Judith´s theorum of Guatemalan Transport
Trip Start
Jun 17, 2011
1
16
103
Trip End
Jun 17, 2012
Jaibalito, Sololá, Guatemala
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Applogies if my O grade maths has failed me, but you get the picture....
We have travelled on chicken buses, colectivo minibuses, tuk tuks, public lanchas (boats) and tourist shuttles displaying psalms, declarations of love for God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary and assorted Saints and rhetorical questions such as, 'Is there anything my God cannot do?' I was tempted to grafiti 'Replace your break pads' under that one. I have learned to be particularly wary of motorised transport that declares, 'In God We Trust' - 'in lieu of a decent mechanic' is the sub text there.
The timetables bear little relation to actual time. Some transport only leaves when full (guatemalan full means at least twice as many passengers as there are seats/lifejackets etc.) Others leave as much as 2 hours before scheduled. On one occasion we booked an 8am shuttle only to be hauled out of our beds at 6am. Better than the ones which don't leave at all such as the shuttle we booked, having negotiated a reasonable price, only to find the driver had subsequently found other
stupid gringos willinging to pay a higher price to go elsewhere so had taken off without telling us. And this was a man whose hotel we had stayed in for the previous 4 nights! Needless to say my trip advisor rating of his hotel services reduced somewhat.
Concepts of guilt or apology do not appear to be part of the Guatemalan zeitgeist. Odd when it is allegedly a Catholic country (maybe the survival of many Mayan beliefs and practices has innured them against this aspect of the faith of the Conquistadors).
I think the erratic transport system reflects a lot of what Guatemala has been about for me - some great experiences, some not so great. Highpoints have been Tikal, the cruise on Lago Izabel, the language school which we chanced upon - run by and for women, the female
run self catering accomodation combined with access to a great food market in Antigua and the night we splurged and stayed at Casa Del Mundo on Lago Atitlan. Lowpoints have been the relentless attempts by Guatemalan men to rip us off, the grinding poverty in the Indigenous
villages, the filth and environmental degradation just about everywhere, the bedbugs I got in the place we stayed in Semuc Champey and the way animals (dogs in particular) are treated.
So to sum it up, Guatemala has been an experience I would not have wanted to miss, but, unlike Mexico and Belize, I would not chose to return.
Ready to move on to Honduras today.
Comments
enjoying these blogs more and more. it's a bit like an adventure story but instead of Batman and Robin we have S & J. I especially enjoyed the notices on buses and comments thereof! fab. keep up the good work - you will be rewarded in heaven! xxx
We're enjoying reading your travel journal and chuckling at your 'asides'