was gorgeous... and cheaper!!!!
Coban is a highland town, totally based around coffee production. It is also the base for tours to the surrounding countryside, which we never did, but are supposed to be awesome. The coolest thing about Coban was the market. It was great wandering around the people on the street selling their wares. Once again, the amount of children selling stuff was unreal.... from vegetables to santa hats !!! One thing that was a bit strange about the place was the lack of tourists.... I think that we only saw 3 in total!!
Thatīs more or less Coban..... next up... Christmas destination.... Antigua!!
